From the book of Ephesians:  “God has blessed us from the riches of his grace which he has lavished on us in Christ Jesus” or  “to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in Christ Jesus” or “that God might show us the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness” or “I have been sent to preach to you the immeasurable riches of his grace in Christ Jesus” or “God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us.”  If we add up all of these Bible verses from Ephesians into one sentence, the sentence may read:  “God has blessed us with the immeasurable riches of his grace which he freely lavished upon us in Christ Jesus.”

What do you think of when you hear the word lavish. I've been doing the rounds of Christmases – a bit like the vicar of dibley – My parents, Lauras, friends for Christmas and new year and have seen some spreads that count perhaps as lavish – enough for me never to want to see another sprout again anyway, but I can't help thinking that Paul has more than that in mind.

When I was 14 I went to Versailles. And the thing that sticks in my mind more than anything else was King Louie’s the 14^th’s bathroom, especially his bathtub.  I had never seen a bathtub made of pure gold.  It was, shall we say, elegant, to say the least.  How did the king get to that bathtub?  By walking down a bronzed staircase, surrounded by circular marble surrounding the tub.  What was his living room like?  It was at least 150 long, with gigantic chandeliers every fifteen feet, hanging from the ceilings.  To the left were huge mirrors, at least thirty feet tall, lining the wall, giving the room its name, The Hall of Mirrors. To the right were windows looking out at the gardens.  You looked up at the ceiling and you saw the most colorful frescos, and as you looked at the floor there were parquet patterns of artistic wood throughout.  This Hall of Mirrors was exotic, lavish, rich, mind boggling in its luxury.

The word, lavish is always associated with riches.  The word, lavish, is never associated with poverty.  You never say, “A person is lavishing in poverty.”  Instead you say, “A person is languishing in poverty.”  Or, you never associate the word, lavish, with criticism.  You never say, “You lavish a person with criticism.”  No, that is not the way you do it.  Instead you say, “You censure a person with criticism.”  Lavish is a positive word and is not associated with criticism.  Nor do you associate the word, lavish, with frugality.

It is with these images that we approach the book of Ephesians and hear the words again and again:  the riches of God, the riches of Christ, the riches of grace, the riches of mercy, the riches of glory.  We hear the word, immeasurable; that is, there is no way to measure the riches of God’s grace.  We hear the word, unsearchable; that is, there is no way for the mind to comprehend or absorb intellectually the grace of God.

In the book of Ephesians, it is as if the Apostle Paul is swept off his feet with euphoria, exhilaration, elation.  More than any other epistle, the book of Ephesians pulsates with those feelings of euphoria.  The mood of this letter reminds me of a young man or woman who has fallen in love for the first time.

And so it is with the book of Ephesians.  The Apostle Paul has experienced and seen the riches of God’s grace, the riches of his mercy, the lavishness of God’s generosity, and the Apostle Paul is overwhelmed by it all, and he uses words like lavish, abundant, immeasurable. Throughout the whole book of Ephesians, like in no other book in the Bible, you experience the mood of Paul’s exhilaration

This same lavishness of God is expressed in other places in the Bible.  Do you remember the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John?  Yes, the turning water into wine.  Do you remember how many jugs of water Jesus turned into wine? Six.  Yes, six.  Do you remember how big each jug of water into wine was?  30 gallons!!!  Six vats of wine, each holding thirty gallons, means that there was 180 gallons of wine for that wedding.  180 gallons.  Imagine your wedding with 180 gallons of wine.  That would have been a whole lot of extra wine. Excessive.  Extravagant. Exuberant.  In other words, lavish.

Do you remember the story of the feeding of the 5000?  Not including women and children who were there.  That’s a lot of people, 5000 people plus.  What did Jesus feed the five thousand plus with?  Yes, two loaves of bread and a few fish.  And when Jesus fed the 5000, did each person eat a little bite, just a morsel, a Norwegian “tad?”  No, each of those people ate until they were full, with stomachs protruding, stuffed.  And was there any food left over? Yes? One basket?  Two?  Three? Four? Five? Six? Seven? Eight? Nine? Ten? Eleven? Were there twelve baskets left over?  Yes, of course.  Twelve baskets left of food left over.  Jesus was excessive, extravagant, with plenty of food remaining.  In one word, lavish.

Such is the nature of God.  Our God is lavish in his love, lavish in his mercy, lavish in his riches of goodness showered upon us every day.  God is not stingy or frugal.  You and I may be stingy and frugal, but in the Bible and the book of Ephesians, we hear of God’s lavish and generous grace to us.

But where is this lavish grace to be found. Well most of all for Paul, who knew poverty and hardship as well as success and luxury in his life, it was found not in material things but in Christ. Overflowing even in the simplicity and difficulty of life.

I don't know if you have been lavished with gifts this Christmas. Here's a particularly lavish one. I received. Explain about the pants. (£10!)

It gave me pause to stop and think. Many of the gifts of God, that are lavishly poured out upon the world are so unevenly spread. We take them for granted, but for others they represent a daily struggle. But what is most lavish though about the love of God is that it is not a limited resource, nor is it something that can be monopolised or capitalised. This does not of course excuse the injustice of the world, quite the opposite, it gives us inspiration to seek a world that better reflects the extravagant equality of his grace.

Paul says that God has lavished his gifts on us. So again What do you think of when you think lavish?

What is a lavish gift? Gold, frankincense and myhhr? A pair of lavish pants?

Well Paul says.

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Belovèd. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.

And that is definitely not pants.