Some of you know that I was at a church leadership conference last week. There were about 2,000 attendees from all around the world. I’m very thankful for the inspiration and the learning I received.
I came home Thursday night and received a call from a friend. She asked if Susan and I went out of town. She apparently called us during the week. I told her I went to a conference, and I named the conference. She replied, “Dana, how could you?” She was surprised that I went to this particular conference. So for the rest of the conversation I defended my decision to attend this conference.
I had given books written by the founder of this conference to a number of people during some very difficult times in their lives. And each one of these people eventually put their trust in God through Jesus Christ. Moreover, the founder of this conference has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of people around the world come to trust God through Jesus Christ. Yet, many Christians accuse him of betraying Christianity.
Mark Twain once said that he put a dog and a cat in a cage together as an experiment to see if they could get along. They did. So he added a bird, a pig and a goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic. Soon there was not a living thing in that cage.
What is it in the Christian that causes us to divide and fight? Steve Brown suggests that we fight because we believe we are right about the eternal truths from God’s Word, the Bible. Yet, we mistakenly believe we are right about everything else in life just because we are right about certain very important things.
This morning, we return to our study in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We will look at Ephesians 2:11-22, and be reminded by Paul to live at peace with one another as Christians. Let me read for us, Ephesians 2:11-22.
Before we begin to study and apply Paul’s encouragement to be united, let me give a little background. Paul identifies two groups of people who became Christians in Ephesus. The first group is the Gentiles. They include everyone who is not a Jew. The second group is the Jews, who looked down on the Gentiles.
Yesterday night, my family celebrated the closing of the old year with a dinner at my parent’s home. This dinner precedes the opening of the Chinese New Year. After dinner, my parents gave Esther two red envelopes. Then they gave Esther two more red envelopes to give to Susan. When Esther gave them to Susan, my parents gave Esther another two red envelopes to give to me. And Esther gave them to me.
But what if Esther kept the four red envelopes that were meant for Susan and me? And what if after Esther kept the red envelopes, she began to make fun of Susan and me for having no red envelopes? That’s exactly what the Jews did to the Gentiles.
The Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Jews are the people whom the Creator God promised to bless abundantly, so that they could in turn bless the Gentiles, who were either atheists or idol worshippers. This way, the Jews serve to let the Gentiles know the blessings come from the one true God. If God had blessed the Gentiles directly, the Gentiles could attribute the blessings to idols or to luck or to personal effort.
Unfortunately, the Jews kept God’s blessings to themselves. Not only that, they looked down on the Gentiles for not being chosen and blessed by God. As a result, prejudice and hostility developed between the Jews and the Gentiles. But this hostility does not need to continue as Christians.
So Paul writes in Ephesians 2:11-22 to unite the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Church of Ephesus. Paul reminds them of the necessities for being united with God, and thus, united with each other. Let me unpack what Paul wants to communicate.
First, we need to recognize we are unqualified. Verses 11-12.
Paul begins by reminding the Gentile Christians that they didn’t have the knowledge of the one true God. The Gentiles were either atheists, or they worshipped man-made gods. The Jews, however, knew about the one true God. But knowing about God is not the same as having a right relationship with God.
Jesus tells us that the way to qualify for a right relationship with God is to recognize that we are unqualified. In Luke18:9-14, we read the following:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
[Jesus said], “I tell you that [the tax collector], rather than the [Pharisee], went home justified before God.”
In other words, the tax collector, who realized he was unqualified, ended up being qualified by God. And the self-righteous Pharisee, who thought he was qualified, was truly unqualified.
You struggle with negative habits that displease God? That’s bad. No, that’s good. When you realize you are unqualified, you ask God for mercy. God will qualify you.
You struggle with doubts about God? That’s bad. No, that’s good. When you realize you are unqualified, you ask God for mercy. God will qualify you.
You’re not living as God intended for you to live. That’s bad. No, that’s good. When you realize you are unqualified, you ask God for mercy. God will qualify you.
Of all people in the world, Christians need to be the most humble people. Sadly, we are often the most proud. We need to remember that we were all without God at one time. We are one unqualified person telling another unqualified person where we found mercy. And this common gratitude to the same God unites us.
Second, we need to receive God’s Peace Offering. Verses 13-18.
