New Year, New Identity Ephesians 2 In recognition of the fact that the Seahawks play the Minnesota Vikings in a Wild Card game today, I ll share the following: Mike Zimmer, the head coach of the Vikings, dies after living a long and full life. When he gets to heaven, God meets him at the pearly gates and shows him around. He takes him to a modest home with a Vikings flag in the window. This house is yours for eternity, God told him. This is very special, not everyone gets a house up here. The coach felt special indeed. But as he was walking up to the front door, he noticed a magnificent mansion nearby flying a huge Seahawks flag in the front yard. The coach said to God, I m grateful, God, but I have a question. I was a good coach, I never cheated, I always played by the rules. Some of my players are in the Hall of Fame. So what s your question? God asked. Why does Pete Carroll get a better house than I do? God replied: Oh, that s not Carroll s house. That s mine. Ah, sports rivalries. But there are others. You ve heard of the Capulets and the Montagues? The two feuding families of Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet. Of course, we are familiar with the classic tale of two rival families whose young offspring fall in love. The story is repeated in the rival gangs of the musical Westside Story. But the tale of the two young lovers ends in tragedy as they both die. While ultimately their deaths function to bring the warring sides together. But truth is stranger than fiction. You ve heard of the rivalry between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Yes, those were two real families who lived along the Big Sandy River that separated West Virginia from Kentucky. Between the 1860s and the 1890s, what apparently began with a dispute over a hog, escalated over the years. It culminated in an episode that included shooting the rival family members while they slept and setting their home on fire. Eventually the feud came to an end in 1901, after one person was hanged, and seven sentenced to life in prison! Forty years of senseless rivalry and revenge what a waste! Here in Chapter 2 of Ephesians, the author describes two opposing factions Jews and Gentiles--two groups who are alienated not only from one another, but also from God. In addition, the author describes two realms that also seem to be at odds with one another both of these are unseen, but are controlled by different rulers, if you will. The evil one/ devil /adversary commands one, and God s Holy Spirit, rules the heavenly realms. These two groups were alienated from one another and literally had walls that divided them. Within the very Temple itself in Jerusalem, there were consecutive terraced courtyards that led to the inner courtyards, all the way to the Holy of 1
Holies which was the location of the Ark of the Covenant, and the place where the High Priest entered only once a year on the day of atonement. But Gentiles had no access beyond the outer most courtyard the Court of the Gentiles--which was the furthest from the Holy of Holies. It was surrounded by a wall on which signs read in both Greek and Latin: Trespassers will be executed. Not a warm greeting to visitors who might happen by to worship on the Sabbath! This is the historical, social and religious background to this chapter of Ephesians! This active rivalry or hostility between Jews and Gentiles, as well as between God and humanity is the situation into which Paul speaks. The before and after descriptions could not be more dramatic: While alienated from God, we are: Dead in sin, disobedient (v1-2) Self-centered and self-indulgent (v.3) Separated from God/Christ (v.12) Outsiders, excluded from citizenship in Israel (v.12) Foreigners to the covenant of promise (v. 12) Without hope and without God. (v. 12) We were far away but through the sacrificial death of Christ we are brought near (v.13) Through the person of Christ the Peacemaker (V.14) things change dramatically: We who were once far away have been brought near. Not only that these two warring factions have been reconciled to the degree that Now they are ONE! Christ has created a new humanity and in doing so has given us a new identity. Last week we saw how, in Chapter 1, God has a plan! Part of that plan is to create a people for himself who will live to the praise of his glory. BUT here in Ch 2, we have a reality check. The author paints a portrait of an alienated humanity, or what we once were. It is a pretty sad picture. A picture of self-indulgent/self-centered sinners who are as far away from God as we could get, and unable to do a blessed thing to address this situation ourselves. Thank God for God! For the God who is rich in mercy and loves us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. I have a friend who is a real science fiction fan. He reads it, he watches it on television, he thinks certain of these old movies are classics, must see TV so to speak. Personally, sci-fi/fantasy whatever, it is not my thing. However, one concept they stole from the Bible is the concept of the living dead. That is to say, everyone who walked in here this morning appears to be living and breathing. However not all of us are necessarily spiritually alive, and therefore, may in fact be the living dead -- being physically alive and well, but spiritually dead, because of sin. v. 13 is the turning point in this chapter BUT NOW Jesus Christ comes into the picture and we see how Christ makes a difference and gives us a new identity! HOW? Because of the CROSS The cross is the bridge between us and God. 2
