Belonging and Identity

Have you ever walked into a room where you knew instantly that you don’t belong?

When I started going to school in Scotland, I was so excited!

I went into the building, and it was majestic.

It was built in 1611, there’s a tree in the courtyard that is over 300 years old, it’s staffed by some of the greatest minds in theology that are currently alive, and I got to go there!

I skateboarded to school that day because we didn’t have a car, and I wore what I normally wore, and went to class.

Everyone around me had on slacks, nice shoes, they had briefcases or leather satchels, and they weren’t breathing hard because they had just skated uphill.

I did not belong… at all.

And that first month was really hard, I felt like I wasn’t learning about God, I was learning about things I would never care about, and I felt like I was this one idiot in a room full of geniuses.

It was really hard.

There’s a true story written in a book by Martin Laird that talks of a young man that was a prisoner in Canada.

He would cut or burn himself constantly, saying, “As long as I can remember… I have had this hurt inside. I can’t get away from it, and sometimes I cut or burn myself so that the pain will be in a different place and on the outside.”

This man needed an identity, he couldn’t see anything of value in himself, and all that he wanted was to numb the pain in the hole where his soul was aching for something more.

But, what we’ve seen from Ephesians is that

We are given a new identity in Christ that is full of peace.

Ephesians 2:11-22.

A New Identity

Paul starts this section out very similarly to how he talks about the last section: who we were before Jesus entered our lives.

In the flesh.

That’s the main way that we are described.

We don’t belong.

You’ve felt it, I’ve felt it. There are times when you walk in the room and feel like you don’t belong at all, and Paul agrees with you! We don’t belong!

Before Christ, we were

Without Jesus

Alienated from the people of God

Strangers to God’s promises

Without hope and without God.

THAT’S PRETTY INTENSE!

Eph. 2:1 said that we are dead, and this looks a lot like death.

If we’ve got no hope left, there’s not much life in us. Without God, life has very little meaning! We might be walking around and talking, but we’re not living.

We were “in the flesh,” meaning we have all of our hope and joy in us; what we can do, what we can conquer, who we can make love us (or who we can control), how we can finally numb some of the pain that’s inside us.

But, and I think we all know this, it doesn’t work well.

We’ll run out of entertainment or people or strength or success or booze before we can feel full.

We need a new identity

But where do we get it?

In Christ

V. 13 is the changing point in the story, “But now IN CHRIST” we can be given a new identity

It says that by the blood of Christ, we have been brought near to God [13]

The cross is the price for a new identity.

If we don’t want to keep being ‘in the flesh,’ then we need to trust in Jesus!

Ironically, 14 says that we are brought near, “in His flesh.”

Instead of trusting in ourselves to fix us, we must put our trust in God.

It’s only when we believe in Jesus that we can actually read v. 19-22

When we believe in Jesus

We belong in the family of God.

Instead of being people that don’t belong and don’t have a place, we are brought into the loving family of God.

We are citizens of heaven, so it doesn’t matter if we don’t “fit in” here, because we fit with the community of faith in Jesus!

We grow into His temple.

The temple is a place where God is worshipped. So, instead of having to go somewhere in order to worship God, we get to worship Him in our very being. Our existence can become worship!

We become a dwelling place for God.

We become the hands and feet of God on earth.

We get to have God dwelling in us, making us new and whole.

But, in order for any of this to happen

Jesus must be our cornerstone.

What is a cornerstone?

It’s the corner of a building that you measure everything from and is load bearing

We’re told that Jesus is the cornerstone of the Church, but He must also be the cornerstone of our lives.

All of our decisions must be based off of Him.

Our lives should look like His.

How we love should look like His people.

Which is how we are

Full of Peace.

There’s this middle section which talks about how Jesus brings peace, and it can feel a little out of place, but it will make sense when we talk about some history.

Jews and Gentiles [not Jews] have been against each other since there were Jews and Gentiles

All the way back in Exodus with slaves in Egypt and further, Jesus and Gentiles haven’t gotten along.

And so, after Jesus, when God started bringing all of HIs people to Him [which included Gentiles], Jews would get angry and try to stop it.

So, Paul tells the Gentiles in Ephesus that we’re brought into the family of God by Jesus, not by anything else.

In fact, Eph. 2:14-16 tells us

All Christians are united in Christ.

Paul tells us that, because of Jesus, we are all under the family of God.

But the real question is, “How does this affect me?”

We don’t have to worry about Jews vs. Gentiles anymore, that’s not really our issue.

What is a problem though is

Race

There are plenty of Christians who are prejudiced against races, thinking that they should go to one of their churches.

Gender

Opposite genders can look down on each other pretty harshly when it comes to faith

Guys, a lot of this is on us because dudes have been in power for so long, so if we

Ignore or shut down the girls in this group because we don’t value what they have to say

OR

Objectify women because of how they look

We are not living at peace

But, I think the biggest people that we can miss in this are

“Outsiders”

Notice this is in quotes! They’re not actually outsiders

We have tried to make this group inclusive and welcoming; but we can really suck at welcoming people in who don’t always come to this group!

If you’ve ever felt what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong, then you know how terrifying it can be to go to a group where you don’t know people

It sucks! Why would we ever want to let someone else feel that way about a place like youth group which is supposed to be a place of safety and a community of Jesus!?

So, please, talk to people at group that you wouldn’t normally talk to. Welcome people who you don’t know. LEARN PEOPLE’S NAMES. Let’s be a group who acts like how Jesus would want us to be.

We must live in peace with others, welcoming others in because of the new identity we’ve been given because we are in Christ.

Do you remember the prisoner who cut himself at the beginning? He decided to reach out to an organization that taught prisoners to pray. He then told the organization, “I just want you to know that after only four weeks of praying half an hour in the morning and at night, the pain is not so bad, and for the first time in my life, I can see a tiny spark of something within myself that I can like.”

God gives new identities to those of us who are broken and hurting and brings us in to the family of God. Let’s run to Him.

Questions.

Which leader do you think would be best at synchronized swimming?

Have you ever felt out of place here or somewhere else? What did that feel like?

What do you think a new identity in Jesus looks like?

How can we become better at welcoming others in?