Follow the Leader

Matthew 4: 12-23

            Remember playing “Follow the Leader” as a child? First a leader is chosen. Then everyone lines up behind the leader.  As the leader does different things, the children have to mimic those actions. If they don’t, they’re out of the game.  “Simon Says” is a similar game. Simon says to do something and you do it. Why? Because Simon says so. You just try to do what you’re told, go where you’re led, imitate what you see.

          An AP news release in July, 2005, tells of a herd of sheep that was allowed to wander off on the wrong trail. The Turkish shepherds had left their herds to graze while they gathered for breakfast. What happened next is hard to speak of. The first sheep climbed the hill as the rest of the herd lined up and followed behind him. Now, the stunned shepherds watched helplessly as that first sheep came to the edge of the cliff and walked off. Nearly 1500 others leapt off the same cliff. The first 450 sheep died under the pile created by falling bodies. Professor Tim Laniak tells us that “it is the curious behavior of sheep that once one picks a trail, the rest simply follow the tail in front of them with no regard for their destination.”

          The calling of the first disciples is told in different ways in the Gospels. In Matthew and Mark, the stories are practically identical, except for Matthew’s addition of a passage from Isaiah which helps Matthew illustrate that these events in Galilee were the fulfillment of Scripture. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is out in the fishing boat with Peter and Andrew and, on his instruction, they let down their nets and take in a great catch after a night of catching nothing. In John, Peter and Andrew are in Judea when Jesus is baptized. But John does not actually say that these two men are called to be Jesus’ disciples while there. He just reports their meeting Jesus. It may  be that Andrew and Peter were just down in Judea to check out the ministry of John the Baptist, and that they met Jesus during that trip. If so, this might help to explain how they were able to leave their fishing business so suddenly to follow Jesus’ invitation. Perhaps they had already spent time with Jesus in Judea. We cannot be sure of the sequence of events from our reading of the Gospels.

What we can be sure of is this: not only Peter and Andrew, but also James and John left their livelihoods on little to no notice to follow this man Jesus. They were promised nothing, except that they were trading in their security and everything they knew to follow this very compelling man to places unknown at distances unannounced to evangelize people for his message. By most measurements, it looked to be a fool’s errand.

And yet, they followed him. Can you imagine the look on Zebedee’s face when his two sons quit mending their nets, got out of the boat and left their father to follow Jesus? We don’t know the family situation of Peter and Andrew. Apparently, Peter was or had been married. But Peter’s wife is never mentioned in Scripture. Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus rebuked the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law. So it is speculated that at the time he met Jesus, Peter was a widower. Even so, the decisions of Peter and the others to quit their livelihoods and follow Jesus were huge.

What are the big decisions of your life? For some, it is going to college rather than getting that first job, or vice versa, or leaving home for a dormitory or an apartment. For others, it is enlisting in the armed forces. Not long after, it may be proposals, engagements or starting a family. Job opportunities sometimes take us far away. Cindy and I have daughters in other states and on other continents as they follow their dreams, sometimes to the ends of the earth. We have a son who has flown into harm’s way in Somalia. I find myself in seminary and commuting to this church some seventy miles from home when all my friends are retiring. Big decisions come in many ways and at many ages and stages of our lives. It is an inconvenient truth that for almost all these decisions, we are inadequately prepared.

          How do we know? How do we prepare for these life changing decisions? Will our parents teach us? Will we learn it in school? Is there a textbook or a handout that we should read? Yes…and no. Yes, most times, our parents try very hard to teach us. But parents age. They get cautious. They don’t want to see us hurt. Yes, we are taught ethics and civics in school and those courses help us in our decision making. But that is the stuff of textbooks and classrooms and we all know that out there in real life, sometimes there is no time to check the book before we make a decision. Besides, where is a book that gives you the answer to the question: “What should I do with my life?”

          Do you know anyone outside God’s circle? If you do, and you’re not talking about yourself, then that means you’re on the “inside.” If you’re on the inside, then you already know something about God’s love. You already get those feelings that you are not alone, that there is a reason for what you do and why you’re here. If you have those kinds of thoughts, then you understand something about what was going through the minds of those four young men that day when Jesus called them to follow him. Something inside them told them he was the kind of leader they could trust. It would be very hard to explain to their parents and families, but something deep inside called them to go, to follow this leader. Peter and Andrew left their boat and followed Jesus, not because of the adventure he promised, though they certainly were to have plenty of adventures along the way. James and John quit mending their nets and left their father standing there not because they wanted to get out of the fishing business. In fact, they spent the rest of their lives fishing. Those men left because something inside them told them they had to go. They had to roll the dice on this man from Nazareth. It’s the same kind of risk taking that puts a man on his knee in front of his girlfriend with a ring in his hand. It’s the same look I have seen in my own daughter’s eyes when she tries to describe why she lives in a land so far away to minister to strangers. She follows, and in her following, inevitably she must lead.

