Ephesians 2:13-22 “BECOMING A BRICK IN THE HOUSE OF GOD”
There are people who build houses out of garbage. Did you know that? It is the oddest thing, really. If you go to the internet and type “houses constructed out of garbage,” you will find numerous examples of people who build houses out of the most unusual things. I read about one man whose main building materials were 2000 tires and 20,000 aluminum cans – that’s why he built his house out of. He covered the tires and cans with an adobe finish, and apparently, that house is still standing today, and still being lived in.
Today, I want to talk to you about the most unusual home builder there ever was, someone who has built his house out of something even stranger than cans and tires. And after putting these strange building materials together, he is still living in this house to this very day. The person I am talking about is Jesus Christ. He is the master home builder. He has built for himself a home to live in, and that home is called the Holy Christian Church. And he has chosen the most unusual building material there is to build his house – he has chosen you. You are his building material According to the Bible, you are a brick in the house of God.
Today we are going to see why this is so surprising, that Christ would do such a thing. Why would Jesus want to make his house out of people? Today we are going to see how he does it, how you become a brick in the house of God.
Are you surprised that God has chosen you to be a brick in his house? You should be – according to the Bible, you aren’t the best of building materials. First of all, you, and other people, don’t fit well together. People clash with each other. Our section of Scripture mentions that in verse 14 where it says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Here the Apostle Paul is talking about the hostility that existed between the Jews and the Gentiles. During the days of the Bible, there was a barrier between Jews and Gentiles. These two groups of people were very different, religiously and culturally, so different that there was a hostility between them – the Jews were hostile toward the Gentiles, and the Gentiles were hostile toward the Jews. For example, if you were a Jew, instead of walking 20 miles through Gentile territory to visit a friend, you would walk 80 miles, all the way around Gentile territory, to visit a friend. These two groups of people didn’t like each other. And yet, God has took Jews and Gentiles and placed them together as bricks in his house.
Still to this day, it is true that people don’t get along. There is a hostility that exists between people, even of the same nationality. Have you ever felt that hostility? Have you ever wondered why? Why is it that people have such a hard time getting along? The most simple, the most basic answer, is sin. We all have our differences, that is true. But the basic, core reason why people don’t get along is sin. Every human being, including you, struggles with pride. And every human being, including you, struggles with selfishness. These two basic sins that all of us are born with – pride and selfishness - cause more trouble in this world than anything else.
This is why it is so surprising that God would use people as building materials for his church. Putting all of these proud and selfish people together – why would God do that? Why would God want to live in a house built out of people? Remember that God is perfect. God is pure. You would think that our sin would drive God away.
When I first moved into the house that I’m living in now, I noticed a bad smell coming from the basement. Now it is true that most basements have some sort of a smell, but this was pretty bad. It was supposed to be a finished basement, but you could hardly stand being down there, because of the smell. It’s funny how you don’t notice these things until after you buy the house and move in. Well, it didn’t take long to realize that the smell was coming from the carpet. The carpet was 27 years old, and for all those 27 years it had been absorbing basement moisture and pet odor. Let me tell you, that is one powerful smell – I still have flashbacks when I think about it. I didn’t want to live in a house that had that smell, so I went to war with that carpet. I tore it out of there, piece by piece. I tore out all the rotten wooden strips out that held the carpet in place. I applied every chemical known to man on that floor. There was no peace in that house until that smell was gone, and now it is.
You would think that God would feel this way around human beings. Each one of us is filled with sin – all kinds of selfishness, all kinds of pride. You would think that God couldn’t stand being around us. You would think that God would want to get rid of us. All that pride and selfishness would hit God in the face like a bad smell. Why would God want to use you as brick in his house?
We learn why in verse 13: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Once you were far away from God because of your sin. But now, you have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Something happened on the cross, when Jesus shed his blood. Something truly amazing. Even though you hadn’t even been born yet – your sins were taken away. All your sins of pride. All your sins of selfishness. Every sin you have ever committed, no matter how great or small – your sin was taken away through the blood of Jesus Christ.
How many of you have ever painted with oil-based paint? I’m sure some of you have. When you get oil-based paint on your hands, and try to wash it off with soap and water – what happens? It doesn’t come off. When I was a child helping my father paint, by the end of the day, I was completely covered with oil based paint. I remember feeling helpless when I tried to wash that paint off, but it wouldn’t come off. What am I going to do, I wondered.
But then my father introduced me to a wonderful substance known as mineral spirits. As many of you know, it’s a funny-smelling clear liquid, and when you rub that liquid on your hands, the paint comes right off. I remember how happy I was as a child, bathing myself in mineral spirits many years ago.
My friends, there is nothing you can do to get rid of the sins of pride and selfishness in your life. You can try to be a good person all you want, but your sins won’t go away. You can become a faithful Muslim, or a Buddhist priest, but your sins won’t go away. You can go to a cathedral and light a thousand candles and say a thousand prayers, but your sins won’t go away. You can take a trip to Rome and kiss the pope’s hand, but your sins won’t go away. There is no human activity you can do that will make you presentable in the eyes of God.
But there is the blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, purifies us from all sin. And when you put your faith in the blood of Christ, and not in all those human sorts of things – suddenly, you look, and your sins have gone away! You are clean in the eyes of God. That’s why God doesn’t plan to throw you away. You have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is why God loves you.
And this is why he chooses you to be a brick in his house. Remember when we talked about how incompatible people are, how they don’t get along? What happens when all these incompatible people have their sins taken away? What happens when they put their faith in the blood of Jesus Christ? Look at the second half of verse 15: “His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” This is what truly brings people together. Those Jews and Gentiles that were once enemies – now, many of them were believers in Christ and getting along as members of the house of God. You see, no matter how different two people are – when both of them believe that their sins have been taken away, there is a bond that develops, a bond that brings all kinds of people together to become bricks in the house of God.
And this includes you. Look at verse 22: “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” All of you are being built together by God. One brick at a time, he is turning you into a place where he lives by his Spirit. Today, you are God’s house. His address is on your forehead. When Christians gather together and hear his Word and live his Word in their lives – when that happens, God is living among them, by his Spirit. You become a brick in the most amazing house ever built.
Look at verse 20. You are “built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” You are a brick in the house of God.
Let me close by asking you one question – how do you see yourself? Are you someone who goes to church, or are you someone who is the church? There is a big difference. There are people who just go to church. They talk about attending. Once in awhile they get their act together and show up. They hear the Word of God, and they find it somewhat interesting. Then they go home, and continue on in their lives. Nothing is different. Nothing has changed. Their beliefs are the same. Their lifestyles are the same. They talk about going to church again sometime, and sometime, maybe they will.
Is that you? Are you someone who just goes to church? Or are you someone who IS the church? Are you a brick in the house of God? Do you hear the Word of God on a regular basis? If you do, then God is not a distant stranger to you, but someone who lives in you. You pray to him regularly. You listen to him speak his Word to you regularly. And when you live your life during the week, you beliefs are different. Your view of the world is different. You know that you are forgiven, because of the blood of Jesus Christ. And so you live your life forgiving others, showing kindness and mercy and love to others, just as God has shown to you.
Is that you? Does God live in you? Are you a brick in the house of God? Perhaps today is the day you will repent of your sin and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness. You who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. God has picked you out of the junk pile and has made you to be a brick in his house. May God bless you as you live your life glorifying him. Amen.
