INTRODUCTION:

Did any of you hear or see this story back in November. It originally appeared in the Columbus, Ohio paper and was reported in both the newspaper and on ABC 13 News.

Here's the headline: Teen locked out of house ends up stuck in chimney

An Ohio teen-ager who locked himself out of the house tried to make like Santa Claus and shimmy down the chimney. It didn't work.

Firefighters in Columbus say the 15-year-old was small enough to get most of the way down the chimney, which was about a foot wide. But the flue that opens into the house was only eight inches across. After cutting off the gas supply to the fireplace, firefighters considered cutting holes in the chimney or taking it apart. But they ended up taking a lower-tech approach. They lowered a rope from an aerial ladder and pulled the boy up very slowly. The teen lost his pants on the trip out but wasn't hurt. (1)

Have you ever been locked out? I've never been stuck in a chimney like that young man but I have been locked out before. It's a horrible feeling. If you've ever locked your keys in your car? Or forgotten the password to an Internet site or a safe? You know the feeling. I never could get the old safe at the church open. Pat and Kay gave me the combination but I don't care how many times I tried, I couldn't get it open. It took Pat or Kay to get it open.

This morning we read in Paul's letter to the Ephesians that the Mystery of God, the Mystery of our Faith had been locked and sealed. And it took someone else to help us Access that Mystery. Let's look at what Paul had to say.

Ephesians 3:1-12 (NRSV)

[1] This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--

[2] for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you,

[3] and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words,

[4] a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.

[5] In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:

[6] that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

[7] Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power.

[8] Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,

[9] and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;

[10] so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

[11] This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

[12] in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

A small group of people in Israel, God's chosen people, knew the Mystery. But they weren't sharing it. The rest of the world had been locked out. The rest of the world needed Access. For the rest of the World the Mystery was HIDDEN.

I. HIDDEN: NO ACCESS:

A. THE MYSTERY WAS HIDDEN: NO ACCESS.

There's a story about a family on vacation who stopped at a park for lunch one day. When they finished the little girl saw a playground and wanted to play. The little girl wanted to go in but the gate was locked. Daddy explained that she couldn't play in the playground because the gate was locked.

"But Daddy" she said, "you've got lots of keys." She hadn't learned yet that you have to have the right key in order to open a gate or a door or a lock. (2) Or even a Mystery like the Mystery of God and our Faith.

And that was the problem, we didn't have the key. It was all HIDDEN. ACCESS DENIED.

B. Bill Cosby tells the story of a football team that was losing miserably at half time. The score was 58-0. If there were any hope of pulling this game out of the hole, the coach would have to do some major motivating in the locker room. Coach gathered his battered, frustrated team at one end of the steaming room. He questioned their manhood, he criticized their performance, and he challenged them to give their all in the second half.

A spark of excitement began to grow in the room, as he allowed them a glimpse of the glory that would be theirs if they came from behind and won this game. The spark grew to a roaring flame as he had them chanting, "Win! Win! Win!" There was no doubt in any of the players' minds that they could do it.

As the chant changed to, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" the coach screamed, "Now go get 'em!" and they rushed for the door.

Unfortunately, the locker room door was locked. After just a few moments of trying to break it down, the team sat discouraged in a little circle. They had been motivated to accomplish a great task, but because of the locked door, there was no opportunity to accomplish that task.

We could have all the motivation in the world. We could even be looking in all the right places but if we don't have the right ACCESS, everything stays HIDDEN.

That's what was going on before the coming of Christ. THE MYSTERY WAS HIDDEN: THERE WAS NO ACCESS.

II. BIDDEN: OPEN ACCESS:

But because of Christ, because of the birth of Jesus, WE ARE BIDDEN, WE HAVE OPEN ACCESS TO GOD. Paul writes: "we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord." And this was all "in accordance with God's eternal purpose."

That which was once HIDDEN has now been revealed through Christ. That which was once DENIED has now been made OPEN ACCESS.

There was a soldier in the Union Army, a youngest son who had lost his older brother and his father in the war. He went to Washington, D. C. to see President Lincoln to ask for an exemption from military service so he could go back and help his sister and mother with the spring planting on the farm.

When he arrived in Washington, after having received a furlough from the military to go and plead his case, he went to the White House, approached the doors and asked to see the President. He was told, "You can't see the President: Don't you know there's a war on? The President's a very busy man. Now go away! Get back out there and fight the Rebs like you're supposed to."

