Do
you remember that?
1971 - probably the most successful ad
jingle in history.
All these people singing about living in
harmony. The
dawning of the age of Aquarius - harmony and
understanding.
That longing that we share for coming
together - ending what divides us.
On August 28, 1963 - this man - who is? Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. - gave a speech before at
least 250,000 people in Washington D.C. Tremendous
speech. Familiar
words. Remember
these?
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of
Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of
former slave owners will be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of
Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heart of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of
freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will
one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character…
I have a dream that one day, down in
Alabama...little black boys and black girls will
be able to join hands with little white boys and
white girls as sisters and brothers...
Isn’t that a great dream? Powerful
words coming from the heart that touch all of us. In some
ways we’ve made some progress towards that dream. Whatever
someone may think about his politics a black man
is president of the United States. Thinking
back a few decades that’s huge.
And yet - doesn’t it seem like the more progress
we make at tearing down what divides us we only
discover new ways to separate?
As we’ve been looking at Ephesians - we’ve seen
that we live in what kind of world? Humpty
Dumpty.
We know this. The world we live in is
fallen - cracked - whatever all the kings horses
and all the kings men have tried to do - there is
no way Humpty is getting put back together again.
We only have to look as close as our own hearts to
know that whatever we’re trying to do to
accomplish peace within us - between us - between
nations or in our marriages or where we work or
our schools - wherever we live our lives - our
striving for peace most often comes up short. How
easy it is to live in a city - even the size of
Merced - and feel alone.
Where we’re coming to in Ephesians 2 - starting at
verse 11 - is where we must go - to God. Only
God can heal our divisions - whether that’s
between races or nations or parents and children
or husband and wives - even here in the church. Only
God can heal our divisions.
Look with me at Ephesians 2 - verses 11 and 12
are Paul’s description of The Great Divide. Let’s
say that together, “The Great Divide.”
Verse 11: Therefore - which refers back to what we’ve
been looking at the last three Sundays - because
God has been so over the top in blessing us - even
in His grace and mercy and love - saving us -
putting us into a relationship with Him - and
using us according to His great purposes - giving
our lives purpose and meaning and hope…
Therefore - because of everything God
has graciously done for you - therefore remember
that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who
are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called
“Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by
human hands - remember that you were at that time
separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world.
There are two parts to this great divide that we
need to grab on to.
First: Paul
says that you - meaning us Gentiles - you were
physically divided from the Jews.
God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and
Ishmael and Isaac - that all of Abraham’s
descendants would be circumcised - the great
outward physical symbol of God’s special -
covenant - relationship with His chosen people.
God’s desire was to set aside Abraham’s
descendants that Israel would be that shining
example of what it meant to be God’s people. Then to
bless all the nations through Israel - that Israel
would be the birth nation of the Messiah - that
Israel would be used by God to draw all nations to
Himself.
Instead - we know that what happened? Instead
of being the channel of God’s blessing to the
nations - Israel - God’s chosen people - became
self-righteous - smug in their position - arrogant
towards other nations. From a Jewish perspective
the world was divided into two groups. Us and
everyone else.
In a number of ways that division was lived out by
the Jews. For
example - Jews didn’t socialize with Gentiles. They
avoided any contact with them. If a
Jewish boy married a Gentile girl or a Jewish girl
married a Gentile boy - the family had a funeral. If a
Gentile woman was giving birth no self-respecting
Jew would help her since she was bringing another
Gentile into the world.
Paul uses the physical reality - circumcised and
uncircumcised - to illustrate that attitude. To the
Jew - uncircumcised meant being sexually immoral -
religiously ignorant - unclean - detestable -
unchosen. Being
called “uncircumcision” by the so called
“circumcised” really is derogatory - racist.
In many ways that attitude has been reciprocated. Wherever
the Jews have gone they’ve been hated -
persecuted.
The worst was the holocaust of the Nazi
regime. Grab
on to the hatred here. This is a long way from the
age of Aquarius.
The arrogance of one nation against another has
touched every nation on earth. That
arrogance touches each one of us - either on the
receiving end or the giving end - in the places
where we live our lives.
Second - Paul writes that you Gentiles were
spiritually divided from Israel.
God had made certain promises to Abraham and Jacob
and Moses and David - made promises to His people. Every
Jew knew that if they’d sinned - if an animal was
brought before God - sacrificed in just the right
way - that God had promised to forgive that sin.
Every Jew knew that God had provided a priesthood
to intercede for His people and prophets to
instruct His people in how to live rightly before
Him. God’s
people aren’t alone in the world.
Every Jew knew that no matter how bad things got
one day God was going to send the Messiah. That
God would restore His people. Every
Jew lived by that hope.
The Gentiles had none of that. In
contrast to the “covenants of promise” -that Paul
writes about in verse 12 - Paul describes the
Gentile condition as “having no hope and without God in
the world.” What do the Gentiles have? Themselves
and a bunch of pagan irritable made-up gods that
look and act like us.
