Epiphany of the Lord -- (Year C)
This is why I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ for you.
2You’ve heard, of course, about the responsibility to distribute God’s grace, which God gave to me for you, right? 3God showed me his secret plan in a revelation, as I mentioned briefly before (4when you read this, you’ll understand my insight into the secret plan about Christ). 5Earlier generations didn’t know this hidden plan that God has now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets through the Spirit. 6The plan is this: non-Jews would be coheirs and parts of the same body with Jews and they would share with the Jews in the promises of God in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7I became a servant of the gospel because of the grace that God showed me through the exercise of God’s power.
8God gave this grace to me, the least of all God’s people, to preach the good news about the immeasurable riches of Christ to non-Jews. 9God sent me to reveal the secret plan that had been hidden since the beginning of time by God, who created everything. 10God’s purpose is now to show the rulers and powers in the heavens the many different varieties of godly wisdom through the church. 11This was consistent with the plan God had from the beginning of time that would be accomplished through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In Christ we have bold and confident access to God through faith in him.
Epiphany.
1 capitalized: January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ
2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
3 a (1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something
2 : an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being
3 a (1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something
a (2): an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking
a (3): an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure
b: a revealing scene or moment
To summarize, then, epiphany means a manifestation, a realization, a revealing, the “essential nature” of something. I really like that — the “essential nature” of something.
Traditionally, the passage that’s focused on today is the Gospel Lesson — the coming of the Magi[2] and the manifestation of Christ to non-Jewish people (aka, Gentiles). In other words, the “essential nature” of Jesus was revealed to the non-Jewish people of the Magi.
But all of our Lessons today have that revealing, that manifestation of something’s “essential nature.” And that’s why I wanted to focus our attention on St. Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Ephesus.[3]
Saint Paul wrote this letter in the mid to late 50’s.[4] However, since there’s not an audience addressed (cf. Romans 1.7; Galatians 1.2; Philippians 1.1; etc.), nor any references to the people of Ephesus,[5] it’s thought that this letter may have been intended to be more of a circulation letter throughout the Roman provinces of Asia.[6] I like that thought, actually. It lines up with some of the points I want to focus on here. Specifically, the revelation of God’s secret plan.
Paul states that he’s been given the responsibility of “distribut[ing] God’s grace” to non-Jewish people. That’s a main part of the secret plan — that God’s rescue plan isn’t only for Jews; it’s for all people, Jews and non-Jews alike. This is part of the evolutionary understanding of God that I’ve talked about before. That is, our understanding of God has evolved just as humanity has evolved. While God was only known as “God Almighty” (Hebrew: El-Shaddai) before Moses, Moses was given God’s name, “I Am Who I Am” (Hebrew: Yahweh; Exodus 6.2-3). And we’re told that Jesus of Nazareth is the “visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1.15).
The same is true of God’s plan. Paul said that it was hidden for generations but was finally revealed to apostles and prophets (verse 5). Before the coming of the Spirit, the Jewish people understood that God would rescue them and only them. However, because of Jesus and the Spirit, people started to understand through “revelation” (verse 3) that God’s plan was more inclusive than first imagined. It became clearer that God’s plan of rescue included everyone. This is why we see the apostles turn their attention to the non-Jewish people in the book of Acts. If Jesus truly was the King of the world (and they believed that he was), that would mean he’s King of non-Jewish people, too.[7]
But the secret wasn’t only that non-Jewish people would be rescued as well. No. It was that they would be included in the same “body” as Jewish people. As Paul wrote in the previous chapter —
14Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. 15He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. 16He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God.
And in our Lesson today —
The plan is this: non-Jews would be coheirs and parts of the same body with Jews and they would share with the Jews in the promises of God in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Talk about a revelation!
But the revelation isn’t only for us Jews and non-Jews. No. Paul says the purpose of the plan is to show the “the rulers and powers in the heavens the many different varieties of godly wisdom” through this new body, the church (verse 10).
Think about this for a moment.
The church is supposed to be made up of “many different varieties of godly wisdom.” We’re not supposed to just be a single type of organism. We’re to be something different. We’re not to mirror the nationalism of our countries. Nor the political views of our neighbors. We’re supposed to be a melting pot of beliefs and ideas. We’re supposed to be diverse, to be different from the world around us.
The nations of the world should be looking at the church to see how it’s supposed to be. The church should be the place of openness and love. It’s supposed to be the place of tolerance and forgiveness. It should look like a field of wildflowers with its multicolored beauty.
How about us? What do our places of worship look like? Do we see God’s secret plan truly revealed? Are our communities of faith “many different varieties of godly wisdom”? If they’re not, what must we do to make them like this? What steps must we take as God’s new humanity to reflect God’s once secret plan now revealed to the nations of the world? What must we do in our own lives to be a reflection of God’s plan? What must we do “to distribute God’s grace” in our world?
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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[1] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
[2] This, too, has a couple of meanings: a) a member of a hereditary priestly class among the ancient Medes and Persians; b) a magician or sorcerer.
[3] Ephesians is now one of the “disputed letters” attributed to Paul. Until the late 18th century, however, it was understood that Saint Paul wrote this letter. Those who assert Paul didn’t write this letter place it’s date much later.
[4] I tend to follow Bishop Robinson’s timeline in Redating the New Testament (1976). “One of the oddest facts about the New Testament is that what on any showing would appear to be the single most datable and climactic event of the period — the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, and with it the collapse of institutional Judaism based on the temple — is never once mentioned as a past fact.”
[5] Which would be surprising since Paul’s third missionary trip focused on Ephesus (AD 53-57; see Acts 18.19-21; 19.1-20.1).
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