Ephesians 1:3–14, Part 1
Here’s some insider pastoral info for you: when we counsel the family of the deceased, and when we officiate their funerals, we pastors sometimes straight up lie, talking about how great they were and how for sure they are in heaven. In reality pastors do not know that for a fact, and might be just trying to comfort the family in their time of grief, an act of comfort that is not necessarily a bad thing. But it still might be a lie.
Have you ever attended a funeral, listened to the eulogy of the deceased, and thought to yourself, “There’s a whole other dark side to them that didn’t make it into the eulogy.”
This week we study, Ephesians 1:3–14, a passage which Bible teacher N. T. Wright titles, “A Shout of Praise.” Here’s verse 3,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
So right away, Paul starts this letter on a very upbeat note. “Praise” is the word we get our English word “eulogy” from. Because we only hear eulogies at funerals, that might sound very odd. But think about it. A eulogy is a short talk in praise of the deceased. And like I said, many eulogies don’t tell the whole truth, and some baldly lie.
In Paul’s case, he is eulogizing God, who is very much alive, and about whom Paul does not have to lie at all. In fact, this eulogy is Paul gushing about the amazingness of God.
In the original it is one loooooong sentence. He is so full of praise, he just goes on and on and on without stopping. You know anyone like that? People who have the gift of gab. When they get excited, they really go off. You can hardly keep up with them, and want to interrupt them and say “Breathe! Slow down.”
My daughter sometimes gets in that mode. I teach a class at her university on Tuesday evenings, and we meet up for dinner in the dining hall before class. I’m often me sitting there eating, nodding, uh-huh-ing, while she talks and talks and talks. I love it.
Paul’s eulogy is a bit like that. He is excited. And he just gushes on and on about the amazing blessings God has given us.
What we are about to hear then is a very interesting eulogy, a eulogy that I believe could result in us jumping for joy in praising God, to the point where we want to tell other people about this eulogy.
Join me back here tomorrow as we begin to hear Paul’s eulogy of God.
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
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