These Tremendous Issues

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     It has been said that you can judge the caliber of a man by the things at which he laughs. I suspect that it is equally true that character is revealed by what it takes to make us weep. And by the same token, the greatness or littleness of a religious movement may be determined by the things with which its membership is preoccupied in a time of distress and in a world at crisis.

     Despite the unfavorable light in which the Earth is placed as man becomes ever more familiar with the other planets, it still remains that, insofar as human knowledge goes, it was central in the divine purpose. It was to this fly-speck rotating in the galaxies of infinity that the Word came, clothed in flesh, to share the common lot. This was the terminus of the light beam of Love, the transforming dynamic of the universe. This is the visited planet. Here redeeming Grace found shelter and reconciliation reversed the tide of what, in our human predicament, we call history.

     The human mind, beset by the limitations of time and space, is staggered when it seeks to grasp the majesty with which God invests the eternal plan for our return to the divine-human relationship which was broken and shattered by sin. In our finitude we can never fully embrace it. Our words are too meager, our syllables too simple for such a tre-

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mendous task. Yet, the apostle Paul, that remarkable symbol of God's transcending concern, leads us close enough that we may touch the hem of the garment. In no place do I come closer than in the first thirteen verses of chapter three of the letter to the Ephesians.

     Of course, when we talk about chapters and verses, we speak of something of which the apostle knew nothing. Chapters are the slices we have made to enhance our serving of the bread of life, and verses are the bites into which we have carved them. Sometimes they make our mastication difficult, having been cut across the grain. Perhaps that is why, at this particular juncture, I like best the translation by J. B. Phillips, that inimitable purveyor of inestimable treasure wrapped up in the commonplace folds of the daily newspaper. The particular volume which lies before me as I write is divided into paragraphs with no stakes driven down at intervals to create a numerical obstacle course.

     I should like to share with you some of the magnetic truths which seem to leap from the page and burn their way into my consciousness. Paul begins with mention of the great cause which resulted in his imprisonment, and defines it as being related to the gentiles. He regards his call to serve them as a distinct manifestation of grace, and is thrilled by the fact that God has inducted him into the divine mystery, the superlative secret of the ages, opening the door to it with the key of revelation.

     This secret was maintained inviolate in the vaults of heaven, hidden from the prying eyes and longing hearts of every generation of the past. Now it has been made known through the agency of the Holy Spirit. God's chosen envoys and prophets are the recipients of a plain declaration. For them the veil has been lifted, the enshrouding darkness has turned to light.

     And what is the noble secret? Are you ready for it? Then, hear the apostle: "It is simply this: that the gentiles who were previously excluded from God's agreements, are to be equal heirs with his chosen people, equal members and equal partners in God's promises given by Christ through the gospel." Does that leave you untouched? Does it provide a "let-down?" Then you have not begun to grasp the eternal plan for the unity of all things in the universe in Christ Jesus.

     The mystery unfolded is the end of ethnic, racial, social and national barriers. It is an announcement that the war is over. Hate has been dethroned. Selfishness is revealed as a blatant usurper. There is no other side of the tracks. The tracks have been removed. There is no wall of separation and segregation. The wall has been broken down. Former outcasts are now in camp, former outlaws are caught up in love and life, equal heirs and equal partners.

     What is mysterious about it? The answer is simple. The way it was achieved. It was not by conformity. The circumcised did not become uncircumcised. The uncircumcised did not become circumcised. The wall was between them and the wall was broken down. And there they were, no longer apart, but seeing each other face to face. Blood washed away the barrier. It brought together those who were alienated. Paul says that the incalculable riches of Christ were opened up for all (not just one race) to share. That is the mystery!

THE ROLE OF ANGELS

     He declares. "The purpose is that all the angelic powers should now see the complex wisdom of God's plan being worked out through the Church, in conformity to that timeless purpose which he centered in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Angels were not in on the secret. They were interested in it and sought to peer into these things. But they had no revelation just as the angels that sinned had no Saviour. Revelation was for men and so was the Savior.

     The only way that the angels could grasp God's "complex plan" is to see it worked out in the community of saints. The community of the reconciled ones is God's university for angels. It is their

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only opportunity to fathom the purpose which was hidden from ages and generations. The angels have their eyes upon us to see how diverse elements can be united in one body by the cross in spite of their diversity.

     So the apostle continues: "In view of these tremendous issues, I beg you not to lose heart because I am now suffering for my part in bringing you the gospel." I like that! I am attracted to it again and again! Great issues demand great sacrifices. The freeing of the mystery may require the imprisonment of the minister. We must never lose heart if the messenger forfeits his liberty that the message may go forth unfettered. The bodies of men can be cast into prison but the body of Christ cannot be. The Word of God is not bound! It is as free as the Spirit.

     These tremendous issues. How they shame us for the trivia which we exalt above the cross. How they make our little debates and arguments and wrangles so unimportant and inconsequential. The mystery of the ages is the gathering into one body of variegated elements and welding them into an indissoluble unity of the Spirit. God have mercy upon those who fly in the face of heaven's eternal purpose and who think they are called to fracture and fragment the saints in order to please God while frustrating the Great Design. It is enough to make the eagerly watching angels weep!