Breaking Down the Walls

Before diving into our preaching text for this morning, I want to pause to offer some clarity on the language in this letter to Ephesians. Cultural and social contexts are so important as we clue in to what God is up to, working in and through the ways of the ancient world to unveil God’s reconciling love to us all.

The Apostle Paul is addressing a Greek context, what Jewish folks would have considered Gentiles. In the big frame, there are the Jews, God’s chosen nation who we hear about through the Old Testament, and there is everyone else, the Gentiles. The frame of God’s narrative through the Bible is one of opening, expanding, moving with one community into many communities — Jews to Gentiles.

And we know there were tensions in how this movement took place. Could non-Jewish people really belong in the family of God? What was required of them? Did they have to go all the way, become orthodox Jewish in order to participate in Christ’s love and God’s family? These are the kinds of questions first and second century Christian communities had to wrestle with. Is God’s love big enough?

So in this context, we get the practice of circumcision. An ancient tradition of the Hebrews, the Jews, was to mark the covenantal promises of God upon their bodies through the act of circumcision. We hear this today and we say “what?” because it feels outside of our understanding of how we are to remember our faith or care for our bodies. But I encourage you to not be distracted by this. Take it as an ancient custom. It is something many communities still practice today and shouldn’t be seen as barbaric or outdated so much as an act of earnest faithfulness for a particular time. The same could be said for animal sacrifices — they are practices that these ancient folks used to mark and sustain their covenant with God. They were acts of faithfulness.

Now, in our context, we need to wrap our heads around the word circumcision for what it means to us today. Simply, when you hear “the uncircumcision” or “the circumcision” in this passage, I encourage you to hear it as “outsider” and “insider.” Because that’s really what is at the heart of this debate — who is an outsider and who is an insider. Who belongs in God’s family and who supposedly doesn’t meet the requirements.

As we’ll see in this passage, the trouble of insider-outsider language is nothing new to the church. And our challenge today is to move past those lines in the sand that divide us and find the unifying, reconciliation, family-making love of Christ for us all, Gentile and Jew, insider and outsider, saint and sinner, young and old. Hear our preaching text from Ephesians 2:11-22:

The New Revised Standard Version One in Christ

One in Christ

11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens 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 is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians from the perspective of a properly trained Jewish teacher. He is an insider, talking to outsiders. And so his language can seem a bit harsh as it opens “remember that you were at the time without Christ…having no hope and without God in the world.” This perspective situates him squarely in the insider camp — but we cannot be disheartened or distracted by this. Rather, he becomes an example of one who tears down the walls, as he has received his transformation in Christ. He’s a Jew of all Jews and he is proclaiming the wide, expansive, opening of God’s love for all people.

Paul goes on to proclaim that it is through the love and blood of Christ that the walls between communities is broken down. We become “one flesh” in Christ. We become, as we hear in vs. 19, “citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”

How does this all of a sudden happen? Why is the boundary that was so strong for so long (or at least seemed so) now torn down?

There is a rich theological tradition surrounding how Christ’s life, death, and resurrection made way for all peoples of all nations to become members of the family of God. But for the sake of our time, let me distill it down a bit.

The nation of Israel, the Hebrew people, were chosen by God to be a light to the nations. Note, I’m saying a light to the nations, not a community cut of from or sequestered from the nations. No, ancient Israel was meant to be a light that drew all people to God, through their faithfulness and witness. If we think back to a few weeks ago, this is one of the real distinctions between the kingship of Saul and the kingship of David. The people wanted Saul to be a king like the kings of the nations — a warlord, an example, a powerful ruler who would help them conquer. David, on the other hand, was a king after God’s heart — a king who, though deeply flawed, who was to be a faithful sign to the nations, a foreshadowing of a King who would welcome the stranger. David making Jerusalem home for the people of Israel is also making Israel a light to the nations.

So…what Christ does is that he becomes that great reconciler, once and for all. He becomes the King who welcomes all. He becomes defeater of death, death for all people for all time. And it is through this perfect King, this beloved son of God, that the flesh of people who were once deeply divided can become one flesh, one body, reconciled and united as God’s people.

Jesus does this by undoing the power of death. Ultimately, isn’t what divides us connected to fear of death and the hostility and division that fear causes? We grasp for more life, more power, more protection — against death and decay and obsolescence. In Christ, though death is defeated. Death occurs, but for those in Christ, death does not have the final word.

