Post-feast of the Exaltation of the Cross; Our Venerable Father Eumenes, Bishop of Gortyna
Ephesians 1:7-17; Mark 8:1-10
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read Ephesians 1:7-17
Unlike most preachers, who ramble on in a homily before they make their point, Paul packs theological content into his introductory remarks of his letters. One concept that he lays out is “recapitulation.” In Ephesians 1:10, we are told that God recapitulates his entire economy in Christ. When we speak of “economy” we refer to God’s oikonomia, literally, how God runs his household. How does God run his house? We need look no further than Christ. Christ “recapitulates” this plan. In the rhetorical sense, recapitulation means “to summarize.” Christ is the summary of the plan of salvation. Recapitulation also bears the connotation of “renewal” or “restoration.” Think of a teacher who gets off topic, at a certain point, the teacher (if he is worth his salt) will come back to the matter at hand and summarize the main points to get us back on track. Prior to the coming of Jesus, the vagaries of human living got off track. Recapitulating everything in Christ, God desires to get us to focus on the matter at hand, salvation, God’s coming in the flesh allows us the opportunity to re-centre our lives around how God wishes to run his household, making sure that we are living within the bounds of this house, and not outside of it. Recapitulation also bears the meaning of putting everything on its head. When Paul tells us that God recapitulates ALL things in Christ, both in heaven and on earth, he is also saying that our conventional ways of looking at the world, heaven, etc. need to be adjusted. The furniture in our heads needs to be rearranged so that we can see how God wants to build his house anew. We can let in God’s recapitulation in Christ, Paul tells us, by listening, listening to his “word of truth,” “the good news of our salvation.” Furthermore, this listening is not without assistance. As believers we are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit. There is room for us to stand in the house of God, clutched by the hand of Christ and sustained by the spirit. It requires, however, that we turn our conventional way of living on its head, and accept more fully the restored life in Christ, inside the Church, outside the Church, in our hearts and out in the world.