Solving the Mystery

Ephesians 3:1-13

Introduction

Do you enjoy either reading or watching murder mysteries? Growing up, our family always watched shows like Matlock and Murder She Wrote. To be honest, I never really liked those shows, but my parents insisted. I think what bothered me was that ultimately, the mystery was not really solvable for the audience. Yes, it was possible to guess the guilty partner randomly, but it could not be done simply by following the clues. The reason is that the writers include a lot of clues that lead us down the wrong path. Even if at the end we say to ourselves, “I should have guessed that!”, we actually should not have because the episode or the novel is rigged to lead us away from the truth. As much as I did not like those stories as a child, I have found myself enjoying recently Father Brown Mysteries, stories written in the first half of the 20th century. I still think the stories are rigged so only the main detective can solve the case, but they are fun to read.

The Apostle Paul speaks of a mystery in his letter to the Ephesians. This mystery is a major theme in this letter. The concept of mystery had a close relationship with religion at the time and in fact, there were a whole class of religions known today as mystery religions. These mystery religions were cults that kept their ceremonies secret and only the initiated knew what went on behind closed doors. This was common among the Greek and eastern religions at the time but this was not what Paul was talking about. When Paul speaks of mystery, he has a very specific idea of what this mystery was. The mystery was a long standing question within Judaism. One of the questions that people had pondered was what would God do with the Gentiles, that is the non-Jews. It was often at the hands of Gentiles that the Jews suffered. Would God destroy the Gentiles? Would God force the Gentiles to serve the Jews? There were hints by the Prophets that the Gentiles would be welcomed by God. But what would that look like? Presumably they would become Jews, but that still left a lot of questions. This is the mystery: what is the fate of the Gentiles? This is a mystery that has now been revealed, which is a very good thing, as most of us are indeed Gentiles and so this is directly relevant to us. 

Mystery of Gentiles

Paul speaks directly about this mystery in this passage but he is also assuming some familiarity with the events described in the Acts of the Apostles. There had traditionally been a very high wall between the Gentiles and the people who eventually become known as the Jews. Relationships between the two groups were regulated and limited. There were very clear indications of who is in and who is out. That is not to say that there was no hope for Gentiles, they could convert and become Jews. There was a process for conversion.

Then Jesus appeared. Yes he appeared as the Jewish Messiah and spoke mostly to the Jews, but the seeds of the solution to the long-standing mystery were planted in his gospel. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Church was created. It was a Church of Jewish believers in Jesus. In Acts, we see how this goes. There is the eventual inclusion of the Samaritans, which was very concerning as they had some significant differences, but at least they were connected to the Israelites. But then we have the story of Peter and the Roman centurion Cornelius. Peter is sent by God to share the gospel to Cornelius, despite his cultural concerns against such interactions. Then God does something that really shook the Church. While Peter was preaching, God poured out his Spirit on Cornelius and his household. Just as they were. Without conversion to Judaism as a prerequisite. Not everyone in the Church was completely happy with this decision by God. We also find in Acts as well as here, that Paul was called by God to be share the gospel with the Gentiles, which ended up creating some tension between Paul and some of the more traditional elements of the Church. 

So here was the solving of the ancient mystery. Gentiles are to be welcomed by God, not through the Mosaic Law and the Jewish traditions, but through Jesus. As Jewish as Jesus was, he is also the key to a relationship with God. In Christ, we are welcomed into God’s family, as we are. It is Christ who breaks down the walls and welcomes those who are different.

New Mysteries?

The question we need to ask as we seek to apply this passage is whether this is about just one historical conflict between Jews and Gentiles from long ago or if it is about tearing down walls in general. I can say with a high level of confidence that the wall between the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians was not the last wall to exist in the Church. 

We have had denominational walls, we have had walls between the rich and the poor, we have had cultural walls, walls between disabled and abled people in the church, walls because of politics, and walls over interpretations of Scripture. The people who build these walls are able to justify what they are doing. They believe that they are keeping the purity of the faith by keeping the wrong kind of people out. We might think that the people who build walls between us and them must be some pretty bad people. And yet almost everyone has some group of people that they are uncomfortable with and that they would experience strong reactions if large numbers of people from that group started attending our church.

All of this is not to say that the Church is not supposed to have any boundary markers. What Paul talks about here and elsewhere is about us being in Christ. It is Jesus that breaks down the walls and it is Jesus that unites us in all of our diversity.

I have talked to Christians who feel more of a kinship with non-Christians of similar political persuasion than with Christians who they may differ with politically. They are allowing the wall of politics to remain, the very wall that Christ seeks to tear down.

This does not mean that we should pretend that our differences do not exist. We are created to be diverse and our diversity is our strength. The breaking of walls does not erase our differences, it allows us to be together and to learn from one another.

The point of all of this is we are united in Christ. This was the eternal plan of God, to reconcile us both to God and to each other. 

Conclusion

In a couple of weeks, it will be thirty-five years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Younger people do not have a sense of the importance of that event. Although it was a wall between West Berlin and East Berlin, it was bigger than that. It was symbolic of the vast chasm between the West and the East, the conflict that we called the Cold War. The tearing down of that wall did much more than allow travel between East and West Berlin. It began a new era in our world, one that included numerous growing pains, some that we are still experiencing.

We live in a very polarized world. Everything in our culture and the media reinforce the idea that we are to be suspicious of the other. Everything is to be looked at through the categories of us and them. This, too often, includes the church. 

And yet the death and resurrection of Jesus tore down a wall that was far greater than that of the Berlin Wall. Not only did it bring together Jews and Gentiles, it offers to break down the barriers that we encounter every day. The mystery has been solved. The way forward is made clear. We are one in Christ.