Revealing of God

Invocation:

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us to this new year, and to the opportunities that it presents to us as your church. Thank you for bringing us together as people who love you, who follow the teachings of your son, Jesus Christ. We ask that you be with us as we once again raise our voices in song, and pray what we carry in our hearts. Grant us your Holy Spirit today, dear God, to hear your voice in the quiet, and to feel your presence as we worship and praise your holy name. We pray these things in the name of the one who taught us to pray…Our Father, who art in heaven....

Revealing of God

I’ve never been very good at doing puzzles, or figuring out mystery stories. My mom read, I think, just about every Agatha Christie mystery ever written. And Carola enjoys reading mysteries too, and has amassed quite a collection of John Grisham and Margaret Truman mysteries, among others. It’s amazing to me how the authors can keep up with all the clues, revealing them a few at a time in the story. And at the end come up with an extremely logical conclusion when they prove in the story “who dunnit”. And from all the clues they reveal, that can point to the guilty party, or rule out other suspects, the author presents the one logical conclusion that the clues to the mystery point to about who had to have “dunnit”, and no one else could logically be the the culprit. Clues are revealed as the detective, or amateur sleuth, go about their business, gathering evidence, gathering facts, asking questions, collating all the data into usable information to come to the final discovery. I worked for many years alongside some very good police and fire detectives trying to solve arson cases, and it is mentally draining working through and sorting through all the clues, and evidence, pictures, alternatives, and tips, and determining the reliability of information gathered from “snitches”. It’s a lot of hard work uncovering and revealing the clues needed to come to an epiphany to solve the mysteries.

This coming Thursday, January 6, is the Christian observance of the Epiphany. In secular language, an epiphany is defined as “a moment of sudden revelation or insight”, as in when a scientist working through data has an “Ah ha! moment.” Our Christian tradition uses this language to describe the event when Jesus was first revealed for who he was, even as an infant. It involves the story of the ones we know of as the three wise men, or Magi, and their observing and following a celestial phenomenon, perhaps a bright star, or cluster of stars, that leads them to the infant Jesus Christ, who is revealed to the travellers from the East as one who was to be honored. From the very beginning of his life, Jesus was made known to those outside of the Jewish religious tradition into which he was born, to the Gentiles. He was revealed to them as the one who would be King of the Jews. This event is the main theme behind Epiphany.

But, before the writing of Matthew, or the other three gospels, when this story of the three Magi was recorded, the Apostle Paul was travelling the world, starting up churches everywhere he went, and preaching about Jesus Christ to people who were both inside and outside, mostly outside, the Jewish religion. Paul felt called through the grace of God to preach the message about Jesus to all the world. His message was new to many, controversial to others, but, always inclusive of both Jews and Gentiles, or anyone who was not Jewish, in a message of unity. But, the message he preached was very foreign to especially the Gentiles, because they had no concept of the God of Abraham, his promises to his people, or that this God was even accessible to them. For the Jewish listeners, they knew of no scriptural references, in what we know as the Old Testament, that would indicate that Gentiles should even be included in the promises of God. They had to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem to be near where they believed was God’s domicile on earth, a place where Gentiles were forbidden to enter.

So, let’s turn now to the passage from the letter to the Ephesians that once again expresses an “ah ha” moment, or an epiphany to the Gentiles to whom it was written. From Ephesians 3:1-12, we read:

3 This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, 3 and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4 a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5 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: 6 that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8 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, 9 and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 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. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

While the actual authorship of this letter to the Ephesians is questioned at scholarly levels, there is a consensus that its message is certainly consistent with Paul’s theological thinking. It is written primarily to Gentiles. The letter places Paul in prison in Rome, where as he says a mystery was revealed to him through the grace of God, to share that grace with the Gentiles. The mystery that he had to share, it was written, he received through direct revelation from God and it would enable his readers to perceive his understanding of the mystery of Christ. Remember again that there were at that time, no widely circulated writings about Jesus for people to have heard the story the way we have. This was all new to them, and being preached by Paul and his helpers, and written by Paul and his students in letters to the different churches that he started.

One of the difficulties that Paul had in preaching and conveying the story of Jesus and who and what he was, was the conflicts that arose between the Jews and Gentiles. Paul, a Jew, knew Judaism inside and out, and he knew how his teaching was different from the Jewish laws and rules that he once so zealously observed and violently enforced. This conflict was threatening the spread of the story of Christ, and is exactly what landed Paul in jail when he proclaimed Jesus as Savior to the disdain of the Jewish authorities. They, the Jewish authorities, did not believe that Gentiles had access to their God. These Gentiles were not Jewish; they were not allowed in the Temple; they were not able to enter into the promises of God as were the Jews, who saw themselves as exclusively the people of God. After all, these Gentiles had not been circumcised, nor did they follow the purity laws that were demanded of the Jews, and they did not descend from the line of Abraham.

When Paul spoke of the mystery of Christ, the mystery that had been revealed to him to share, he did not mean mystery as we understand a mystery to be today, when we have to go about finding the clues to discover the answer. No, “mystery” in those days, in this context meant “that which has not yet been revealed.” It was not revealed in the scriptures available to them. But, it had been revealed to Paul through the grace of God to share with the Gentiles. It was nothing that the Gentiles had to go find; it was not something they had to work to uncover and discover; it had been given, revealed to them through the grace of God. And what was it, what was it that had not yet been revealed to those who were outside of the Jewish customs and religion. Paul said, “…the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel”…through the good news that Jesus had opened the door to direct access to the God of Abraham. This was big news to the Gentiles. And Paul said it had been in God’s eternal purpose, always, that they were God’s heirs through Christ. And the second mystery, that something that had not yet been revealed was that through the church, this wisdom of God in its rich variety, and diversity, was made known to all, even to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places, that through Christ, all had access to God. The mystery revealed was what we have come to call the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ has come to set things right between humankind and the God we worship. What an Epiphany!