          Jesus called them to come and help him fish for men. He chose to start his ministry in Galilee, a region that Isaiah called Galilee of the Gentiles. He also said its people dwelled in darkness. But then old Isaiah went on to say that a great light was to dawn on those people dwelling in the darkness. It was an unlikely place to start a ministry aimed first at the Jews. But that’s the way that God is, isn’t it? Our God and Savior is always about doing the unlikely. For him, that’s the order of the day.

          Christians know the light that Isaiah was talking about. He is Joseph and Mary’s Jesus. He is the disciples’ Teacher. He is John’s Word. He is our Savior. Somehow, Peter and Andrew and James and John caught a whiff of that heavenly scent. They couldn’t’ resist it, and neither should we.

          Remember the story of the one lost sheep, how it was celebrated when it was found? The Prodigal Son was the same. It is the lost that our Savior came to claim, and just like those parables, he claims them one by one. When they wander off the path and lose their way, he is there to rescue them and keep them safe. He is the shepherd that brings us back, sometimes even when we don’t yet know how lost we really are.

How compelling! No wonder that those young men followed Jesus. He is the Great Shepherd. None of us will ever be like that. But we can help. Shepherds use sheepdogs to guard their flocks, to help keep the sheep safe. Tim Laniak tells the story of a Vietnam veteran who said this. “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.  Then there are the wolves, and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” The vet thought of himself as a sheepdog. He said, “I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”  I like that. I can be a sheepdog. It’s a marginal role, but I can help. I can help protect the flock.

          Big decisions. They almost always come at us with little notice and not enough preparation. But following God is the biggest decision of all. It is the decision upon which all other decisions are based. For Peter and his friends, it meant leaving home. For my daughter, it meant going to East Africa. For me, it has meant laying doing the role of leader and once again being willing to follow, no matter where that leads.

By the way, there really is a book that answers the question: “What should I do with my life.” It’s called the Bible. 2 Timothy 2: 15 gives us all the answer we really need, where it says to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth…”

          I started this message talking about a game, the game of Follow the Leader. Now I’m thinking of another game. It’s called Lost and Found. I know what it’s like to be lost. That’s a dark place that I never want to see again. Thanks to God’s grace, I also know what it’s like to be found! For that feeling, I’ll go anywhere, but I’ll have to do it on faith. The disciples had faith. It wasn’t fully developed, but it was there. That’s all Jesus needs from you. When your Lord calls, you probably won’t know exactly what to do or how to act. That’s okay. Just say yes. He’ll fill in the blanks for you as you go along.

Let us pray

1/26/14

Taking the Second Place

John 1: 19-42

            The Bible contains many great characters, many role models for us. The Old Testament is loaded with patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets. The New Testament has the Twelve Apostles, Paul, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and, of course, Jesus. Jesus is the great example for all mankind, but there are others. We are all familiar with the most famous, like Abraham, Moses and David, like Peter and John and Paul. But there are others, many others, without whose help the greatest story ever told might not be so clear, might not have been presented with as much definition. Let’s look for a moment at a couple of those stories.

          The Baptist was one strange package. His given name was John. He was a cousin of Jesus. He seemed to know Jesus without even having to see him. Remember the story in Luke of him leaping in his mother’s womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit Elizabeth? Even then, John seemed to be able to sense the presence of Jesus.  John was the son of Zechariah, a Levite priest, which made him a member of the priestly tribe and entitled to a place in the priesthood. When he was grown, he exercised that right, but in a most strange way. He lived in the wilderness of Judea. He ate bugs and wild honey and he wore a camel’s hair coat tied around him by a leather thong. He looked as wild as the animals he slept with in that wilderness. And when he came in to the area around the Jordan, he preached repentance and he baptized not only Gentiles, but also Jews. What in the world! God’s people needed no baptism. That was for new believers, not for God’s chosen!

