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Sermon Title: Strangers and Citizens
Me – Orientation
I recently took a month-long break from social media. My last post before the break was “The internet has no chill. Checking out of social media for a bit so I can chill. BAI.” As I’ve reflected more on my break, I realized that it wasn’t the social media outlets themselves frustrating me…but how people were interacting with one another. Because of the nature of social media, people will talk and argue about pretty much anything. In early January, someone with the Instagram account name “world record egg” posted a picture of an egg with the caption “Let’s set the world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram and beat the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million). We got this.” I love that this ends with “We got this” like the whole digital world’s goal in life is to beat Kylie Jenner’s like record. This picture got 53.2 MILLION likes and 3.1 million comments. What’s more ridiculous is that people started creating accounts to compete with this egg! There’s one for an eggplant, and people proceeded to debate angrily about why the egg mattered more than the eggplant! 53.2 million likes you guys. And three million humans made comments.
My point is, every time I would open up social media and read people’s thoughts and opinions about something, especially things as trivial as this egg, I started to feel a little tense or uneasy.
We - Identification (Tension #1)
If you’re anything like me, you’re looking at the division around you—whether on social media, in your own life, in the church, in your family, in friendships, in the nation, etc., and wondering if division and chaos is just the new normal; if pointing fingers is now our new posture; if defamation and blame is our new native language. You see so many people love one another well, but also wonder why we’ve seemed to have lost the ability to speak about one another with honor; why peace feels like a far reach. And more than anything, you might be wondering if God can see the lack of peace; if Jesus life and death has actually changed anything. And you’re asking, “What difference does Jesus life, and His death on the cross make in this anxious, divided, and chaotic world? And what role do we play in that?
God – Illumination
To dive into this more, we are going to look at Ephesians. So if you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to . As you turn there, it is important for us to look at the context of the Ephesians relationship with the Jews. The apostle Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus who were previously known as “Gentiles.” The word Gentile meant non-Jew, and was meant to distinguish Israelites as God’s chosen people. And to His chosen people, God gave the law or Torah, which was a list of commands and regulations for the Israelites to follow. And in following these commands and regulations, they would be distinguished as God’s people and receive His blessings. So for as long as the Ephesians were around, this was their known relationship with the people of God. But when Jesus enters the picture through his earthly ministry, the relationship between Jew and Gentile begins to change. In and the first part of chapter 2, Paul reminds the Ephesians of what was true of them before the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and what is true of them now “in Christ.” He says that for all (both Jew and Gentile alike), God’s blessing does not come by their own works or striving, but by God’s gift of Jesus. And this is where we pick it up in Ephesians 2:13
Read , NIV
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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.
11 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— 12 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 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, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 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, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 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, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
Notice the term “wall of hostility.” This refers to the literal walls in the Jewish Temple that separated what was known as the court of Gentiles from the rest of the Temple. The Court of the Gentiles was the only place in the Temple that Gentiles could enter into; they would never get any closer to the center of the Temple where God’s presence dwelt because anything further was permitted only for Jews to enter into as instructed by Jewish law or Torah. If this literal wall place divided Jew and Gentile geographically or proximately for hundreds and hundreds of years, you can imagine how this also created a relational wall of hostility between them, and the potential confusion both Jews and Gentiles (in this case the Ephesians) had when Paul says that the wall has been destroyed.
In verses 13-15, when Paul tells the Ephesians, “you have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” he is saying that they are no longer subject to the parameters of court of Gentiles. In verses 14-15, Paul says Jesus’ death on the cross and in the flesh fulfills this law. This meant the Jews and Gentiles no longer needed to be distinguished from one another. When Jesus died on the cross, the wall of hostility also died, so to speak. And when Jesus comes back to life in a new body, “one new humanity came out of the two” (Jew and Gentile). “One humanity” does not mean “one race,” or “one culture,” or “one ethnicity.” The ethnic and cultural identities of both Jews and Gentiles were still very much in tact. But it meant that together, Jews and Gentiles were now the people of God, recipients of the spiritual blessings not by their own excellence or perfection in keeping commands, but by grace alone and the Spirit of God in them. It’s in this heart that Paul, a Jew, says to the Ephesians “you are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens” and members of God’s household or family. He is saying that Jews and Gentiles no longer needed specific walls to denote where they could dwell with God and each other because through the Holy Spirit, they were the new dwelling place of God. They were now the holy temple in the Lord (v. 21). Together, the Jews and Gentiles would continue to live out the calling as God’s new chosen people to be blessing to all nations and people groups around them. Together, they would seek to be a source of peace in the world because Jesus Himself is our peace.