So, he left. He was very disheartened, and was sitting on a little park bench not far from the White House when a little boy came up to him. The boy said, "Soldier, you look unhappy. What's wrong?"

The soldier looked at this young boy and began to spill his heart about his situation, about his father having died in the war and his older brother having died in the war, and how he was the only man left in the family and was needed desperately back at the farm for the spring planting.

So the little boy took the soldier by the hand and led him around to the back of the White House. They went through the back door, past the guards, went past all the generals and the high ranking government officials and they all stood at attention as this little boy took this private through the rooms of the White House. The private didn't understand.

Finally, they got to the Oval office itself and the little boy didn't knock on the door, he just opened it and walked in, and there was President Lincoln with his Secretary of State, looking over battle plans on his desk. President Lincoln looked up and said, "What can I do for you, Todd?"

And Todd said, "Daddy, this soldier needs to talk to you." And right then and there, the soldier had a chance to plead his case to President Lincoln, and he was exempted from military service due to the hardship he was under.

That's exactly what Jesus did for us. We have access to the Father through the Son. It is the Son who brings us to the Father's throne and says, "Daddy, here is someone who wants to talk to you."

We are BIDDEN AND HAVE OPEN ACCESS TO GOD THROUGH CHRIST.

H.G. Lee tells the about a little boy whose father was promoted to the exalted rank of Brigadier General. When the little boy heard the news, he was silent for a moment, and then asked, 'Do you think he'll mind if I still call him Daddy?'

The essence of the Christian faith is unrestricted access to the presence of God. (5) And we have this access through Jesus. Access to the Mystery of God and the Mystery of our Faith which was locked away for so many centuries has been opened for all through the life and death of Jesus.

Today is Epiphany Sunday, the day we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men. In essence it WAS the World Premiere of this OPEN ACCESS. The wise Men were BIDDEN by the star and all that had been HIDDEN was revealed to them. And now to us through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior.

CONCLUSION:

A driver pulled up beside a rundown old farmhouse. He'd been driving for hours and was hopelessly lost. He got out and knocked at the door. A very elderly woman answered the door. So, he asked her for directions to Des Moines.

"Sorry, I don't know," the woman said.

So, he got back in his car and started to pulled away. But he heard voices. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw the woman and an equally old man waving for him to come back. So he made a U-turn and drove up to them.

He stuck his head out the window of his car and the old woman said "This here's my husband. He doesn't know how to get to Des Moines either." (6)

Before the coming of Christ, the rest of the world had no clue about the Love and Grace of God. They had no ACCESS to God. God and the Mystery of our Faith was HIDDEN from them. But then Jesus came and changed all of that.

One of the members of a former Church, told me that just before Thanksgiving, her four year old son Blake was at preschool where the teacher had been talking about giving thanks. She asked the children to name something for which they were thankful. The children all said things like Mom and Dad, or food or their toys. But one little girl said, "I'm thankful for God and Jesus." At that point Blake popped up and said, "Hey, I know those guys. They go to my Church."

The Good News is this: The Good News is no longer HIDDEN, instead we are all BIDDEN to come to God through Jesus, who, through His very life and death, has given us OPEN ACCESS to God the Father Almighty. That ACCESS is even OPEN to a four year old like Blake.

The Son of God brings us right into God's very presence. And He does that today at this Buffet of God's Grace. This Banquet of Forgiveness, Healing and Wholeness where our hunger and thirst are quenched. We're invited to eat our fill and to drink deep from the well of God's Grace.

1. (Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) 11/24/03 - COLUMBUS, OH, ABC 13 National/World news

2. Preaching Magazine (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN), Vol. 11, No.2

3. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), April 1990

4. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), December 1986

5. Willaim Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, (The letters to the Galatians and Ephesians) pp. 129-130. The Wesminster Press, Philadelphia, 1976.

6. From the Internet

www.SermonWriter.com (Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000)

www.SermonMall.com

www.deaconsil.com

www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermon.html (Richard Fairchild Lectionary Resources)

Homiletics, (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)

Lectionary Homiletics, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)

Dynamic Preaching, (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN)

The Clergy Journal, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)

Preaching Magazine (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)

Circuit Rider, (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN)

The Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1953)

The New Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1995)

Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 2002) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Miracles, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1998) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Parables, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1997) SermonPrep Version.