          Andrew was one of those disciples that followed John the Baptist. Andrew was a fisherman by trade. He worked in the family business up in Galilee with his older brother Simon. Simon was a big guy who spoke his mind early and often. Andrew? Well, he was Simon’s brother.  That’s how he was known to most everyone…the brother of Simon. At the time when Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist, Andrew was there and saw what took place.

          John’s ministry worried church leaders. Priests and Levites and Pharisees came out to see John at work. They questioned him. Who are you? they asked. Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet? All these had been prophesied in Scripture. John’s response three times was no. John’s answer was this: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord.”

          John’s answer was theologically loaded. Think about it. John’s gospel was written some sixty years after Christ went to the cross, and it is filled with imagery…imagery that helps us see the identity of our Savior in a whole new light. John’s gospel introduces us to Jesus metaphorically. “In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word came and dwelt among us,” says John’s gospel. Then John the Baptist says “I am the voice.” John’s voice presents the Word. John is the voice, but it is Jesus who is the Word. It is John’s job to present, to announce, to make straight the way. His place is second. Jesus is the main event.

          Our passage tells us that Andrew and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist followed Jesus after his baptism. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, John does not describe Jesus’ baptism, but it is implicit that it has occurred. Jesus notices these men and asks “What are you seeking?” They do not answer but they ask where Jesus is staying. This is a roundabout way to see if they can spend time with him and Jesus says “Come and you will see.” Andrew hears Jesus. Andrew believes. Andrew proclaims. The upshot of their visit is that Andrew goes off to find his brother Simon to announce whom they have found. In Hebrew, it is Messiah. In Greek, it is Christ. In both languages, the words mean Anointed One. Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus, a task for which he will be remembered. Jesus takes one look at Simon and changes his name to Cephas, which means Peter and translates as “Rock.” Immediately, Andrew’s role is subjugated to that of Peter. Andrew later finds the lad with loaves and fish and brings him to Jesus. Andrew has acquired a second title to go with “brother of Peter.” He is Andrew the bringer. It is Andrew’s job to bring. His place is second. Jesus, or Peter, or the feeding of the five thousand; they are the main event.

          Some of us may remember either the book I Am Third or the movie Brian’s Song, both about Chicago Bears halfback Gale Sayers and his friend and teammate Brian Piccolo. It is a touching story about the relationship of two pro football players and roommates. Sayers was a sensation, though injury cut his career short. Piccolo was an undersized long shot who carved out a place on the Bears roster with sheer determination. His career was also cut short, but not by injury. Brian Piccolo died young from cancer. In 1970, Gale Sayers accepted an award as the most courageous player of the year, having fought through a potential career ending leg injury to play again. On the night of Sayers’ acceptance speech, Piccolo was lying in a hospital bed dying. Sayers dedicated the trophy to Piccolo, calling him the most courageous man he had ever met. Sayers looked out at the audience and said “I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too. He is the definition of courage.” Sayers’ book recited his priorities in life: God is first, friends are second, and I am third. It was Gale Sayers’ job not to just blindly accept the fame and the accolades, but rather to point to the real source of all that courage. His friendship with Brian Piccolo had helped him to realize that taking second place to God is an awfully nice position to be in.

          In this passage, John the Baptist seems to say that he knows his cousin Jesus, but that he does not comprehend his real identity. Then John receives a sign. A dove descends and remains on Jesus. That is the sign that John was promised and he knows. John goes on to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah three times. Once John understands, he puts his career aside and proclaims the Messiah. In a similar way, Andrew follows Jesus and spends time with him. When Andrew leaves from his encounter with Jesus, there is no doubt. He too proclaims the identity of the man from Nazareth as Messiah. When one reads or watches the Gale Sayers story, the message comes to Sayers through his teammate’s witness. Each of them is about the business of finding Messiah. Who is he? What does he mean for us? For our lives and our destinies? What does it mean to find Messiah?

          For one thing, it means that we must take second place. When we find Messiah, we must realize who is first in our lives. When we find Messiah, we want to live the lives that our Savior has bought for us. When we find Messiah, we see him as John the Baptist saw him, as the Lamb of God, the one who is without blemish, the one who will sacrifice himself for us and redeem us from our sins.

          When we find Messiah, we should do as John did. John made the Lord’s path straight. It should be no different for us today as we witness for our Savior. We should spend time helping to clear away the obstacles that keep people from coming to Jesus. We need to proclaim him as our Lord and to clear any path we can for our friends to find him for themselves.  We need to put aside self, and we need to witness. D.A. Carson, referring to Andrew going to find his brother the minute he left Jesus, says this: [Andrew] “thus became the first in a long line of successors who have discovered that the most common and effective Christian testimony is the private witness of friend to friend, brother to brother.”

