Unity

Unity – Ephesians 2:11 - 22

Intro: It seems to me that we live in an age that focuses on divisions, differences, and divisiveness. Organizations or things exist today such as: “black lives matter,” “me to,” “republican,” “democrat,” “catholic,” “Presbyterian,” etc. I started thinking about these and other things that divide us and asked myself, “Self, when did we start learning about differences?” One of my earliest memories about differences was at Thanksgiving. My family got together every Thanksgiving. We had 2 tables: the “adult table” and the “kids table.” I sat at the kids table until I was in college and the family stopped eating together on Thanksgiving.

I This passage from Ephesians can be divided into 3 sections: VV. 11 – 13; VV. 14 – 18; and VV. 19 – 22. The 1st section (11-13) asks the Ephesian Christian Church to “remember” the way things “used to be.”

A The first distinction involved those who were circumcised (the Jews) versus those who were not circumcised (the Gentiles).

B The Gentiles were not considered as “citizens” of Israel. They were viewed as foreigners. VS. 13 – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

C I ask you this morning, “Who are those who are far away in our community / in our church?”

II The second section begins with VS. 14 “For he himself (Christ Jesus) is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. . .”

A The important word in this verse is “peace” in GK. the word is ????? – eirene has many meanings including: rest / end of strife / untroubled / undisturbed / well-being / peace.

B For the Christians in Ephesus, Christ Jesus represented peace. Both Jew and Gentile believed that Christ Jesus died to bring them peace / well-being. This one thing they had in common and the writer of Ephesians was reminding both sides they did have a commonality: Christ Jesus.

C We would do well to realize that those who may be different from us, those who may worship differently than we worship, those who speak a different language than us, those who have different skin color than us, believe as we do in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. That should be enough to bring us peace.

III The third section begins with VS. 19 “CONSEQUENTLY, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.”

A Christians belong to the same “household,” the household of faith, the household of God. This is not a literal place. It is a house, “not made with hands.”

B Our unity in the cross of Christ is the glue that holds us together. It does not erase our differences; however, it does make us ONE.

C If we want to bring about unity in our church, community and world, we must start with one thing: OURSELVES. We cannot change others. We can only change ourselves: OUR attitudes, OUR prejudices, OUR anger, OUR fear. Any change begins here, with us; with you and me.

Concl: How many differences can we find in the churches of this community? Some like more modern hymns, some like traditional ones, some have screens, others us bulletins, some have lots of money while others struggle to pay their bills. Are the things dividing us more significant than the grace of God that unites us? VS. 22 “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Unity is our Christian responsibility. For unity to happen it must start with each one of us.