[pause for transition]
We: Supplication (Tension #2)
For Jesus Himself to be our peace doesn’t mean that we are without worry or anxiety. It doesn’t mean conflict and even chaos won’t be or isn’t already a reality. Jesus Himself as our peace means we do not need to conjure up peace or search for it all over the place. Jesus Himself as our peace means when we do encounter places or people—whether ourselves or others—that feel like the wall of hostility is going back up—that Jesus Himself in us gives us the courage to lean in and make peace. To be peacemakers. This isn’t just peace between two people who are arguing about an egg. This also means creating space for a person to find peace. There’s a difference between being a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.
Peacekeeping is a bit more passive, it often means not stirring the pot, not looking for trouble or stirring it up. But peacemaking, by definition requires conflict. Not that we would look for conflict, but that we would not be afraid of it. It means we recognize the twisted reality that 53.2 million people around the world are willing to band together as one to like a photo of an egg—therefore making a statement about its importance—but that very few are willing to sit across the table from someone different than them. Peacemaking means what Paul says in vv. 19-22. To rise together and built together paints this picture of being on a journey or in process. It means that the process of being built together is messy—this isn’t news to us today, is it? The question I posed earlier was “What difference does Jesus life, and His death on the cross make in this anxious, divided, and chaotic world? And what role do we play in that? To live as the people of God means knowing that because Jesus Himself is our peace, we are called to live in that peace and be ambassadors of peace who seek to bring it to others (repeat). I’m not talking about the kind of world peace that’s butterflies and rainbows forever with no pain or brokenness. This is the kind of peace that goes beyond comprehension; the kind living and speaking which chooses to cease-fire, and builds up and reminds us of our inherent worth as God’s image-bearers; the kind of peace that feels incongruous to the chaos in your mind and heart; and the kind of peace that produces wholeness.
You – Application
So what does this look like for us today? One of the most practical things you can do is to practice living in tension or discomfort in healthy ways. Maybe this means following someone on social media who challenges your political, spiritual, and religious convictions. And when they tweet or post something that drives you up the wall…you stop to pray for that person. It could mean reading a book or listening to podcasts about a subject that you think is a big cause of division; something that does not allow you to settle for chaos as the status quo. It could mean you move towards the co-worker or friend who is difficult to be in conversation with.
Another thing to do is find a safe person /place where you can speak candidly and honestly about the things you feel tension over. I’ve been back on social media for a couple weeks now, and if I’m honest, the main reason why I took a break was because I was reading so much about the division in the church around the conversation on race and ethnicity. If I’m honest, as an Asian-American Christian woman, it can actually be really painful to read about this and the controversy in the body of Christ can often cause me to want to retreat, despite being passionate about it. Because of this tension, I need friends in my life who are leaders and pastors of color who have shared experiences, pains, and joys in that area; people I can do life with, encourage me to lean into the tension, and lead me back to being a peacemaker who seeks unity in diversity. So what is it for you? Knowing our own areas of conflict and tension will help us know what things that hinder our ability to know and remember that our identity as the church is one.
Let me be clear here. I’m not saying that we need go looking for conflict to be a part of, nor am I saying we’re supposed to be friends with all people, all Christians, all humans. In fact, we are healthier people when we set boundaries to certain people and places (also a whole other message!). There are some things that will do damage to our spiritual, mental, emotional, physical health. If I polled this room, we would have hundreds of totally valid reasons not to have certain people, certain Christians in our lives. This is one of the reasons why I took a break from social media! Because there just some things on social media and think “I can’t even.”
