The hit show Breaking Bad ended its run late last year with a grand finale viewed by 10.3 million people. That’s nowhere near Super Bowl viewing numbers. Last year 108 million people watched the Ravens top the 49’s, but for a show that started with just a million viewers, ending with over 10 million fans is not bad at all. Perhaps you were among the 10 million who made sure not to miss the Breaking Bad finale. What is it about such TV shows and football and hockey games that grab our attention? Isn’t it the excitement of finding out what’s going to happen? I mean you wouldn’t get 108 million viewers for the Super Bowl this year if it was just a rebroadcast of last year’s game. Re-runs are never a big draw.
And yet isn’t that what we seem to do here every Sunday? The sermon re-broadcasts the episode about Jesus dying on the cross to save the world from sin. That true story was exciting the first few times we heard and believed it, but have we started to tire of this message? If so, I pray that the Apostle Paul’s Epiphany message to us this morning revives our excitement for salvation.
First of all what do I mean by this word “Epiphany”? It’s a Greek word that means “revealing.” The Sundays after the Christmas season are called the season of Epiphany because the readings focus on how Jesus was revealed as the Savior of the world. That’s most clear from today’s Gospel lesson where wise men came from a foreign land to worship Jesus as their Messiah and King. Were Mary and Joseph surprised to receive these out of town guests? In one sense they shouldn’t have been surprised because God had always made it clear in the Old Testament that non-Jews too would eagerly look forward to the Savior’s coming. But this truth really only became fully revealed and appreciated in New Testament times. Paul put it like this in our text: “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:4-6).
Early believers knew that Jesus had died to save all people, but what they didn’t realize was that non-Jewish Christians would have an equal share in the glories of heaven with Jewish believers. Perhaps we can appreciate why they would think that way if we consider this. Let’s say that your boss gave you a Christmas bonus of $1,000. With the money he wrote a nice note thanking you for your faithful years of service. Wouldn’t you be surprised to learn then that the new guy who started work just days before Christmas got the same bonus and a similar note as you? Wouldn’t it be even more surprising if this same guy had at one time tried to ruin the company by hacking its website? He shouldn’t get a bonus. He should just be happy that he had a job with the company! That’s what some Jewish believers seemed to think about the non-Jewish Christians in their midst. Sure, it was great that they now believed in Jesus, but were they really equal partners in God’s family? “Yes!” exclaimed God through the Apostle Paul.
Whether we have Jewish blood coursing through our veins or not, it should astound each one of us that God considers us worthy of heaven. Put yourself in God’s shoes. If you are picking people to spend eternity with, would you pick chronic grumblers like us? “What’s up with this weather, Lord? We haven’t seen the sun for weeks. And when it does come out it’s bitterly cold!” “Oatmeal again?” “Why am I the one who always gets sick?” Outbursts like that are normal, but consider what that means. It means that our default setting is one of selfishness. We don’t care about God or about others; we just really care about ourselves and our happiness. Tell me again why God should want to spend eternity with us?
The truth is God can’t spend eternity with sinners any more than a snake can hang out with a rat in a terrarium without eventually killing and eating it. But that’s not what God had created Adam and Eve to be – rats to be toyed with and then destroyed. He created them and their descendants to be perfect companions with him. When the fall into sin ruined God’s plan he did not abandon his creation the way we would abandon a pair of ruined snow boots that duct tape can no longer hold together. Instead of distancing himself from sinners, God drew closer to them in the person of his Son, Jesus. This Jesus wrapped us sinners in his cleansing blood and has presented us to God as perfect for heaven. This message of salvation should never get boring. It certainly wasn’t boring for the Apostle Paul. He said in our text: “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:8, 12).
Telling others about Jesus wasn’t a job for Paul; it was a privilege of God’s grace – an exciting privilege because Paul said that he got to preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). The word translated as “unsearchable” means unable to be traced. Imagine trying to track down your errant two-year-old at a public beach. At first you would be able to follow his tiny footprints which lead away from your beach towel, but those footprints would be quickly lost among the hundreds, if not thousands of footprints that other people have left. That’s a scary scenario when you’re trying to find a lost two-year-old, but when you apply the concept to the point Paul makes about the riches we have in Christ, it’s an exhilarating thought. The riches and blessings we have in Jesus are so numerous and so mind-boggling that they are beyond our full comprehension – like how each of us can pray to God at the same time and yet be certain that we each have his full attention.
Because the blessings we enjoy through faith in Jesus are beyond full comprehension we should never tire of hearing and studying about God’s love for us in Jesus. That truth is especially appropriate to highlight for you communicants today. In just a little while you’ll stand before God’s altar and receive the body and blood of Jesus. But has this miracle meal become something you mindlessly munch like a bowl of cheerios at 7 in the morning? That’s not how a beggar would feel if someone should unexpectedly press into his hands diamonds with which he can buy good food and shelter for the rest of his life. An event like that would make the front page news. And so it is front page news in heaven when sinners like us repent and are brought to trust in Jesus for salvation so that we may enjoy the riches of God!
10.3 million people may have eagerly devoured the grand finale of Breaking Bad, and over a hundred million will probably watch the Super Bowl this year. But to what end? Oh, shows and games like that take our mind off of life for an hour or two but they don’t fix our problems. Such entertainment doesn’t give us hope and strength to face the challenges of the next day. Only God’s Word can do that. So brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit revive your excitement for the message of Jesus, your Savior from sin. May he work in your heart again this year as you study his Word so that you grow in faith and look forward even more to your Savior’s coming. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
What does the word “epiphany” mean? Why is it used to describe the Sundays after the Christmas season?
Old Testament believers would not have been surprised to hear of non-Jews being included in God’s kingdom. What, however, was not fully revealed in Old Testament times about non-Jewish believers?
Why is it astounding that God should choose to spend eternity with people like us?
Agree or disagree? (Explain your answer.) The Apostle Paul described the riches we have in Christ as “unsearchable.” That means that there really is no point in trying to fathom God’s greatness. We should just believe it and praise him for it.
