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Ephesians 3:1-21

1This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5In 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: 6that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. 8Although 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, 9and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10so 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. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. 13I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

United We Stand, Part III

Tomorrow, on the liturgical calendar for our country, is a very important observance: April 15th, also known as “tax day.” I’m reminded of the story about a little boy who was saving up money to buy a bicycle. For two weeks, the little boy prayed that Jesus would send him $100. But nothing happened, so he decided to write Jesus a formal letter requesting the $100. He wasn’t sure where to address the envelope, but then he remembered a picture of Jesus hanging in the sanctuary of his church, with the letters “IHS” written underneath, which the pastor had explained were actually the first three letters of Jesus’ name in the Greek alphabet. Since it was a formal letter, the boy decided this would do, and he addressed the envelope to “IHS.” When the post office received the letter, they weren’t sure what “IHS” was, but since it was early April, they figured it must be IRS…and they sent his letter to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS agent who opened the letter was so impressed, touched, and amused that he decided to send this little boy a $20 bill, thinking this would seem like a lot of money to a little boy. When the little boy received the return letter, he was indeed delighted with the $20, and immediately sat down to write a thank-you note to Jesus. It said: Dear Jesus, Thank you very much for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason it got routed through the IRS and as usual, those jerks took 80%.

That joke doesn’t really have anything to do with today’s sermon, but if your tax return this year wasn’t all that you hoped it would be, know that at least you’re not alone!

Our scripture passage today, which is chapter 3 of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church, can be divided into three basic movements. In the first movement, verses 1-6, Paul articulates what he has already said in previous chapters: Basically, God is doing a new thing! What is this new thing? Remember that, prior to Jesus, God’s special relationship was with the Jewish people alone, but now (according to verse 6), “the Gentiles (or non-Jewish people) have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” That’s the new thing that God is doing—he’s throwing open the doors to everyone—and for us, that sounds like great news, because we are (like many of the Ephesians were) gentiles. Before we were on the outside looking in, but now we are part of the family.

It’s easy for us to forget, I think, that whenever you bring someone new into the family, it’s not always good news for everyone. For families with more than one child, you have experienced this: Why is that baby sleeping in MY old crib? Why do I have to share MY toys (and my parents) with this newcomer who cries all the time? Are my parents going to love this baby more than they love me?

And in the first century, it wasn’t just the Jewish Christians who felt uneasy about this new thing God was doing. The gentiles outside the church (mostly Greeks and Romans) also felt threatened by the new religion: The Jews had mostly kept to themselves, but these new Jewish Christians are converting our sons and daughters, stealing them away from our established religious customs and laws. That’s why Paul is writing this letter from prison. He was considered a “rabble rouser” by the Roman government, and they locked him up in order to try to prevent him from preaching the gospel to the gentiles.

But for Paul, preaching to the gentiles is more than “rabble rousing.” It is his calling. In the second movement of chapter 3 (verses 7-13) he affirms that, “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.” In other words, God has chosen Paul for this purpose, for this pivotal moment in the life of the church—regardless of the consequences. In verse 13, he says to his congregation, “I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.”

These are bold words. We sometimes look at suffering and setbacks as evidence that God has abandoned us, or worse yet, that God doesn’t exist. But for Paul, suffering and setbacks can also be signs of God’s glory, signs of progress, signs that God’s plan is working.

Change does not come without a cost. In fact, it usually causes division before it creates unity.

When I came to First Presbyterian Church over a decade ago, I had grand illusions about what my special calling would be. I thought I would be a “great uniter” bringing new people into the church and uniting them with the saints of old. And that plan would have worked out great… as long as the new people coming into the church were exactly like the people who were already here—or at least willing to conform to all of our pre-existing ideas about what kind of songs a “good Christian” is supposed to sing, what they’re supposed to say, what they’re supposed to look like, and what kind of lifestyle they are supposed to live. Basically, just like in Paul’s day: You can be part of God’s covenant, but only if you convert to Judaism first, and get yourself circumcised like all the rest of us.

When I came to First Presbyterian Church church over a decade ago, the issue that most divided us—that had divided our church for almost 20 years—was same-sex marriage, and whether or not we should welcome gay people. And I don’t mean welcoming them just as silent guests in the pews, but fully, as members and leaders and valued voices in our family.

It was a highly divisive issue, much more so back then than it would seem today. I remember one day when five long-standing church members marched into my office with an ultimatum. They were among the most prominent members of our community, and their combined annual donations amounted to about 50% of the total church budget. And they said, “If you let THEM in, we will leave…and take our donations with us.”

Change does not come without a cost. And it creates division before it creates unity.

I can’t take full credit for the decision that our church leadership ultimately made. Like all Presbyterian decisions, it was a shared one, made by the elected officers of the church. But it was a bold and decisive one. And when I read Ephesians, I think it’s the decision that the Apostle Paul would have made, were he living and preaching in our context today. We threw open the doors, because we believed that God was doing a new thing. Actually, it was a very old thing, as the Bible attests in Ephesians and many other places. We welcomed new people and entirely new kinds of families into our family… and we said goodbye to some old ones, too. Thankfully, none of us wound up in prison, but there was a lot of hand-wringing and anxiety when we had to put together the church budget. We had to make difficult decisions; we had to change some time-honored traditions.

Change does not come without a cost. And it creates division before it creates unity.

But ten years later, I can say with Paul, it was entirely worth it, SO THAT (verse 10) “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.” That phrase “rich variety” is the NRSV translation of the Greek word πολυποίκιλος (poly-poikilos). You know what it means? It literally means “multi-colored”… like a rainbow. We endure suffering and setbacks so that through the church, God’s multi-colored wisdom might be made known. And we are made better, stronger, and more unified in the long run because of that wisdom.

That was ten years ago. I don’t know what God is calling us to next. I don’t know who is on the outside looking in today, or what changes and sacrifices we’ll need to make in order to welcome them in. But I am confident that if we watch and listen, we keep following in the footsteps of our savior and our sacred scriptures, we’ll recognize our moment, our purpose, our calling, when it comes.

The final movement of Ephesians chapter 3 (verses 14 through 21) is a prayer for strength and courage in times of difficult and sustained change that Paul knows the Ephesian church will continue to face: “For this reason,” says Paul, “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom EVERY family in heaven and on earth takes its name. “

Please bow your heads with me and let Paul’s words be our concluding prayer today—for the challenges and changes we will undoubtedly face in our church, and for those you are facing in your own lives:

“I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”