          Andrew came upon Jesus and Jesus said to him: “What are you seeking?” I tell you, friends, that which you already know all too well. If you have not yet found Jesus and invited him into your life, then you are living for yourself first and you are still seeking. What are you seeking? You need to do as John and Andrew and Gale and Brian did. Take the second place. Put Jesus first. It is not what, but whom, you seek, that will change your life. Jesus said to those disciples on the road that day: “Come and you will see.” And they did. You can too. Take the second place. Find Messiah and let him in your life to stay!

Let us pray

1/19/14

Chosen As Witnesses

Acts 10: 34-43

            As wild and crazy as Peter’s world was those three years he left the fishing business to follow Jesus, it got a whole lot crazier after Pentecost. Peter found himself thrust into the vortex of a sea change first called the Way, later called Christianity. Peter was on the horns of the biggest spiritual movement in history. His involvement was guided by his love and belief in Jesus as his savior and by the indwelling of the promised Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

          In the tenth chapter of Acts, Peter is at the home of Cornelius the Centurion. That is, very early in the birth stages of the Church, one of its greatest leaders finds himself hanging out at a Gentile’s house. Talk about getting off the script! But Peter, never one to think too long before he spoke, had his marching orders in the form of a vision. So for at least the third time starting at Pentecost, Peter gives a sermon that is partially preserved for us in Acts. This time the sermon is given in the home of that Gentile to a Gentile audience. It would be sort of like President Obama giving the keynote speech to the Republican Convention. Peter could not have been in a more awkward position and yet, both Peter and probably Cornelius too were not so surprised at this turn of events. They were among the first to begin to see the extent of the message with which Jesus had charged his disciples.

          Luke, our doctor/evangelist/reporter, says this: “So Peter opened his mouth and said: Truly I understand…” Well, I’m already in envy of Peter. He starts his sermon with the words “Truly I understand.” That must be nice. There are many times when I read the scriptures that I would give anything to say those words. But you know what? Peter did. He got it. He had been given a vision and he understood that the titles were superfluous, that the words Jew and Gentile were just ID cards and not season passes, that the boundaries were to be torn down. Peter, the simple fisherman from Galilee, had been chosen by God to not only get the message but to pass it forward.

          So Peter opened his mouth. This is a phrase used by both Matthew and Luke to indicate that a weighty utterance is about to follow. But it’s also good advice. Peter had something to say, something important. God had laid it on his heart. So Peter opened his mouth. If God has laid something on your heart, then don’t keep it a secret. Open your mouth. God will give the words you need.

          What is it that Peter truly understood? What Luke gives us is surely just a capsule of what Peter said that day. But what a capsule! Look at the pearls that Peter was dropping: “God shows no partiality…God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power…He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed… God raised him on the third day…He appeared to us chosen as witnesses…” The risen Jesus “commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”  We can’t know for sure but when Peter says people here, he is probably referring to the Jews.

          Peter ended his sermon by saying that the prophets of old testify to the risen Lord. Then, his speech took a major turn. He said that everyone who believes in him (Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins. He also said that the Old Testament prophets bear witness to this. Now, Peter is not talking about the Jews. Now, Peter has brought this giant eraser to the blackboard. He erases all the lines, all the fences, every distinction from race to class to color. He draws one line. On one side are those who believe in Christ and his message. On the other side are those who don’t believe. Those assembled in that room in the house of the Gentile Centurion that day must have been blown away. This was revolutionary news! Peter was announcing that the doors to God’s kingdom were open to all and that the keys to that kingdom lay not in the hands of some arbitrary gatekeepers but in our own hearts. Wow!

          Do you think that sermon had much effect on all those Romans gathered there that day? Luke says that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. Believers in the room were amazed. Peter baptized all who asked. Only one question was asked. Do you believe?

