Breaking Down Walls

My four sisters and I spent a lot of time outside when we were growing up, probably because my parents wanted us out of the house.  We played hide-and-seek, kickball, dodgeball, Simon Says and Red Rover.  We ran all over the neighborhood, cutting through back yards and tearing up front yards.  The only restriction we had was that we were not allowed to step on our next-door neighbor’s lawn.  We had to pretend there was a thick wall on the lot line between our houses.  While there weren’t any “keep-out” signs posted, the man we nicknamed “Uncle Dudley” was known to use a pellet gun to shoot birds when they ate his strawberries, so we didn’t want to take any chances on becoming target practice.  

There are a lot of dividing lines in our culture today as we put up walls about everything from personal preferences to politics, with the mudslinging between Republicans and Democrats ramping up as we get closer to November.  We’re also prone to divide over race, ethnicity, and class, not to mention wars which take place between countries.  On top of all this, many of us have experienced ruptures in our personal relationships.  Conflict is like a brick wall, which grows one brick at a time, and sometimes the wall is so high and thick that it appears impenetrable.

In our passage today, we’ll see how Jesus breaks down division and brings peace in the midst of the hostility we harbor toward others.

Let’s give our undivided attention to Ephesians 2:11-22: “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but 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 a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

One of the major disputes in the early church wasn’t over the color of carpeting or music styles.  The conflict was actually cultural because the gospel was exploding among different ethnic groups.  Ethnically diverse congregations were causing Jewish Christ followers to have coronaries.  

As a result, the church in Jerusalem decided to hold its first business meeting and voted not to make Gentiles become Jewish in order to follow Jesus.  Everyone could maintain their own ethnicity and cultural distinctives and yet be enfolded into one racially diverse community called the church.  When this decision was written down and circulated in a letter found in Acts 15:31, people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds “rejoiced over its encouragement.”  

Later on, Peter, who had a Jewish background, enjoyed his newly found food freedom, and ate bacon-wrapped little smokies with some Greek guys at a Super Bowl party.  He was having a good time even though the Packers weren’t playing, but when some Jewish-background Christians found out, Peter stuffed his bacon under the couch cushion and defaulted to the prejudice in his heart.  In a similar way, we are often tempted to drift back to judgmental separatism.  

Here’s our main idea: Because of our union with Christ, our differences are put to death so we can live in communion with one another.

1. Remember we were alienated in the past (11-12).

We’re called to remember in verse 11: “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands.”  The word “therefore” links us back to Ephesians 2:1-10 which focuses on our personal reconciliation with God.  Today we’ll see how Jesus brings corporate reconciliation horizontally as well.  Because we’re reconciled with God, we must be reconciled with one another.

The word “remember” means, “to recall, to mark, to set aside.” In the Bible, “remembering” is not just bringing something back to mind; it implies a change of behavior, so our lives line up with what we’ve been reminded of.  Remembering is not a passive attitude; it’s a proactive activity which leads to action.  We’re to ponder and then put into practice.  We’re called to remember so we can recalibrate our lives according to what’s being remembered.

Paul was writing to a church that was in danger of dividing into two distinct groups.  While both sides confessed Christ, the racial divisions between them were deeply rooted in centuries of animosity.  The issue threatening to divide the early church was the wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles.  The Jews were marked as God’s covenant people by circumcision.  They were proud of this.  If they had social media, they would have used the hashtag: #circumcision.  

The Jews called Gentiles “dogs” and believed they were created to fuel the fires of Hell while the Greeks hated everyone who was not like them, referring to any non-Greek as a barbarian and the Jews as mortal enemies.  Kent Hughes writes, “The collision of Gentile/Jewish exclusiveness was monumental.”  

Verse 12 contains another call to “remember,” because we’re prone to forget: “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”  It’s good to be reminded of five things we once lived without.

• Without Christ – “separated from Christ.”
• Without citizenship – “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.”  The word “alienated” refers to being “estranged, far away, and excluded.”
• Without covenants – “strangers to the covenants of promise.”
• Without hope – “having no hope.”
• Without God – “without God in the world.”

About a month ago, I received a call from my college friend Tom.  Tom knew me in my “Before Christ” days at Madison and prayed for me to be saved while my life was imploding.  He also prayed for my roommate Bruce to be able to put up with me.  After I came to Christ, we became close friends and have stayed in touch ever since.  

