Breadth, Length, Height and Depth

8th Sunday after Pentecost

Ephesians 3:14-21


You may remember that I am in the process of trying to collect on DVD all of the Academy Award winning movies. One of my favorite of those movies is Forrest Gump. I loved it when it first came out – it was one of the few movies I actually went to the theatre to see. Over the years we have acquired both VCR and DVD copies of the movie, and pretty much any time I am flipping the channels and stumble across a replay of the movie, I am probably hooked for the next couple of hours.

I remember the first time I noticed the description of the movie in the T.V. guide – it was one of the least intriguing descriptions I had ever read – if I had never seen the movie, and had simply read the description, I probably wouldn’t have watched it. The description read, “a slow-witted Southerner experiences 30 years of history.” Although it’s accurate, that’s a terrible description of the Best Picture from 1995. Forrest Gump is about so much more than simply the 30 years of history encompassed in the movie, or the life of one slightly slow Southerner. It is about family, friendship, meaning, purpose, possibilities, and generally the inexplicability of this life.

I sometimes wonder about what people think about the story told in the gospels – more than that, the story told in our Bible. What would the T.V. Guide writers say about the Bible? I shudder to think – they might say something as banal as “the perception of humans as they consider the possibility of God interacting with mankind.” Boy, wouldn’t that make you want to run out and buy the book!!

The story of Almighty God’s interaction with the people of His creation is magnificent. All of the Old Testament portion of the story suggests that God has an incredible plan for humankind, and as the story unfolds, we begin to realize that with our limited spiritual vision, we only glimpse the smallest part of that simple truth. We resonate with the psalmist when he says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” While we live this life of faith without incontrovertible proof of God, there is a great body of evidence, not only for the existence of God, but for the purposeful interaction of God in our lives.

Then comes Jesus. In His birth, in His life, in His death, and in His resurrection, Jesus shows us God – in the flesh. Suddenly we realize that the God Who had a plan for humankind also has a plan for individual people. Every person is important to God. Jesus came, lived, and died for each one of them, and He is interested in the complete well being of every person – in every way. It is a comprehensive plan for each of us, and although through faith we discover a little bit more of the plan as we move down life’s path, we realize at any particular moment that God’s plan for us is complete in every way.

We resonate once again – this time with the Apostle Paul, as he says those wonderful words of hope and promise and fulfillment – “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Those words fill our minds and our hearts – even our very beings – as we consider the possibilities of knowing God and the fullness of God’s love. We cry out in our souls, “Oh, yes, God.”

I ran into a wonderful quote this week in my study of this passage. Joretta Marshall said, “This text suggests how important it is to be as expansive as possible in talking about God and in relation to God. God is beyond our human knowledge and our comprehension. No amount of theological clarity will ever exhaust the completeness or fullness of God.”

I like what she said. I certainly don’t know all that Paul had in mind when he used these words. But it’s my calling to help us consider the possibilities. These are wonderful words – full of possibility and suggestion, and they may need a little of our imaginative help in order to consider what Paul may have meant. Let me suggest some contemporary synonyms of his four words for our consideration today. He used the words breadth, length, height and depth. We might consider these synonyms – liberality, comprehensiveness, elevation, and profoundness.

When Paul used the word “breadth” to describe the love of God in God’s interaction with people, he may very well have been referring to the liberality of God’s love. By that we might infer that God’s love is extended to all people, regardless of whether that love will be received by that person or returned. We might choose to believe that God intended to interact with every person who every walked the face of the planet, regardless of whether that person ever responded to the interest of God in their life or not.

Now, this is going to be a terrible illustration, but here goes – I now have two bird dogs. One of them is more than eight years old. Crockett and I have hunted together for eight years, and we know each other rather well. He knows the mistakes I’m going to make, and the things that I will do well, and the vice is versa. Several weeks ago, Amy the pup came to live at our house – the bird dog of my future. Right now she is soaking up the learning – I try to work with her about 10 minutes each evening on commands, and she is responding pretty well. I hope that we have many wonderful years ahead of us hunting together.

