January 6, 2008

"Knowing the Mystery that Unlocks the Future"

January 6, 2008 

We have now entered a new year.  In a sense its just a change of a number.  2007 has become 2008.  But in another sense it is more.  For some of us, the changes that will come in 2008 will drastically change our lives.  1992 was such a year for me.  I began the year living in Chicago and having the firm belief that Lord wanted me to remain single and to serve him in a church on or near the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.  I ended the year, happily married, and living in Iowa.  Certainly too the tragedies that may happen this year might significantly change our lives-the loss of a spouse or child, being laid off from our jobs, facing a life threatening illness.  Radical changes could also happen in the life of our church, community, or nation.  Think about the year 2001.  What about this year?  We might elect the first woman, first black, or the first preacher as President of theat about this year?  We might elect the first woman, first black, or the first preacher as President of the United States.  Depending on your political point of view, that could be a blessing or a tragedy.  But, suffice to say, a lot more can happen in one year than just a change in a number-- terrible grief, tremendous joys, unpredictable occurrences.

The apostle Paul, who first wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus, knew about living an unpredictable life.  He didn't know one day from the next what would happen.  Who could have predicted that this persecutor of Christians would himself become a persecuted Christian, or that this strict Pharisee, proud of his devotion to the law of Moses would become an apostle to Gentiles and would argue that Moses' law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Paul never knew what would happen when he went to a particular town.  Would he get a hearing or merely be stoned or imprisoned?  At the time he wrote this letter, Paul certainly didn't know what was in store for him in Jerusalem or how what took place there would lead him to be imprisoned in Rome.

Not only could Paul not predict what would happen in his own life, he certainly also didn't know what was going to happen to these Christians to whom he was writing.  He didn't know that in just a few short years the emperor Nero would turn against the church with a vengeance.  He didn't know that many who read his letter would lose their own lives or their loved ones or that some would lose their first love and zeal for Christ. (see Revelation 2: 1- 7)  

In our unpredictable world the words of our text are very comforting. 

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

He made know to us the mystery.  The word mystery or mustarion in the original Greek refers to something that is hidden.  God's will and plan are often hidden from us.  As human beings we often do not understand why God does what he does or allows what he allows.  And often that frustrates us. 

That certainly includes the minor inconveniences and irritations that come our way. Just this Friday, I spent good money trying to improve my sermon site, so that I could put audio files of our worship services on it.  After a couple hours of fussing around my computer suddenly shut down and wouldn't go back into Windows.  It probably is not an insurmountable problem.  I'll bring it to the repair shop Monday.  But the big problem on Friday was that I had not printed up my sermon yet.  It's still stuck in my computer.  Guess, what I did yesterday?  I rewrote the whole thing on my wife's computer.   And then, if that wasn't enough, our new car was in the shop and I got a telephone call saying the part they needed to fix it was on backorder.  I'm happy that none of you were around here then.  Why did I have all this frustration when my goal was to do something that would enhance our ministry? 

In all reality, of course, what I went through is not even worth comparing with the frustrations and tragedies that I know have plagued some of you and most assuredly some of the brothers and sisters Don will see in Africa this week.  Why does God allow these things to happen?  In many cases we may never know.

Yet it is comforting to know that in spite of all that happens our God is working out his plan.  As Christians we believe that things do not happen by chance or luck-- they don't just happen.  There is a will and plan behind and running through everything that takes place: God's will and God's plan.

No, some of these awful things may not be a part of that plan.  They may be the results of the sinful world we live in or trials from the evil one or they may be due to the acts of evil people, including ourselves.  Often, the God who is in control permits such things to happen even though he could stop them.  And we don't know why.  But one truth we do know: God has a plan and a purpose and that this purpose will never be thwarted.  That's the comfort of Romans 8:28

²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,^„T who have been called according to his purpose.

In all things-through all things-in spite of some things his plan for our good can never be thwarted.  These words have indeed been a great comfort to Christians throughout the ages. 

To a generation who feared revolutions and wars, the great 18^th century Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards wrote

"All revolutions, from the beginning of the world to the end of it, are but the various parts of the same scheme, all conspiring to bring to pass that great event which the great Creator and Governor of the world has ultimately in view."

When Edwards wrote about "that great event," he undoubtedly was thinking of that mystery that Paul referred to in verse 9, a mystery that has been revealed "in Christ."  Well, what is that mystery and why is it called a mystery?

Have you ever read a good mystery novel?  When I was younger I used to like Sherlock Holmes.  More recently I have appreciated Toni Hillerman's mysteries that take place within the Navajo Nation, where I used to teach high school.  Now, in a good mystery story, the hints to the solution are found throughout the book.  In a sense the solution is there all along, but it is hidden.   It is only at the end that all of the pieces come together and you find out who did it.   

God did something similar.  During the season before Christmas, known as Advent, I preached a series of sermons on some of the women in Jesus' ancestry.  One of the truths we found as we studied the lives of these women is that their stories pointed ahead to what God would do when he sent his Son Jesus.  Like the clues in a mystery novel, the stories of these women pointed to that time when God's Son would be born as a human creature and suffer and die and rise again for our salvation.  This also true for the religious ceremonies prescribed by Moses' law and great prophecies found in Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets. 

