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1-1-2012 Ephesians 3: 1-12 "New Year's
Resolution: Pray Merry Christmas! Does that sound a bit strange? Would “Happy New Year” be more in keeping with your expectations? Certainly, that’s what the world is saying. The world has already forgotten about Christmas. The shopping frenzy is over. The decorations have come down, most of the unwanted gifts have been returned, and people are looking for to something new. “It’s time to ring in the New Year,” we say. But in the church it is still Christmas. We are only half way through the twelve day season. On the calendar of the church Christmas lasts from December 25th until January 6th, the day of Epiphany. That will be Friday this year, but many Christian churches will celebrate Epiphany, today, the Sunday before the actual day. Before I continue, let’s pause for a word of prayer. PRAYLet’s think for a moment about Epiphany? Does that word have any meaning for you or is it just another one of those strange words we use in church? If you looked at the bulletin cover you may have made the connection between the word Epiphany and the story about the wise men or Magi – strange visitors who came to honor the Savior’s birth. The story is found in the second chapter of Matthew. The wise men were most likely astrologers from ancient Persia. They witnessed a celestial phenomenon, a bright new star in the eastern sky. Surely, they thought, such a dramatic heavenly sign must signal the birth of a great king. They were so fascinated by this new discovery that they determined to follow the star wherever it led. Their journey brought them to Jerusalem and to the court of King Herod. From there they made their way to the tiny village of Bethlehem and they found the child with Mary his mother. You remember the story. But what does this story have to do with Epiphany? The word epiphany means appearance or appearing and often refers to a divine appearance, a manifestation of God. When God took on human flesh and came to earth in the form of Jesus Christ, that was an Epiphany! Jesus was the manifestation of God in human form. His appearance was recognized by wise men who studied the heavens. When they saw a new star in the east they believed it was an epiphany. And that epiphany was confirmed when they saw the child in his mother’s arms. The shepherds had an epiphany experience when the angels appeared to them announcing the birth of Jesus. Their experience was confirmed when they saw the child lying in a manger. Remember Simeon and Anna, two elderly people at the temple in Jerusalem? They each had an epiphany experience when they encountered Jesus with his parents. Whenever we encounter the presence of God, whenever we experience the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our midst, that moment of recognition is an epiphany. It’s like a light bulb going off in our brain – a moment when we say to ourselves “ah ha”, this is for real. The story of the wise men has special significance because they were the only outsiders in the Christmas story. They were the only non-Jews to witness the epiphany of Jesus’ birth. Even though they were not Jewish God appeared to them through a star and led them to the Christ child. On Epiphany Sunday, we are reminded that through Jesus Christ, God chose to reveal himself not only to his chosen people, the Jews, but to the entire world, to all people. Through Jesus Christ, all people have access to God. Through Jesus Christ, all people may receive forgiveness for their sins and be made whole by faith. In God’s family all people are welcome. There are no outsiders. For, as Paul reminds us, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That brings us to our lesson for today. In his letter to the Ephesians Paul talks about the mystery of Christ. The mystery revealed through Jesus Christ is that all people have access to God through him. Paul, a devout Jew who set out to persecute every follower of Jesus, had an epiphany experience. It happened on the road to Damascus. Paul was blinded by light and heard the voice of God. Paul would later recount how Jesus appeared to him, confronted him with his sins, and saved him by grace. Paul was amazed that Christ would save him and that Christ would use him to spread the message of God’s salvation throughout the Roman Empire. Then Paul says the most amazing thing – the most outlandish thing. It is down there in verses 9 and 10. Paul says that a part of his calling, a part of his mission, is “to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so 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.” The epiphany of God came in the form of Jesus Christ. The mystery of God was revealed, made known to humankind, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And now this wisdom of God, this plan of God for the salvation of the world, is to be made known through the church. The church is God’s chosen instrument for ongoing epiphany. