Stewards of God’s Grace

Text: Ephesians 3:1-12

           Some of you may have seen the HBO series Rome a few years back. I very much liked it. It was a spectacular visual glimpse into ancient Rome that enthralled me. There were many things relevant to the New Testament to which it gave visual demonstration such as Jesus returning in clouds of glory. In ancient Rome victorious emperors returning from battle would receiving an eventful parade known as a Triumph. The series Rome portrayed two such Triumphs, Julius Caesar returning from Gaul and the series ending Triumph of Caesar Octavian after his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt. At his Triumph the crowds hail Octavian as Caesar (Lord) and Saviour of the Republic. If I remember correctly, they each rode into Rome perched high upon an elephant while the crowds cheered and threw white fluffy confetti-like stuff, i.e., clouds of glory. Moreover, should one want to know why the announcement of forgiveness was/is so important in the Christian Gospel just note that when a new emperor was enthroned during his Triumph he usually put all his enemies to death. Forgiveness meant a stay of execution and permission to live on in the new kingdom as a prisoner/slave of the Emperor. Paul's understanding of himself as a slave and at times a prisoner of Jesus the Christ should be beginning to make a little sense here.

Another key historical glimpse for me from the series was the character of the Senate Crier. He was a podgy man who went out daily into the forum to inform the public of matters of importance such as the pronouncements of the Senate, current events of the Republic of Rome, public service announcements, and even business advertisements. This character of the Senate Crier and the work he did, for me, shed much light into what Paul must of thought of his role and work of being an administrator of God’s grace charged with proclaiming or rather pronouncing the gospel and, and probably most important, what the gospel itself is. Let me touch on that for a moment.

In ancient Roman and Greek society the crier or herald performed the crucial function of keeping the populace informed of important public matters for the simple fact that most people could not read. When the crier brought news about the emperor or a message straight from the emperor it was called a euangelion which is the Greek word which looks like our word "evangel" and which we translate as gospel. Gospel simply means good news, but of a special variety of good news. As the emperor was considered to be directly related to the gods and in some cases a god himself, an imperial gospel was considered to be an announcement of divine good news and was to be met with great joy and public celebration. Furthermore, an imperial gospel was the pronouncement of the events in the life of the emperor like his birth, coming of age, and ascension to the throne, or a great war victory. Therefore, the first thing we should note about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is that its correlate in the Roman world was an imperial gospel and it should be interpreted firstly in that light. Our Christian Gospel is a divine/imperial decree concerning Jesus the Christ Lord and Saviour of the cosmos and the Reign (Kingdom) of God.

So, about this Gospel of Jesus Christ, the first gospel pertaining to him was the gospel of great joy that the angels delivered to the shepherds that the Saviour is born. Next, Jesus himself proclaimed the Gospel that the Kingdom of God is at hand therefore repent and believe the good news. And following Jesus, the apostles and prophets and, particularly, the apostle Paul, proclaimed the gospel of the victory and enthronement of Jesous Christos to Kyrios kai Soter hemon, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

The Apostle Paul as an evangelist understood himself to be a servant or slave of Jesus Christ, and as he says here a prisoner of Jesus Christ, sent (which is what apostle actually means, a sent-one) to the Gentiles to proclaim the gospel of and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. He would go into towns and cities first to Jewish synagogues and then to the marketplace and like a Senate Crier he would proclaim this gospel: Jesus the Christ is Lord over all creation and he has saved it from sin and death. He was the Son of God born a human descendent of the Judean king David to whom God promised one of his descendents would reign Israel forever. On earth he was rejected by his own people and enthroned by them on a Roman cross to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin and yet, by resurrection from the dead he was publicly and powerfully declared to be Son of God in accordance with the Holy Spirit. He has won the greatest victory of all. By his death and resurrection he has defeated sin and death. All is forgiven. Everyone in Christ Jesus by the free gift of the Holy Spirit is New Creation. He has ascended into heaven where he is exalted and enthroned at the right hand of God our Father and from there through the power of the Holy Spirit he reigns on earth eternally. All peoples,Jew and Gentile alike, are called to serve him under his glorious reign of love and forgiveness. The eternal inheritance promised to the Jews now belongs to everyone. O the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus. He will return soon for his Triumph and assume his throne here on earth bringing in forever the Reign of God. At that time all of creation will be made new and all peoples will be raised from the dead and judged according to how they have served Jesous Christos to Kyrios tou pantou tou kosmou (Jesus Christ the Lord of all the universe). Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

