 Ephesians
2:11-22
Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.
You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the
Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even
though it affected only their bodies and not their
hearts. In those days you were living apart from
Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the
people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant
promises God had made to them. You lived in this
world without God and without hope. But now you have
been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far
away from God, but now you have been brought near to
him through the blood of Christ.
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He
united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in
his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of
hostility that separated us. He did this by ending
the system of law with its commandments and
regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles
by creating in himself one new people from the two
groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both
groups to God by means of his death on the cross,
and our hostility toward each other was put to
death.
He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles
who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews
who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father
through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ
has done for us.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and
foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s
holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Together, we are his house, built on the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets. And the
cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are
carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy
temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are
also being made part of this dwelling where God
lives by his Spirit.
Christ is the great uniter. Christ's Church, in
preaching the Gospel of our Lord, preaches a message
of unity. Christians sometimes talk and live in such
a way, that others may call us divisive. We would
rather be known for bringing people together, than
pushing people apart!
Our Lord Jesus, and His Gospel message of Life, is
the vaccine or antidote for the culture of hate and
divisiveness that is so prevalent in our world and
even in our own nation.
Unfortunately, feelings of loathing,
hate, and bitterness are nothing new in this world
of ours. It goes all the way back to the fall of
humanity in Genesis 3. As sin and evil entered into
the world, every type of relationship was affected.
Enmity between Mankind and God, enmity between
Mankind and Mankind, and enmity between Mankind and
The Creation became a reality. It's not hard to find
examples of this breakdown of harmony in Scripture.
Cain murdering his brother Abel, God disrupting the
communication of the rebellious as Babel, Noah
bringing people and animals into a great boat so
that it would not be snuffed out by a dangerous
flood, brothers Jacob and Esau fighting over an
inheritance and a birthright, Egypt enslaving the
descendants of Abraham, and David running for his
life from King Saul. There are certainly plenty of
examples in Scripture of divisiveness, the wages of
sin.
This is not shocking to us today either! All we have
to do is turn on the TV or open up our smartphone
and we are greeted with a level of animosity,
division, hate, and violence just as discouraging,
just as devastating, and just as hurtful. In fact we
have become so efficient in this 21st century, we
can ostracize people, and potentially ruin their
lives with the click of a button. Governments of man
can kill hundreds of people with a drone controlled
wirelessly by something not too far off from a video
game controller. The Babylonians, Assyrians,
Persians, and Romans were ruthless but they got
nothing on 21st century humanity! We need that
vaccine or antidote that the Gospel Provides!
How has Christ Jesus made a way for the world to
come together? How has Christ Jesus removed the
enmity that existed between various cultures and
colors and languages and ways of living? Christ
Jesus has brought us together through delivering us
from a shared malady, bringing us into a shared
identity, and placing us within a shared community.
He has accomplished this through His work on the
cross and resurrection.
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Our scripture today says a lot about
the divisiveness that existed between the Jewish and
Gentile/Greek/Hellenistic community. Much violence
had been dealt out over the generations between the
two groups. There was a lot of hatred between these
cultures. Herod's temple in Jerusalem during the 1st
century echoed this reality as well. The temple
proper contained the Holy of Holies and Holy place,
the court of Men, and the court of Women. There was
a court of Gentiles as well for those non-Hebrews
who wanted to worship the God of Abraham. This court
was a separate porch that surrounded the temple
proper. It was several steps below everything else
and walled off from the rest of the worshipers.
Archeologists have even found signs from this period
of time that were displayed around the temple that
warned Gentiles that if they left their area and
tried to enter into the court reserved for the
Hebrews, that they would be killed and that they
would only have themselves to blame! Hatred knows no
particular time period, culture, or skin color.
Through the death of Christ, not only
was the curtain or partition separating us from our
God and Creator torn asunder, so too were the walls
that separate us from one another. The work of
Christ Jesus shows us that we are all in the same
boat. We have all sinned and need the redemption
that Jesus offers. When Jesus said: "Come to me all
you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give
you rest," he wasn't talking to just one select
group of people... He was talking to all of
humanity! We all need this rest that is offered to
us in the Gospel! When Jesus said: "Father forgive
them for they do not know what they were doing," he
wasn't just talking to those standing in and around
the cross on Good Friday... He was talking to every
person from every time and every place.
Through the death of Christ, and by the power of the
Holy Spirit, we become adopted into the family of
God. We become a child of God. This becomes our
primary identity. Some would even say our ENTIRE
IDENTITY. As the Apostle Paul has said: "There is no
longer Jew or Greek, Free or Slave, Male or Female,
for we are all One in Christ Jesus. Our tribal or
cultural identity becomes less important. Our family
name becomes less important. Our educational or
economic level becomes less important. Any other way
that we identity becomes a distant second in
importance compared to our identity as Disciples of
Christ and as Sons and Daughters of God. The old way
of identification is now obsolete, and in fact has
contributed much to the divisiveness and hatred that
has incurred such a terrible cost to so many.
The new identity that we speak of today brings
peace... It must... Surely, we would be less likely
to raise our fist, our sword, or our gun, knowing
that the potential recipient is just like us... A
sinner for whom Christ died... a precious soul loved
by God and made in His Image... An individual that
God has gone great lengths to bring into his
family... The same family in which we are a part.
What would our world look like today if our domestic
and world leaders made their decisions through this
lens or paradigm? What a difference this would make!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow! He has
brought us from a state of Alienation... To a state
of reconciliation. We were once far from God... He
sent His Son to bring us near. And as a "bonus
blessing", we get to be part of a world-wide family.
We are called to see all people in one of two
ways... Each human being is either a part of God's
family, or someone God wants to be a part of his
family. Those are the only viable options as I see
it from Holy Scripture. It is this Kingdom Paradigm
can bring people together, and has brought people
together!
Thanks be to God, Amen!
Ryan Jay Edgecombe
Broadwell Christian Church
Central Presbyterian Church - Petersburg, IL
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