I have often quoted a statement that I first heard from one of my seminary professors: "The New Testament is in the Old concealed and the Old Testament is in the New revealed."  Well, the one who is concealed and revealed is Jesus Christ.  He is the one that the concealed in mystery of the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament.  And the work of redemption that he accomplished is the central theme of the entire Bible.

Now this is a helpful way to understand what holds the Bible together.  But, what this does this have to do with you and me and with the unpredictable nature of our lives?  Notice that Paul in this scripture applies this wonderful truth about Jesus to the individual lives of his readers.  Look at verse 3.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

And then note what those blessings are,

The first is found in verse 4- 6,

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he  predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Long before God made the world he loved us and decided that through our connection with his Son Jesus Christ, we would be part of his family.  I remember that day in February of 2000, when we received my daughter Lydia's picture from Bethany Christian Services, our adoption agency, and were told we had been chosen to be her parents.  We were so excited.  From the day we got the picture, we had already adopted her in our hearts. And we began to prepare our home for the time when she would arrive.  We bought a little toddler bed and gathered clothes together.  We got our airplane tickets and hers.  Our lives were consumed with preparing for the day we would finally have her in our arms.  Now, I realize that God exists outside of time.  And so, its really to speak about matters from his perspective.  Yet, we should know that before time began-- throughout all eternity God loved us and considered us his adopted sons and daughters and he delighted in us.

Now I don't know if I told you this sad story.  When we received Lydia there was another couple who, after they received a little baby, declared that this baby was not theirs.  And after they produced the picture that was sent to them, the orphanage director finally admitted that indeed he had substituted another baby for theirs.  "Your baby died," he told them.  They were devastated and they returned back to the United States without a child.  The good news is that Bethany Christian Services counseled them and after a few months the couple flew back to China to receive a new daughter.  This couple never received the child they had adopted in their hearts.  But, God's plans never fail.  Nothing can ever thwart his will to make us his own.  And lets not forget that even back when he chose us God knew what his choice would cost him.  Yet,  he loved and chose us anyway.

And what did it cost him?  That is the second blessing Paul mentions in our scripture: Verse 7,

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

Not only did God choose us in and through his Son before he made the world, he also considered us forgiven of the sins that separated us from him on the very day Jesus died on the cross.  Because we are connected to Jesus, when God saw his Son on the cross he saw us there too.  Long before we ever committed one act of rebellion it was already atoned for in full.  One of the reasons that we will gather at the table today is to be reminded of that fact.  We eat the bread, because by faith we know that Jesus broken body, that his body which was nailed to the cross, is our body.  And we drink the cup because by faith we know that blood he shed is our blood.  For he and we are one.

That should say something to anyone here this morning who is struggling with guilt.  Your sin has already been atoned for.  The price has already been paid.  There is nothing you must do. As Jesus in agony declared from the cross, "It is finished."

And that brings us back to our text, verses 9- 10 as introduced by verse 8,

that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

  The mystery has been revealed to us and we believe this revelation, not because we are smarter or holier than others.  Listen again to the words,

the riches of God's grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

The reason we understand the mystery and are wise enough to accept it is completely the result of what God has done. Along with the undeserved blessing of forgiveness through Jesus sacrifice, he gave us what we need to accept it.  He put us in the right place at the right time; some of us he put in Christian families; others of us he gave the opportunity to hear the message of salvation; and then he gave us all the will to believe.

Now the God who did all that did so in preparation for verse 10,

to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

There is a day coming when everyone will bow before Christ and acknowledge that he is Lord.  On that day we will be welcomed to live with God in a new heaven and earth.  God has been and is preparing us for that time.  By the way that's another reason why we celebrate the Lord Supper.  We do it in anticipation of the day when we will actually be able to see him face to face and sit at the table with him in the house of God.

Sometime when I would read a Sherlock Holmes novel I couldn't help myself and I would read the last chapter to find out how the mystery would be resolved.  Now for some that would have spoiled the book.  But, it didn't for me.  I was always interested in seeing how the clues led to the resolution of the mystery.. 

Now in a sense, because the Lord revealed the mystery to us, he has allowed us to read the last chapter of our lives.  Everything that happens this year and throughout the years of our lives-the terrible griefs, tremendous joys, unpredictable occurrences will somehow all come together then.  And none of these will be worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us on that day.

Yet, sometimes the grief and even the joys of our lives can blind us to that fact.  And that is why verses 13- 14 are so comforting.

 Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

In the meantime we know that our Lord has not abandoned us.  He lives in us in and through his Spirit.  And even when we fear our faith is failing, he gives us what we need to make it home.   And so as we face another unpredictable year, let us do so with the faith he provides.  Let us pray.

Oh Lord, you have already revealed the mystery of your will and of our lives.  You told us how it will all turn out.  But, sometimes its so hard to believe.  Help us to know the presence of your Spirit within us that we might keep trusting your answer until that day when our faith will be sight.   For Jesus sake, Amen.