Sermon Tone Analysis

[Briefly set the context…

Ephesus, a cosmopolitan city, made up of a rich cultural diversity

Church in Ephesus had experienced a rapid growth such that even the sales of idols dedicated to the worship of Artemis had declined.

She was a very significant goddess whose temple in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world

growth of Church in Ephesus was largely Gentile growth.

long history of animosity between Jews and Gentiles]

Until Christ came, the Gentiles were an object of contempt to the Jews.

The barrier between them was absolute.

If a Jewish boy married a Gentile girl, or if a Jewish girl married a Gentile boy, the funeral of that Jewish boy or girl was carried out.

Such contact with a Gentile was the equivalent of death.”

(William Barclay)

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So a very big question in the early church was this: How are Gentiles enfolded into this new Jewish expression of faith called Christianity?

…Let’s allow that question to take us into our Scripture reading for this morning.

Ephesians 2:11–22 (NIV)

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Allow me to read once more, a few verses from this passage, because it’s here that I want to land as we continue to think about one of the goals of our sermon series, and that’s “growing in cross-cultural friendships”.

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If you were with us last week Sunday, you will remember that towards the end of the service, as I offered some brief reflections on what I felt God might be up to as we are going through this sermon series, I used the language of a “container.”

[Elaborate.... a container for lovingly and respectfully growing in community together...

Paul doesn’t use the metaphor of a container…but he does speak about something that has been created.... create in himself, a new humanity out of the two.....and in ONE BODY to reconcile both of them to God through the cross.

a new humanity, one body.....that I’m suggesting is precisely the container that continues to mold and shape and grow right now in this moment...

how does he create this new humanity, or this one body?

talk about dividing wall of hostility

[Herod’s Temple - showing Court of Gentiles]

Court of Gentiles.... Paul’s own experience (Acts 21: 27-31)...

Josephus writes...

In his Antiquities he writes that the temple was ‘encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death’.

In his Wars of the Jews he is a little more explicit.

There was, he writes, ‘a partition made of stone all round, whose height was three cubits.

Its construction was very elegant; upon it stood pillars at equal distance from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek and some in Roman letters, that “no foreigner should go within that sanctuary”.’

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Explain barrier - Two stones were discovered, one in the late 1800’s and the other in the 1930s, that each contained an inscription.

One of them is in a museum in Istanbul and it looks like this STONE

‘No foreigner may enter within the barrier and enclosure round the temple.

Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.’

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It would seem that Paul is saying, what that physical barrier represented.... quite literally a wall of hostility.... that barrier has been broken down in Christ.

Gordan MacDonald tells a story that serves as a wonderful illustration of how Christ has removed the hostility between these two groups of people....

A Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States came out of the crowd today to say something kind about the lecture I had just given.

She introduced herself using an American name.

"What's your African name?"

I asked.

She immediately gave it to me, several syllables long with a musical sound to it.

"What does the name mean?"

I wondered.

She answered, "It means 'Child who takes the anger away.'"

When I inquired as to why she would have been given this name, she said, "My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry.

But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway.

For several years they were ostracized from both their families.

Then my mother became pregnant with me.

And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down.

I became the one who swept the anger away.

And that's the name my mother and father gave me."

It occurred to me that her name would be a suitable one for Jesus.

Source: Gordon MacDonald, author, speaker, Leadership editor-at-large, Leadership Weekly (11-6-02)

most of us will agree we don’t experience “hostility”, but perhaps we do experience some level of discomfort, misunderstanding, etc..... perhaps unknowingly we may say something or think about something that another person finds hurtful or inconsiderate.

Cconsider my example of that a couple of Sunday’s ago....

Paul speaks of this wall of hostility that has been removed by Christ…by what Christ accomplished on the cross....and obviously that wall served to keep Jews and Gentiles separate or at a distance from each other.

This morning I’d like to invite us to think about those things that might keep us at a distance from one another....and I’m thinking of that mostly in a relational sense....are there things, perhaps things from our experience, or our culture, or our background....things that keep as at somewhat of a relational distance from each other.....

As you might imagine as Pastor Jun and I have been working together these last seven years we’ve talked about and even observed ways in which people in various ethnic or cultural groups in our church can experience relational distance.

And we’d like to take a few minutes to share a couple of examples with you this morning.

INVITE JUN to the front...

[let me say at the outset, Pastor Jun and I are going to be speaking out of our own cultural experience, Canadian, and Korean, but I think you’ll see that our examples will invite us to think about all the cultural differences that may exist within this beautiful “container” called New West Church.

The first example is connected to how we socialize with each other.

Andrew begins by describing a common experience for a party or a gathering.

“So Pastor Jun, what might that kind of party or gathering look like in your cultural context?”

Jun will show this image and describe the cultural differences.

Examples of MOSAIC lunch and Young Adults' social.

And how a lot of Koreans who studied in the US would speak of going to an "American" party as one of the most difficult experiences.

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Andrew: So how might this differing way of gathering or socializing together impact our church community?

Pastor Jun, what have you and I been noticing when the worship service is over and there’s time for coffee and fellowship?

Jun: Let me share what I have been carefully observing.

Just observation, without judgment or offering of a solution at this point.

Jun: see two different groups of people mingling....one in meeting hall, other in sanctuary or foyer or outside in front of the church or on the Beehive playground.

I didn't see this separation before.

It began to emerge as we had more Asian population (perhaps a creation of a "comfortable" space).

Andrew: “as I think about the kind of mingling that happens in the meeting hall, this is how I would describe it.... free flowing, unstructured, mostly its guests and regular attenders left on their own to mingle and get to know each other...... Jun, if a guest or a new family would start attending a Korean church, what would that look like?”

Jun: Just like in that image I showed you, it will be more structured and facilitated.

Often that means guests will be brought to a separate room to be welcomed by certain people, likely including the lead pastor.

Even at New West, if I'm the one responsible for the guest, I would be with them the whole time and if not, ask someone to do so in my place.

I would introduce them to certain people and make sure there are no "awkward" moments for them.

The second example is connected to how we worship together, particularly when it comes to praying together.

Andrew....in most North American contexts, corporate prayer is led by one person, usually someone at the front, and they may even be using a prayer that was written before hand.

Jun … share Korean experience.

Corporate, loud, personal prayers.

If time permits, share the cultural/religious aspect of such a style of prayer.

Andrew: “Jun, can you share what you’ve come to appreciate about prayer when you started worshipping in this Canadian church setting?”

Jun: I've been at New West long enough to be so used to it, but in my early years, I remember thinking, "I didn't get to pray my own prayer at all!"

But benefits include learning biblical and artistic prayers.

Praying prayers you wouldn't otherwise pray in your personal prayer life.

This is good for children as they learn to pray.

Expressive and Formative prayers.