Title: “The Glue”
Text: Ephesians 2:14-22 (NIV)
For 28 years it stood as the symbol of division, of Communist oppression, of a regime that locked its people in lest they be tempted by freedom. The Berlin Wall, that hideous 28-mile long scar through the heart of a once proud European capital, and the soul of the German people was built in August 1961 to halt an exodus of historic dimensions. For more than a generation it performed the task with brutal efficiency.
In
Germany and around the world the wall had become the perfect symbol of
oppression. Ronald Reagan in 1987, standing at the Brandenburg Gate challenged
the leader of the Communist world, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” There
was no answer from Moscow at the time; only 9 months before, Erich Honecker,
leader of the East German Communist government, vowed that the wall would
remain for 100 years. And
then, suddenly, it was gone. At the stroke of midnight on Nov. 9, 1989,
thousands who had gathered on both sides of the wall let out a roar and started
going through it and over it. West Berliners pulled East Berliners to the top of the barrier
along which in years past many East Germans had been shot while trying to
escape. At times the wall almost disappeared beneath waves of humanity. They blew trumpets
and danced on the top. They brought out hammers & chisels & whacked
away at the hated symbol of separation. They spilled out into the streets of
West Berlin for a champagne-spraying, horn-honking bash that continued well
past dawn, in the following day and another dawn.
I
remember watching the pictures on television as the East German people flooded
thru the Brandenburg Gate to freedom. I remember thinking, “This is a
monumental moment in history… the world will not be the same from this point
on. The iron curtain of Communist oppression was crumbling before our eyes… the
Cold war was over. For the German people it was the first giant step toward
reunification… becoming a new nation of one people. Little did I know that
about 15 years later Sandy and I would host an East German foreign exchange
student who would become part of our family.
There
once was another wall that divided people from one another. It was a wall far
greater than the Berlin Wall. The Apostle Paul called it “the dividing wall of
hostility”. For centuries the wall of hostility separated us from God and one
another. This wall of sin, erected in the hearts of men and women, was
destroyed once and for all by Christ our Lord on the cross, and the world has
never been the same.
This
is the 2nd in a series of messages I’ve titled “Life Together”. I’ve
taken the title from German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s little book Life Together… based on his experience
as part of a unique fellowship… an underground seminary during the Nazi years
in Germany. In his book Bonhoeffer writes, “It is by the grace of God that a
congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God’s Word &
sacrament. The physical presence of other Christians is a source of
incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”
Bonhoeffer
understood the gift of life together in Christ. Today we consider the glue that
binds us together.
What
is it that ultimately joins us together as a community? We come from a variety
of faith backgrounds, and in some cases no background at all. We come from
different families, different ethnic groups, & even different continents.
We have different jobs, different hobbies, cheer for rival sports teams, &
support different political parties. We bring different opinions and loyalties
and troubles with us to this gathering, and form a community that shares a
common identity that supersedes all the differences. Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians identifies the glue that holds every Christian congregation together.
In
the first chapter of Ephesians Paul describes what God has done, “he has
blessed us”, “he chose us”, “he destined us for adoption”, “in him we have
redemption,” and “he has made known to us the mystery.” The first 7 verses of
chapter 2 is one long run-on sentence with the subject being “you” as in “you
who make up the church”. Paul details their former condition without Christ…
“dead in your sins in which you once walked”. His vivid description of life
without Christ is a picture of people who are like zombies, the walking dead,
walking blindly about, slaves of their own passions and desires, with no hint
of true life within, inhaling and exhaling, yet the breath of God is absent
from their souls. It is an utterly hopeless condition and there is nothing that
can be done about it apart from divine intervention.
The
picture gets worse as Paul describes them as formerly under the power of the
“ruler of the air”. Apart from Christ, people are spiritually dead, subjected
to the ruling influence of an evil power holding them in bondage. Paul’s
vivid portrayal of humanity without Christ reminds them all of what they once
were… “dead in their sins”, “enslaved to the ruler of the air”, “gratifying the
cravings of the sinful nature”, with a dark future as “children of wrath”. To
appreciate God’s redemption we must fully recognize our fallen nature.
In
2:4-10 Paul describes God’s mercy, love, and grace freely given in Christ. In
v.6 Paul insists that God “raised us”, the Greek word is συνεγείρω meaning, “to
cause to emerge from an inactive state or be raised up from death, physical or
spiritual.” The same resurrection power that rolled away the stone and raised
Jesus from the dead breathes spiritual life into sin-riddled zombies “dead in
their sins”. And it’s all by his grace, a gift that cannot be attained on your
own. The Ephesians have undergone a divine transformation from walking zombies,
dead in their sins, to resurrected fully alive believers. They once served the
evil “ruler of the air”, but now they serve the God of overflowing mercy and
love. Once they were children of wrath headed for destruction, but through the
free gift of grace they are now on the way to ruling with Christ in the
heavenlies!
