Title: Where God Lives
Text: Ephesians 2:11-22
Thesis: When we are in Christ, God takes up residence within us.
Introduction
The United States of America has often been referred to as a “melting pot” where people from many different countries, races, and religions, all hoping to find freedom, new opportunities and a better way of life, can find a home.
Native Americans are the only indigenous people here… the rest of us came from somewhere else. Our ancestors emigrated from somewhere else in order to immigrate here. The first waves of immigrants came from Western Europe so Americans were white people with their Western European ways.
One of our country’s biggest issues, culturally speaking, is thinking of anyone who does not have white skin and a Western European cultural background as “American.” So we sub-categorize people as “Hyphenated Americans.” “African-Americans” or “Asian Americans” or “Middle-Eastern Americans”. “Hispanic or Latino-Americans.” Apparently Americans have a distinct look. Just a couple of years ago the winner of the Miss America Pageant received scathing criticism because she did not look American enough.
It is interesting how we, who are of immigrant heritage, are often anti-immigration. I recently saw a comment to the effect: “My ancestors did not travel 4,000 miles to a place to be over-run by immigrants.”
In truth, whether those of us who came first like it or not, we are all Americans who live together more as a “Tossed Salad” than a “Melting Pot.” Each ingredient adds to and enriches the whole.
Just this morning I thumbed through the Denver and West section of The Denver Post and came upon a news article reporting on the Annual Dragon Boat Festival down at Sloan’s Lake. The bi-line read, “Racing event awash in Asian flavors, colors – with American touches too.” (I’m not sure what American touches are…)
The article cites the purpose of the festival as being an opportunity to bring the Asian community to the spotlight quoting the founder who added, “We’re part of the whole American culture, but today we are still considered foreigners.” The 67 year old woman I just quoted, immigrated from Taiwan when she was in her 20’s.
The United States is in fact the most heterogeneous country in the world and as much as some might wish otherwise, the fact of the matter is simply this… a heterogeneous society will never become a homogeneous society. We Americans are becoming increasingly diverse. We will never all be blond and blue-eyed, favor a meat and potatoes diet, drive General Motors automobiles and shop at IKEA.
It is unfortunate that our differences are not embraced as enriching to the whole rather being the source of alienation.
Perhaps reflecting on the way God deals with alienation will be helpful.
I. We were Alienated, Ephesians 2:11-12
Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. Ephesians 2:11-12
The big thought here is a reminder to remember! Don’t forget!
Memory is the process in which information is received, recorded, stored, and retrieved.
The text reminds us to remember what was received and stored away in our brains. And one of the memories we have is our former sense of alienation.
God’s Word speaks very pointedly to spiritual and relational alienation for both Outsiders and Insiders.
A. Outsiders – Gentiles were considered uncircumcised heathens by the Jewish “Insiders.”
B. Insiders – Jews were proud of their circumcision even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
Alienation is a sociological concept that speaks to "how a low degree of integration and a high degree of isolation between individuals alienates people. In our country today one of the alienating factors is how we are stratified socio-economically. The rich become richer, the middle class is disappearing and the poor are becoming poorer. It is this kind of disparity that creates alienation.
The Great Wall of China is a symbol of alienation and isolation. It is a 5,000 mile series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe.
There were other purposes of the Great Wall which included … that is the control of immigration (people coming in) and emigration (people going out).
The Great Wall of China is a fitting metaphor for the walls people build to keep people in or out. The idea of including some people while excluding others is not the way God thinks.
God’s objective is to be inclusive. Mercy and grace are by design intended to include any and all who wish to follow Jesus. It is not God’s will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)
The point being, hostility does not originate in God… it is the result of our resistance to a relationship with God and loving relationships with others.
Despite the reality of hostility and alienation spiritually and relationally God wants to change that for us.
II. We are Connected, Ephesians 2:13-14
But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. Ephesians 2:13
God is in the uniting business… In Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus and true children of God. (Galatians 3:28-29) In this new life it does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or circumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:11)
The big thought here is peace… Jesus replaced the former alienation from God and the alienation and hostility that existed between people, with peace. This was a particularly novel thought to introduce to Christians living under the thumb of the Roman Empire.
Peace is possible though not always peacefully done. Power has always been one way people have maintained the peace, so to speak. The Pax Romana is one example.
Pax Romana or Roman Peace was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by the Roman military force experienced by the Roman Empire for approximately 206 years. Before that the Romans had been at war with one power or another continuously for 200 years. Romans regarded peace not as an absence of war, but the rare situation that existed when all opponents had been beaten down and lost the ability to resist.
Similarly we use the power of legislation to make for peace. Following the Civil War Jim Crow Laws became a huge source of irritation to many. Suddenly people of African descent were free and equal. So to keep the peace the laws stipulated white and black people were separate but equal. White and black children could play in the city park but not together. White and black people could ride the train but the train had to provide separate but equal accommodations. Cities had to make available separate but equal drinking fountains. Restaurants had to provide separate but equal seating sections. But unfortunately, separate is not equal.
