Hello My Name Is Citizen
Hello My Name Is • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsAll Christians can pursue unity by understanding the shipping labels
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Notes for later use:
Notes for later use:
all my packages go through Portland. Tennessee or Utah, it all comes through PDX. Package or letter, it goes through PDX. Jew or Gentile, Black or White, Bred Christian or New to the Party…All goes through Jesus.
What is being shipped in but parts for a construction project, Jesus the cornerstone, the OT, apostles and prophets the foundation and infrastructure work. Now God is building with materials from all over. (Chicago wall…Tribune Tower, 150 historically significant items
Why is the bazaar ok, when Jesus drove moneylenders out of the temple? Because we are the temple. We are the church building. We are the worship center.
Jab 1
Jab 1
Tribune tower...
Jab 2
Jab 2
The saga of the chairs…and the fabric…and FedEx. I noticed…everything comes through Portland. Letters, UPS, FedEx, friends from out of town, everything gets to Clark County through Portland.
Jab 3 (transition)
Jab 3 (transition)
What Paul will emphasize in our text today is the reality that like all packages go through Portland to get to Clark County, every man, woman, and child who would come to the kingdom of God will come through Jesus. And this common route creates a diverse and unique community which in the process becomes something more than the sum of its parts.
Text
Text
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:
Pray
Pray
Teaching
Teaching
Long Distance Shipment
Long Distance Shipment
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:1
The role of the Gentile in the biblical narrative.
The law as the defining mark of the nation of Israel.
“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Good things with following. An example to the world.
Leviticus 26:3-
“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Leviticus 26:14
Bad things if ignored. An example to the world.
Exodus
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
psalm 1:1
The promises as the greater defining mark of the nation of Israel.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-
Anger, lust, revenge, love of neighbor amplified, not diminished.
Just because I love my kids, doesn’t mean I have looser rules for them than for the stranger in my house! No, I hold them to a higher call. Not to earn my love, but because they are loved!
Routed with the Local Mail
Routed with the Local Mail
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
In Christ the long distance shipments get delivered.
Eph 2:13-
I was a middle distance shipment...
How many grew up in homes with Christian parents? Age?
The local shipments go through the same channel.
The hostility explained.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The Jewish people through out their history had struggled with this combo. They were far too likely to become of the world (Solomon, Egypt, on and on…) and then as a reaction, after the revivals of Ezra and Nehemiah, more struggles, and more time, by the 1st century, simply tried to escape it.
Jesus fulfilling the law and becoming the new promise.
back to . Jesus became the new law. And a new promise.
One body. One truckload for delivery.
This was a struggle for Jewish believers…and for us who are near.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20:1-
Far and Near
Far and Near
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph 2:17-
Very different…but not our usual dividing lines. But very representative of our lines.
Racial.
There seem to be two camps about this. Those who see racism behind every corner (John/Chang) and those who think it doesn’t exist at all. We don’t have to go to one side or the other. We can believe racism still exists, and then give people the benefit of the doubt. We can treat others as if there is no distinction because of race, while still recognizing and respecting the histories which have brought them to where they are.
But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Love.
Political.
You have more in common with a follower of Jesus who votes differently than you do, than with a pagan, moralist, or person of another faith who is in agreement.
Personal moral preference.
I am not a relativist. I believe in absolute truth. I believe that is the only kind. What I mean by this, is when we place some moral values in a higher position than others, and then judge those and divide from fellowship those who do not do likewise. (connect to political)
It is fine for one to abstain from alcohol out of fear of becoming an alcoholic. It is fine to choose to only take in media from Christian sources. I could give a thousand examples of moral lines we draw, the second we lay that burden upon someone else, we have taken the mantle of the pharisee and find ourselves at the wrong end of Jesus’ anger.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Matthew 23:1-
Matthew 23:1-
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Matthew 23:13-
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
Matthew 23:23-
Sin is real. Sin is absolute. Truth is not flexible. But how did Jesus address the sinner? Love. Relationship. Invitation.
But, you might say, they are taking over the world! It is now that we must remember that love and grace, kindness to say the words, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” was spoken in regards to the pagans who mocked him and drove nails through his body. It is to us to do as our verse here says: Follow him.
Delivered…to be Built
Delivered…to be Built
Eph 2:19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Application
Application
Tribune Tower again...
A pile of bricks doesn’t look like a house.
If you were building a house and ordering the parts from Amazon. One thing I know, the shipments would all come through Portland.
Cornerstone: Jesus.
Foundation: Scripture.
Bricks, mortar, beams, conduit, pipes, wires, roofing, and tile look nothing like each other…but they are all needed for the building of a house.
Trevor’s question…why is the bazaar ok when you consider Jesus in the temple driving out money changers? We are the temple. The people are the church. Asgard is not a place, but a people.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Trevor’s question…why is the bazaar ok when you consider Jesus in the temple driving out money changers? We are the temple. The people are the church. Asgard is not a place, but a people.
We are being built into a great house of God. A house bigger than we can see, with rooms beyond our grasp. In the past, around the world, and on into the future, this house will be built of bricks from near by and bricks which are far off.
This is the church....