Crockett is not sure why we need Amy around. From pretty much the first day she showed up, he has leered at her out of the corner of his eye, and growls at her every time she approaches his food bowl or tries to take his tennis ball away. I think that he thinks that I’ve replaced him. What he doesn’t know is what I suspect will be true. Sometime this winter, when I take both dogs out to hunt, I imagine that young Amy will frustrate this old hunter, and I will put her in the box and pull out my trusted friend Crockett. I don’t love one of them more than the other, and for my purposes in this old world, and for different reasons, I need both of them.

Multiply my personal scenario exponentially, and you’ll have some glimpse into the liberality of God’s love. As far as we know, God has extended God’s love to every person ever created – every person to have walked the face of this earth. Furthermore, God has desired to be in relationship with each and every person who has ever existed.

When we consider the length of God’s love, we might very well entertain the comprehensive nature of it. We consider all the areas of our life where God has interest in us. God is concerned, certainly, about our salvation and our redemption. We know that God is concerned for our well being – God is like a Shepherd to the sheep. We suspect God is concerned for our purposes. Those things are rather given when we think about us and God. But God may very well be interested in more of our lives than that. God may be interested in our ideas, and our hopes, and our desires, and our dreams, and our possibilities. When God redeems the person, God wants to redeem the whole person – the good, the bad and the ugly.

It’s kind of a better or worse kind of scenario. Here we do well to consider the parental model. When we have children, we take on the entire child. Every parent is in the same lifetime extremely proud of their youngster, and from time to time rather disappointed. But we love the child, and we love them in their goodness and in their badness. We love them when they function beyond what we expect, and we love them when they fall woefully short of expectations. We’re in it for the long haul with our kiddos, and they are a part of us.

It’s something like that with God, I think. God wants so much for us, and God is disappointed in us when we fall short. But God redeems the whole person, and I think has desires for our well being in areas of our life where we hardly take time to consider. The love and care of God is comprehensive.

Paul says that he hopes that we come to know the height. I hope I’m not duplicating territory here this morning – I’m trying to offer more insight. The love and concern of God elevates humanity.

I have something of an illustration. You know that I love the outdoors. This weekend we took the children over to Canton Lake on a campout for the last of their Summer DAZE programs. While we were there, we cooked over Coleman stoves, and experienced light from Coleman lanterns. There was a day and time when light was something of a luxury. Lighting was a valued resource. Not so much today. We flip the switch and there is light. It is automatic and instantaneous – if we paid the OGE bill, and making exception for the occasional ice storm, of course. As we have modernized our society, we have been able to do more and more with our lives.

Well, that’s not the best of examples, but maybe it gets to the point. Our God elevates our existence with God’s love and concern and interest. Not only has God redeemed us from the lowest point of existence – God has elevated us in Christ. We looked at a companion passage this last week at Prayer Meeting from the first chapter of Colossians, where Paul says, “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” But beyond that, God has elevated us to God’s purposes in the plan of redemption. In other words, we are not only redeemed people, but we are active participants in the spread of redemption as we tell people about the love of God for all people. This kind of elevation by God occurs in all aspects of our lives. We are elevated in our praise, we are elevated in our service, we are elevated in our living out of our daily lives – God’s purpose in us elevates us to new and greater levels of existence.

Well, for the last of Paul’s words, he speaks of the depth of God’s care and love. We might consider the profoundness of God’s love. When you break down that word – profound – you have two ideas – pro – really speaking of being in favor of something, and found – the idea that we are discovered. When we think of the word “profound,” we rather say, “Wow, look what I discovered!!”

In our relationship with God, we respond that way regarding God, and interestingly enough, God responds that way regarding us. We look at God, and God looks at us, and we can say hardly more than “WOW!!! Look what I’ve found!!” When we think of the expansiveness of God, we are overwhelmed with Who God is, and what God does. But God sees things exactly the same way – loving us and desiring us with just the same amazement.

What, if anything, do we do in response to the love of God? The scripture suggests in every way that we respond. The scripture encourages God’s people to embrace the love and care of God – to respond with every fiber of our beings. Some in our society think that God works independently of us in terms of this relationship, and that would be accurate – but only to a point. God has purposefully entered into relationship with us, and God desires our response. We respond best when we embrace the love, care, and direction of God as we respond in gratitude, love, and obedience.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.