But we cannot be so caught up in calling out division and disunity that we forget to declare over ourselves that we are already one in our identity called to be peacemakers who are one. Because of the very things Jesus has already finished on the cross, we cannot be a people of God who lean more into a wall of hostility than the Giver of peace. We can’t call ourselves peacemakers only to hide behind a screen because it is safe, and we don’t need to look anyone in the eye. But what’s more important here is that we cannot be followers of Jesus and not call ourselves peacemakers. When I think about the time when Paul was writing this letter, I imagine that the Jews and Gentiles were still learning in the most fresh way what being peacemakers meant. It probably didn’t mean making some sort of public statement about the fact that they were peacemakers (though that’s definitely part of what they were called to do). It probably meant someone taking the first step to say, “our entire lives and people’s history has been hostility…want to come over for a meal?” They chose not to be strangers, and chose to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom and as His people, in His household.
We/Us – Inspiration
Men and women, the only reason why you and I stand here today able to claim Jesus as the leader of our life, to do the ministry that we do, to boast in Jesus on Instagram and social media as the greatest love and friend in our lives, is because two thousand some years ago Jesus lived a real life on earth, died a real death on the cross, raised a real body back to life, and ascended to a real throne seated at the right hand of the Father. And because of that death, and because He Himself was the peace of this group of Jews and Gentiles, this new humanity found the courage in Jesus to live into their identity as one. By leaning into the unknowns and tensions of living such different cultural and societal lives, hundreds upon thousands of disciples were released the years and continue to be released as peacemakers. The same Jesus whose presence brought peace to them lives here right now, in us, around us.
The same Jesus who died on the cross is the same Jesus who lives in us today and gives us the courage to read through Instagram posts and be able to interact or maybe not because we are peacemakers. We are still the recipients of spiritual blessings and ambassadors of the same calling…to be one. We are still called to fight the desire to create a wall of hostility between people, especially in the church. In Hmong—the culture, heritage, and language of my people— the word “one” in this context in Ephesians is translated to “koom ib lub sab,” which literally means “to be of one side, or to be of one heart.” And this is my prayer for us as we leave here…that in every interaction and social media post, in every moment of tension, that we’d remember that even in the midst of our conflict and tension; that Jesus who is our peace has made it possible for us to be peacemakers who are of one heart. Let’s pray.
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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.
Me – Orientation
I recently took a month-long break from social media. The longer I’ve been on social media, the more I realize that it really is a place where people are willing to say, talk about, and argue about pretty much anything. In early January, someone with the Instagram account name “world record egg” posted a picture of an egg with the caption “Let’s set the world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram and beat the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million). We got this.” I love that this ends with “We got this” like the whole digital world’s goal in life is to beat Kylie Jenner’s like record. This picture got 53.2 MILLION likes and 3.1 million comments. What’s more ridiculous is that people started creating accounts to compete with this egg! There’s one for an eggplant, and people proceeded to debate angrily about why the egg mattered more than the eggplant! 53.2 million likes you guys. And three million humans made comments.
My point is, every time I would open up social media and read people’s thoughts and opinions about something, especially things as trivial as this egg, I started to feel a little tense or uneasy.
We - Identification (Tension #1)
If you’re anything like me, you’re looking at the division around you—whether on social media, in your own life, in the church, in your family, in friendships, in the nation, etc., and wondering if division and chaos is just the new normal; if pointing fingers is now our new posture; if defamation and blame is our new native language. You wonder why we’ve seemed to have lost the ability to speak about one another with honor; why peace feels like a far reach. And more than anything, you might be wondering if God can see the lack of peace; if Jesus life and death has actually changed anything. And you’re asking, “What difference does Jesus life, and His death on the cross make in this anxious, divided, and chaotic world? And what role do we play in that?
