For years it sat on a farmhouse wall gathering dust. And when Fiona McLaren redecorated, she didn’t even take the time to cover the apparently worthless painting in a protective sheet, so it got flecked with specks of house paint. However, in an astounding twist, it has emerged that the picture is likely to have been the work of master artist Leonardo da Vinci and worth over $200 million CDN (dailymail.co.uk). How did such a valuable painting end up in a Scottish farmhouse? The painting was given to McLaren’s father by one of his patients, but other than that not much is known about how it ended up on the British Isles, or how no one seemed to realize that they had a treasure on their hands.
Is there perhaps a valuable painting hanging in your house or shoved into a basement corner? Maybe it was a piece you picked up at a garage sale because you liked the colors, or just wanted the frame. Wouldn’t it be something if that painting was worth $200 million? But what are the chances that you are sitting on such a treasure? Quite good, actually, for if you have a Bible, you have a treasure. In our continuing study of the New Testament book of Ephesians, the Holy Spirit today will give us a God’s-eye view of the Bible and help us see that it offers treasures like nothing else in this world can.
You would, of course, expect a Lutheran minister to tell you that the Bible is a treasure. It’s a theme Lutheran pastors have been expounding since the days of Martin Luther himself. But because of that, you who have grown up listening to Lutheran preachers may now view the Bible the way that Scottish lady viewed her da Vinci painting. Since it was something she had seen every day since she was a child, she didn’t think much of it and certainly didn’t take care of it like she should have. Likewise it’s easy for us to take the Bible for granted because we have such easy access to it. But that’s why I’m excited to pick apart the Bible lesson before us. For the Apostle Paul will help us gain a new appreciation for the treasure that is the Bible.
We’ll only begin to appreciate the Bible if we understand what it is: God’s revelation. Paul put it like this: “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles… (Ephesians 3:4, 5). What Paul had shared with his readers in the previous verses, which was last week’s sermon text, was not just his religious opinion. It was a secret revealed to him and the other apostles by the Holy Spirit. That’s what Paul meant when he spoke about the “mystery” of Christ. The word “mystery” here doesn’t mean something “mysterious” as in you can’t understand it like why aren’t the Oilers a better hockey despite having four, #1 draft picks. No, when Paul talks about the “mystery” of Christ he means something you wouldn’t know unless it was revealed to you.
So the first reason that the Bible is such a treasure is because it tells us what God thinks about us. That’s something that you would never be able to figure out by looking at the stars or reading tea leaves or listening to your conscience. And what we learn is what we heard a couple of Sundays ago when Paul said that we were once dead in sin, but made alive in Christ Jesus and have been given the gift of forgiveness and eternal life at no cost to us (Ephesians 2).
What I just said is worth more than a $200 million da Vinci painting. You could in fact own every da Vinci painting but would not be able to exchange the collection for what God just offered us through his Word: a place in heaven. You see, we’re like a canvass that a pre-schooler got hold of and wiped his dirty, snotty fingers all over. We’re not a picture of beauty by a long shot. But Jesus painted over the filth with his crimson blood. That is the “mystery” of salvation that everyone needs to learn and believe if they want to enjoy their life after death.
But has this message of salvation become a familiar painting that we hardly glance at anymore? If so, consider what Paul says next. “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10). Not only has God revealed the “mystery” of salvation to us through his Word, his plan is that now through the church, that is through believers, to reveal this “mystery” to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” Who are these rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms? Angels. Much of what you read in the Bible is information that not even the angels knew until it was revealed to the apostles. When they announced that the show X-Files was going to be televised again, fans couldn’t wait to see what Scully and Mulder would get up to in the opening episode. Well the angels were even more enthusiastic about learning exactly when Jesus would be born, and how he would conduct his ministry, and how he would die and rise again. The Apostle Peter tells us that the angels “longed to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:12).
