This morning I would like to start on a fairly major project. We are going to start a sermon series from the New Testament book of Ephesians. Its only 6 chapters long, but there is so much in it that it could easily take us 6 months to complete. I love the Bible, and to see the Bible's fullness it is helpful to study each passage in the context of the other passages around it. When you do that, themes start to come into focus that you miss if you jump around. So that's what we are going to do. We are going to work through the book of Ephesians.
It might be the most methodical thing to do to start at the beginning, but we aren't going to do that. We'll need to adjust for special days, so that we have an appropriate topic for Easter and Pentecost and such. And actually today we'll start near the middle. This is the first Sunday after Epiphany, a time when the church especially remembers its responsibilities to bring the gospel to all nations. And in Ephesians 3, Paul gives us a personal look at how he got into the missionary enterprise.
Let me read it for you now. If you want to have it open in front of you, you can find it on page 193 of the New Testament section of your pew Bible.
"This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
There are all sorts of interesting things in there, but let me pick out some of the main ones. How did Paul see his missionary work? In verse 2, he tells us that he saw it as a commission from God. It was a job a job from God. He knew that someday God would be asking him whether he had completed that job or not, and he was determined to be ready.
It was Paul's job to take this good news about Jesus Christ, and bring it to the people of Greece and Rome. The gospel had started out among the Jews. Jesus was Jewish. All of his first 12 disciples were Jewish. Generally the Jews looked down on everyone else, they called them Gentiles. The Jews had all sorts of particular ways they did things, and the Gentiles all seemed pretty slack to the Jews because they didn't follow the rules. The Jews were sure that God loved them, but they weren't sure that God loved those Gentiles. For the most part they were very content to just take all God's blessings they could get and keep them for themselves.
But God called Paul to take the gospel of Jesus Christ, a very, very Jewish religion, and work out what it would look like lived in Greek culture or Roman culture, to explain it to the Greeks and the Romans, to demonstrate it in his life, and to convince them of its truth. That was a hard job. It took a great mind and a lot of work and a willingness to sacrifice a great deal. That was Paul's commission from God.
And I want to remind us that this commission is not just for a few people. A few minutes ago we heard our liturgist read the last words of Jesus before he ascended to his father in heaven. We call it the Great Commission. Jesus told the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. That commission is for all of us. We can't all go. Maybe none of us have the unique qualifications that Paul had, but we can all support the fulfillment of that commission, through prayer, through studying, through financial support. It’s our job from God, too.
And what is the message that Paul was supposed to bring to the Gentiles? In verse 6 he explains the gospel and he uses some language which may be less familiar for us.
The message has three parts. First, the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Israel. All the promises of blessings which God had made to Israel are for the whole world.
Now imagine with me a family with a new baby. This is a family that is going to give their child every advantage. They are committed to investing themselves in their new son to help him build the character he will need as an adult. They love the Lord and are determined to share that love with him. They can afford the best medical care and a good education.
But a tragedy strikes. The child is kidnapped and raised by strangers. Years go by and he ends up alone on the street, penniless. He doesn't know who he is. He can only hope and dream of any promise for his life.
If only he could be reunited with his parents and find all the gifts they had for him. He only someone could tell him who he really is.
That's the message of the gospel. All the world needs to know that God has a wonderful plan for them. And today many millions of people still have no idea of what God wants to do for them.
When we lived in Nepal a friend went trekking way up in the Himalayan Mountains. He stopped overnight in a remote village. Some of the kids came over to sit by his campfire. He asked them if God loved their village. Do you know what they said? They said, "No, God doesn't love our village. God probably doesn't even know this village is here." They needed to hear that they could be fellow heirs of God's blessings.
A doctor friend was on a medical campaign in some remote areas. One night they were staying over in a local home. There were no hotels. Their sleeping place was in a loft. As they lay in their bunks about to fall asleep they could hear the grandma and grandpa of the family talking downstairs beside the fire. They were very aware of their sins. As Hindus they had to take sin seriously because every sin would be worked into their karma and weigh on them heavily in their next reincarnation. What could they do to get rid of their sins? They had no idea of God's grace or what Jesus had done to provide for the forgiveness of sins. They needed to hear that they could be fellow heirs of God's blessings.
A second part of the message in verse 6 is that the Gentiles are members of the same body. They are part of the church. You know Paul often spoke of the church as being like a human body, made up of all the different parts. You could say that the Jewish church is one important part of that body, the church.
The American church is an important part of that body. And every nation has an important part to play in making the body whole. As long as any nation is missing, the body in incomplete, handicapped. We Americans have been great organizers for Christian projects, missionary campaigns, and social reform. We have built beautiful churches. We have an amazing industry of publishing Christian books on every subject under the sun, and are producing some wonderful Christian music.
But we need other parts of the church. The Bible says a great deal about suffering. But what do we know about suffering here? With our prosperity and our medical facilities, most of our lives are very, very comfortable. I've often said that the book of Revelation is written for Christians who are suffering persecution. I wonder if Americans can understand it at all. When it does happen that one of us goes through very difficult times, we really don't have much of a theology to deal with suffering. We need Christians from China or Russia or many parts of Africa who have suffered for their faith to explain it to us.
We Americans are very independent and individualistic. We don't watch out for one another very well. There are some very poor churches in Latin America which could teach us a great deal about bearing one another's burdens.
We Americans can be awful materialistic. If you can't put it in a box, measure it, weigh it, we're not interested. We feel lost if we aren't surrounded by all sorts of things. Some African churches have nothing materially. They hold their meetings under a big shade tree. But they are rich in faith. They routinely see dramatic answers to prayer, which we see only rarely. They can sing to God with great joy. They are rich in spirit even while they are poor in things. We could learn a lot from them.
Paul's message to the nations was that they all have a place in the body of Christ. They need to hear that. We all need to hear that.
And then the third part of the message in verse 6 is that the Gentiles are sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus. Sharers in the promise. Now it’s hard for people to know today just what Paul meant by that. Which promise? But if you go back to the first chapter of Ephesians he spoke of Christians being marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. I think that's our best clue to what Paul had in mind here. God has promised us a life without limits some day in heaven. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives today is a foretaste of that eternal life and, sort of a down payment, a beginning. Because the Gentiles are sharers in the promises they are sharers in the Holy Spirit today.
I have been in worship services in four different countries where the service was conducted in languages where I really couldn't understand most of what was going on. But I could sense the Spirit of God was there. God's Spirit, living in you, in me, in Christians in China, Peru, Zaire, Australia, all over the world, is building a new family made up of all nations. The walls are breaking down. It is bringing healing and hope, reconciliation and love. The Holy Spirit is God's gift for believers of all nations. They need to know there is powerful help for coming to God and growing in grace.
God calls us all to take our part in spreading this wonderful news. All nations need to hear the news. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for them. They are part of the body, to receive from our strengths, to give to us from their strengths. The Holy Spirit is present to give them new life. AMEN