Just recently, Tom and his wife Jeanne started attending a church in Watertown, Wisconsin, which is where I grew up.  When they met the pastor, they found out he remembered me in high school and exclaimed, “I knew Brian when he was a pagan!  It’s hard to believe he’s now a pastor!”  I called this pastor a couple days later and we both had a good time remembering what I used to be like as we celebrated the grace of the gospel and how God can turn a pagan into a pastor.

Because of our union with Christ, our differences are put to death so we can live in communion with one another.

2. Rejoice that we are reconciled in the present (13-18). 

Notice how verse 13 begins: “But now…”  This parallels verse 4: “But God…” from last week (hold up card). Both of these phrases speak of the gracious intervention of God to reach and reconcile lost sinners.  In the midst of bad news, God delivers some really good news: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  The problem of sinners in general is spiritual death and the problem with Gentiles in particular is spiritual distance from God.

Verse 14 tells us both Jews and Gentiles have been reconciled by Christ: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in His flesh the wall of hostility.”  In the Greek, “He Himself” is powerfully emphatic and is designed to get our attention.  Christ is our peace and our peacemaker, making both groups one by breaking down “the dividing wall of hostility.”  This is graphic language referring to the wall that separated the Court of Gentiles from the rest of the Temple in Jerusalem.  The gospel is like dynamite designed to destroy this dividing wall.

The Temple was made up of a series of courts, each one a little higher than the one before.  If we start outside and work our way in, the Gentiles were allowed to congregate in the outer courts but could go no further.  Jewish women could go into the Court of Women, but no further.  Jewish men could enter the Court of Israelites but had to stop there.  The priests could enter the Court of Priests, but only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement.  The very structure of the Temple communicated separation.

A series of “keep out” signs in both Greek and Latin were posted along the outer wall at regular intervals to warn Gentiles that they were unfit to enter the sacred space.  Two of these “keep out” signs have survived to the present day.  The most complete of the two, discovered on the Temple Mount in 1871, reads: “No alien may enter within the balustrade around the sanctuary and the enclosure.  Whoever is caught on himself shall he put blame for the death which will ensue.”  

The Apostle Paul knew all about this barrier because he was falsely accused and imprisoned for bringing Trophimus, an Ephesian Gentile into the Temple courts (see Acts 21:28-29).

Brothers and sisters, Christ has ripped down this barrier by His death

Brothers and sisters, Christ has ripped down this barrier by His death.  Because of the cross, we can now cross this divide, and draw near to God and to each other.  In addition, the separating curtain in the Holy of Holies was torn in two, from top to bottom, granting everyone unfettered access to the Almighty at all times, no matter their race, rank, or religiosity.  We see this in Matthew 27:50-51: “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  This signified that His sacrifice provided atonement for sins and the Holy of Holies was now open for all people, for all time, for both Jew and Gentile.

In 1987, former President Ronald Reagan gave a pivotal speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany: “Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe…Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  Two years later, the East German government announced that East Berliners could pass through the wall to visit people in the West.  A celebration broke out and people started chipping away at the wall, which was eventually dismantled completely, leading to the reunification of Germany in 1990.  In a similar way, Jesus tore down the wall of separation between us and God as well as the fences we put up with people who are different from us.  

Christ’s death brought down the wall of hostility in three ways.

• The death of Christ fulfilled the law of Moses: “By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” (15a).
• He created a new humanity: “…that He might create one new man in place of the two, so making peace” (15b).  In the second century, Clement of Alexandria wrote: “We who worship God in a new way, as the third race, are Christians.”  Another early church leader called believers, “this new race.”  Kent Hughes writes, “This is the answer to alienation, to racism, to prejudice, to hatred, to estrangement.”
• He reconciled the new humanity to God: “and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (16).  The word “reconcile” means, “to bring together again.”  

Verse 17 says, “And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”  The word “peace” is found four times in three verses, and refers to harmony where there was once hatred.  The Greek word comes from the Hebrew Shalom, which means, “wholeness, oneness, and reconciliation.”

Those who are “far off” are the Gentiles and those who are “near” are the Jews, because both groups stand in need of reconciliation.  This fulfills Isaiah 57:19: “‘Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ says the Lord.”  The pathway to peace is the same for both Jew and Gentile as stated clearly in Romans 3:30: “Since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”  I like how one commentator captured it: “It was not a question of the Gentile becoming a Jew to become a Christian, but the Jew admitting he was a sinner just like the Gentile.”

