Ephesians 3:1-12 has the theme of the mystery proclaimed to the Gentiles. The God of Israel revealed new dimensions of God and the people of God at various stages in history. For Paul, the fullness of time is now, this moment. We must never forget the significance of this event or moment in our history. The plan of God, a secret or mystery, finds it unveiling in Jesus Christ. We discover that plan all along, from Abraham, to Moses, to David, to the prophets, to wisdom teachers, was to include all persons within the people of God. The church exists to unveil and embody this mystery so that the plan of God is no longer a mystery. People will hear it and see it in the church. The secret is no longer a secret. The church exists to mediate this great spiritual truth. Paul needed a revelation in order to see this truth. He was in prison because he proclaimed and lived this truth. Both examples suggest that human beings often resist and oppose the truth. It will take revelation or at least a special insight to see what Paul sees in Christ. The secret is no longer a secret, but we must still have the eyes to see. Paul lets us know who he is in this passage. He lets us know what drives or motivates him. His belief in Christ was not simply an intellectual or philosophical exercise. He risked his life for the mission he believed God had given him.
The passage begins with Paul writing that he is 1a prisoner for Christ Jesus (Philemon 1, 9). He refers to his imprisonment with the imperial guard (Philippians 1:13), to believers who intend to increase his suffering during his imprisonment (Philippians 1:17), his readers to remember his chains (Colossians 4:18), to not experience shame in being a prisoner (II Timothy 1:8), and that while he remains in chains the gospel remains unchained (II Timothy 2:9). He stresses that he is a prisoner for the sake of “you” gentiles. Behind what most of us would consider being reason for anxiety and anger, Paul sees meaning and purpose. Part of his identity as a Christian is that he accepts circumstances in the world as if from the parental care of God. He will offer a summary of what he has written thus far. We need to see that behind the circumstances is a divine presence moving us toward a larger purpose. He assumes they 2have already heard of his commission (oikonomia stewardship) of the grace of God that God gave to him for the sake of the Gentiles. God has entrusted him with the message of the gospel (I Thessalonians 2:4), made him a minister of the covenant (II Corinthians 3:6), and made him a servant of this gospel (Colossians 1:23). God 3made known the mystery to him by revelation. The apostle is not the source of this revelation, but the conveyor of this revelation to Gentiles. The point of the plan of salvation that God fulfilled in Jesus Christ is the bringing of all people into participation in salvation by faith. Contrary to Barth, then, the revealed Word is not the mystery, although we do find such a notion in Ignatius (Magn 8.2) and Irenaeus. Rather, the historical plan of the God of Israel to include Gentiles in salvation is the mystery that Jesus Christ reveals.[1] If they re-read what he has written thus far, they will 4perceive his understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5In former generations, God did not make known to humankind this mystery. We live in the moment or event of the revelation of God by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets. The heart of the mystery is that 6the Gentiles have become (in Greek three words with the Greek prefix syn, which means with or together) fellow heirs (heirs together or joint heirs), members of the same body (body together or joint body), and sharers (sharers together or joint sharers) in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. He has already explained the end of hostility between Israel and Gentiles in Chapter 2. It also sets the stage for the powerful portrait of the unity of the church in the Spirit Chapter 4.