In
2:11 Paul writes, “Therefore…” indicating a change in the subject from God, and
what God has done, to the response of the believers. The first response is the
imperative “Therefore remember”! Remember what you were w/out Christ & are
now becoming in Christ! Then we get to 2:14-22, our text for today.
(Read Ephesians
2:14-22)
What
does Paul mean by “made the two one” and “His purpose was to create in himself
one new man out of the two, thus making peace…”? He’s using “man” as a metaphor
of community. He’s talking about two separate people groups… the Jews and
everybody else. There was a wall in the temple of Jerusalem preventing non-Jews
from approaching God. There was a wall in the hearts of Jews and Gentiles
creating great animosity. Through Christ, Jews and Gentiles can be reconciled
to God & one another. The barrier, “the dividing wall of hostility”, is the
work of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air…” It not only divides Jew and
non-Jew, but people of different races, cultures, political views and anything
else that separates people. God’s purpose is to reconcile people to himself and
to one another through Christ… creating a new community that welcomes all
people.
Paul
takes one of the central symbols of Judaism and turns it inside out. The Temple
in Jerusalem was the religious heart of the nation as well as the political,
social, and cultural heart of Jerusalem. God had promised to live there. But
now Paul is declaring that the living God is constructing a new Temple of human
beings.
NT
Wright: “Until Paul nobody had said anything quite like this. What it means is
that for Christians a church building is not a “temple” in the strict sense. It
is the people themselves who are the “place” where God is now deciding to
live.”
Christ
is the glue that binds us together! There must be no other requirement for
admission and no other shared commitment or interest greater than the shared
commitment in Christ.
Bonhoeffer:
“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. We
belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ… One is a brother to
another only through Jesus Christ. Our community with one another consists
solely in what Christ has done to both of us. The more genuine and the deeper
our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the
more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only
thing that is vital between us.”
In Christ we
are…
The community of
the reconciled…
· reconciled to God and each other
Fellow citizens of the kingdom of God…
· which is deeper than nationalism or tribalism
Family!
· “members of the household of God”
· With a shared spiritual heritage… the prophets and the apostles
The dwelling
place of God
God
help us act like it!
Two Questions
Has Christ
failed? Some would say, “The walls remain. People continue to be as separated as ever!” Did Christ fail? No! He provided the means through which a new community is established, but he forces no one to enter into that community. As long as people resist God’s grace and love, rejecting the cross, the walls remain effectively in place. Satan wants people to believe the walls are as high and forbidding as ever. He is bluffing. Walk through the gate! Believe in Christ! Embrace God as your forgiving Father and your former enemy as your bother.
Has the church
failed?
In
some respects yes. When Christians do not live in a Christ-like manner the
church fails. When we continue to live as if the walls of hostility remain, the
church fails. When we place nationalism and tribalism above our shared faith in
Christ we fail.(Ephesians 2:22) And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
“Being built together” is one word in the Greek text, the indicative present tense passive plural of συνοικοδομέω, meaning, “being built together”. The present tense passive indicates an on-going process that is not yet complete. Jesus is not only the glue that holds us together, he is the builder constructing the dwelling place of God with the various parts… we are the various parts. My faith is not so much in the various parts, but in the One doing the building!
Some
point to the failures & paint the entire Church as a failed experiment. All
the evidence I need is right here in this sanctuary filled with people with
little in common save the “glue that binds us together.” There are communities
like this throughout the world. I have had the marvelous opportunity to worship
with Mexican believers in Mexico City, Coptic believers in Cairo Egypt,
Palestinian believers in Bethlehem and Nazareth, and been welcomed like a
brother.
Conclusion/Response
Last
Tuesday night Sandy and I drove separate cars to separate meetings and
afterwards met up at Taco Bell for a late night dinner. In the parking lot
after dinner we kissed and as I turned to go to my car I heard this booming
obnoxious voice call out, “I saw that! Pastor Clem I saw you kiss that woman!”It was Richard Coaxum, pastor of St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church, the church across from PHS. He laughed and then he and his wife Ruth greeted us and we talked a few minutes about family and church. Blessings were exchanged and we went our separate ways. A brief encounter in a parking lot is testament that what we share… the glue that binds Richard Coaxum and me together is far greater than any difference.
Let
us join together in the work of the Lord. He took the initiative to break down
the walls on the cross. Now he works in and through us to continue that work. So
we must confess and repent of prideful attitudes that keep the walls in place
and celebrate the glue that binds us together and continues to build his
dwelling place.
Homework
Assignments: Preparing for “Life Together” (slide)
Next
Sunday spend 15-30 minutes in silent contemplation before you come to worship
in community. Take nothing but your Bible and your journal.Read & reflect on Philippians 3:10-11 and Romans 12:15.
Blessing:
“May the glue that binds us together prevail in our hearts and supersede all
our differences. Amen.”
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