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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany

January 9, 2023

The Invitatory

The Lord has shown forth his glory. Come let us adore him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Ephesians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

My initial assignment in Confirmation class was to memorize the Catechism and recite the question and answer to the clergy assigned to work with me. The first question was: Why did God make me? The answer I had to memorize was God made me to know Him, to love Him, to fear Him and to obey Him. Would that the clergy had suggested substituting hold Him in awe for fear Him. Or more directly, if the discussion then turned to this passage from Ephesians. How differently my relationship to and appreciation of God would have developed.

God was planning something powerful before we knew it. Paul writes of this in words of almost unfathomable depth. These verses comprise one long sentence in Greek. a poetic exaltation that calls us to bless God who blesses all. For blessing reigns throughout. From its outset, there is blessing for God rather than thanksgiving for the Ephesians. We can readily see the implications of God’s work for those to whom the letter is addressed. They receive a new relationship with God through adoption. And there is more! This adoption opens the way for the extravagant grace that forgives our sins and opens to us a new kind of freedom - freedom from all that would seek to own us. We have been chosen in Christ for the purpose of being “holy and blameless.” For it is God’s intention to gather all things up into Christ so that the love, healing, wisdom that we associate with Jesus will now order the entire creation.

We are now presented with a glorious reality that overshadows even our own redemption and forgiveness and is truly the culmination of reconciliation. God’s plan is to draw everything together in Christ. Imagine such a restoration, reconciliation, and salvation. Everything in creation that has been separated out, divided, ostracized and othered, will be gathered back together. The entire cosmos is in view.

Everything has changed with the revelation of Jesus Christ who always moves beyond the vision that other people have seen. We are gifted with God-given experiences of discovering the depths of what it is to be “blessed” and that the Church exists to bless its members, offering a potentially powerful counter against the widespread belief that the Church is mainly interested in judging and cursing other people, not blessing them.

Being “in Christ” reframes everything. We see ourselves and one another, neighbor or stranger, in a fresh way. Every experience is reframed, from our greatest joys and cherished achievements to our persistent temptations, our most anguished regrets, and our most wounding losses. “In Christ” we are joined to the power and presence of God. “In Christ” we are knit to others who will mourn our dead with us even as they help us sing hymns of resurrection. Being “in Christ” is no sentimental togetherness. An “in Christ” community has to reckon with the fact that it will be perceived at times as more a threat than a blessing. Part of the community’s calling is to be both a proclamation and living reflection of the God who has called it into being.



The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

         on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

         who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.