Since the night that the three Magi followed a heavenly sign to the resting Christ child, God’s grace and God’s purposes have been revealed numerous times through Jesus Christ. In his own life, Jesus revealed who God is through his teaching of freedom and forgiveness, in his healing of the sick, his advocacy for the poor and hungry, and in his staunch defense of the power of love for our fellow human beings, and in the giving of his life so that we may be redeemed and reconciled to God. His apostles carried those messages to others and continued his mission to build a church as the very body of Christ. And the Apostle Paul risked everything to reveal the grace and knowledge of God through Christ to those who never knew they could be touched by God, that they could be assured of the same promises of God as his own people; or that they could come to God in prayer as the church, and as individuals in intimate relationship with the Creator and Comforter.

As I read these gospel stories and the epistles of Paul, I hear the language of long ago, and ask myself, in what ways does God still reveal himself today? Because I believe with all my heart that God does still make himself known, reveals his love, his justice, his wisdom, in so many ways that we can see when we look through eyes of faith.

For Christians God revealed himself through the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnation of God, Immanuel, God with us in the flesh, who taught, healed, loved, and died for us.

From Hebrews we hear: (Hebrews 1:1-3a)

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,[a] whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains[b] all things by his powerful word.

In God’s nature that is all around us, we see God revealed:

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him”(Psalm 8:3,4).

Nature is a place where God is revealed to eyes of faith each and every day of our lives. The beauty, the power, and the resilience of natural systems, reveal God’s love for his creation, and those in whose care he placed it.

God is revealed in our sense of justice, and through our human conscience. It is through our sense of what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust, what is moral and ethical that we can see the nature of God shining through human kind.

When we seek justice, God is revealed, when we act on good conscience, God is revealed, every time we hear kindness spoken to someone who is suffering, whenever every time we see how a church comes together to provide a Christmas experience for some children that would otherwise wake up on Christmas morning with no presents, God is revealed.

And when we understand that the scriptures we read and ponder are alive, God is revealed anew each time we study his Word, each time we consider a devotional message, each time we read the testaments, the gospels of Jesus, God is revealed again and again.

In this time when we remember the Epiphany of the Christ Child to the travellers from the East, and the revelation of God through Christ to those who had once been prevented from experiencing and knowing and being included in the family of God, we can rest assured that epiphanies are not long gone occurences, but they come to us, are revealed to us whenever we open our eyes and ears and hearts to receive them. Amen

Pastoral Prayer:

Our heavenly Father, we have received the abundance of your provision in our lives, and today we have given of our tithes and offerings to the work of your church, so that your Word may be shared with all those who would receive the good news of the coming of Jesus into the world. We pray that our gifts are pleasing in your sight, dear God.

Father, hear the names of those we have lifted up to you openly, and those whom we carry in our hearts for your healing touch. We pray for strength and endurance and resolve as they experience the doctor visits, procedures, and treatments necessary to fight illness. And give them the rest they need to allow their bodies to heal, an easing of their pain, and the comfort of having with them those who love and care for them. For all those we also ask for patience in the processes of healing, or in coping with their infirmities. Let your presence be felt in their hearts, dear God, and never let them feel alone. Thank you Lord for loving us so.

Lord, for the past two years our lives have been severely disrupted in numerous ways, mostly due to the pandemic we still are dealing with. We have seen our country torn apart by divisive politics that has clouded our collective minds when we need clarity of policy and direction to combat the virus. We pray, Lord, that our differences will be set aside as we try to contain, and eventually eliminate this element from our lives. There has been too much illness, too much death, too much pain, and too much discord among ourselves for too long. Guide us and direct us, dear God, to find the solutions and achieve the cooperation necessary from our leadership, our scientific world, and among our fellow human beings across the world to finally defeat this pandemic. We need you, Lord, to help us through this. Show us your mercy, dear God, show us the way.

Lord, we are entering a new year at a time when battle lines have been drawn in so many places, from the Russian/Ukrainian border, to the halls of our own centers of national power and governance, from the nuclear proliferation of Iran and North Korea, to the global debates on dealing with climate change. We pray, Lord, for your wisdom to reign, we pray for your peace to be the rule rather than the exception. We pray, Lord, that the ugly vitriol will calm, that lingering racism will go the way of slavery, abolished, and abhorred, that the cruelty and weight of poverty be lifted so that all people can live with dignity. Grant us the courage to face these things for what they are, dear God, the injustices that oppress the less fortunate, and enrich those who already have more than they would need in a thousand lifetimes. Let the teachings of Jesus, his concern for the poor and scorned, his love for his God and his fight for justice in the world, be the light that shines on the paths that we follow to find our way to a more just world. A world that is in concert with your eternal purposes for your kingdom to reign.

And here in this place where we gather each Lord’s day, let our love for you and for each other always guide us as we move forward into another year in the long history of this congregation. Help us be the church you would have us to be, to reflect your love for others to see, to be the light shining on the hill that guides others to you, as your son, Jesus Christ taught us, to go into the world to make disciples for Christ. Be with us, Father, and continue to bless us with your Holy Spirit so that we may do the good work of the church as you have taught us to do, that you may be revealed through us. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen

Communion:

Here at the table, all who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord are welcome to join in the taking of the elements of communion, to eat the bread and drink the cup as Christ shared with his disciples…when on the night that he was betrayed, he took the cup...

After communion:

Benediction:

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.