A number of First Century Roman and Greek tombs
that have the epitaph, “No Hope.” The
philosophy of the day was despair - meaningless
existence - no real purpose to life - emptiness. Pilate
asked Jesus, “What is
truth?” That’s
the hopeless cynicism of the day. Doesn’t
sound too far off from today does it?
Paul writes that - before we came to Jesus -
before we knew God’s grace poured out on our lives
- we were like that - separated from God - on our
own - with no hope and no future.
Bottom line - The Jews - by their arrogance -
rather than being a channel of God’s blessing -
even caring about the condition of the Gentiles
around them - rather than being the people used by
God to heal the division between man and God - the
Jews were a point of division - keeping the
Gentiles from God.
Verses 13 to 18 focus on God’s Answer. God’s
answer to what divides us. Let’s
say that together, “God’s
answer.”
Verse 13: But now in Christ Jesus you -
Gentiles - who
formerly were far off -
divided from God - His promises and His people - you who were formerly far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He -Jesus
- Himself is
our peace, who made both groups -
Jew and Gentile - uncircumcised and circumcised -
made both
groups into one and broke down the barrier of the
dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the
enmity - the hostility - the hatred - which is the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He
might make the two - Jew and
Gentile - into one
new man - one as God’s people - thus establishing peace, and might
reconcile them both -
Jew and Gentile - reconcile
them both in one body -
meaning the church - one body to God
through the cross, by it having put to death the
enmity.
Verse 17: And He -
Jesus - came and
preached peace to you -
Gentiles - who were far away, and peace to those
who were near - the Jews
- for through
Him we both - Jew and Gentile - have our access in
one Spirit to the Father.
God’s answer: First:
In Jesus, God has broken down the wall
dividing Jews and Gentiles.
Herod’s temple - the temple that Paul would have
worshiped at - Herod’s temple was built on an
elevated platform that was divided into 3
courtyards on the same level. The
first was the court of priests. Then
moving outward - away from the altar - was
the court of Israel or the court of men. Then
farther away was the court of women. Then
from those three courtyards there were five steps
- a wall - then another fourteen steps - down
- which finally brings us to the court of the
Gentiles.
Point being - the temple is for the Jews. The
Gentiles belong down there.
To make sure that a Gentile never approached the
temple the Jews had built a barrier - a
dividing wall made out of stone and about 3 to 4
feet tall - that ran through the court dividing
where the Gentiles could go from where the Jews
could freely go.
Then the Jews hung signs on the pillars
warning that foreigners to stay away.
In 1871 - archaeologists - digging around the
temple site - uncovered a sign from the temple -
with these words in both Hebrew and Greek: “No man
of another race is to proceed within the partition
and enclosing wall about the sanctuary. Any one
arrested there will have himself to blame for the
penalty of death which will be imposed as a
consequence.”
Paul - coming back from his third missionary
journey - came back to Jerusalem with Trophimus -
a man from the church in Ephesus. When
Paul went to the temple - a rumor went around that
Paul had taken Trophimus - taken this Gentile from
Ephesus past the barrier. That
caused a riot.
The Jews rioted and Paul almost got killed. (Acts
21:27-36)
Point being that a Gentile could come to the
Temple - look at it - buy cheap souvenirs - post
cards - “T” shirts - whatever - but a Gentile
could never approach the temple. The
wall was a barrier - a division - keeping them
back from God - His promises and His people.
That’s what Paul’s writing about here in verse 14
- this barrier of the dividing wall. Symbolic
of the very core of enmity - hatred - division -
between Jew and Gentile - Gentile and Jew.
Then Paul writes about the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances. Rules and regulations of the
Old Covenant - the same Torah - law - that the
Jews used to exclude the Gentiles from coming to
God.
The Jew could easily say, “We have the Law of Moses. You
don’t. We
have the Temple with its sacrifices. You
don’t. We
live as God’s people. You can’t.”
Grab this: The
Jews - hanging on to their spiritual hypocrisy
because they were keeping the Law - doing this and
not doing that - despising the uncircumcised
Gentiles. The
Gentiles hating the hypocritical Jews - for their
self-righteous arrogance.
God’s solution is to nail all that to the cross
with Jesus’ broken body and spilled blood. Jesus -
on the cross - makes obsolete the outward rituals
of the Law - the ordinances and the commandments -
makes obsolete anything that might be put up to
keep us back from God’s presence
What Jesus did on the cross was to make clear that
both Jew and Gentile - far off - really close - or
somewhere in between - it doesn’t matter - all of
us together - equally - are sinners - equally are
desperate for God’s grace. All of
us need God’s forgiveness and spiritual rebirth.
Levels the playing field. Doesn’t
it? Because
of Jesus Christ - God’s answer - there’s no place
at the foot of the cross for spiritual superiority
or any other kind of hypocrisy.
Way too often a spouse will come to me for
counseling - to complain about the injustices of
their marriage.
Usually they begin with the words, “I know I’ve got my problems. But...”
An admission of culpability that’s suppose
to excuse the venomous list of grievances they’re
about to level at their spouse.
