Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s Epistle reading from Ephesians must be one of the most familiar passages in Saint Paul’s writings, and it is perfectly appropriate to the seasonal themes of Epiphany.

Read the passage here.

This reading suggests a valence both universal in its relevance and richly variegated in its application.

What Saint Paul tells us unequivocally is that Jesus’s incarnation surprises humanity. Usually, we focus on the delightful side of that ‘epiphany’ – on the ways God has and will surpass our expectations.

But there’s a darker side too: the sense in that epiphany speaks to our misplaced, simplistic, or myopic tendency to fixate on the wrong thing. We all have our own limitations and probably a fair share of false expectations. Human beings have a demonstrated genius for missing the point.

After all, isn’t ‘missing the point’ the definition of sin, that ancient problem that bogs humanity down and makes people forget their cosmic purpose? Isn’t it all too easy for us to see deep patterns of disintegration, selfishness or hubris as ‘normal’ in our daily lives – and so it has seemed to generations before us? ‘People don’t change’ says the adage, and we might well believe it. The old patterns of sin and death seem so deeply embedded in our consciousness that we cannot see a way beyond them.

‘But God…’ – that’s one of Paul’s famous conjunction-clauses – ‘made us alive together with Christ’. In other words, Christ comes to shatter our false notions about humanity and to utterly transform us into children of God, sharing in his death and resurrection.

The reality of Epiphany (and every related epiphany) then has two sides. First, our own finite and flawed perspectives should prevent too much confidence in our own programs, causes, or dream-wishes, because they can so easily become a primrose path to delusion. Second, the gift of new life in Christ gives us every confidence, because we are not the authors of that life.

This brings to mind a famous quote by Fr. Seraphim of Sarov, a 19th-century Russian saint, which beautifully encapsulates this brief discussion:

‘Acquire a spirit of peace, and thousands around you will be saved.’

Yours in Christ,
Justin