This gospel proclaims something new that God had irrevocably done. In, through and as Jesus Christ our Lord the Trinity has delivered or saved his creation from sin and death. Jesus is Lord over all things and all peoples and in him by means of union with him through the Holy Spirit this salvation is being enacted. Moreover, as this gospel is a divine gospel, a word of God inspirited with the Holy Spirit which does not return to him having not accomplished the Trinity's purpose in speaking it, it has the power to save, to deliver persons from the realm of darkness into the Reign of God. At the very proclaiming of the Gospel people inexplicably come to have faith in and display faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. They suddenly find themselves transformed in heart by the personal knowledge of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Wherever we proclaim this gospel people experience themselves as being personally summonsed by God to live under his Reign and in his grace through the indwelling and in-working of the Holy Spirit people are transformed in heart, indeed in nature, and drawn together to form new communities called the ecclesia or church where they live according to the Reign of Christ embodying his love. The Holy Spirit acts in and by means of the proclamation of the gospel to save people now, in the very present, so that by means of this newly created community embodying Christ Jesus all rulers and powers are getting a glimpse of what the wisdom of God looks like.

The gospel is not as it has become; a theological proposition about which we make a rational decision concerning the meaning of the death of Jesus which concerns how we will spend eternity. The gospel is the proclamation of the good news that God has saved his creation and everything and everyone in it from the futility of sin and death. The declaration was signed in Jesus’ obedient life, his death on the cross, his resurrection from death, and his ascension to the right hand of God the Father where he now reigns. He is Lord of all creation. Therefore, we in Christ are now presently being saved from sin and death, set free to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The question to us now is not whether or not we rationally believe the Gospel so that we can be entitled to its outcome. Rather, since salvation is the new reality enacted in and by Jesus Christ, the question is are we going to live our freedom in Christ or are we going to sit back in fear and continue to live like slaves to sin and death. Are we just going to continue to live like everyone else around us or live in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? If this is our aim, then we need the church and to be the church. The church is the place on earth where God’s grace is present and administrated. To participate in the life and mission of a Christ-centered church is participation in the Reign, the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit by means of the proclamation of the Gospel has made us to be like Paul, administrators or stewards of the Trinity's grace which is his presence with us, his favour bestowed upon us, and his acting on our behalf. God’s presence, his favour, and his acting on behalf of people is here in the midst of Christian fellowship and we are entrusted to see to its proper administration. We, the church of Jesus Christ, are the living result of the living word of God which is and undergirds the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, our task is that of living our lives together in a way that is worthy of the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord and as Lord he doesn't behead his enemies at his Triumph. Rather, he forgives them. We must live lives that are compelled by the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord and do this together as the community that embodies the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Since Jesus Christ is Lord, we are free and by the Holy Spirit enabled to live as those not encumbered by addictions of all sorts, by materialism and greed, by hatred and unforgiveness, and by shame and guilt. The old life is gone a new has begun. The secret to living the new life in Christ is not focusing our energies on leaving the old life behind, but rather to fight that fight by immersing ourselves in the new life found in Christ Jesus growing in him by sharing our lives together in loving Christian community, meditation on Scripture, prayer, worship, being compassionate. At his Triumph when we are raised from the dead and asked to give account for our lives, crowns and robes will not be given for hard work poured into leaving the old life behind or even for believing the right things. Rather, crowns and robes will be given for how we have lived the new life freely given in Christ in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We are stewards of God’s grace. May we live graciously. Amen.

* For grammatical and theological reasons Ephesians 3:12 should be translated "in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence by his fidelity" rather than "in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through our faith in him."