The Mystery? Y’all Come
Epiphany
Eph. 3:1-12
† In Jesus Name †
Grace and peace and mercy, in this new year, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Left in the Dark?
As Kay gets hopefully closer and closer to the point where William will be born, I find myself thinking about what his life will be like. I wonder, half in fear, of how much he will be like me. Will he be a bookworm, or a computer geek? Will he have a higher than normal level of curiosity, a desire to understand why things work, or why certain chemicals say they cannot be mixed with other chemicals.
Will he ask lots of questions, and attempt to solve every mystery, thinking that if one is not solved, if he doesn’t have ALL the answers, he is somehow not quite smart enough? Will I have enough internet access to answer all his questions!
Will he accept Kay and I telling him, “you have to wait until your older, to understand that?” That answer only usually sent me running to our ancient encyclopedias, determined to prove that despite being 7, I could understand how nuclear fusion worked, how to drive a manual stick shift, and how God managed to hear, know and answer what everyone was praying at the same time!
There is something quite exhilarating, about discovering the answers to the mysteries of life. To realizing some great truth, to have one of those precious ahaaaaa moments. Helping William discover all the incredible complexities of life, I definitely look forward to, with great joy and anticipation.
One of those mysteries, that I long to share with him, is the mystery that Paul shares again, with the church in Ephesus in today’s epistle reading.
The great mystery of Christ, that was hidden for centuries. The great mystery of Christ, that Paul says, it was a blessing he was
To dispense
I believe that one of the most natural things for humans to do, is to share that which is important to them. To help others have the “ahaa!” moment, to see their face lighten up with the joy of understanding. Even the person who is best at keeping secrets, would have trouble not sharing that which changes their life, whether it be some drastic change, or some incredible insight. It actually can hurt, or at least drive us crazy, not to share that event, or piece of news, or insight, that so dramatically affects us. An example. It took about 12 days, for Kay to get the results of her pregnancy test. Those 12 days, were, exceedingly rough on us, as we could not share what the home test confirmed. This was even made more excruciating, as several people had conversations with me, where they asked about Kay and I having kids! I can still picture the joy in people’s faces, when Kay and I let you all know!
When something special like that is revealed, when a mystery is solved, it has to be revealed. They have to be shared, for us to share in the joy. But imagine an insight that dwarfs that, that effects all of us, and results in more joy, that we could ever understand, never mind explain.
Paul talks of being given stewardship of God’s grace – to him was given the authority to be a dispenser of God’s grace. Picture the army quartermaster, distributing the mail and paychecks to men who just finished boot camp. Or the dad, sharing with his son or daughter the secrets of fishing, and seeing the child catch their first fish, you know the blugill or sunfish that was this big! Or the young pastor, placing in the hands or mouths of his first parishioners, the body of Christ.
It was a blessing to Paul, even as it is to every pastor I know, to share with people the incredible mystery of Christ…the mystery revealed,
To share in,
The Wise Men
The nations
Look at parallelism
The great mystery of Christ, is found thoughout our readings. In the epistle reading, it is found in verse 6,
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
In our Old Testament, we see it so clearly prophesied, in verse 2
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you;
We also see the beginning of it in the coming of the wisemen, from the east. For these men, not Jews, but men of nations far off, come to worship, the new born King, which they did with great joy.
The secret, simply put, is y’all come, y’all are able to share in God delivering His people, for you are His people. Jews, Gentiles, men, women, rich, poor, this is the messiah, the anointed one of God, sent to save all who would believe. We share in His salvation! I love the different ways Paul pictures this, in Ephesians! Look at verse 6 again,
We are “fellow heirs, (we are) members of the same body, and (we are) partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
Fellow heirs! We together, with those in the Old Testament, who had trusted God at His word, to care for His people, to forgive their sins, and be there God, we are fellow heirs of theirs! I love how one theologian put it,
Being an heir “is by a new creation (1 Cor. 15:5), or by adoption (Rom. 8:23), and as such it is an object of hope. Salvation (Heb. 1:4), glory (Rom. 8:17), redemption (8:23), grace (1 Pet. 3:7), blessing (3:9), in sum, eternal life (Tit. 3:7), constitutes the content of the inheritance. Spatial ideas are unimportant, even in Matt. 5:5. Reigning with God is the issue (Rom. 5:17; Rev. 5:10). Rev. 21:2ff. indicates clearly what is meant by the inheritance (cf. v. 7). The heavenly portion (1 Pet. 1:4) does not denote a spatially distinct part of heaven but a part in God’s eternal rule. Inheritance is not acquired but rests on filial relationship to God”
With Adam and Abraham, Moses and Samuel, Gideon, David, Elijah and Elisha, we are co-heirs with them, and with Christ,
We, together, the people of this church, are members of the Body of Christ, with those who have believed throughout history, the apostles, and early church leaders like Origen and Augustine, Patrick and Francis and Luther, and people of this time as well, like the faithful in Papua New Guinea, and Australia, and Singapore, and even more exotic places like St Louis and Los Angeles and Orange County!
And we partake in the promises of Christ, together, not as separate individuals, but as the people of God, gathered in His name, blessed with grace found in His word, and delivered in His sacraments.
This is the great mystery – we – gentiles who for centuries were considered cut off from God, are part of His people – His called and chosen people! No wonder the wise men, who had studied the Old Testament in Babylon, rejoiced at the site of the young baby in the manger! For Christ’s Mystery, is revealed and it is something
To rejoice in
This was foreplanned and foreseen
Paul’s quote in Romans!
Those wise men, knew, that the messiah, the King of the Jews, represented hope to all people, for the old testament is full of such comments! Exodus and Leviticus talk of sacrifices made by goyim, the strangers in the midst of Israel, who worshipped God alongside of them, and I counted passage after passage in Kings and Chronicles, Isaiah and in Joel and the rest of the prophets, which talked about God’s salvation going out to the gentiles, and them being gathered for worship!
To realize that our sins are forgiven as well, that Christ died for us, as well as for the Jews, was the incredible mystery of Jesus the Messiah. That He was at work, reconciling the world to Himself.
Paul, in Romans 15, quotes 5 of these passages,
8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name." 10 And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!" 11 And again: "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!" 12 And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope." Romans 15:8-12 (NKJV)
Look at that passage, on your notes place, and where ever it says gentiles, place your name, or anzaites, or aguangers, and rejoice, for God is our God, through Christ, He has made us His people.
For Christ’s Mystery, is revealed and it is something
To live in
Ultimately, this revelation of God’s mercy in Christ, means something incredible, something that is almost impossible to understand. We see it in the last verse,
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him!
From the very beginning, God has planned, that those who trusted in Him, whose faith was not in their own work, but in the work of Christ that frees them from sin, would have confident access to God.
Access to His love, access to His presence, unhindered because of race, or gender, or economic prosperity. But together, we are called into His presence, freed of our sins, by the cross of Christ, which was for us gentiles, as well as the jews….
Y’all come, trusting in God, for our salvation, given to us, like His unsurpassing peace, which guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus!
AMEN?
AMEN.