God – Illumination
To dive into this more, we are going to look at Ephesians. So if you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to . As you turn there, it is important for us to look at the context of this letter. The apostle Paul writes this letter to the church in Ephesus who were previously known as “Gentiles.” The word Gentile meant non-Jew, and was meant to distinguish Israelites as God’s chosen people. And to His chosen people, God gave the law or Torah, which was a list of commands and regulations for the Israelites to follow. And in following these commands and regulations, they would be distinguished as God’s people and receive His blessings. But when Jesus enters the picture through his earthly ministry, the relationship between Jew and Gentile begins to change. In and the first part of chapter 2, Paul reminds the Ephesians of what was true of them before the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—that is, they were not citizens with God’s people and were not recipients of His blessings. Then he tells them that now “in Christ,” both Jew and Gentile alike were recipients of God’s blessings by His gift of Jesus, not their own striving or works. And this is where we pick it up in .
Read , NIV
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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.
Notice the term “wall of hostility.” This refers to the literal walls in the Jewish Temple that separated what was known as the court of Gentiles from the rest of the Temple. The Court of the Gentiles was the only place in the Temple that Gentiles could enter into; they would never get any closer to the center of the Temple where God’s presence dwelt because anything further was permitted only for Jews to enter into as instructed by Jewish law or Torah. If this literal wall geographically and proximately divided Jew and Gentile for hundreds and hundreds of years, you can imagine how this also created a relational wall of hostility between them. You can imagine the potential confusion both Jews and Gentiles (in this case the Ephesians) had when Paul says that the wall has been destroyed and that they were now one.
But in verses 13-15, Paul says “you have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” which meant that Jews and Gentiles no longer needed to be distinguished from one another, and more importantly that there was no longer a barrier between Gentiles to be in relationship with God. They could now be brought near to God through Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, the wall of hostility also died, so to speak. And when Jesus comes back to life in a new body, “one new humanity came out of the two” (Jew and Gentile). “One humanity” does not mean “one race,” or “one culture,” or “one ethnicity.” The ethnic and cultural identities of both Jews and Gentiles were still very much in tact. But it meant that together, Jews and Gentiles were now the people of God, recipients of the spiritual blessings not by their own excellence or perfection in keeping commands, but by grace alone and the Spirit of God in them. It’s in this heart that Paul, a Jew, says to the Ephesians “you are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens” and members of God’s household or family. Jews and Gentiles no longer needed Temple walls to denote where they could dwell with God and each other because through the Holy Spirit, they were the new dwelling place of God. They were now the holy temple in the Lord (v. 21). Together, the Jews and Gentiles would continue to live out the calling as God’s new chosen people to be blessing to all nations and people groups around them. This was the new narrative for the Jews and Ephesians to live into and out of… Together, they would seek to be a source of peace in the world because Jesus Himself is our peace. So what did it mean for Jesus to be their peace, and for Jesus to be our peace?
[pause for transition]
We: Supplication (Tension #2)
For Jesus Himself to be our peace doesn’t mean that we are without worry or anxiety. It doesn’t mean conflict and even chaos won’t be or isn’t already a reality. Jesus Himself as our peace means we do not need to conjure up peace or search for it all over the place. Jesus Himself as our peace means when we do encounter places or people—whether in ourselves or others—that cause us to feel like the wall of hostility is going back up—that Jesus Himself in us gives us the courage to lean in and be peacemakers. And it’s important here to differentiate between being a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.
Peacekeeping is a bit more passive, it often means not stirring the pot, not looking for trouble or stirring it up. But peacemaking, by definition requires conflict. Not that we would look for conflict, but that we would not be afraid of it. It means we recognize the twisted reality that 53.2 million people around the world are willing to band together as one to like a photo of an egg—therefore making a statement about its importance—but that very few are willing to sit across the table from someone different than them to make peace. Peacemaking means what Paul says in vv. 19-22. To rise together and built together paints this picture of being on a journey or in process. It means that the process of being built together is messy—this isn’t news to us today, is it? The question I posed earlier was “What difference does Jesus life, and His death on the cross make in this anxious, divided, and chaotic world? And what role do we play in that? To live as the people of God means knowing that because Jesus Himself is our peace, we are called to live in that peace and be ambassadors of peace who seek to bring it to others (repeat). I’m not talking about the kind of world peace that’s butterflies and rainbows forever with no pain or brokenness. This is the kind of peace that goes beyond comprehension; the kind living and speaking which chooses to cease-fire, and builds up and reminds us of our inherent worth as God’s image-bearers; the kind of peace that feels incongruous to the chaos in your mind and heart; and the kind of peace that produces wholeness.
