I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, (Ephesians 1:18)
Over the past few years, the term “woke” has come to mean (to
some) awareness of and sensitivity to social justice issues and discrimination. Basically, it means that one
agrees with those who dictate what we should care about. But the idea of being
awake, alive, and alert isn’t really new. It probably wasn’t new in Paul’s day.
But it’s interesting that in recounting his prayer for the Ephesians, it’s not
that they would see all the pain and suffering in the world. It’s that they
would know the hope to which God has called us.
Curiously, hope was seen by the Greeks
in the same way some people see the particular hope of the riches of God’s
glorious inheritance in his holy people. It’s “pie in the sky, by and by” –
disconnected from reality and, therefore, ultimately detrimental to the person's well-being. It’s better not to hope at all than to hope for
something intangible and beyond your own
capacity to understand or accomplish. Hope was the last – and weakest – of the
evils released when Pandora opened the box, according to the Greeks. We tend to
agree with them.
But it’s hard to share something we
don’t have. If I have a million dollars, it’s easier to hand a ten-dollar bill
to someone who needs it than if I only have five dollars. This is doubly so if we
know that we have is inexhaustible. And that is the point of what Paul is
saying. The hope to which God calls us is ultimately God himself.
I’m not saying I’m there. I need to open
my eyes or have them opened as much as anyone else. But this was Paul’s prayer,
and it should be ours for each other as well.
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