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“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we might be holy and blameless before him.”

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During my rock n’ roll years as a teenager here in Southern Cal, I had the privilege of playing in a band managed by the well-known disc jockey, Casey Kasem. Casey is an Armenian Christian and that aspect of his life was apparent. He is famous for a statement he used at the end of his long running radio and TV programs. You might remember it. 

 “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”

The world has a way of keeping our feet on the ground, our noses to any number of grindstones. Created for the heavens, we too often find ourselves choking on the dust, immersed in the tedium of the day. On the one hand, of course, we have no choice. We must live in this world.  But there is more.

St. Paul begins his letter to the Ephesian Christians by turning their sights from the earth to the stars. In these two verses from the beginning of his letter he describes a great mystery, a mystery of which we are a part as God’s people. We are thankful for the great opportunity of our lives, of course. At the same time it is our life in Christ Jesus, our life in God that draws from the Christian the greatest swell of thanks and praise. How can we fathom it? All the blessings of heaven Paul, declares, are already ours in Christ. Before the dawn of time, of creation, Paul tells us, God had already chosen us as His own through Christ. And right there, within the great mystery of predestination, emmanating from God’s eternal, steadfast love, the greatest mystery of all was present and waiting to be revealed.

And what is that most ineffable of mysteries? That on the earth-bound, bloody cross the dear, holy, blessed, heavenly Jesus became sin although He knew no sin so that our sinful selves would be overwhelmed by the grace and mercy of the eternal God, and  “that we might be holy and blameless before Him.”  

“May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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