Ephesians 2:11-22 (Pentecost 9B)
St. John, Galveston 7/21/24
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I don’t think it would be an overstatement to characterize our country and our culture as being highly divided these days. In some areas division is somewhat expected. We’re divided in our politics, but we have pretty much always been divided in that way. Do you support Joe Biden or Donald Trump for president, or perhaps neither? Are you a Republican, a democratic or something else altogether? Those choices, I suppose, are as old as democracy itself.

We divide ourselves in other areas too though. Are you a Houston Astros fan, or a Texas Rangers fan? Do you root for the Houston Texans, or for America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys? Some of our divisions are relatively minor, others are much more significant. And it seems that our divisions are growing deeper and deeper, and that they are becoming more and more threatening to our overall peace, and perhaps even to our existence as a nation.

Of course, divisions make their way into the church too. I don’t mean simply between people of different denominations. In some sense, those divisions are warranted and even necessary because doctrine, the truth of God’s Word, is important, and it’s worth contending for. But, we also suffer divisions between people in the same church. One person supports the current Synodical leadership, while another person doesn’t. One person supports the congregation’s pastor, while another doesn’t. One person likes our current hymnal, the Lutheran Service Book, while another person will never move on from the hymnal that God gave us, the Lutheran Hymnal, TLH, as it’s known.

The Epistle reading for this morning is a good passage for us to contemplate  as we think about the different in which we are divided. Specifically, it speaks of the peace and the reconciliation that we have with God and with one another through the cross of Jesus Christ. In many respects, it echos another passage in this same Epistle. “Walk (says the Lord) in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

In Paul’s day, the most notable and daunting division in the church was between people of Jewish descent and people of non-Jewish, or of Gentile descent. The division went way back into the Old Testament period, when the people of Israel were forbidden to intermingle, or intermarry with people of other nations. The prohibition had to do with the general principle that “a little leaven leaven’s the whole lump.” In other words, were the Jewish people to intermingle with the Gentiles, they, that is, the Jews, would begin to adopt Gentile ways, perhaps even their beliefs, and thus the teachings of the people of Israel would be leavened by false teaching. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

By the time Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, the division between Jew and Gentile had grown quite intense. So intense, in fact, that the Jews considered the Gentiles to be outside of God’s grace and goodness. They were a lesser people, a people who were unfit for and unworthy of the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.  “At one time (writes the Apostle) you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 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.”

If you consider that the Jew / Gentile distinction included everyone, that is, all of humanity, the following words from Ephesians 2 are astounding. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off (that is, the Gentiles) have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 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, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” The Gospel of Jesus’ death for the sins of the world, literally has to power to reconcile all people in the world.

Of course, God’s word doesn’t reconcile every difference between us. It doesn’t make a Republican a Democrat, or vice versa. It doesn’t make a Houston Texan’s fan love America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys. What it does do though, is putt us all under the Word of God, both the Law and the Gospel. As to the Law, the Scriptures tell us that there is no difference between us. Indeed, “all have sinned, the Bible says, and fallen short of the glory of God.” “We know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” 
We are united by the Law, because, under God’s Law we are all the same, whether Jew, or Gentle, whether black, or brown, or white, whether American or European, or Middle Eastern, or Asian. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Thankfully, just as the Law applies to all of us, so too does the Gospel. Here, I’m not speaking in terms necessarily of salvation, the certainty of the forgiveness of sins, because salvation from sin and death, is received by faith in Christ Jesus and in no other way. Rather, I’m speaking here of the Atonement of Jesus, the life of the Son of God given for the sins of the world. Jesus’ atonement for sin is universal, which is to say, His death on the cross covered all sin and all people, from the least to the greatest, from the oldest to the youngest.  

And so, once again, as to the Gospel, we are reconciled to one another because we are all the objects of God’s grace and love in Christ Jesus. That being the case, it is good then for us to bear in mind that the person we so vehemently disagree with in politics, or in sports, or in any other aspect of life, is someone for whom Christ died, someone whose sin has been atoned for by the blood of Jesus. In that realization, we can find a certain measure peace.  

More importantly though, the Gospel of Jesus atoning sacrifice for sin provides us with an even greater peace, namely peace with God Himself. He, that is Jesus, “came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” Which is to say, through Jesus, you have been reconciled to God. It is the greatest reason in the world to rejoice and to find peace. God isn’t against you. Rather, He is for you. St. Paul said it so beautifully elsewhere,  “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

“We are God’s house of living stones,
Built for His own habitation.
He through baptismal grace us owns
Heirs of His salvation.
Were we but two His name to tell,
yet He would deign with us to dwell
With all His grace and His favor.”
(LSB 645, and TLH 467)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +