What Expectations Do We Place Upon Others
Ephesians 2: 11-13
There are many distinctions in the world
gender distinctions
racial distinctions
ethnic distinctions
social distinctions
economical distinctions
and with the recent Republican and Democrat National Conventions we are reminded that there are political distinctions.
In Ephesians Paul brings us to the forefront of a religious distinction
Jew -vs- Gentile
Circumcised-vs-Uncircumcised
Situation of the early church:
Jewish origins: Apostles, early disciples; led to Jews outside Judean/ Galileen area. Soon non-Jews began to be attracted by the gospel message. They were Roman/ Greek/ Egyptian. Pagan in the eyes of the orthodox Jews. But they began to cling to the gospel message, and they wanted to follow the teachings of Christ. But their lives- their traditions were in stark contrast to the Jewish Law. They ate pork, exposed their flesh, and they had a pantheon of gods- all of which were abhored by the Jews. Jews were insulted by the notion of eating pork. Romans and Greeks found beauty in the naked body, but Jews found this to be an abomination. One is to be ashamed in exposing their nakedness. And the fact that both the Greeks and the Romans held a belief in a pantheon of gods was absurd; especially in the face of Israel’s monotheistic faith in Yahweh. In the face of a large movement of Gentiles (non-Jews) coming into agreement with the teachings of Christ, Jewish Christians were now faced with the task of making disciples of these new converts. They believed that to do so meant to make Jews out of the Gentiles; that is to cause these new believers to follow all the laws of Judaism. True Christians would follow the traditions of the Judaism. "If you are going to serve and worship our God, then you must be like us." Jewish Christians would argue that Christianity arose out of Judaism. Christ was a Jew. In fact Jesus said, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them." (Matthew 5:17) And throughout the Sermon on the Mount Christ reminds us of what God commanded through Moses. "You have heard ‘Do not kill,’but I tell you do not be angry.", "You have heard, "Do not commit adultery,’ but I tell you do not lust for another." "You have heard, "Do not make promises you don’t intend to keep,’ but I tell you to not make promises period." "You have heard, "An eye for an eye,’ but I tell you turn the other cheek." "You have heard, "Love your neighbor,’ but I tell you love your enemy also."
Christ stiffens the Law. "If you are going to be righteous, then you’re goinna have to do a lot better than this." Early Jewish Christians took liberty in the belief that disciples of Christ must live distinctively from the world; and to do so meant to be Jewish in every respect. You must follow these patterns of worship. You have to sing like us, pray like us, act like us. You must live like a Jew to follow our Jewish Messiah. After all God gave these commandments to His people for the explicit purpose of being distinct.
The issue at hand is how much, or how many of these commandments must I follow in order to be a Christian? What makes a Christian a Christian? The Gentiles of the early church would argue that they did not need to follow all of the Jewish laws, or rules, to be a Christian. After all they wanted to follow Christ and be Christians, not Jewish converts.
In the midst of this argument, Paul simply states, "For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, the 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 bringing the hostility to an end." (Ephesians 2: 14-16) Simply stated, ‘In that one act of Christ on Calvary, in His Crucifixion, the distinction between Jew and Gentile was made void. How? By "abolishing" as Paul states it, "the law of commandments and ordinances."
If you’re paying attention, you’re thinking, "Hey, wait a minute. Didn’t we just hear Jesus say, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law; I have come not to abolish [it], but to fulfill [it]." And if Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish the law and Paul says that Christ did abolish the law, doesn’t that make it a contradiction? No, not really. And here’s why. Paul is speaking from the experience of his life.
Let’s look at the life of Paul. By his own words in Philippians chapter three Paul says that he was, "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless." If it was anti-Israel, or anti-Jewish Paul attacked it. He went after it. There was no holds bar. He wouldn’t rest until he had destroyed all traces of anti-Jewish sentiment. He was the Man. His credentials were supreme. No man was his equal. He was a defender of Jewish Law; until one day, it all came crashing down. Everything Paul believed in, all his hopes, all his dreams, the sum of who Paul was as a person disintegrated. It collapsed. Acts chapter 9 tells the story.
Paul was on his way to Damascus. He was coming from Jerusalem for the express purpose of persecuting the Christians. In his hand he held the authorization, the documents which would grant him permission to arrest any and all Christians at Damascus. Now as he was proceeding to the town a miracle happened. Paul experienced what we would call an epiphany, a revelation. From this experience Paul lost his eyesight. He is blinded by this revelation, and he hears a voice calling to him. Now the voice says, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And Paul responds, "Who are you?" He wants to know who it is that has placed him in this position; who is calling out to him. And the voice responds, "I’m Jesus." You know the one you don’t believe in. The one you’re trying to stomp out. The one who’s followers you’ve come out to hound. It’s me! And Paul enters the city blind and unsettled.
Everything he believed in, all that his parents taught him about who God is, about what is right and wrong, about his purpose in life. All that his Jewish teachers ever led him to believe. All that his rabbi and fellow Pharisees shared in belief with him came into question. He knew about Jesus. Jesus was a rabbi with some twisted beliefs that led a lot of good people astray. But Jesus was dead; the Roman authorities saw to that. How could this be Jesus? How could a dead man speak so clearly to him?
A Christian man, the Bible tell us, came to lay hands upon Paul and to pray for him. One of the very people Paul had hated, now came to his aid and prayed for Paul. And the word says that it was as though scales had fallen from his eyes; and he was able to see again. And we are informed that at that moment he was baptized.
The very cause for which he gave his life in an attempt to stamp it out, that is to stamp out Christianity, had now become for Paul a new beginning. It is at this point that Paul states in Philippians chapter 3, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..." All his hopes; all his dreams Paul says were refuse. Trash.
Bulgaria Story. Not enough Lysol to cover it up. And this is where we are brought back to our text. Ephesians 2:17- 3:6.
The mystery that Paul had come to understand; the mystery which had so eluded him earlier in life until that day on the way to Damascus, is that in Christ we are all one. In Jesus there is neither Jew, nor Gentile, Slave or free; nor is their a distinction between a new Christian and an old. Not a one of us has earned our salvation, and not a one of us ever will. But the sad reality is that there are Christians; even we ourselves- myself included- who will often time place unfair expectations upon new believers. We feel that if they are going to come worship our God in our church, they should be like us. And Paul says that this is refuse. It’s garbage. "as to righteousness under the law" Paul says he was, "blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."
When new people come into our church what expectations do we hold for them? Do we expect them to have their lives straightened out, or are we willing to accept them as they are?
