Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you …
- from Ephesians 3:2
 
Today’s passage provides us a glimpse into the fantastic confidence that the Apostle Paul carried forward in his mission in life. He knew for certain that God had given him good work to do. And he wanted other people to know it as well.
 
Paul received a special calling to take the good news about Jesus to places and people who had never heard it. In particular, he played an instrumental part in carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. He wasn’t the first or only person to do this, but his work had a dramatic impact.
 
Within a few short years Christian exploded throughout the Roman empire, growing more rapidly than the persecuted authorities could oppose it. At every turn these fledgling communities of faith held strong and expanded. God wove something powerful into their communal DNA through the Apostle Paul. And we are the beneficiaries even today.
 
Most of us have no Jewish ethnic heritage to speak of. For us, we’re grafted into the great history of God’s good work in the lives of his people through the inclusive, cross-cultural outreach of a Jewish believer (whether that’s Paul or Peter or Philip or one of the men and women who scattered from Jerusalem and started sharing the good news with Greeks).
 
And for those of you who do have a Jewish ethnic heritage, Paul’s legacy impacts you too. He showed that the religion of Christianity wasn’t a Gentile-only religion, that Jews were welcome to follow the Messiah, that you could be a Christian without giving up your ethnic identity as a Jew. He showed us all this beautiful truth by living it out himself.
 
Paul had a beautiful call from the Lord. What’s yours?
 
What is the Lord inviting you into with your life? What particular administration of God’s grace have you received so that you can bless others?