Readings for today: Isaiah 21-23, Ephesians 3
One of the most common stumbling blocks to faith is the exclusivity of Christ. Why would God provide only one way to heaven? And why a 1st century Jewish peasant named Jesus? And what happens to all those around the world and throughout history who never get the chance to hear His name? Surely if God desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of His truth, He would provide as many pathways as possible? All these questions make sense to me. They are questions I’ve wrestled deeply with myself. But as I dug down, I found myself grappling with an even deeper question. Why would God choose to save us at all? Why would a perfectly holy, righteous, and just God choose to save an imperfect, unholy, and unrighteous people? Why not wipe us out and start the whole project over? This question brought me face to face with the mystery of God’s grace. The mystery of God’s love. The mystery of Christ which Paul talks about in today’s reading out of Ephesians 3.
“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel…” It’s tough to overstate how challenging this idea would be to Jewish believers. For generations they had been taught that the Gentiles were beyond the pale. Beyond salvation. Beyond the reach of God’s love. For generations they had been taught that they were God’s chosen people. They were God’s treasured possession. They, among all the nations of the earth, enjoyed God’s favor. They wholeheartedly embraced the exclusive nature of their relationship with God and rejected any idea of the universality of His grace. In fact, this was -at least in part - why their leaders had Jesus crucified. They simply couldn’t get their minds and hearts around Jesus eating with sinners. Dining with prostitutes. Hanging out with Samaritans and other Gentiles along the way.
Paul was a product of his culture. In fact, if you know anything about his life, he was the standard-bearer for the exclusivity of the Jewish faith. So zealous was he for the faith of his ancestors, he persecuted the early church. Dragging followers of Christ from their homes. Throwing them in prison. Even rejoicing in their deaths. But then he met the Risen Christ on the road outside of Damascus and everything changed. He came face to face with the unsearchable riches of Christ. He went eyeball to eyeball with the Lord in all His glory. The grace and love of God that surpasses all human wisdom and knowledge and understanding utterly and completely transformed him from the inside out. Listen to how he describes it…
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:6, 8-10, 15-21)
So back to my original questions. If you were to ask Paul why God only provided one way to heaven, I think he’d give you a strange look. After all, the mystery he was called to preach was that God had provided a way for everyone to get in. Jew and Gentile alike. No one was left out. If you were to ask Paul why God chose to reveal Himself in this way through a 1st century Jewish peasant named Jesus, I think he’d walk you through all the prophecies of the Old Testament so you could see how this was the fulfillment of God’s plan from the beginning. If you were to ask Paul what happens to all those throughout the world and throughout history who never get the chance to hear the name of Jesus, I think you’d see his eyes light up and passion fill his voice as he shared with you the urgency of his mission! The mission to proclaim the good news of the gospel! I think he’d go on to tell you it’s why he dedicated his life to planting churches all over the known world so that the gospel could go to the ends of the earth. And I think he’d encourage you to trust the goodness of God. Trust that while Christ can use us as His messengers, He’s certainly not bound to us. People come to faith all the time through dreams and visions. I’ve seen it myself.
Most of all, I think Paul would be confused by our line of questioning. He would wonder why we kept focusing on the exclusivity of Christ when the reality is the opposite. Christ represents the universality of God’s saving grace. Jew and Gentile. Male and female. Slave and free. Rich and poor. Black and white and brown. Gay, bi, and straight. Republican and Democrat. Progressive and conservative. You name it. In Christ, we see the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love. A love that breaks down every barrier. A love that crosses every boundary. A love that knows no bounds and has no end. When we embrace Christ, we become rooted and grounded in this love ourselves and bearers of this message of good news to the world.
Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 24-26, Ephesians 4