No Appointment Necessary Series

This says to me that we had better be united as a local body of believers, and that we had better be open to what God is doing in other areas of His kingdom. And if there are disagreements or dissension, they had better be around areas that are significant and not trivial – for example we had better not unite with people who deny that Jesus is the Son of God, and we better not divide with people who prefer a different music style than we do or would rather worship and witness at a different time. St. Augustine famously said, “In Essentials, Unity. In non-essentials, Diversity. In all things, Charity.”

Some missionaries in the Philippines set up a croquet game in their front yard. Several of their Agta Negrito neighbors became interested and wanted to join the fun. The missionaries explained the game and started them out, each with a mallet and ball. As the game progressed, opportunity came for one of the players to take advantage of another by knocking that person’s ball out of the court. A missionary explained the procedure, but his advice only puzzled the Negrito friend. "Why would I want to knock his ball out of the court?" he asked. "So you will be the one to win!" a missionary said. The short-statured man, clad only in a loincloth, shook his head in bewilderment. Competition is generally ruled out in a hunting and gathering society, where people survive not by competing but by sharing equally in every activity.

The game continued, but no one followed the missionaries’ advice. When a player successfully got through all the wickets, the game was not over for him. He went back and gave aid and advice to his fellows. As the final player moved toward the last wicket, the affair was still very much a team effort. And finally, when the last wicket was played, the "team" shouted happily, "We won! We won!"

2. The Mystery Shared: (vss. 7-11)

The second section in the passage talks about sharing this mystery.

A. With the Gentiles

The first people with whom the mystery is shared are the Gentiles (vs. 8). In keeping with the purpose of the passage which is to share more of himself with his hearers, Paul mentions some of his personal experience in verse 7 and then explains that his job is to share this great mystery with the gentiles. I want to point out just briefly how Paul describes this in vs. 8, because it is a beautiful descriptor: he says he is called to preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ”. One commentator says that this “suggests the picture of a reservoir so deep that soundings cannot reach the bottom of it. No limit can, therefore, be put to its resources.” (Mitton). I wanted to point that out – the resources, the forgiveness, the power of God is like a reservoir so deep we can never find the bottom of it – we can never draw too much of it – we can never exhaust it. Draw strength from that truth today – whatever you are facing, God’s resources are abundant.

B. With all people

The sharing of the mystery is not limited to the gentiles. Paul goes on to say in the next verse that he wants to make this plain “to everyone”. He wants all people to know that there is hope and unity for us together in Christ.