Paul affirms that he has 7become a servant of this gospel according to the gift of the grace of God that God gave him by the working of divine power. We see another part of his identity as a Christian. We rightly look back to Paul with admiration and respect for the dramatic change that occurred in his life and the influence he had, and continues to have, upon the church. Yet, he looked upon himself as a humble servant or slave of the mission of God and the mission of the church. He admits that he is 8the very least of all the saints. He is also one untimely born (I Corinthians 15:8) and the chief of sinners (I Timothy 1:15). His point is that the source of his authority is in his surrender to and serving the gracious initiatives of God in Christ. He stresses that God gave him this grace in order to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make everyone see (photisai, to make see or bring to light, to enlighten, to illuminate, making it part of the revelation he has received). What he desires people to perceive is the plan (oikonomia stewardship) of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. We see yet another part of the identity Paul had as a Christian. Paul could see that behind his present circumstances, God has summoned him to be part of a larger plan. Paul understood himself to be an agent of that plan. Among Jewish writers of the time, this notion of mystery as a secret divine plan revealed at some critical moment was common. The beauty of it is that this mystery is on “open secret.” You can be part of the plan. I can be part of that plan. In fact, the greatest plan of all, the plan of God for the world, involves people like you and me. Paul can refer to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages, but now God has disclosed it through prophetic writings and thus made known to Gentiles (Romans 16:25-7). He did not come to his readers to preach the mystery of God in lofty words (I Corinthians 2:1, 7-8). Jesus has given the disciples the mystery of the rule of God (Mark 4:11). Yet, the use of “mystery” here is more like the Thanksgiving Hymns found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The writer of the hymns thanks God for revealing mysteries to him so that he can then impart them to the members of the community. We find an almost mystical emphasis on the special role of the writer, whom God has chosen to be a vessel of the revelation of the divine mysteries. Such an element is also present in Ephesians. As something of an aside, this word becomes “sacrament” in Latin. In a sense, given the reflections in this passage, the church is the mystery or sacrament that God has revealed in Jesus Christ of the inclusion of Jew and Gentile. The basis for such a statement is that the church participates in Jesus Christ.[2] At some level, most of us know the world needs redemption. We know the world needs wisdom. If human beings are to experience salvation, it will not come from us … It will come from God. The point of all this is 10that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now make known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Paul will admit that the rulers of this age do not understand the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 2:7-9). Christ is the head of every ruler and authority, whom he disarmed (Colossians 2:10, 15). Who are such rulers and authorities? He could refer to the powers that fashion human history. He could refer to heavenly powers created for the sake of Christ whose function will end with the return of Christ.[3] They do not have a simple identification with political institutions. They are spiritual entities that inhabit the cosmos who visit good or ill upon people. In popular language, they are angels or demons. At times, political and spiritual powers will unite. The tendency in much of scholarship today is to demythologize this language and focus on the social and political structures. Everything he has written is 11in accordance with the eternal purpose that Paul has carried out in Christ Jesus, who is our Lord, 12in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence (II Corinthians 3:2-4) through faith in him.
Life has its mysterious qualities. It can take us time to receive the insight we need to live our lives in accord with the will and purpose of God. Paul himself needed a revelation to him about Christ that transformed him from one who opposed the church into one of the servants and saints of the church. The fact that Paul endured so much suffering in bringing the good news to others also shows how difficult it can be for people to hear the truth of the gospel. Paul understood that he is not the source of this insight. Rather, he simply conveys the revelation of God in Christ to others. Now that Paul sees, he wants to help other people see the gracious plan of God. What Paul wants people to see is the plan of God that still remains hidden from so many people. At one level, the salvation of humanity depends upon the revelation of the God of Israel in Jesus Christ. At another level, the gospel places Jew and Gentile on the same footing. Both depend upon the grace of God. Paul could think of himself as a steward of this message. Today, the tensions that remain between Jew/Israel and the rest of the world are testimony that for many people, the plan of God remains a mystery. Many “principalities and powers” exist to perpetuate the hostility between Jew and Gentile. Yet, this gospel message is for them as well, inviting them to receive the insight they need into the plan of God that will truly transform their lives.
Sue Halpern is an author with a passion for monarch butterflys, one that drives her new book Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly. Throwing herself fully into the subject, she hits the road and studies butterflies in Mexico with a "cowboy entomologist," tags and raises monarchs with her 8-year-old daughter at their home in the Adirondacks, and takes a glider ride to better understand the thermal forces that propel the butterflies for much of their journey. "Monarchs are not guided by memory," she explains, "since no single butterfly ever makes the round trip. Three or four generations separate those that spend one winter in Mexico from those that go there the next." A monarch butterfly born in August in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state, for instance, will fly all the way to Mexico, spend the winter there, and leave in March. Then it will fly north, laying eggs on milkweed along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Florida before dying. The butterflies born of those eggs will continue northward, breeding and laying more eggs along the way. So will their offspring. By August another monarch, four generations or so removed from the monarch that left New York for Mexico the previous summer, will emerge from its chrysalis and do the same thing. It will head south, aiming for a place it has never been, an acre or two of forest on the steep slopes of a particular mountain range. If you hike into those mountains, you can see monarch butterflies so heavy on the branches of the pine trees that the branches bend toward the ground. You see more butterflies than you ever dreamed possible, 20 or 30 million at a time. They take up every available place to roost. There are butterflies on your shoulders and shoes, butterflies in your hair. The clamor of butterfly wings is "as constant and irregular as surf cresting over rocks," says Halpern. It feels like a holy and blessed place.
