For those not familiar with an Anglican Service there are four Scripture readings prior to the Message. Today's assigned readings are: 2 Samuel 7:1-14; Psalm 89:20-37, Ephesians 2:11-22, and Mark 60:30-34, 53-56.
Robert Frost's famous work, ...The "Mending Wall": ...is a wonderful poem ... full of humor.... and maybe a sense...of sadness.
It is about two neighbors ...who go through the same ritual each spring, .... meeting at the wall... In order to repair it.
To refill the gaps ...that the fallen stones.... have left.
The neighbors have apparently done this ...for many years ... yet it strikes the narrator in the poem to question ... just why it is ... that they have the wall ... in the first place.
They no longer have cows or sheep ... that might stray onto the other's property.
So why is the wall there?
The reason for its purpose... no longer exists?
Yet, it remains . . . Why?
(Slow) Why ... Because it has always...... been there!
The truth is ............. it is human nature ....to construct walls.
No age ... or age group ...has gone unshaped ...by the ...malicious power... of the wall.
Its menacing power ...moves the length and breadth ... of human existence.
Paul calls it ....in our text ... the dividing wall.... a dividing wall...of hostility.
It is the wall...... that separates ....... that fragments... that ... isolates.
It is the wall ...that keeps people ......apart.
It kills fellowship ... breeds prejudice ...... spreads gossip ...and sets loose ... the dogs of war.
It takes many forms ...but it always remains ... the same " Dividing Wall".
In our own society, ... we too .... construct walls.
There are many walls ...that divide us ....as a people.
Over 150 years ago ... Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation ... yet still ...there are divisions ...between black... and white.
There are walls ...which divide gender... men and women.
There are walls of social status.... that divide the affluent.... and the poor.
Beloved ... Walls ... are all around us.
And for many.... they bring a sense of comfort, .... a sense of protection.
Humankind must love walls, ...for we have built ....so many of them.
We live in a wall weary...... world. (Pause)
Paul is writing this letter... to the believers gathered ...at the Church.... in Ephesus.
He emphasizes ...the blessings that are only found in Christ Jesus.
And he reminds these Christians... from whence they came...... "You... You ... were dead... in your sin." (Ephesians 2:1)
Beloved....God is not about separation.... God is not about division.
God is about... building ... Building a body of believers...Building His church.
But, ....as any good construction worker can tell you, ...before you build . . . some things ...have to go.
Here Paul's words to the Church:
BIBLE "Therefore, ... remember that at one time... you Gentiles by birth ... called the "uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision".... 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." END Ephesians 2:11-12
Paul starts out this passage by saying, "Remember ... Remember the Wall."
Remember... the wall of...separation.
Paul is talking to Non-Jews ... Gentiles ... like us. (Pause)
"Uncircumcised" ... was a disrespectful term ...used by the Jews ... "The Chosen" ... to describe the Un-chosen.
When Paul speaks of the dividing Wall in our text, ... his primary reference ... was the five-foot high wall ...between the Court of the Gentiles ...and the Court of Women ....in the temple ....at Jerusalem.
On this wall ...appeared an often-repeated inscription to the Gentiles ...warning them ...to go no deeper ...into the temple grounds.
If they did ... they would have only themselves to blame... for their death, ... which would.... inevitably follow.
This wall... represents prejudice, ...which was a burning issue ...between the Jews ...and the Gentiles.
Some ancient Jewish writings go as far ... as referring to Gentiles as ... "Fuel ...for the fires... of hell."
Imagine how difficult it must have been ... for either group ...to extend the other... the right hand of fellowship.
In our text ... Paul is speaking ....to Gentile Believers.
They were Gentiles... 'by birth' ......but they were now ...Christians... part of the Church of Jesus Christ......at Ephesus.
Paul tells them to ... Remember ... Remember when they ....were separated.... from God.
To Remember ...the wall.
The Wall ... that had separated them... in the past.
Separation from God Beloved......is the very definition ...of spiritual death ... eternal death.
So....Why does Paul ...want them ...to remember?
Because one ......needs to remember.
We need to remember ...how lost we were... ...before Christ.
We need to remember ... the past walls of separation.
We need to remember... so that we do not... as followers of the Christ... build them again. (Pause)
In 1949, ....4 years following the defeat of Nazi Germany in WW II, ... the nation of Germany ...was divided ...... East and West.
In the East ...a communist government was established ... under the influence.... of the Soviet Union.
In the West ...a free, ...democratic government ...was established ......and benefited greatly ...from the Marshall Plan ...and the economics... of free enterprise.
Life... became much better... for German citizens...who lived in the West.
The city of Berlin ...became a crucible... where these divided philosophies ...would literally.... divide the city.