          It’s hard today, especially for Christians who hear the Bible read week in, week out with no real passion, to get the spirit of what was going on at Cornelius’s house. But it was huge and it was revolutionary. Peter is just beginning to get it, The Holy Spirit has been working in him and he has eaten and drunk with the risen Jesus. He has seen Jesus bodily ascend into the clouds. He has waited with the others for the visiting of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And now, he is out there, trying to do what that exploding desire in his heart is guiding him to do. He has courage like never before. He has words coming into his mouth that don’t seem to belong to him. And now, he has had a vision, a dream. Nothing will ever be the same. Remember, this is years before Paul appears on the scene articulating his great message to the Gentiles. Peter is out there by himself. Later, when he goes back up to Jerusalem to face all the skeptics and the Jewish Christians, he can only say to them in defense of his actions that if God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles the same as he did to the Jews, then who was he to stand in God’s way?

          Peter should have taken just a little credit. Not only did he not stand in God’s way, he also stood for God’s way! When Peter felt the Holy Spirit moving within him, Peter moved with it. Peter opened his mouth and said “Truly I understand…”

          Peter says that God made Jesus to appear, not to all the people but to us chosen by God as his witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. Is Peter talking about the apostles? Of course. But there were more disciples of Jesus than just the Twelve. There were eight post resurrection appearances of Jesus mentioned in Scripture. One of those appearances was to more than five hundred people. They also were chosen by God as witnesses. They too ate and drank with him, if not in person then in spirit. Acts 2 tells us that the new church attended the temple together, breaking bread in their homes, praising God and having favor with all the people, and that God added to their number daily. The people of God are everywhere. And everywhere they are, they are chosen as God’s witnesses.

          Today, in this assembly, we ordain a new elder. He will further his witness in this new way. But his witness started long ago. Today, that witness expands. Is that not what God intends for each of us?

          Writing in the middle of the fifth century, some one thousand years before the Reformation and its doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, Pope Leo I (usually known as Leo the Great) says this about ministry within the church:

                    The sign of the Cross makes all those who are born

again in Christ kings, and the anointing of the Holy

Spirit consecrates them all as priests.

Leo the Great went on to say that though each of us may be called to some particular service of ministry, all Christians belong to and share in the priestly office of Christ. He refers in large part to our man Peter, who says in 1 Peter 2:9 that believers are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. The challenge that follows Peter’s declaration is equally important: “that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

          We are Christians. We are a royal priesthood, a chosen race. And in that choice lies our calling. We are, all of us, called to witness! For us, Jesus is not just a figure in a book or a great historical teacher. He is our Savior! He is a living presence and we eat and drink with him every time we come into this assembly for Holy Communion or sit down to the supper table and invoke his blessing upon our meal. Jesus is not a memory. He is a living presence and we are called to witness to that saving presence in not only our lives, but in the lives of all who would draw near to hear and accept the good news.

          And you thought you were just a homemaker. Or a nurse. Or a contractor. That’s’ your vehicle! Use it. Use it to witness, for you have been chosen!

Let us pray

1/12/14

The Mystery Revealed

Ephesians 3: 1-12

This is the week that many Christians celebrate the Epiphany. The Greek Orthodox branch of Christianity celebrates it the twelfth day after Christmas…the time commonly assigned as the arrival of the Magi to see the Christ child. Much of the Protestant Church views Epiphany as occurring at the baptism of Jesus. Perhaps more important than the timing is the meaning.  What’s the Epiphany all about? Well, Epiphany is the rough equivalent of “revelation.” The revelation here is that God has come to earth…that Christ is to be our salvation. All the Gospels and Paul’s letters talk about this “good news,” that God’s Son has come to earth t save us.

          Of course, Paul had his own epiphany on the road to Damascus. It changed everything for him.  The great persecutor of Christians became the great evangelist to the Gentiles. Epiphany is big. It’s not just a new thought. It’s an eye-opening, big bang, life changing realization. That’s why Christians celebrate the Epiphany, whether it’s the wise men coming to see Jesus or Jesus’ baptism by John. Either way, it’s a life changing recognition to see Jesus as our Savior, the path to our salvation.

          Seminary professors are careful with the word “revelation.” They consider it a term of art. For instance, general revelation is the kind of revelation Paul talks about in Romans 1:21, where he says that anyone can see there is a God just by looking at the world. Creation had to have an author. It couldn’t just happen. There is also special revelation, the Word of God, both living and written. In other words, special revelation takes either the form of Jesus or the Bible. In either case, that special revelation is complete. So in that sense, there is no more revelation. All has been revealed. I buy that. But like Paul, I too have had an epiphany or two. I suspect you have too. So to me, revelation can be both a term of art and a term we use to describe a huge, life changing discovery in our own lives.