In 1948 President Harry S. Truman integrated the military and backed a number of anti-lynching laws which infuriated the segregationists. As the Civil Rights Movement made advancements the segregationists became increasingly agitated. In 1962 an all-white state legislature voted that the Confederate Flag should fly atop the State House as it has the last 54 years. On July the 10th that symbol of resistance to civil rights was taken down.
So you see… we can keep the peace, so to speak, by the power of law but the hostility and alienation continues and unfortunately it continues and often within the context of the Christian church.
Hostility and alienation exists on many levels… it is so much more than Jews and Gentiles. It is rich and poor. It is male and female. It is Democrats and Republicans. It is LGBT and Anti-LGBT. It is religion and secularism. It is the 1% and the 99%. It is freedom of religion for some but not others.
None of the hostility and alienation we are experiencing today is God’s best for us. God is about making us one people in Christ. The implications of Ephesians 2:13-14 are sweeping in their affect.
The work of Christ theologically and practically accomplishes two things. We are…
A. Connected to God, 2:13
Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
B. Connected to others, 2:14
For Christ has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:14
When we become followers of Christ we become Christians. We love each other and we walk together hand in hand when we do not see eye to eye because we are one in Jesus Christ. We may think God distinguishes us by our politics or our gender or our ethnicity or our socio-economic status or even our religious affiliations, but that simply is not the case. God is not impressed by any of our proclivities. God is impressed and blesses loving relationships.
There is more to all this becoming one in Christ than just the way we practice our faith and live together in relationships. There is an ultimate purpose:
III. We are being Constructed, Ephesians 2:19-22
We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Ephesians 2:21
The big thought here is the answer to the question, “Where does God live?”
We are all familiar with recycling. We collect and recycle metals and plastics and paper goods and water, etc. It is important, in light of the fact that every American disposes of approximately 4.4 pounds of trash every day that we recycle and reuse as much as we can as good stewards of the land, so to speak, as well as keep our country from becoming a massive dump/.landfill.
Yesterday the Denver Post ran an article about a group here in Denver called Spring Back Colorado. Spring Back Colorado converts 3,000 mattresses a month into raw steel, fabric and foam. They rip the mattresses open using box cutters, extract the materials and cram them into crushers that create bales.
In the past two weeks, trucks hauled steel bales weighing a combined 26,880 pounds to a factory in Texas. The foam and fabric move to a carpet-maker in Commerce City. (Bruce Finley, U.S. recycling stalls but Denver team tackles nightmare of mattresses, The Denver Post, 7/18/15)
Recently I have noticed a new term being bandied about. Repurposing. I don’t know that repurposing is a new thing but there is certainly a greater awareness today. Repurposing is the process by which an object with one use is transformed or redeployed as an object with an alternative use.
Typically, repurposing is done using items usually considered to be junk, garbage, or obsolete.
In the same way we may be repurposed from what we once were to what we may become.
A. Deconstruction (Repurposing begins with revamping and reusing what was into something new.)
1. “You used to be…” or “Formerly you were…“ (2:11) Outsiders and heathens.
2. “You were far away from God, now you are united in Christ…” (2:13)
3. “So now…” or “Consequently, you are no longer strangers and foreigners…” (2:19)
In Christ we are no longer who we were. We are repurposed people.
B. Reconstruction
1. A new position - “You are citizens…” (2:19)
2. A new relationship - “You are members of God’s family…” (2:19)
3. A new purpose - “You are God’s house…” (2:20-22)
Conclusion
There is a growing movement referred to as “de-sanctifying” and “converting” church buildings.
An online description of a real estate listing in Dallas Texas that read, "Converted church." Once it had been a church, now it was somebody's house. According to John Whiteside, the realtor showing the house, "De-sanctified churches are the number-one type of building converted to residential use."
The article said of this de-sanctified and converted church: "The altar has been adapted for use as a granite and stainless steel themed kitchen. It went on, "The choir loft has been rewired for a home theater." There was no baptistery, but there is a soaking tub—and, among other things, a game room, a music room and an exercise studio. And the 15,000 square foot church/home now has 11 bedrooms. All this for about $2 million! CNNMoney.com, 5/28/10)
In closing I would suggest that this text is about converting and sanctifying our lives, adapting us for use as a fitting home for God.
There are all kinds of sacred places around the world but none as sacred as the place God inhabits. None as sacred as that inner place in your life where God’s Spirit lives. When we are in Christ, God lives within us. “You are now also made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.” (2:22)
1. So what difference does it make to me and to you to know God is about our being at peace with Him and with others? How do we live into God’s peace and how do we live out that peace with others?
2. And what difference does it make to me and to you to know that God by his Holy Spirit lives within us? How does God’s presence in our lives affect our attitudes and our actions? Our lifestyle?