Fearful of losing many of its citizens, ...East Germany closed the border....... between the two states.... in 1952.
But that did not keep ...an estimated 2.5 million East Germans.... from fleeing to West Germany ...between 1949 -1961.
So, ...in 1961 ...the East German government... built ... the Berlin Wall.
The wall stood ... for almost 30 years ....as a very real ....and symbolic divide ...between the East ...and the West.
I still remember the speech ...given by President Reagan ...in 1987 ...at the Brandenburg Gate ...a section ...of the Berlin Wall.
At the height of the Cold War... President Regan used the opportunity ...to encourage freedom.... and a new... peace.
His words remain so clear to me ...even to this day ... "Mr. Gorbechev ... tear down... this wall."
And A short time later ... the wall ...was quite literally ... torn down.
And... November of 1987, ...the Germans from both the East and the West... scaled the wall... and danced in celebration... As the walls came a tumbling down (Pause)
Beloved, ...One cannot get closer to God ...and at the same time ... remain distant ...from others. REPEAT
Paul goes on to share with the Ephesians ...that He "Jesus"... came and preached... peace to you who were far away ...and peace to those ...who were near." (Ephesians 2:17)
Paul's emphasis: ......is that Christ, himself, ...is our Peace.
Christ has torn down the wall ... that had divided... ......for so long.
Now......We typically think of 'Peace' ...as being the absence of war ... but that is Not the kind of peace ... that Paul is speaking about.
Peace is not just the absence of hostility . . . it is much more.
It has its roots ....in the Old Testament concept ...of the Hebrew word ... "Shalom".
Shalom... is a much more comprehensive term.... for salvation ... and life ...with God.
It means wholeness, ...completeness, ...well-being, prosperity.
In other words: ...Shalom is the way things should be ... It is God's ideal.
Christ has restored the ideal ... by destroying the wall ....and bringing both Jew and Gentile ... together.
Notice, ... the two ... Both the Jew and Gentile ...are made one ...in Him.
His purpose was to create ... out of the two, ....one new creation.
A new creation in Christ Jesus ... thus bringing about shalom.... true peace ... God's Peace.
We were walled away ... from God ... But Jesus Praise God ...tore down ... that wall.
With the barriers gone, ...WE ... Jew, Gentile, male, female, slave and free.... have full access to Royal Throne of God.
Beloved...In order to build, ...one must first ... tear down.
(Point to self) This site ... This fleshly body...must be cleared... of all walls.
Then ...and only then ... will you receive Shalom......true Peace
And....This Shalom... This Peace... is both vertical between us and God, ... And It is horizontal ... between each other.
Far Too many... Especially non-followers of the Christ.... believe that Religion is a personal thing...... only what a person does ... when they are alone ...with God.
Yet....The vertical relationship with God ... can only expresses itself ... (Slow) in the horizontal relationships ...with others.
Christianity is to be lived out... in community ... It is to be lived out ... among others.
We must empty ourselves ...and let Jesus fill us ...a new.
It is about the makeup ...of your heart.
(Point to Chest) It is about ... The substance of your heart.
It is about what you allow to encompass ... and fill your heart. (Long Pause)
A young African American boy .... was watching the balloon man ......at the county fair.
The man was evidently a good balloon salesman.
Because he allowed a red balloon to break loose ...and soar high up in the air.... thereby attracting a crowd ... of prospective... customers.
Next, he released a blue balloon ... then a yellow one ... and then.... a white one.
They all went soaring up into the sky ...until they each disappeared.
The young boy ... stood looking at the black balloon that the man was holding in his hand, ...then asked,
"Sir, ...if you sent the black one up, ...would it go as high ...as the others?"
The balloon man gave the young boy... an understanding smile.
He snapped the string ...that held the black balloon ....and let it go... as it soared upwards, He said,
"Son...It isn't the color.
It's what's inside ... that makes it rise."
Beloved... It's what's on the Inside ... that will make you rise.
It is all about ...the substance of the heart... It is about what is on ...the inside.
It is all about......Jesus.
When you accept Jesus as your Savior and your Lord... He enters you....and the Scripture tell us ...that you are.... a new creation.
You are a New Creation ... in Christ Jesus.
O' Beloved ... Bring the walls down.
Be filled to overflowing ...with the presence ...with the Peace of Jesus.
Allow the maker of the universe ...to mold you ... ...To fill you a new.
To fill you with His presence .
For it is what is on the inside ... that will make you rise.
It is what fills you ... on the inside ... that gives you peace.
And it is that peace that allows you to fully experience ... The Shalom of God.
Amen and Amen!
I used illustrations from a sermon by Jim Black titled "Our Peace" and I commend it to you.
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