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it. God has a plan to save the world. That is the reason, the only reason he sent Jesus to earth. And now God expects us to carry out his plan, to spread the message, to communicate the Good News to every corner of the globe. In Paul’s day, most churches were still house churches, little bands of believers meeting in homes. And, yet, Paul could see that through the efforts and through the faith of those few believers God was making an appearance. Through those small bands of Christians, the Good News of the Gospel would eventually spread and reach up even to the heavens. When Paul talks about rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, he usually means the forces of evil that oppose the will of God. Paul is saying that when the church is faithful, when the church lives out its calling to be the body of Christ, we will rise triumphantly with Christ to overcome all the powers of the universe. That’s what Jesus meant when he said “the gates of Hell will not prevail against [the church]”. The church exists to make known how great God’s plan of salvation is – both to people on earth and to powers beyond the earth. This gives an unparalleled importance to the church. Did Paul think the early church was perfect? No, not at all! Paul knew better than that. Just read through his letters and you will see how often Paul became exasperated with the problems in the early church. But Paul could see that if God could use him with all his faults and failings, then somehow in the mystery of God, the church can also be an instrument of God’s grace to the world. Have you ever stopped to wonder at the marvel of God’s creation that we call the church? The creation of heaven and earth is a wonder. We all stand in amazement at the wonder of the world around us. We humans are certainly a marvel of God’s creation. God created us with the freedom to respond to Him or to rebel against our creator. That’s a marvel we can hardly comprehend. But marvel of marvels, God, in Christ, searches for us even when we rebel. God pleads with us to return home. God pours out unlimited love on us until we respond to him in love and obedience. Then God forgives us completely, restores us to wholeness, and gives us a fresh start. We are reborn, recreated to be a new people – a people called to live together in a relationship of love and forgiveness with one another – and that’s the church. Oh, sometimes we struggle with each other. We make mistakes when we take matters into our own hands. We are far from perfect. But when the church is true to her being, Christ is present. His love flows from our life together. His forgiveness is expressed in the relationships we have with each other and with the world around us. His justice and mercy are made visible in our ministry and mission to “the least of those” around us. The church at its best makes God visible to the world. And when God is visible, that is epiphany! So how do we live into God’s vision for the church? It starts with you and me. After all, we are the church. If the church is to be strong, you and I must be strong. If the church is to be relevant to the world around us, you and I must be relevant. If the church is to set the example of love and grace in our community, you and I must set that example. If you have been thinking about making a resolution for the New Year, let me suggest one. How about if each one of us resolved to improve our spiritual fitness over the next twelve months? However, a resolution without a plan is merely a wish. If we want to be physically fit we need a plan. We must get serious about diet and exercise. We must embrace a required discipline and stick with it. The same is true in our spiritual life. We can increase our capacity to absorb God’s grace, but we need a plan. We have muscles that medical science has yet to discover. We have a faith muscle and the more we nurture and exercise our faith, the stronger God makes it. We begin by trusting God in some small way, and as we begin to live in faith, our faith becomes stronger. As we nurture our faith through study and worship and as we exercise our faith through acts of love and kindness, our faith is renewed and strengthened. I pray that this year will be a year in which we grow together in faith. That’s my prayer for the New Year. And that’s another muscle. We have a prayer muscle. The more we nurture and exercise it, the more God allows us to grow in prayer. At first, we can hardly think of anything to say to God, but in time we learn to pry open the doors of our heart and invite God inside. When we first start to pray, we may not hear anything but our own buzzing thoughts, but with practice we learn to hear God’s voice. If we are going to grow in faith this year, we need to exercise our prayer muscles. I promise to pray for you and I need for you to pray for me and for my family. If we are to grow as a church, we need to flex our prayer muscles. We can continue the analogy. There are muscles for service and praise; there are muscles for worship and patience and understanding and discernment. God has given us all the muscles we need to live physically, and all the spiritual muscles we need to live powerfully, boldly, and joyfully. Through Christ, we have access to the growth and maturity that will carry us beyond our present limits. God appeared in Jesus Christ twenty centuries ago and God continues to appear through his body, the church. That’s Epiphany. It happens when we are faithful, when we are committed, when we live each day in the light of the star that appeared so long ago. Will you join me as we begin this New Year? Will you join me as we strive to be the Church – the people of God who reflect the light of Christ to the world? That is our calling! Let’s make a plan together! Amen
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