So many marriages are in trouble because we forget
that God - through Jesus - has leveled the playing
field. We
see ourselves as somehow different than our spouse
- rather than honestly admitting that we’re a
fellow seeker of God’s grace and mercy and love. How
different would so many marriages be if we would
let go of our self-focus - our arrogance - and
instead become passionate about helping each other
towards God.
Wouldn’t that attitude - of humbly
seeking God’s grace and forgiveness together -
wouldn’t that attitude make a huge difference in
the world around us?
Second - God’s answer to our division - God has
created the Church.
If we take two alley cats - tie their tails
together - drop them into a 50 gallon drum. We have
union. But
we don’t have unity.
In verse 15 Paul writes that God has made the two
- Jew and Gentile -
into one new man. The verb “made” in Greek
literally means to create. God
takes one of these and one of these - puts them
together - and creates something completely
astounding - the oneness of the Church - union and
unity.
In verse 18 - Paul writes that its through Him -
Jesus - through Jesus’ work on the cross oneness
is opened up to us.
Then through the Spirit - God the Holy
Spirit - we’re able to live in this relationship. Finally
- our access is to God the Father - God “our”
Father - Father of both Jews and Gentiles.
Paul writes in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
Becoming one in Jesus doesn’t mean that we stop
being individually who we are. But
something new has happened. We’re
one in Christ Jesus.
Down in Ensenada - worshipping and serving with
our partner church - Mexican - American - Armenian
- Swedish - there’s an incredible oneness.
Maybe this experience has been yours. Wherever
I’ve gone in this world - whatever continent -
whatever country - wherever - and met with
followers of Jesus - there is a oneness that
transcends background - race - nationality -
culture - economic strata - whatever potential
differences.
Oneness because we’re the same church. United
by the same broken body and spilled blood. We
proclaim one Gospel - share one faith - one
purpose - one calling. We serve the same Lord - the
same Spirit - the same Father - one God sovereign
over each one of us.
Grab that - our oneness as the Church is the
creative work of the Triune God. God
creates that amazing reality unparalleled in human
history. There
may be cheap imitations. But only one church made one
by God.
So imagine - if God can create the church - taking
so much diversity and bringing about such amazing
unity - what might He do in your family - your
workplace - your school - your life - if you open
yourself up to Him?
Going on - verses 19-22 focus on God’s Purpose. Let’s
say that together, “God’s
purpose.”
Verse 19: So then -
consequently - as a result of what God has done -
you -
Gentiles - are no
longer strangers and aliens -
separated from God - His people and His promises -
but you are
fellow citizens with the saints -
we’re full citizens of God’s kingdom - with all
the rights and privileges of that implies - not
associates - not half-breeds - but with equal
status with everyone else - and are of God’s household - we’re part of God’s family - all of
us - Jews - Gentiles - male - female - whatever -
we’re all part of the same family - fellow heirs
of the riches of God’s household
Verse 20: having been built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself
being the corner stone -
all of what God has been opening up to His people
from the Adam on down to fulfillment in Jesus -
all of that is ours. Spiritually - our heritage
is the same as Israel’s.
Verse 21: in whom the whole building -
all of what God is putting together - the whole
building - being
fitted together, is growing into - a
what? a
holy temple in the Lord,
Verse 22: in whom you also -
Gentiles - those brought near - you - are an
integral - crucial - piece of this building - you also are being built together into a
dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The purpose of a temple is what? Place
of worship?
Place of service? Place where man
meets god? All
that helps to achieve one purpose. Which
is to draw attention to the deity within. Focus
man on God.
God is building us up together to be citizens of
His kingdom - His family - His people - His Church
- a dwelling that God inhabits - to bring glory to
Himself - to testify of His grace - His mercy -
His love - of what He will do in our lives if
we’ll open ourselves up to Him.
As believers our life together is about glorifying
God. Let
that be the purpose of our marriages - our
families - our life together as the church - in
whatever our part in whatever relationship we find
our selves - when our lives are all about God
there is no opportunity for division.
Two brief thoughts of application. First:
Tear Down.
Jesus tore down the greatest barrier in creation -
tearing down the wall separating us from God. In
doing so He brought us together before Him.
That ought to drive us to our knees
in humility.
There might be a wall that divides you from
your spouse - or your kids - or your parents -
somebody at work.
Remember what God has done for you and
let’s get off of our little pedestals of pride. Let’s
submit ourselves to God and be vulnerable with
each other.
Second: Build
Up.
It's the easiest thing in the world to walk away
when things go wrong. But if we’ve got the same
Lord - the same Spirit - the same Father - we need
to come together - to bring each other before the
throne of His grace and seek Him together. Or, if
our struggle is with someone or a situation
outside the church we have the opportunity to
bring that person or situation before God. Let’s
allow God to use us as tools in His hands to build
up our brothers and sisters and to be His
instruments of grace in the world around us.
In a Humpty Dumpty world crying out for harmony
and peace people need to see what God can create
in us when we allow Him to create what He desires
to create in us and through us. May God be
glorified.
