The gospel of Mark is a Passion
narrative with an extended beginning. Almost every story we hear in
Mark points to the Passion, the Cross, and, in some cases, the
Resurrection. That said, I'm going to take a seven-week break from
Mark and delve into Ephesians.
Ephesians is one of my favorite letters
in the NT. Part of that is due to the letter's general tone. Bibles
tend to include this letter with all of the other letters attributed
to Paul, but the earliest manuscripts we have don't list Paul as the
author. Nor do they have “to the Saints in Ephesus,” thereby
throwing doubt as to whom the letter was written. One of my
commentaries says that it was written by a disciple of Paul after his
death, reminding us that his ministry continued on and giving us hope
that our ministries will also carry on.
All that said, let's delve into this
letter that may or may not have been written by Paul to a church that
may or may not have been in Ephesus.
As we read through this letter over the
next seven weeks you should note that it is constructed like a
funnel. The author (whom I'll call Paul for simplicity's sake)
begins with a vast cosmic view of God and our role in God's plan.
That cosmic view slowly narrows as Paul writes about unification in
Christ, the Church, our life in the Church, our life at home, and
individual spirituality. This isn't a letter focused on individual
Christian character; it's a letter that focuses on the universality
of God and how Church and people play a part in that universality.
Today's lectionary text starts at the
beginning of the letter. As I said, it's not clear who wrote it, or
to whom it was written, so the RCL begins the lection at verse 3.
Remember, Ephesians can be seen as a funnel that opens up with broad
cosmological themes and works its way down to individual spiritual
practices. Today we have the broad beginning, the wide opening of
the funnel. And in this broad beginning we can also see the
beginnings of trinitarian theology.
First, we see the omnipotence of God
along with his eternal purpose of bringing humanity back into the
fully reconciled embrace of the Godhead. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In other words, God is
Lord of all and we are recipients of his universal blessings.
Verses 4-6 are somewhat problematic
because they deal with predestination. He chose us in Christ before
the foundations of the world. He destined us for adoption as his
children through Christ. He bestowed his grace upon us through the
Beloved, Jesus Christ.
I'm not a big fan of predestination.
For one thing, I don't believe God chooses some to be saved and some
to be punished or neglected. For another, I think predestination
beliefs allow people to a) not evangelize, b) develop a sense of
privilege in a self-serving way, c) not bother with living upright
and moral lives because they own a “get out of jail free” card,
and d) create a theology of exclusion where they do not need to care
about other people or even the planet.
On the other hand, I do believe God is
omniscient, and thereby knows who will choose to follow him and who
will not.
One way you could look at this is to
look at me. Was I predestined to become the 28th Rector
of St. John's? You could say, “Yes.” But you could also say
that God simply knew how my life and the search process would play
out. It's predestination as all-knowing. I prefer the all-knowing
aspect.
So, moving on . . . we have been
adopted as children of God through Jesus Christ. This adoption gives
us a new beginning. Through Christ we have been redeemed and our
sins forgiven. This new beginning goes all the way back to Israel's
redemption from the bondage of slavery in Egypt and to the release of
the Babylonian captives. The horror of the crucifixion, the blood of
Christ, has become the new Exodus, the new release from sin and
bondage. And it is through these acts that God, through Christ,
fulfills his ultimate plan to gather up all things in heaven and
earth unto himself.
The inheritance that was promised to
Abraham and his children is now also promised to us through Christ.
It was and is through Christ that the fulfillment of the eternal plan
of salvation is accomplished for all people. Christ does not
supersede, replace, or invalidate the original covenant with Abraham;
but it is through Christ that the covenant is expanded. It is
through Christ that we are adopted as children of God.
Before the foundation of the world, God
had a plan to gather all people to him to be holy and blameless
before him in love. For the Jews, that plan involved the covenant
with Abraham. For Gentiles, that plan included our adoption through
Christ. Through Christ all things in heaven and earth are gathered
up.
And then, when we heard the word of
truth, when we heard the good news of the gospel of Christ, we were
marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit. John Chrysostom said of
this sealing, “It is just as if someone might stamp his heirs
plainly in advance; so God set us apart to believe and sealed us for
the inheritance of future glory.” We have been marked in advance
as heirs of God through Christ by the Holy Spirit.
When does this happen? For us it
happens at our baptism. Whether we promise to become followers of
Christ, or whether those promises are made on our behalf, it is at
our baptism that we are formally adopted as children of God. And it
is at our baptism that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as
Christ's own for ever.
This letter is addressed as much to us
today as it was to the people of the early Church. It takes us on a
journey through the cosmos and the eternal plan of God as Lord of the
universe all the way down to our individual spirituality. And as we
begin our journey, we are reminded that before the foundations of the
world were lain, before creation itself, we were chosen by God to be
holy and blameless in love. We were destined for adoption through
Christ and redeemed through his blood and by his love. And we were
marked as his own by the seal of the Holy Spirit.
Today we have entered the opening of
the funnel. May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in
believing on the name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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