You – Application
So what does this look like for us today? One of the most practical things you can do is to practice living in tension or discomfort in healthy ways. Maybe this means following someone on social media who challenges your political, spiritual, and religious convictions. And when they tweet or post something that drives you up the wall…you stop to pray for that person. It could mean reading a book or listening to podcasts about a subject that you think is a big cause of division; something that does not allow you to settle for chaos as the status quo. It could mean you move towards the co-worker or friend who is difficult to be in conversation with.
Another thing to do is find a safe person /place where you can speak candidly and honestly about the things you feel tension over without fear of judgment. I’ve been back on social media for a couple weeks now, and if I’m honest, the main reason why I took a break was because I was reading so much about the division in the church around the conversation on race and ethnicity. If I’m honest, as an Asian-American Christian woman, it can actually be really painful to read about this. The division it causes in the body of Christ often makes me want to retreat, despite being passionate about it. Because of this tension, I need friends in my life who are leaders and pastors of color who have shared experiences, pains, and joys in that area; people I can do life with, encourage me to lean into the tension, and lead me back to being a peacemaker who seeks unity in diversity. So who or what is a safe person/place for you?
Let me be clear here. I’m not saying that we need go looking for conflict to be a part of, nor am I saying we’re supposed to be friends with all people, all Christians, all humans. In fact, we are healthier people when we set boundaries to certain people and places (also a whole other message!). There are some things that will do damage to our spiritual, mental, emotional, physical health. If I polled this room, we would have hundreds of totally valid reasons not to have certain people, certain Christians in our lives. This is one of the reasons why I took a break from social media! Because there just some things on social media and think “I can’t even.”
But we cannot be so caught up in calling out division and disunity that we end up rebuilding a wall of hostility and leaning more into that rather than the Giver of peace. We cannot call ourselves peacemakers only to hide behind a screen because it is easy. We cannot be followers of Jesus and not call ourselves peacemakers. When I think about the time when Paul was writing this letter, I imagine that the Jews and Gentiles were still learning in the most fresh way what being peacemakers meant. It probably didn’t mean making some sort of public statement about the fact that they were peacemakers (though that’s definitely part of what they were called to do). It probably meant someone taking the first step to say, “our entire lives and people’s history has been hostility…want to come over for a meal?” They chose not to be strangers, and chose to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom and as His people, in His household.
We/Us – Inspiration
Men and women, the only reason why you and I stand here today able to claim Jesus as the leader of our life, to do the ministry that we do, to boast in Jesus on Instagram and social media as the greatest love and friend in our lives, is because two thousand some years ago Jesus lived a real life on earth, died a real death on the cross, raised a real body back to life, and ascended to a real throne seated at the right hand of the Father. And because of that death, and because He Himself was the peace of this group of Jews and Gentiles, this new humanity found the courage in Jesus to live into their identity as one. By leaning into the unknowns and tensions of living such different cultural and societal lives, hundreds upon thousands of disciples were released the years and continue to be released as peacemakers. The same Jesus whose presence brought peace to them lives here right now, in us, around us.
The same Jesus who died on the cross is the same Jesus who lives in us today and gives us the courage to read through Instagram posts and be able to interact or maybe not because we are peacemakers. We are still the recipients of spiritual blessings and ambassadors of the same calling…to be one. We are still called to fight the desire to create a wall of hostility between people, especially in the church. In Hmong—the culture, heritage, and language of my people— the word “one” in this context in Ephesians is translated to “koom ib lub sab,” which literally means “to be of one side, or to be of one heart.” And this is my prayer for us as we leave here…that in every interaction and social media post, in every moment of tension, that we’d remember that even in the midst of our conflict and tension; that Jesus who is our peace has made it possible for us to be peacemakers who are of one heart.
Let’s pray.