Ephesians 2:11-22

So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 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.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us 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 also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Sermon Text

            We’ve been looking this month at a general view of what it means to be a prophet. Did you know that? If you’ve been paying attention you might have seen that from Ezekiel, to John, to Paul, we have seen various aspects of the Prophetic life. I talked the week of July 4th about our need to provide a witness that is different from what the world gives. Last week we looked at why we need to build up our work and ministries in such a way that we leave legacies behind us – all prophets must end their time on earth after all. Today, we look at a different sort of “end,” for the prophets, we look at their purpose, their τελος (telos,) their reason for existing.

            As I continue on in ministry, I find that there is a need for the Church to be more focused in its proclamation of the Gospel and more sure about what it means to be a participant in God’s economy of Grace. We are all people who have been saved by the blood and redeemed through the work of Christ. We’ve entered into the household of God, we’ve tasted and seen what God is all about, now we need to find a way to show that to others! What are we proclaiming, and why do we bother to proclaim it? We offer something the world cannot compete with, but are we offering that because we want something out of the deal or are we doing it because we want people to benefit from participating in what we’ve got going on?

            Let me put it another way. When I go outside and water the garden we have below the Church, why am I watering it? Is it so that the plants can grow? Yes, necessarily. Is it so that people see them grow and know I have not abandoned my responsibility to them? Less so, but I would not want to earn the ire of anyone involved with building the beds either. Do I think, and this is the most important question I think, that there is something inherently good about growing these plants? Do I see beyond the consequences of them growing – food for the pantry, living things in flower beds – and see something quintessential to the nature of preserving life?

            Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that there is no longer any separation between God’s people and those who were once considered “outsiders,” within the Kingdom. Christ, we are told, has eliminated the categories of race and nationality we defined ourselves with, erased the human traditions and precepts that formed a wedge between Jew and Gentile. Christ through all that Christ did, was a great unifier, and in establishing Unity, Christ built up a new kind of existence for us. We are all no longer this kind of person or that kind of person, but by being built up into the Church we all share the same dignity, worth, and purpose.

            In this room are people of various backgrounds. In same way that we could go from person to person and find all kinds of different skills and character traits, so we could step outside and examine the brickwork of this church and quickly find that none of the bricks making up this building are alike. Sure, they can be quite similar, but the individual grooves and weathering are all different. Each one in themselves only gives a slight glimpse of their intent, but all together their purpose is clear – they build up to be a building where God’s people gather, where God’s word is preached, the Sacraments are duly administered, and best of all the work of God done for the good of all people.

            As a prophetic voice in the world, we are involved in a lot of different things. We are responsible for helping to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick. We proclaim the truth that Christ died and rose again, and that we too can join in that resurrection. Yet, in this proclamation, and in this service, we are not fully completing our purpose. We are not completing our purpose in these two categories unless we root ourselves in something beyond the work itself. Our work, our life, our entire identity, is ultimately centered in and working toward the person of Jesus Christ. No other focal point exists because on this fulcrum all the world must turn.

Returning to that Garden down the hill. The care I give it cannot be out of an obligation to the end product, because I cannot know if any substantial fruit will grow on any branch of it. I cannot depend upon watering it because I want people to know it was I who watered it, because I don’t always remember to do it at the right time, it rains as often as I have to do it, and sometimes other people do it anyway! I have to want the plants to grow because I think it is good for them to grow, regardless of any other outcome, or else I simply will not invest the energy I need to into their life. The thing in itself, the growth of the plant, must supersede all other considerations I have in this venture.

In the same way, if Christ is removed from the center of our mindset, we will lose track of our own work and our lives. If Christ is not the center of what I do, I will have to become a far greater source of motivation. Even in the most disciplined person cannot be completely inwardly motivated, I must believe I am working toward something outside myself. If I do not, every success will only prop up my ego and every failure will only make me feel like a wreck not worthy of anything. Our center must be on Christ, because outside of that center will we prioritize and exalt just about anything and everything we touch.

Paul was working against two large competing identities in the Church. There were the “Circumcised,” and the “Uncircumcised,” the Gentiles and the Jews in other words. Each group had worked to claim themselves, in some places and at some times, to be the superior stock from which Christians could be made. Gentiles were born into the Church by God’s grace, and knew only Jesus – therefore they might argue they had a purer Gospel. The Jewish believers, meanwhile, would lean upon the long history they had with God, upon Moses and the Prophets, and show their clear advantage as proof they were superior. To pull either off their pedestal would not be easy, and so Paul pointed up to a far taller pillar in their lives.

To the Gentile, Paul offered the truth that though they were once far from God, they were now brought close to God. “You do know of God only through Christ! You are brought into the faith by his works!” Paul this says to the Gentile, and to the Jew he affirms their antiquity. “We are God’s people! We have the benefit of the Law and the Prophets, and we always been close to God because of this!” Yet, Paul is clear, neither group really had the fullness of God without one thing. Faith. Moreso their faith would not mean anything if it did not have a strong center – God in Jesus Christ.

Christ, and not any work of the Law or of its absence, is what had made God’s people into who they are. The household of the faith was built off of a single cornerstone, not two. There is nothing that can separate God from God’s people, because God is the one who made them who they are. In the verse immediately before what we read, Paul makes this all the clearer, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them”

As I was driving around Clarksburg recently I thought of what a shame it is that, especially in America, there is no single idea of what it means to be a Christian. I don’t mean styles of worship or types of people, even specific practices can be very different – after all, we aren’t saved by any of those things. No, I mean there is no concept of a unified belief in most anything. When the Ministerial Association tried to reform in Harrison County, I was one of the first people to say we should get a group together to state what we all, as Christians, can agree on and base our work on the firm foundation our shared faith in Christ gave us… We did not have those kinds of meetings, and so we floundered trying to identify what our purpose would be.

That is the problem in most things that the Church does. We are no longer centered on Christ in a way that can produce fruitful work. In our own congregations we are willing to fight and bicker until we inevitably splinter and perish. If we have a firm foundation in Christ, in the need to have faith, and in the striving together toward God’s righteousness, centering everything in Christ’s example – the Church could change the world. The problem is, as we talked about in week one – we are all trying to make a Christ who agrees completely with us, and are unwilling to accept a Christ that challenges us.

When we are told that Christ has destroyed the dividing walls, we should feel something within us quake. When we hear that Christ has abolished distinctions as important as “circumcision,” and “uncircumcision,” we should feel something deep within ourselves. The sign of God’s presence with God’s people is no longer the defining mark of God’s promise? It’s an emblem of suffering and death turned into the ultimate source of life for all people! We are called to love, to a commitment to Christ that means we do not categorize ourselves a million times over, just so we can say who is allowed into the Kingdom and who is not.

The Hope of every prophet is that God’s word, planted in the world, will bear fruit as God’s kingdom. That Hope has always been expansive and outward focused. The day is coming, and is already here, where all flesh will know the Goodness of God! If only we are willing to share it, to live it, to be it! We can only do that if we see beyond any worldly goals. More money in a plate, more seats in /our/ pews, more of a say in the world stage – if we see beyond this and see the one goal that matters, the one focus that amounts to anything. Jesus, and Jesus alone, we will thrive. Christ with us, Christ clearing the path for us. Our life is found in beholding God, let us behold God with all our heart and soul and mind, that our work may be unclouded and our hearts pure. – Amen.