Partakers of the Promise 1-2-2011

Ephesians 3: 1-12
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 people 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 God's power. 8 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, 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 God's 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 God's eternal purpose that was accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Partakers of the Promise Preached 1-2-2011
God, fill us with gratitude for awaking to walk our journey for another year. Give us insight for our paths and love for each other. Grant us your wisdom and peace. Amen
Welcome to 2011! May this year find you renewed in strength, in health, and in insight into the wonderful gifts given to us through Jesus Christ. May this be the year that the desires of your hearts match perfectly with God’s roadmap for your journey. And may you know perfect peace.
I want to be sure that we understand the radical nature of our scripture lesson today. For there is little else in the New Testament as socially, culturally, and theologically transformative as what Paul is telling the Christians at Ephesus. And in today’s world it remains just as radical and just as relevant. I want us to walk through this passage in detail—none of us should leave here today without a full understanding of the just how revolutionary God’s invitation is to the Gentiles and, hence, to us.
The letter to the Ephesians is about the revelation of the good news and the imperative to evangelize the rest of the world. That imperative was what usually got Paul locked up. But even while imprisoned, Paul never stopped spreading the word. Paul subscribes to one very significant bottom line: the salvation of humankind through Jesus Christ has been made manifest to all and those of us who are committed to this same Jesus Christ will continue to spread the Good News.
This doesn’t sound so radical to us in 2011, unless you believe that there are certain categories of people who are outside of the love of God. Unfortunately, there are many otherwise well-meaning believers in this Good News who do consider whole groups of people as falling outside the circle of those who experience redemption. Any of this beginning to sound familiar? Regrettably, it sounds all to familiar to those of us who have been on the margin, falling off the edge of acceptability in others’ eyes.
And here is where we meet up with Paul. Jews and Gentiles were arch enemies—different categories of people—the bridge between them had not even been thought necessary, much less begun to be built. And it is to this world, that Paul brings the news of Epiphany. Now "epiphany" comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means "appearing" or "revealing." And so, this day of Epiphany focuses on God's self-revelation—God’s appearing in Christ. So far, so good—no conflict here. But listen to what Paul tells these folks who were all wrapped up in the good news of Christ. “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.” Heirs together—here is where the rubber meets the road.
Imagine how challenging this was to the hearers of this epistle. Paul is clear—Jews and Gentiles are to live together as joint heirs in Christ. This was rarely the case in Paul’s time—there was too much history, too much hatred, too much fear. You must remember that Christianity, at this time, was probably made up of 80-90 percent Jewish folks. Gentiles made up approximately 10% of all Christians. A mere 10% or so of the Christian population—hardly worth mentioning and certainly not worth accepting as equal heirs in Christ. This notion of equality between Jewish and Gentile Christians was radical indeed.
From the perspective shared by most of the Jewish Christians, there were really only two divisions in humankind—Jewish and Gentile. Race was not a factor, and while there were some cultural differences depending on where you were from, these all paled in comparison to the only distinction that mattered. Paul, then, goes way out of the community’s comfort zone when he declares that the most important dividing wall in humankind has been broken down in Christ Jesus. Through Jesus Christ, God made one humanity with no distinctions between who was worthy and who was not. Simple, right?
Far from simple, this radical call to the oneness of humanity is the basis for any and all calls to oneness, to understanding, to harmony, to unity among Christians. This is Epiphany—this is God among us working to change the age-old hatred, mistrust, and fear. I think, for the most part, we just don’t get it—we don’t get that we are all precious in God’s sight, that WE are precious in God’s sight. And certainly those who wish us ill, those who would condemn us because they do not understand and accept that we are precious in God’s sight, those who have not experienced the radicality of the call of Epiphany, have failed to understand the promise that is guaranteed to us all.
Trappist Monk Thomas Merton, says it beautifully: "I have the immense joy of being a member of [the human] race in which God became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are....There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. It was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed." And we echo his desire.
If only we could see each other as God sees us—is this not all there really is to do? Paul says that we all share the promise together—that we are all partakers of the promise. This folks, is all I need—all I need because it makes sense because of who God is—makes sense because I am a child of God. There are those among us who still struggle with the promise—God’s promise of peace, redemption, and hope. There are those who say we are wrong because of who we are, damned because of whom we love, and broken because of the way God made us. This is not our tragedy—this is their tragedy. Our tragedy is that there are some among us and many more not found in this place today who believe this message of hatred and pain.
My sisters and brothers, Paul calls us to a new understanding of God’s grace—to a new understanding of promise and to a new understanding of call. Paul makes it clear and we hear it clearly on this Sunday of epiphaneia—of revelation and appearing. In this passage where we are assured of blessed redemption and grace, we are also called—called to break down the walls—to live as joint heirs with those who despise us. And we are called to bring the news of this great mystery—that there are no walls that divide us—no walls that make some people worthy and some people not—we are called to bring the news of this great mystery to all who will hear.
And so, here we are on the first Sunday of 2011, one week before we reach an historical milestone. We are about to lose the status of a church plant and gain the status of “church”. But this transition is not without responsibility. As a church plant, we have focused, rightly so, on growing up. And we will continue to grow—but our growth must reach beyond our walls, into our community, and even into the world. We have young people looking to us for answers, for assurance that their lives matter to us and to God. We have older people looking to us for the promise that they are safe here—that they can be who they are—gay, straight, in mental decline, with physical needs, with spiritual and emotional wants and with desires to give what they have to give and have those gifts accepted. We have a community looking to see if we will be like every other church or whether we will rise above the crowd and change the face of our world. We have friends testing us to see if this is a place for them to call home.
And so, I say with Paul, “surely you have heard of the good news in Jesus Christ”. We become servants of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given to us through the working of God's power…, this grace was given to us: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the mystery of the promise. God’s eternal purpose was accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Jesus and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Amen and amen.