Let’s hear vs 17-22 again, as it summarizes this work of Christ:

The New Revised Standard Version One in Christ

17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

In Christ, the divided peoples of the world have become the dwelling place of God. Wow. Hear that? In Christ, our divisions make way (give way) to us all becoming people who are knit together to form a strong structure, a community built on solid rock, that can stand and provide shelter for all who hurt, struggle, need help, and long for peace.

Friends — this is the Good News, right here! In Christ, we are no longer estranged, no longer insiders or outsiders. In Christ, we are a whole people — with our uniqueness and diversity, our differences highlighted as matters of strength, no longer weakness.

Alright, let’s bring this Good News to our context. What does this mean for us in Bellingham, WA, as followers of Jesus at St. James Presbyterian church?

This week I had an interaction with a woman on Facebook. She somehow found our church Facebook page and made a comment, wondering about our Rainbow colored logo, which I put up last month for Pride celebrations. She wondered at whether we were supportive of LGBTQ folks and if we were condoning sin. It seemed she was baiting someone for a conversation, so I said, “why not” and I engaged. I responded saying that we believe that LGBTQ folks are beloved by God and not only welcomed in our community, but celebrated for the gifts and images of God that they bring in themselves to our community. We are made better by these folks and all folks who add to our diversity and nuance our community under greater vibrancy and wholeness. I told her that she could expect the same welcome whenever she came to our church (though I’m pretty sure she lives on the other side of the country).

Anyway, I think my reply disarmed her attack and she replied that she was surprised that we were a church that would be welcoming and I sense she felt grateful to not have gotten into a fight. So many communities want to put up walls or set standards that exclude. I know we will be the first to admit we’re not perfect in this regard, but we also do strive to offer loving welcome, to underscore the beauty of sexual identities. Where our world often wants us to draw lines in the sand around “what’s a sin” and what is allowable, I believe our work is to recognize the brokenness in ourselves that leads us to fear and death, but at the same time, celebrate love and the fullness of human expression which leads us to this reconciled, united life in Christ.

There are so many things that can divide us today. Our religion, our politics, our social standing, our skin color, what flags we fly, who we give our money to, what we eat and drink, what medical advice we will or won’t trust, how we raise our kids. I look out at you all this morning and acknowledge there are so many things that can divide each of us from each other. You might not like that I’m wearing a short sleeved shirt today or that your neighbor in the pew brought their distracting child. Are we not oriented toward this kind of disunity? Aren’t we all afraid of what will divide us?

Here is the beauty of how this Good News plays out for us, in Christ. For me and the woman on Facebook, our angles and perspective could lead us to division and strife. We could fight it out (I do love a good theological argument and can absolutely argue for full inclusion of all sexual and gender identities in the family of God. I can argue it well!).

The beauty is, though, that what seems to be our divisions can actually draw us together. I’ll use a pretty tame example to illustrate. I don’t think Aaron Caruso will mind if I share our division over how some of the Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman DC comic movies have been made. Simply put, I like their style and Aaron doesn’t. We’ve argued, playfully, about this many times. But rather than being at odds with one another, this disagreement we have actually makes me feel closer to Aaron. It helps me know him more and helps us to be better friends and church members together. Because we can argue about DC Comic movies, we can also have healthy disagreements and easy unity around more important issues. We can work together because we can appreciate each other’s difference.

Now, neither of us is going to die for our perspectives on action movies. But see what is going on here? We are better together, as a collective community, as a people of God, because of our differences. The insider/outsider language is actually helpful, if it invites greater understanding and a step toward unity in the process. We do away with the distinctions and become one, united in diversity. Our particularities are not erased — rather, we become a more healthy, whole body in Christ as we acknowledge those differences and come together in them.

I’ll close with this: there is much that can divide us today. We have been pulled apart by a global pandemic and a racial apocalypse. We have felt the political divide open up all around us. The ones with access to resources are already able to weather the impacts of climate change better than others.

But the people of God, in Christ, have another way of handling such opportunities for division. We look outward, from ourselves, and look for how we can support each other’s difference. What does your sexual orientation help me see about my own? What do your perspectives on climate change help me understand about our collective plight? What does being a black person in American offer me, as a white man, in terms of perspective and opportunity to seek healing?

Friends, let us put to death death itself, along with hostility and division. Let us be as Christ, reconciling all things, all people, coming together to be a family, united in our particularities, for the glory of a better way. Amen.