Among all Paul’s writings, his letter to the Ephesians stands out as perhaps his most soaring and yet succinct presentation of God’s purpose for the world as fulfilled by Jesus Christ. It also lifts the veil to reveal the place of Paul’s own mission to the Gentiles in that reborn, redeemed reality. In today’s reading from this letter, Paul eloquently describes the transformation that Christ’s reconciling work has accomplished. A world that seemed hopelessly divided between those who stood in a special relationship with God and those who stood outside the divine presence now is able to join together in the unity offered by Christ. Jew and Gentile are no longer. In their place, in the place of two separate identities, there is only one “household of God” (v.19).

Paul begins by reminding his G…