In his letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians, Paul talks about the mystery of Christ. Both passages involve the Gentiles, though they are slightly different in their result. In Colossians, the mystery is that Christ is in us, and in that indwelling lies our hope of glory for ourselves. In Ephesians, that mystery focused on the truth of heirship… that Christ came for all who would believe and not just for the Jews, that you and I are fellow heirs. I like the NIV translation here, for it uses the term “together’ three times in the same sentence: heirs together, members together and sharers together. We come from God, we are part of the body of Christ and we claim the same promise.

Paul talks about the mystery that has now been revealed…that Gentiles are included in God’s promise of salvation. Paul seems to say that when the Colossians read this letter, they can perceive that mystery of Christ, not previously made known to mankind, but now made known through the apostles and prophets and revealed by God’s spirit. So Paul and his fellow apostles have had a revelation; they have had an epiphany. They now see the mystery of Christ, which is that we Gentiles are to be included in God’s kingdom if we believe. 

I think this is one of those passages that must be read carefully and in light of Paul’s audience, a group of newly converted Gentiles. His purpose was to keep them in the straight and narrow and reinforce their tender faith. And Paul uses one of those little two letter words that can be so important. He says that the mystery wasn’t known in the past as it has now been revealed. He doesn’t say it wasn’t known, but he does qualify the nature of that knowledge. Think about the words from the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” As tells us the nature of the act.

Why is that two letter word so important? Because not recognizing it will take you off in the wrong direction. Paul wasn’t saying that no one in the past understood that the Gentiles were part of the kingdom of God. He couldn’t have been saying that. He knew the Scriptures. He knew Genesis 12:3, where God promises Abraham that “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” He knew the story of Jonah, where God sent Jonah to the Gentile Assyrians in order to convert them. Paul knew, as we should know, that from the beginning, God’s compassion for his creation has been boundless. It was never limited to the Jews. They were God’s instrument to help reveal his identity, not just to them, but to all the world.

In this passage, Paul makes another reference to mystery when he talks about the plan of the mystery in verse 9. He talks about God’s eternal purpose being realized in Christ, through whom salvation is made possible. The mystery to which Paul refers is that God had a plan from before the beginning of time, that salvation was just as much part of that plan as was creation.  This is God’s wisdom, so much higher and deeper than ours that it took centuries for us to be prepared for the message contained in the coming of Jesus. It took centuries more for us to begin to put it all together. The mystery has indeed been revealed, but even in its revelation lies a truth so deep that it is hard to lay claim to. And yet, that is precisely what Jesus calls us to do. His last words to his disciples in the book of Matthew were to go, to teach and to baptize. That mandate was directed not to the Jewish nation, but to all the world.

How important is it to have perspective? Here’s an example. A college coed writes home:

Dear Mom and Dad, just a quick note to get you up to speed. I’ve fallen in love with Jim. He quit high school to get married. He’s been divorced about a year now. We’ve been going steady about 2 months and plan to get married next fall. I think I’ll move in with him ‘til then. I might be in a family way. Anyway, I dropped out last week, but would like to go back sometime.

Page 2: Everything I’ve written to you so far is false. But…it is true that I got a C in French and flunked math. Also, it’s time to pay tuition again.

         

          That young coed knew how to give her parents perspective. When we read Paul’s letters, sometimes we need some of that as well. One can almost hear Paul’s wheels turning as he writes. I found the key to the mystery. The Gentiles are included in the kingdom. I must minister to them. God sent me to do that. Then, as Paul begins to get his perspective, we have the profound statement that God had a plan from before the beginning of time. Creation and salvation are tied together neatly in a bow made by God. It was for us to discover that which was always there. In that lay Paul’s perspective and in that lies our message today. If God had a plan for mankind before he even laid its keel, how much more does he have a plan for me and you!

          It’s not important when we celebrate the Epiphany. It’s important whether we celebrate it. It’s important whether we have had one of our own. Revelation comes in many forms. Some people are like Paul. They get knocked down in the middle of the road and when they see again, they have new vision. Some people get the vision a piece at a time until one day they discover they can see the big picture. Sometimes the revelation comes in a blinding light and sometimes it comes in a still, small voice. It doesn’t matter how the epiphany comes. It only matters whether it does.

The great revelation for each of us is that God made us and that Jesus came for us. Salvation has always been there for each of us to discover. God’s plan is as big as the cosmos and as detailed as one hair on your head. That’s what Paul figured out and told the Ephesians. And that’s quite a revelation!

Let us pray

1/5/13