He Revealed the Mystery

Over my 37 years on this earth I estimate I have heard 3,478 Sunday sermons give or take a few, and have attended roughly 1,739 Wednesday night Bible classes. These figures do not include 4 years at a Christian University taking a Bible class every semester, attending lectureships, ladies’ day programs, ladies’ Bible classes, youth rallies, summer youth series, camps, gospel meetings, retreats, and workshops.

After so many years and so many lessons I think it’s a safe assertion that I do not remember every word spoken in those sermons and classes. I do, most certainly, carry with me the lessons and principles from God’s word that they instilled in me. My faith has been shaped by these times of study with many wonderful teachers who wanted nothing more than to share God’s love, grace, and mercy. Preachers who were committed to teaching me about following God’s commandments, understanding His holiness and having confidence in His justice. They wanted to impress upon me the importance of knowing God’s will for His creation. For most of my life I took these lessons for granted.

Despite the lack of appreciation in my youth God was and is working through those thousands of lessons taught in classrooms and from behind pulpits. I am glad to reflect on the memories, vague though they may be, of sermons from many years ago. One lesson I have been reflecting on in recent weeks is from the book of Ephesians.

“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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)

The mysterious will of God has been revealed and we can know and understand what that will is. From the beginning, from the time of creation, from the first separation because of sin, God had a plan. His purpose, His every move, His will, is to give us the most gracious gift of being united in a relationship with Him. That hope lies in Christ alone. God has called to us through the death of our adopted brother, Jesus Christ, to have unity in the hope He gives us because of His sacrifice (Ephesians 4:1-4).

I have thought of this lesson many times through the years but it has taken on a special meaning to me in the last several weeks. You see, the man who delivered this message was not just “my preacher,” he and his family were and are some of my dearest and closest friends. From the time I was 2 or 3 years old until I was 17 or 18 years old he was the one who revealed the mystery of God’s will to me from behind the pulpit, in the classroom, and even in his home. Though he wasn’t the one who dipped me in the waters of baptism, he was there to hug me and cheer me on as I grew in my faith. He stood beside Paul and me as we exchanged vows and were joined together as husband and wife. He and his wife raised two faithful daughters that I love deeply and I have the distinct honor of claiming as my lifelong friends and sisters. He has left us here on this earth far too soon. I have cried for my friends and I have cried that this world has lost a faithful preacher that loved to reveal the mystery of God’s will to people in his neighborhood and even across the world.

I cannot remember if it was one sermon or a series and I cannot remember the exact words spoken but I certainly remember the man that taught me those lessons and more importantly I remember the principle that has been applied to my life and tied to many important decisions I have made.  I don’t recall ever uttering the words thank you to Johnny Mack Young but I am confident that, because he revealed the mystery to me, I will thank him in our heavenly home as we worship together the One who called us to His worthy cause.