Do you long to learn more about the plan of salvation God has so carefully arranged for sinners? Or is news about Jesus, his life, his teachings, his death, and his resurrection no longer exciting? We should never get “bored” by the message of salvation considering what Paul says next. “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). Through Jesus we have “boundless” riches. The word “boundless” could also be translated as “untraceable.” After our first snowfall I would have been able to track the movements of my daughters by following their boot prints in the snow as they played outside. I could tell when they stopped under a tree, or when they sprinted across the field to the far fence. But after a couple of weeks of them playing out in the snow it would have been impossible for me to trace their movements anymore. There would have been just too many boot prints overlapping each other in an untraceable pattern. That’s how it is when you study the Bible. At first it’s easy to follow the thread of thought: we have sinned; God has provided salvation through faith in Jesus. But as you keep studying the Bible you discover more and more truths, so many truths that you will never be able to count all the coins that add up to the riches of God’s grace (Habeck)! Paul gives us some examples of those riches in our text. Paul wrote, “In [Jesus] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12).
One of the riches that we enjoy through Jesus is being able to approach God with freedom and confidence. Hopefully you have that kind of freedom and confidence to approach your earthly father. If there is something on your mind, your father should welcome you when you come to share with him your problems and ask for advice. But although your earthly father may receive you warmly and openly, he is often unable to help you with your problems. If you’re sick, he can’t make you better. If your broke, he might be able to help with a few thousand dollar loan, but not if you’re millions in the hole. If you’re having trouble making friends, he can’t make those friends for you. God of course can do all those things…if it’s in your best interest. And so we never have to hold back from him any of our problems or worries. We can and should take them to our Lord in prayer because through faith in Jesus we have the freedom and confidence to boldly approach God.
But sometimes God allows us to suffer even though we have brought him our problems. What then? Well Paul models for us the kind of cheerful behavior we can have no matter what the situation. Look at the first and last verses of our text. Paul wrote, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles… 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory” (Ephesians 3:1, 13). Isn’t it interesting that Paul calls himself a prisoner of Christ? After all wasn’t he really a prisoner of Caesar? As we’ve pointed out before, Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians when he was imprisoned in either Caesarea or in Rome. You would think that he would complain about this because it was hampering his ministry efforts. He wasn’t free to go from town to town as he had been doing, telling others about Jesus. Now he was confined to one spot, and his future was uncertain.
Nevertheless, Paul took a God’s-eye view of matters and knew that he was a prisoner of Christ. He knew and trusted that ultimately Jesus was in control of the situation. And if Jesus thought it was good for Paul to be imprisoned, then so be it. That explains why when Paul had a chance to escape from prison after that earthquake in Philippi, he didn’t run. What kept him there was God’s love for sinners because at that moment Paul saw how the prison guard was going to kill himself since he thought that all the prisoners had escaped. God’s love and not the chains kept Paul rooted to the spot so that he called out to the jailer, and then went on to tell him about Jesus.
Friends, you too show that you are prisoners of Christ when you stick around and clean up after the office party even though it’s not really your job. Or when you stay up through the night to help a family member get through a difficult time. Why do you do these things? Because the Bible’s words are not only a treasure, they are a power that works in and through you to reveal God’s love to others.
I don’t know what that Sottish woman has done with her valuable painting. She may have sold it and is now enjoying the life of a millionaire. If she kept it, I’m sure she’s taking better care of it, but is also probably showing it off to all her friends. In the same way we have such a wonderful treasure with the Bible. It reveals the mystery of salvation, and it continues to give insights for life, and empowers us in our daily living. Don’t keep that book in the corner of your bookcase, read it, meditate on it so that you appreciate better and better the riches you have in Jesus. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
Paul said that he had received an insight into the “mystery” of Christ. What does the word “mystery” often mean in the Bible? How should the meaning of that word spur us on to faithfully study the Bible?
Paul also said that the mystery of Christ would be revealed through the church to the “authorities and rulers of the heavenly realms.” Who are those authorities and rulers? Why should this truth also spur us on to eagerly study the Bible?
The Bible reveals the “boundless” riches we have in Christ. What does that word “boundless” mean? How does this truth spur us on to eagerly study the Bible?
Paul identified himself as a prisoner of Christ. In what way are you too a prisoner of Christ, and how will you show that in your life THIS week?
