One in Christ
We learn from a very early age that people are
different. And the older we get, the
more we learn this. Men and women are
different. Introverts and extroverts are
different. People come in all shapes and
sizes, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. We
come from different nations and have different political views. Along almost any axis or point of comparison,
you can find people who fall on either side of the fence, into either camp or
category. And you see this also in Holy
Scripture.
Now these differences aren’t always bad, and sometimes they
can even be complementary. But often
they lead to disunity, division, strife, and conflict. And that, of course, is because of sin. Indeed differences among us can lead to hard
feelings, broken relationships, and sometimes even war and bloodshed. Sin loves to latch on and make hay out of our
differences, amplifying them for the devil’s purposes.
But Paul shows us this morning in our reading from Ephesians
how separation and disunity can be abolished and unity and peace achieved: through the blood of Jesus Christ alone.
One of the main distinctions we see in Scripture is between
Jews and Gentiles, or as Paul also puts it here, between the circumcision and
the uncircumcision. Beginning with
Abraham and his descendants, God’s people bore this outward mark of their membership
in his kingdom. An outward sign, made
with human hands, but a sign of an unseen reality – that of God’s word and
promise.
But that wasn’t the only thing that separated Jew and
Gentile. You also had the Mosaic
law. All of the rules and regulations on
foods and practices that made one clean or unclean. The sacrificial system and its festivals and
observances. The Levitical priesthood
with all its trappings. And of course,
the tabernacle and later the temple itself, where God had made his name to
dwell, his presence on earth. All of
these belonged to the Jews and not the Gentiles.
But perhaps most of all, the Jews had the word of God, and
the Gentiles followed their false gods, their pagan ways of worship. The Gentiles didn’t know God the Father, the
maker of Heaven and Earth. They didn’t
know God the Son, the one who was promised to come as seed of the woman and
crush the serpent’s head. They didn’t
have the Holy Spirit who creates and sustains faith and sanctifies God’s
people. They were aliens, outsiders, strangers,
and people who had no hope, because they didn’t have the true God.
And this caused no small amount of division between Jew and
Gentile. But it was not to be
forever. Because in Christ, God saves
both Jew and Gentile. Christ preached
peace to those who were far off and those who were near. Through Christ, both Jews and Gentiles are
given access to the Father in one Spirit.
Through Christ, all are made citizens and saints and members of the
household of God.
There is no hostility between Jew and Gentile anymore,
because all are one in Christ.
Especially now that the old covenant is abolished, or fulfilled. The shadows, as Colossians calls them, pass
away, as the substance has appeared in full, in Christ!
Christians no longer worship God at the temple, but in
spirit and in truth. Wherever two or
three are gathered in his name, he is present.
Whenever his word is preached faithfully and his sacraments are
administered rightly – he is there.
For in his flesh Jesus has created this unity, reconciling
Jew and Gentile to God through his body on the cross. All who believe in him are therefore one with
God, one with Christ, and one with each other.
Whatever divisions and differences we have in this world are
of no consequence compared to the unity that we have as believers in
Christ. This is one of the great joys of
the Christian faith! Unity with other
believers in Christ! This is what it
means to be the Church.
The temple curtain was torn in two on Good Friday, and the
temple itself was torn down to its foundations just a generation later. No longer do we worship at the temple, but
rather, the temple now becomes an image of the church itself:
“You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure,
being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord.”
Individually we might say, “your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit”. But it’s also true of us as
a whole. The church is the body of
Christ, the household of God, the holy temple of his presence. The church is, after all, where he is to be
found: in his word and sacraments. Among us, his people.
The church is built, by him, and not by us, mind you. It is built on a strong foundation – the
testimony of the apostles and prophets, which is to say, the strong word of
God. And Christ himself is the chief
cornerstone. He gives meaning and
purpose to the whole construction project.
It exists because of him, and for him, and can only stand on him.
Just as he has called me by the Gospel, myself, to the faith
– the Holy Spirit also calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole
Christian church on earth. Just as he
forgives your sins and my sins, so he forgives all sins of all who would hear
and believe.
Most of us here, I’m sure, are not descended from Abraham by
the flesh. Most of us here are what you
would call Gentiles. But thanks be to
God, that in Christ, forgiveness and faith are for all Jews and Gentiles
alike. That at some point in your
family’s history, and now even in your own life, you have heard the good news
of Jesus Christ and come to faith in him by the Spirit.
And so that we might hear this Gospel, and receive this
forgiveness, he provides shepherds to his people. In the Old Testament, he gave his people
prophets, priests and kings. Now in
these last days he provides pastors. But
this office is also built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and
it is also a gift that only he gives.
Woe to the shepherds who lead the sheep astray! Who destroy and scatter the sheep! As we hear God say through Jeremiah. False teachers and false prophets are always
to be avoided. But that shepherd or
pastor which points and leads us to Christ, who faithfully preaches the word,
and rightly administers the sacraments – that is a gift of God in our midst,
for the benefit of the church.
God promises, “I will gather my scattered flock” and “I will
set shepherds over them”. As usual, as
always, every good and perfect gift comes from above. All these good things are blessings from his
bountiful goodness. Faith, forgiveness,
the gospel, shepherds to proclaim it, and the unity that is ours in and through
Jesus Christ.
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