Sermon – Ephesians 3:1–12 – Mystery of Christ

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Churches
Sermon – Ephesians 3:1–12 – Mystery of Christ
January 9. 2011

Today is the Sunday after Epiphany. Epiphany is that sudden awe inspiring feeling we get when we come into the presence of God. We celebrate Epiphany on January 6 as that time when God came into the world as a man named Jesus. During the weeks that follow Epiphany the church traditionally looks at the teachings and activities of Jesus Christ while walking on this planet. Last week we looked at what the incarnation of God as a man means for us, and we saw that Jesus can listen to our prayers with a human ear, experience our feelings with a human heart, and then communicate our hopes, desires and petitions to his own father, God Almighty as our high priest. Today we will look at how the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ reveals mysteries that God has kept hidden for generations. But first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety to thy glory and our own edification.” (Calvin)

Ephesians 3:1-12 NIV Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-- 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 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. 7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. 8 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, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 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, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

I love mysteries. Years ago I began reading Agatha Christie novels. I loved the multiple characters who all came together: the estranged son, the jilted wife, the new wife who inherited everything, the devoted friend, and the evil brother. The settings were always exotic: an English manor house, a train crossing Europe. The focus of every story was a murder that happened after the group had assembled. The police were called in, but they followed the wrong clues and failed to solve the case. A great detective arrived who saw all the clues clearly and revealed what has been hidden in plain sight. The mystery was solved.

The Apostle Paul also liked mysteries. But for him mysteries were a little different. For Paul a mystery was a reality that has been hidden by God for centuries. These realities were always there, but concealed. God had cloaked these realities so that we would not know them until the proper time. Then God would reveal the realities and the mystery, kept hidden for so long, would be solved.

Paul knew that God acts in this way, keeping things hidden and then uncovering them, from the Book of Daniel. In the second chapter of that Old Testament book the king of Babylon has had a dream, but no one seems to know what it means. Daniel realized that the dream was a mystery in the form of a reality hidden by God. While Daniel was sleeping God uncovered the hidden reality in a dream. And Daniel praised God for allowing him to solve the mystery for the king. Paul too had experienced revelations from God uncovering hidden mysteries. These mysteries, which the risen Jesus Christ had revealed to Paul, became the foundation of Paul’s theology.

In the Book of First Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that the mysteries of God are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. We cannot understand the reality God keeps hidden from us on our own. Rather we need the Spirit of God which lifts the veil and uncovers the reality underneath. The mystery that the Holy Spirit reveals to us is the hidden reality of the resurrection from the dead. God has concealed his true intention for us, but with the coming of the Holy Spirit it is revealed that death will not be the end, but one day our bodies will be reassembled and new breath will be breathed into our lungs and we will live for eternity in the presence of God.

In the Book of Colossians, Paul said that there is still another mystery that God has kept hidden, but has now revealed. This mystery is Jesus Christ who is in you. It has now been revealed by God that with Christ in you, you may now hope to be glorified and become what God always wanted you to be. You will be transformed, built up and strengthened with all goodness and wisdom and overflowing with thanksgiving. You will truly be revealed as a creation in the image of God.

In the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul said that Jesus had revealed a reality, long hidden by God, that the Jews would be saved. Although it appeared in the first century that the hearts of Jews had been hardened, which caused them to reject the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, the hidden reality was that God had chosen the Jews for salvation. By revealing this mystery God keeps us Christians from feeling superior to the Jews and becoming conceited because both Jews and Christians are children of God.

In today’s scripture, from Ephesians chapter 3, Paul refers to yet another mystery that
God has revealed to us. This hidden reality is one that God has kept hidden for his good pleasure. This cloaked reality is the reason why God sent Jesus Christ into the world. And God had waited until just the right time to reveal it. This hidden reality had been predestined by God even before the creation. And this veiled reality was perfectly consistent with God's will. Paul said that he was compelled by God to reveal this mystery. Paul asked his followers to pray that he could reveal this mystery fearlessly. And he ordained others to reveal it. So what is this mystery that God has finally revealed?

The mystery that God has revealed is that everyone, Jew and Gentile, Black and White, men and women, young and old, all of us together form one body of Christ. We all share in the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have all been chosen as God's children. We are all free to approach God's throne of grace.

This has important ramifications for the church today. We are called to go beyond the doors of this sanctuary to proclaim the good news to all people that God has revealed that Jesus has come for everyone. Of course it is difficult to proclaim the good news to people different from us. It is much easier to focus our attention on people like us. We enjoy sharing the gospel with other white Presbyterians. But it is far more difficult to share it with Blacks, homeless, day laborers, Hispanics, Asians. But like Paul the mystery that in Christ we are all one has been revealed to us, and like Paul we are called to proclaim the good news to those who need it most.

It was just six years ago this month that I began to realize the importance of proclaiming the good news to people different from me. I met Grace in a classroom one evening. She was looking for an American who could teach a Bible study to a group of international students in her home. All I had to do was show up and be ready to have conversations with people who were just learning English at a local language school. I was to use the Bible to start discussions. I had no idea what I was getting into. I showed up at Grace's apartment one afternoon. About a dozen international students from Poly Language Institue in Pasadena CA showed up. Grace cooked a Korean meal of bulgogi and rice; I had never had anything like it before. I was having trouble talking with the students given their lack of English. Then I noticed that everyone was using chopsticks except me. I was the only one with a fork. So I asked them to teach me how to use chopsticks. This broke the ice and I began developing relationship with the students. This was also the beginning of my relationship with Grace and we were married the following winter. We submitted this story and won the PCUSA Multicultural Story Contest for 2006.

What this taught me was that it is great fun doing church with a diverse group, because of the interesting ways different groups worship. Here in Pocomoke I love working with the Pocomoke Ministerial Association because I can get together with pastors of the Black churches here in town. I would love to find a way that whites and blacks in Pocomoke could occasionally worship together. And I encourage you to participate in diverse groups and invite all kinds of people to church. Like the Apostle Paul and me you too will experience the joy of bringing everyone to Jesus Christ.

So the mystery that God has kept hidden for so long is that the church of Jesus Christ must reflect the ethnic diversity of God's people. People from east and west and north and south will all have a seat at the table. And we will be blessed with a rich cultural diversity in worship. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Lord Jesus, help us to go into the world this week armed with the good news we have heard. Help us to proclaim this good news to our community and build a church that reflect the cultural diversity around us. Amen.