When the Jews failed to bless the Gentiles with God’s blessings, hostility resulted between the Jews and the Gentiles, and the right relationship between mankind and God was not established. Paul reminds us that even mankind’s disobedience did not interfere with God’s plan. God then sent Jesus Christ to be the Peace Offering between the Jews and the Gentiles, and between mankind and God.
Story is told about two kingdoms at war. The two kings eventually realized that if the war continued very much longer, both sides would suffer total loss. So, they decided that each would have the opportunity to persuade the other to surrender.
To persuade his rival to surrender, the first king showed off his arsenal of weapons and the highly skilled training required for each soldier in his army. When it came time for the second king to persuade the first to surrender, this king lined up one hundred of his soldiers from the edge of a high cliff. Then he commanded them to march off the cliff. One by one, all one hundred soldiers marched off the cliff to their death.
When the first king saw such commitment and courage from the soldier in the second king’s army, the first king surrendered. The war ended between the two kingdoms. The two kingdoms became one new kingdom, ruled by the victorious king.
Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Bible tells us that God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross to persuade us to surrender ourselves to God in the face of such great love. Jesus is God’s peace offering. Have you received Jesus?
To receive Jesus Christ not only gives us peace with God, but we are also made into a new people. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
As a new people group, Christians are no longer Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, American-born, overseas-born, Communist, Capitalist, Republican, Democrat, white-collar, blue-collar, male or female. These worldly differences once divided us from each other. Our new identity is in Christ. We, who receive God’s Peace Offering, Jesus Christ, have peace with God and peace with each other.
Third, we need to remain united by Christ. Verses 19-22.
Paul uses three images to describe those who are united by Christ. We are citizens of God’s kingdom. We are members of God’s family. And we are the resident place of God’s Spirit.
The first image reminds us that our allegiance is ultimately to God, not to a human political system or ethnic heritage. The second image reminds us that our relationship to one another is like that of family members, not business colleagues. The third image reminds us that worship of God is our goal in life, not the worship of possessions, prestige or power.
The United Nations was formed after World War II to replace the failed human effort known as the League of Nations. This second worldwide attempt at peacekeeping is currently put to the test in Iraq and North Korea. Whether the United Nations succeeds in forcing Iraq and North Korea to conform, we don’t know yet. What we do know is that the United Nations can never bring Iraq and North Korea under its single allegiance or into a family relationship with the rest of the world.
I mentioned earlier that the conference I attended had people from many different nations. At one of the workshops, a man with a European accent introduced himself to me, and he told me he was from Germany. Looking at his black clothing and combat boots, I became paranoid, even a bit fearful. You need to know, I’ve watched too many Die Hard and 007 movies in my past. This person looked very much like a German mercenary or terrorist from those movies.
I had to silently remind myself that he was a Christian. The sense of paranoia eventually left, and I was able to concentrate on the workshop presentation. When the workshop ended, I shook his hands and said good-bye to my German brother in Christ. I thought about how the only way the world can know peace and security as one family is to be united by Christ.
That’s what Jesus meant when he called us to be fishers of men: To connect mankind to Jesus Christ so that we can have peace with God and peace with each other. Unfortunately, many Christians have re-interpreted the command to be fishers of men. Instead, many Christians have decided to be visitors to an aquarium. One morning each week, we come to the aquarium to hear fishing stories.
Someone has said, “I am concerned for the Christians who are not concerned for the non-Christians.” If you are concerned for the non-Christians in our community who don’t have peace with God, let me suggest a simply action step for you in 2003. Inside your bulletin is a card titled, “One-One-One.”
Ask God for one person you can pray for and show God’s love to. Put that person’s name on the card. For this year, set as your goal to pray for one person, once a day, at 1 pm. Pray for the person to come to church, to come to trust Jesus Christ. Pray for ways you can show the love of God to that one person; once a day, at 1 pm. Do this until he or she has peace with God through Jesus Christ.
I stayed at the Holiday Inn last week. In the bathroom was a door hanger with a picture of the endangered white spotted owl. The words below the picture encouraged us to re-use our towels, so that we can reduce the amount of detergent wastewater into the environment. If simply by re-using our towels, we could save the endangered white spotted owl, I was glad to do that.
If this year you can help one person come to have peace with God through Jesus Christ, would you do it? You can begin by talking to God about the person and then talking to the person about God. Take on the One-One-One challenge.
