006 The man for the job

Not everyone enjoys their work. We all hope that we can get a job that gives us some satisfaction and an income that makes our life secure at least. It’s good if the employer likes you, too, and if you like your employer. It’s not fun if it’s too demanding at times or if you are at risk of injury or risk to your health.

Some of us find our employment so satisfying that we know that we couldn’t, or perhaps wouldn’t do anything else.  It might seem to you to be a vocation, a calling so clear that you must not do anything else!

This was the situation Paul was in when he wrote to the Ephesians.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles – I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.  (Ephesians 3:1,7)

His job was to take the message of the gospel of Jesus to non-jews, to the Gentiles, and he saw himself as a servant of this gospel, a calling which he regarded as a gift given by God’s grace, something he had been chosen to do by God himself. He was so sure of his calling that he was prepared to complete his work even though he had been locked up in prison because his preaching offended some authorities.

He was under the impression that the Ephesian christians had heard that God had called him into this particular job and he went on to specify what it was.

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:2-6)

There was what he called a mystery that had been made known to him, had been revealed to him by God but which had not been previously understood by people before this. The Jews had a wonderful relationship with God which made them a special group of people that excluded non-Jews.  They found ways for Gentiles to have a part of this relationship but in the end - they were Gentiles after all.

Now, however, the Messiah had come as saviour of anyone who believed in him, Jew or Gentile. This should have been expected, of course, but not grasped and certainly not implemented - it was a mystery now being revealed.

God’s Holy Spirit had made it clear to Paul and also to the apostles and! the prophets that the Gentiles were to be won into the same kingdom the Jews belonged to, to be grafted into the same stock, to be heirs along with the Jews, Israel, being members together of the one body. They would all, together, share in the promises made to them in Christ Jesus. To many of the Jews this idea was offensive to their uniqueness, their exclusiveness and what they saw to be their special place in the world.

There isn’t a human activity where strangers are welcomed without question.  It’s hard to be comfortable with a stranger at least at first.  Of course if the stranger is different in some way, be it accent, clothing, colour, culture there can be real tensions. 

There should be no such tension in a Christian group; there’s many lessons about that in the Bible, such as…

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.(Hebrews 13:2) 

Paul was telling these Christians to know that Gentile brothers and sisters are legitimately part of the kingdom of God, just as they were and then he went further.  Not only are do the Gentiles belong in the church he, Paul, had been given the job to evangelise them, to win more of them to Christ.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. (Ephesians 3:7-9)

Paul was fixated on this job. How could he be else when it was the Lord who had called him to this! It seemed that Paul had spent some time after his conversion hearing directly from Jesus about this ministry.  It was a gift God had been gracious enough to give him and to which he was totally committed as a servant. He was to make sure the Gentiles were told that Christ had made available to them glorious riches, riches that had no limits, were boundless.

With this it was also his job to make sure that everyone else knew that this unifying news of the gospel which was a mystery now revealed.  OK, it hadn’t been understood before but now it was not only to be known but also to be accepted, lived out in the church as part of the eternal plan of Almighty God, the creator of us all, all of whatever background or experience.

There was a reason for all this.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (Ephesians 3:10-13)

Indeed, the mystery is greater still. Not only was Paul out to win Gentiles to Christ and have them integrate into the church, it was God’s purpose that the church itself would also preach and share the exhaustive wisdom of God as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a universal declaration, including as it does the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms - the angels, the saints! 

Do we give thought to the joy and the power we have as Christians to declare the all-encompassing wisdom of God beyond the limitations of our earthly contacts but that our celebration and exuberance for wonderful Jesus to the heavenly beings themselves! Surely we don’t want them missing out in the wonder of it all!

Consider the privilege we have.  Do you want to talk to God? Then know you have the freedom to do so.  Approach him with confidence, even boldly as we are told to do in Hebrews 4:16. Why are we hesitant, shy, reluctant to approach God? Yes, he is the Creator, all powerful King and also judge but Jesus has won for us such a right, such a freedom and our Father God tells us to go ahead and in that freedom, to approach him.

Paul himself suffered so much as he did as he was told - read his story some time - but don’t be put off by that! Instead follow the calling you have, no matter what and by so doing you, like Paul, will work out what glory is as we, too, bring glory to God through the extension of his kingdom. Tribulations can be transformative!

Pray for each other! We need the support we bring to each other. Not only comfortable prayers asking God’s blessing or for his help in whatever circumstances people on our prayer list encounter but with prayers like Pauls:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.(Ephesians 3:14-19)

Let’s get personal, let’s get spiritual but above all let’s get real.

Pray with humility but with determination and commitment, praying to our heavenly father, the father we share with all our brothers and sisters in this life and in this world, the father who is creator, head and origin of every Christian believer.  We have so much in common, so much that so seriously binds us together.

Pray for each other that each of us will be blessed and blessed again out of the unlimited riches our father has. Oh, we so much need his power, the power of his Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that reaches right into and empowers our own spirit, our inner being, to the very depths of our thinking, our souls our selves. That we would know the Spirit of Jesus so intimately that he is an essential part of our being, our inner being.

And with such closeness to such an almighty God and father ask that our relationship with the father is so deeply embedded in our reality, so securely established, our faith so sure our love so strong that we are overwhelmed by the riches our father pours out on us.

With each of us so empowered by the presence of Jesus himself  together we can be stunned by how much he gives us. 

The love of Christ is as long, wide and high to it has the dimensions of an infinite universe and yet he opens our spiritual eyes to at least begin to grasp its enormity. It is too much to bundle into what we might call knowledge so it leaves is lost for words, overwhelmed in response, helplessly embraced in his love, his embrace, his love. 

How much of God’s riches can you cope with?

Pray that each of us has the limits of our measure of the fullness of God is extended so that we can be filled, filled with his Spirit, filled with his riches, filled with his power, filled with his love. Filled with God.

What do we want God to do for us? What do we want God to do with us? What do we even think he can do? How trusting are our prayers?

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (Ephesians 3:20)

Are our prayers too meagre? Do we need to be not only confident or bold when we pray but also imaginative? Or do we limit our prayers to those things we think God might answer or should we stretch ourselves to ask for more than we ask or imagine he would grant us? 

At least imagine what would happen if we prayed with the confidence we should have knowing that God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask to imagine. Then it would be seen and declared:

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:21)

Let us pray.