The text this morning is from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the third chapter:
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 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. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
A blessed Epiphany to you! This day is all about what Paul writes about in the Epistle lesson, that Christ Jesus has come to the Gentiles. We celebrate this Epiphany by recognizing the coming of the Magi, the wise men, who journey from somewhere out in the east, come to where Jesus lays, and worship Him. That the Lord should reveal such a marvelous thing outside of His chosen people demonstrates His great love for all people, and especially you.
In fact, this love is so great, that He would send ministers, even an apostle like Paul, to bring this Gospel to you. He sent you Paul that he might suffer on your behalf, that though he would face all things, face terrible persecution and mistreatment, so that you might be brought into the Kingdom of God. But look at Paul. He’s not bragging about himself for his own sake, but that he points to the same blessings he has that the Gentiles have. At the same time, while Paul is in prison to protect him from the mobs who would try to kill him, the reality is that he doesn’t identify himself as a prisoner in jail, but a prisoner in Christ.
And this is what we are. We are all prisoners of Christ Jesus. We are bound to Him as a slave is his master, and this is actually pleasing. For as we share in all things our Master suffers, we shall also be rewarded in all glory with Him. If He should die, we should die. If He should live, we should live. If He should suffer, we should suffer. If He should be glorified, then we also will be glorified. In all these things, we receive the very same our Master experiences, that is how close the bond of master and slave actually is.
This should be an incredible thought to us; since the beginning, our Lord revealed that His chosen people were those children of Abraham. We should think then that this would be those who came from the line and lineage of Abraham, as the Israelites did. Yet, the children of Abraham were never just intended to be those with a genetic heritage with him, but those who would be adopted as sons and daughters of God through the one offspring, through the one seed of Abraham, which is Jesus Christ.
This is the insight of the mystery that Paul is referring to here. This was never made known until Christ came, yet look at all those who came to worship Him: the wise men, the Samaritans, Pharisees and Sadducees, the outcasts, the shepherds, the lame, the weak, the widowed, even the dead. Our Lord is one of inclusion, one who brings all people to Himself, not matter where they think they come from. He desires all humanity to worship Him, and so He does all things to bring them to Him.
He even sends the Gentiles their own personal apostle, Paul. There Paul would preach to the world of the Good News of Jesus Christ, that, by grace through faith, they were adopted as sons and daughters of God, that the Gentiles would inherit all things from God, just as the chosen Israelites would. The Gentiles would be members of the one body of Christ, together with the Jews, together with those who had considered them unclean. The mystery is that in Christ all things are made new, all things are cleansed, all things are brought into the life of Christ, to receive the unsearchable riches of His grace.
Do you realize this mystery for yourself? That God loves you so much that He brought you into His care, even despite how unclean from your sin that you were? You have to realize how sinful you are, how sinful you were. You have to. Without an understanding of the depth of your depravity, you will never realize the incredible gift you have received through Christ in the forgiveness of your sins. The more you realize how low you were, the more you can see how far He has brought you to Himself.
You should be as Paul, thinking yourself the least of all of the saints, so that you can see more clearly that the work you have been given to do in sharing the Gospel and the trust that God has shown you in giving you this gift. And that’s really what this is, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He, being perfect God and man, yet was sacrificed for your sake, to forgive your sins, and was raised to give you the promise of everlasting life, to share the Gospel is a gift. You get to be involved with bringing others into the same eternal life you’ve been given.
The Magi didn’t just come to worship and then go home and that was it. The shepherds didn’t just come and marvel and then head home. The Samaritans, Pharisees and Sadducees, the outcasts, the lame, the weak, the widowed, even the dead that saw Jesus, heard Jesus, believed in Jesus went out and ministered to others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even the murderers that Jesus touched would do the same, and so we find Paul going out and ministering to the Gentiles.
See, this is a gift. Just as we share in Christ’s suffering, His glory, His joy, so, too, do we also share Christ with those around us. We get to share Christ because we have been brought into His kingdom. We get to share Christ because He has bought us with His blood. We get to share Christ because we are His servants, His slaves, His prisoners. And through you, the Church, through you comes all wisdom and knowledge in the world. That’s not because you know all things, it’s not because you’ve been made all-powerful. It’s because the only wisdom and knowledge that actually matters is of Christ Himself.
The wisdom of God is Christ. He is all that we need know, and it is through the Church that the news of who He is and what He’s done reaches to all people and even makes the angels rejoice. Through Christ, who created all things, we are given all things. Through Christ, who suffered all things, we now have access always to our Father. Through Christ, the one mediator between God and man, we may always have confidence that our prayers reach the Father’s ears and that, according to His will, He will grant them for the sake of His Son.
It’s an amazing thing that an unclean person such as I am should have access to the Father, yet because Christ dirtied Himself for me, because Christ came to this earth for me, took on my sins for me, suffered for me, died for me, was raised for me, ascended to heaven for me, washed me, clothed me, fed me, I stand boldly and confidently before the Lord and know that I may ask Him all that He has promised. And so, too, may you. You have been redeemed, washed, blessed, cleansed, and the promises of God in Christ are yours. You may approach your Father in heaven with the very confidence of Christ Himself and beg for all those things He has promised to give, and so He shall. He shall give you forgiveness, salvation, eternal life. He shall give you daily bread, victory over temptation and the devil. He shall bring His kingdom, to you, for you are now part of His Son, and so you shall be forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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