Human beings do not have the ease that monarch butterflies seem to have of knowing the right community with whom to identify and knowing the direction they are to take their lives. Human beings have to figure these things out as they travel along the journey of life. We must give our identity its shape as we make our choices of what to say and of what to do.
This passage offers us some clues as to how Christians can think of their personal identity. We have been forming our identities from the beginning of our lives. We do things, or do not do things, because they reflect either conscious or unconscious needs or desires that already reflect whom we are and what we want to be. More pointedly, such rules may pull us back from whom we desire to be. Our lives are already following a rule, whether we have consciously chosen it or not, a rule that accomplishes something that we need, desire, or want, again, whether we are aware or not. If we are to grow our souls, we will need some type of structure. We need to look honestly at our character and our circumstances as we develop a realistic rule of life for this stage of our lives. If we are to be successful at incorporating a new structure in our lives, we will need to share with a friend or spiritual director and be part of the Body of Christ.
Why am I a Christian? Each Christian has a personal account of the relationships that lead one to identify as a Christian. Yet, it may also be healthy to pause and reflect upon the question. As Paul reflects upon his life and ministry, he may give us some clues as to how we can look upon our identity as Christians. We are learning new rules by which we live our lives.
First, Paul has a commission he has received from God (3:1-2). Paul wants his readers to know that he did not come across his profession and practice through his own intellectual or philosophical musings. You can read the account of Paul in Galatians 1 and of Luke in Acts 9. Paul the violent persecutor of the first Christians becomes the greatest advocate for Christ in the Gentile world.
Most of us, however, do not have that kind of lightning flash call from God. Instead, it usually comes more subtly, gradually and subversively. Our conversion might have including the loving influence of family, the preaching of a pastor, or the influence of a friend. We might be able to trace the patient working of the prevenient grace of God that brought us to faith in Christ. I hope we understand that it was not so much our efforts, but the grace of God, that called us to be children of God and united us to the Body of Christ.
Second, Paul believed that behind all circumstances was a divine meaning. He is a "prisoner of Jesus Christ" for the sake of the "Gentiles" (3.1). He goes on to explain how his work and his present circumstances are necessary for the larger purpose of bringing the good news to those outside of Judaism. We may have experienced imprisonment at certain times of our lives, or times when we lost our way. Like Paul, we need to see that behind the circumstances is a divine presence moving us toward a larger purpose.
Third, Paul believed God has a plan for the world. Paul expresses this "larger purpose" as the "mystery" of God's will, "a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (1:10). "Mystery" here is a word that implies a kind of secret plan that kings would make before going to battle. Paul understood himself to be an agent of that plan -- the one whose orders were to bring its revelation to the Gentiles (3:1-6). The beauty of it is that this mystery is on “open secret.” You can be part of the plan. I can be part of that plan. In fact, the greatest plan of all, the plan of God for the world, involves people like you and me. I find that amazing.
Do you do not think people care about trying to save at least some corner of the world? Just think of the huge interest in superhero movies ... from Thor, or The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, The Avengers, Spiderman or Superman. We love this stuff. We know the world needs redemption. We know the world needs wisdom. At some level, we know that if human beings are to experience salvation, it will not come from us … It will come from God. We do not believe in superheroes, but we do believe in God.
Fourth, Paul viewed himself as a servant or slave of the gospel. Paul is a prisoner, he is the least of all the saints, because he is a "servant" (v. 7). God has gifted him for this: "according to the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of his power" (3:7).
The "why" of Christian faith is all about the plan of God to reconcile the whole creation, remaking and renewing it in his image. Jesus himself spoke most often about the "Kingdom of God," or the reign and rule of God on the earth for the purpose of its transformation. Those who believe that God has called them also believe that God has given them a mission within God's own larger mission for the world.
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