Sin is the great leveler no matter what our socio-economic class, our ethnicity or any other identifying characteristic that might define us as human beings we are all sinners in need of God s grace. That is why Christ is the Peacemaker His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. We who were once far from God, now have immediate access. Better than wi-fi or any phone network, the Holy Spirit is our connection, in all times and all places, we are joined together not only with God but also with God s people. The contrast from where we came from, to the portrait of what we become, or our new identity in Christ, is quite amazing. SO THEN Paul sums up, in v. 19-22. CONSEQUENTLY as a result of Christ s action on our behalf we are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens and members of his household. Our status has dramatically changed. Now we belong in a way we never did before. Once we were refugees. Now we have a home. Those who were near and those who were far away become one in Christ. Paul goes on to utilize three different images or metaphors to describe the church and those who are a part of it, who have this new identity: v.19a God s Kingdom This is neither a territorial jurisdiction nor even a spiritual structure. God s kingdom is Godself, ruling God s people and bestowing on us all the privileges and responsibilities which his rule implies. This Kingdom has no racial or geographic barriers. v. 19b God s family is yet a more intimate metaphor. Here Paul s emphasis seems to be on the relationships of brothers and sisters within a family, implying a close relationship of affection, care and support. What is most remarkable is when this family feeling and affection is expressed across cultural and racial divides, when true reconciliation takes place and those who were literally at war, become one in Christ. Can it really happen? In2011 I had the privilege of attending a conference of Presbyterian women leaders of Central and South African countries. Tumekutana, we gather together in Swahili, was a life-changing experience. The women of Rwanda hosted this event with the hope that sharing their stories of post-genocide reconciliation would be an encouragement to all the participants. At the Genocide Memorial in Kigali are the remains of 250,000 Rwandans, citizens of Kigali. Since the Memorial was established, the remains of 9,000 more have been added, as they surface all over the city. During the month of April 1994, approximately one million people died, and thousands became refugees. The causes of the genocide are too complex to describe in detail here, but suffice it to say that the people of Rwanda are for the most part, one tribe or one family. The distinction between Hutu and Tutsi was an economic one imposed by a colonial power in past decades, but this difference was exploited by political entities in the 1990s. It led to brothers killing brothers, and families turned inside out by violence of every kind. 3
The most powerful evening we spent together was hearing from a group from Remera, ten men and ten women and their pastor. The men had been perpetrators, and the women victims, of the genocide. Their pastor told how thousands of men had been convicted and served time in prison. His primary concern was helping his community live into forgiveness and reconciliation as the men were gradually released and returned to their former neighborhoods. So he began to pray, and received training in trauma healing and reconciliation. He offered workshops and trained people in his congregation. God began to work in their midst and the Spirit began to work in the hearts of those who were perpetrators and those who had been victims. Representatives from both groups shared. One woman said: Everything evil imaginable happened to me during the genocide. But I am not alone. Everyone lost someone. Everyone suffered terribly. The good news is that God can redeem even the worst. One of the men said: I joined in, unthinking. It was kill or be killed. I knew it was wrong but I couldn t stop. Thank God for this pastor who welcomed us. Now we live together. We are forgiven. No one goes hungry. No one is homeless. We farm and work together to be sure of that. In his concluding remarks, the pastor told us: Forgiveness and reconciliation has occurred, to the degree that one of our female survivors has married one of those who had participated in the genocidal actions in her village. This is possible only because of God s amazing grace. We are no longer enemies. We are one in Christ Jesus. v.20-22 God s temple or dwelling place. This third image conveys an image of a building in which the structure as a whole has its foundation or basis built upon the teaching of the apostles and prophets. Christ himself is the critical cornerstone into which the entire building is held together. The unity and the growth of the church which is a living organism-- is dependent upon Christ as the cornerstone. But this is not a physical building that Paul describes, but the dwelling place of God the fact that God through the Holy Spirit dwells in you and in me. As we worship, pray, study and work together, we are relationally built into God s temple, as we are ones in whom God s Holy Spirit lives. And so, this second chapter of Ephesians teaches us that in Christ we find a new identity. Those who were once enemies, have become reconciled to God and to one another, and we have become one in Christ. The key verse in this chapter is v.4-5: But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. We who were far away, without God and without hope, Have found a new identity as a part of God s family, 4
Sojourner Truth, was an emancipated African-American slave in NY State in the 1860 s. As a Christian, she worked tirelessly for the rights of women and the right to vote. Sojourner Truth sums up this passage succinctly: We ain t what we wanna be, We ain t what we could be, But thank God, we ain t what we was! Indeed, thank God, we have a new identity in Jesus Christ! 5