Introduction to the reading:
As we gather here on the first Sunday of the new year, we may wonder what 2011 will bring. We humans are curious creatures especially when we feel our own welfare is at stake. Since we don't have a crystal ball, we will have to wait and see. In the meantime, let's wonder together today about the mystery revealed in Christ as expressed in the Gospel According to John and in Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
Listen for what the Spirit is saying to the church in Ephesians 3:1-12
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In 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: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
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. 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, and 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. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
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Strangely enough, the first mystery with Paul's letter to the Ephesians is the question of whether or not Paul actually wrote the letter. Most scholars think he did not. It was common in Paul's day for students of a great teacher to ascribe their writings to their teacher. The literary device of pseudonymity was a way of showing deference for the teacher and showing others to which school you belonged.
It would be as if I wrote a song in the style of Bob Dylan and named him as the author of the song. That would not work in our contemporary culture because not only would Bob not appreciate that but he would also perhaps sue me. In contrast, such a practice was accepted and widely practiced in Paul's day. Then again, perhaps Paul did write Ephesians since it is so similar to Colossians. We will leave the authorship question hanging and consider the content with the caveat who is the author is the first mystery of this text. (Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Hawthorne, Martin & Reid, editors, 240-242)
Paul speaks to the Ephesians about the mystery of Christ was revealed to him. The mystery concerns how the Gentiles have become sharers in the promise in Christ through the gospel. This is the mystery hidden for the ages in God.
Upon further investigation, we are not surprised to find that Paul speaks of mysteries since Paul was born in Tarsus, a major center for the Pagan Mysteries. He often uses terms from the Mysteries in his letters. He even calls himself a "Steward of the Mysteries of God," the term for a priest in the Pagan Mysteries of Serapis. (The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, 173)
Paul preaches that Jesus' passion is not an event in the past, but perennial mystical reality. Through sharing in Jesus' death and resurrection each Christian initiate may themselves die to their lower self and be resurrected as the Christ.
Paul writes: The secret is this: Christ in you! This is the indwelling presence of the divine (Incarnation) in every human being. The story of Jesus is also the story of every person. As Kuhn says, "The gospels are the stories of our souls."
When Paul describes his famous vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus it is significant that he doesn't' say "God revealed his Son to me," as we would expect. Rather, he writes, "God revealed his Son in me." This indicates an inner mystical vision rather than an external event. Kuhn says, "Paul had striven to describe and color in the most graphic language available., which evidently he judged to be phraseology of the Mystery Religions,the only Christ he knew, the power and the grace of the Christ of the inner chamber of human consciousness." (Quoted by Tom Harpur, The Pagan Christ, 173)
Today we celebrate Epiphany and this is the celebration of a mystery.
Instructed by the king, the magi set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!
They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country. (Matthew 2:9-12, The Message)
The magi, the "wise ones," came from the ends of the earth and thus are symbols for all time of genuine seekers of the truth. Jesus' divinity is manifested to the magi. This is symbolic of Jesus' divinity being manifested to everyone, even the Gentiles like us. This is the mystery that Paul proclaims.
I see the mystery of Christ revealed through the prayers of the faithful here at St. John's. We have three prayer groups who pray for God to be revealed in our midst. The Saturday morning prayer group, the Centering Prayer Group, and the Hour of Power prayer group. Some of our members have the spiritual gift of intercessory prayer. Like the wise men who bowed before baby Jesus, they bring their gift of intercessory prayer and lay it before Christ.
How can we measure the effect of such prayers? I have heard an elder in this church talk about a spiritual experience she had during a surgical procedure. It was out of the body experience. She was looking down on her body while her spirit experienced the rapture of being caught up and carried away by the loving Spirit of God. Like the Apostle Paul, she had been caught up into heaven in a mystical experience of God's overwhelming love.
I had a similar experience at a prayer meeting when I was a young person. It seemed as if waves and waves of divine love were pouring over me. I was lost in the ocean of God's love for a couple of hours. It was a mystical experience that fashioned my understanding of God's profound love for me and for all humankind.
Paul writes of his own mystical experience in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, saying of himself: " I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4)
On the other hand, there are faithful Christians who go their entire lives without experiencing anything remotely similar to this. And even for those who do have mystical experiences, Paul says there is a greater way. This the way of love as described in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where Paul writes: "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (vs 1-3)
Or, as Christian songwriter Larry Norman put it in his song "Righteous Rocker:"
You could be a wealthy man from Texas,
or a witch with heavy hexes,
But without love, you ain't nothing without love
Without love you ain't nothing, without love.
The mystery of Christ has come to the Gentiles. The mystery of God's love has been revealed even to goyim such as you and me. Divine love is ours in superabundance. This is the light that is revealed as the gifts of the Magi, symbolizing the inner treasures of the Christ are opened up. All these gifts are ours right now, in the sacraments of the Lord's Supper. The new wine of the Spirit is being served. (Thomas Keating, The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, 33)
At the end of the story, the mystery is revealed to be God's love in action through the Christ in us. We are called to follow the example of our servant leader, Jesus Christ. On the night before he was betrayed he Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. Then he said, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as 'Teacher' and 'Master,' and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life. (John 13, The Message)
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The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on January 2, 2010 (Epiphany Year A).
