Ephesians 2:13-22
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Is Everyone Really Welcome Here?
There was a church I used to drive by every day on my way to work. It had a big neon sign hanging in the window above the front door, with just two words: Everyone Welcome! It’s a beautiful sentiment, right? Coming to church can be so hard, for all kinds of reasons, for all kinds of people.
Some of you have told me that you were afraid that lightning was going to strike you down as soon as you crossed the threshold – because of how long it had been since you had last been in church. Many of you walked through those front doors the first time without knowing a soul inside. How scary is that wherever you go, let alone a church!
Even for some of you who have been walking through those doors for years, coming to church can be hard because of the grief you’ve been carrying all week; because you know that you haven’t lived up to your own standard this week, let alone God’s; because you’re tired – physically, mentally, spiritually – and you’re not sure if you’re up for the effort.
Coming to church can be hard, which is why a sign like “Everyone Welcome!” hanging over the front door can be a wonderful message.
Maybe I’m cynical, but that wasn’t my first thought – or my repeated thought every time I drove past that church. My thought was, “Isn’t that what every church would say?” “Is there a church out there that would say, ‘Only the right kind of people are welcome’?” “Would anyone ever be bold enough to say, ‘You aren’t welcome here’?”
The answer, sadly, is, Yes. And sadder still, of all places, it happened in the temple of the Lord. They didn’t have neon signs back in Herod’s day but they did have something called the “Soreg.” The Soreg was a literal dividing wall that separated the inner courts of the temple from the outer court of the Gentiles.
The inner courts are where all the good stuff happened: where the priests would pray and offer sacrifices; where you would find the altar, past that the Holy Place with its lamp stands and show bread and altar of incense, and at the centre of it all, the Most Holy Place, where the ark of the covenant sat as the visible throne of God.
The inner courts are where all the good stuff happened. The outer courts are where the Gentiles were kept at arm’s length. And the Soreg is what separated them. It was the ancient version of a velvet rope that separated the worthy from the unworthy, the VIPs from the please-go-aways. And the worst of it is that of all the beautiful things that God baked into the blueprints of his dwelling place on earth, the Soreg was never part of God’s design.
We heard God’s design this morning: “Foreigners who… love the name of the Lord – these I will give joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”[1]
God had always wanted his temple to be a house of prayer for all nations, not just the Jews. And yet, the Jews still built that Soreg, because they couldn’t abide the thought that after all their long years of obedience to God’s commands, these Gentile outsiders, who weren’t circumcised, who ate unclean food, who didn’t dress the right way – who, in short, didn’t put in nearly the same effort – could in any way be considered on the same level as them.
It’s a good thing we don’t live back then, right? It’s a good thing we don’t have a velvet rope at the door of our sanctuary. Technically speaking, anyway.
But is there a velvet rope in your heart? Who would you have a hard time welcoming here – welcoming into the inner circle of your church family? Is it the person who doesn’t look like you, or talk or act or dress like you? Is it the person who from your perspective isn’t putting in the effort or hasn’t done the work? Is it the person who hurt you or who doesn’t share your values or even your lifestyle?
We may not set up literal velvet ropes or brick and mortar barriers, but we still live in a world divided by our own hostility, by the differences that separate the “insiders” from the “outsiders,” that divide “us” from “them.”
And in that way, we’re no better than the Jews of Jesus’ day. They assumed this air of superiority, i.e. they thought they were better than the Gentiles because they put in more effort than the Gentiles and they despised them for it, viewed them as second class citizens. And you can imagine how that would make the Gentiles feel – resentful, bitter, disillusioned by the thinly veiled hypocrisy of the so-called Chosen People of God. It’s no wonder they were divided.
But that’s exactly why Jesus came. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.[2]
Paul is talking to Gentiles, to people like you and me who didn’t grow up in orthodox Judaism with all its rites and ceremonies, who for centuries were held at arm’s length on the outside. Paul is saying that Gentiles – non-Jews – have complete access to God too.
But here’s the thing about this sentence, it applies to everyone no matter what your background is. You don’t have to be a Gentile or someone who’s never been to church before. You can be a lifelong Christian who’s made every effort to lead a Christian life, and Paul wants you to know that you were once far away too. You just might not have known it.
Leading a Christian life has never the pathway to God. No one has ever been able to earn God’s approval by their actions. The point of all the commands God gives us is to show us that we could never keep them, to keep us humble and honest about our own weaknesses and failure and sin, to remind you that no matter where you are today, you weren’t always there. There was a time when you were once far away from God too.
And as hard as that is for us to accept – as much as our self-righteous inner Pharisee wants to object – this honest humility finally allows us to see two beautiful gifts God gives us through the cross of Christ: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.[3]
Jesus came to be peace and to bring unity, so that no matter who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done, you can know that you belong here and that we all belong together, and that whatever former hostility, animosity, disagreement or disunity once stood between us now stays at the door, because we are all united by the cross. Which is the bigger benefit by far.
As great as getting along with each other is, we all needed peace with God, because we’re all sinners. We each bring different guilt to the table, e.g. sinful lifestyles we gave ourselves over to in the past, secret sins we still indulge today. But Jesus reconciled all to God through the cross.
Picture it – two disparate groups, several segments of society that struggle even to coexist, all being loved by Jesus, who set aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. God commands were never the path to heaven, because we could never keep them. But Jesus did, for you. He obeyed every one perfectly in your place, so that when he died, his perfection could be applied to you.
The sinless Son of God came to earth to climb a cross and extend his arms in both directions, taking on himself the self-righteous sins of the “insider” and the helpless sins of the “outsider” and die for them both, i.e. to pay for them, so that he could pave the way for you to your Father in heaven. So that you can live at peace with each other, but especially with your God knowing that your guilt is forgiven and your sins atoned for. You have been reconciled to God through the cross of his Son Jesus Christ.
And that allows you, now, to look at yourself and each other differently. There are no “insiders” or “outsiders.” You are no longer foreigners and strangers.[4] We are all fellow citizens together and members of God’s household together – not because we’re all human, not because all paths lead to God, but specifically because we are being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.[5]
Jesus and his cross and – and the Word of God that publicly proclaims it – fashions us into that one new humanity Jesus died to create.
So don’t let old differences divide you. Don’t subvert the sacrifice of Christ or take him off the cross of peace by continuing to live at odds with each other or looking askance at people who look or act differently than you. Don’t forfeit your forgiveness by refusing it to those who have wronged you.
Instead rejoice in the reality that though you were once far away, now you have been brought near and that’s true of everyone here. You have been brought near, both to each other by a common faith, but also and especially to God through your common Saviour.
Everyone is welcome here. And even though we don’t have it shining in neon above our front door, we have a better sign there. It’s the cross of Jesus, where God declares that sinners are welcome, because it’s here in his house that you are reconciled to him and you are being built into his holy temple in which he lives by his Spirit.
You are at peace with God. Live in peace with each other. Your peace is Jesus. Amen.
[1] Isaiah 56:6,7
[2] Ephesians 2:13
[3] Ephesians 2:14-16
[4] Ephesians 2:19
[5] Ephesians 2:20