Verse 18 states that everyone who comes to faith in Christ has full and equal access to God: “For through Him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”  The word “access” speaks of the privilege of addressing one’s superior and coming into his presence without worry.  This makes me think of another neighbor we had when I was growing up.  His name was Frank, and he was extremely generous.  He had a lot of tools and various pieces of equipment in his garage.  He made it clear to all the neighbors that anyone could come into his garage and borrow anything we wanted without having to ask him.  He left the door unlocked because he wanted us to have access to what he had.

Note how the entire Trinity is involved in creating this access – Jesus, Spirit, and Father.  Romans 5:2 says, “Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace.”  We don’t have to approach God timidly according to Ephesians 3:12: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.”

Because of our union with Christ, our differences are put to death so we can live in communion with one another.

3. Reflect on the practical results of being unified (19-22). 

After remembering our plight and rejoicing in the peace Jesus brings, we’re challenged to reflect on four practical results of our unity.  This is set up by the first two words of verse 19: “So then…”  This could be translated as, “Consequently….”  Note how we move from “therefore” in verse 11 to “but now” in verse 13 to “so then” in verse 19.

• We are fellow citizens.  The first result of reconciliation is found in the front half of verse 19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens…”  Even after becoming Christ-followers, many Jewish-background believers doubted whether Gentile believers were on the same spiritual plane as they were.  Paul made it clear those who are saved have moved from strangers to fellow citizens of Heaven.
• We are family members.  The second half of verse 19 celebrates how we are now fellow members of God’s family, and we make up the household of God: “…with the saints and members of the household of God.”  As Jesus said in John 10:16, His aim is for all His followers to be in one flock with one Shepherd: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  

That means if you’ve been saved by grace through faith, every born-again believer is now your spiritual sibling.  1 Timothy 5:1-2 calls us to treat older saints as fathers and mothers and younger believers as brothers and sisters. You are my sister or brother in Christ.  You are “my people” and we’re all on the same team.  Family is the place where you can be yourself and be assured you are accepted.

That reminds me of the movie, Remember the Titans, which is about a football team with both white and black players.  Even though they are on the same team, initially there is a lot of division because of racial differences.  However, there’s a moment in the movie where it is no longer white players and black players.  Instead, they all become Titans and start functioning as one.

• We are fitted together to grow.  We see this in verses 20-21: “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”  Christ is the cornerstone, giving stability and direction to the building, while God used the apostles and prophets to provide a foundation of faith to the first followers.

The phrase “joined together” means, “to frame and fit together exactly.” That means you have a role here and as you live it out, we will grow as a church.  1 Peter 2:4 says Jesus is “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.” 1 Peter 2:5 celebrates how the saints of God are living stones: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Paul repeated the word “one” four times to emphasize the unifying work of Christ.  The Bible says that Jesus Christ has broken down all the walls of separation and made everyone one.  As a result, everyone has full and complete access.  The Greek word for “one” means “new kind, unprecedented, novel, unheard of.”  

• Ephesians 2:14: “Made us both one…”
• Ephesians 2:15: “Create in Himself one new man…”
• Ephesians 2:16: “In one body…”
• Ephesians 2:18: “In one Spirit…

I was reminded what I had the staff do on my very first day in the office over 10 years ago.  As we were all seated around a conference table, I held up a long white rope and asked everyone to wrap it around both of their wrists as I read Ephesians 4:3: “Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Using this as a visual demonstration of unity and togetherness I asked someone to fall backwards.  When he did, the two who were tied next to him kept him from hitting the floor.  It showed how we function best when we serve as a team, and we all have a part to play.  

• We are the framework in which God dwells.  Verse 22 contains a mind-blowing thought: “In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”  1 Corinthians 6:19 says the Holy Spirit dwells within individual believers: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”  1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us the Holy Spirit dwells within the church: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” 

Action Steps

1. Root out all racism and prideful prejudice in your heart. 

Christians are now part of one body, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or background as Galatians 3:28 says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  The gospel of grace trumps race.

Jesus Christ has restored and reconciled the races.  There are no longer two or ten or twenty or 20,000…there is now one.  Before Jesus, there were two ethnic groups on earth: Jew and Gentile.  After His resurrection and ascension, a new ethnic group was formed, made up of Jews and Gentiles, called “one new man” or the church.

One author says it like this: “Racial harmony is a blood issue, not just a social issue. The bloodline of Jesus Christ is deeper than bloodlines of race.”  James 2:9: “But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”  As former NFL player Benjamin Watson has said, “We don’t have a skin problem, we have a sin problem.”

Our worship down here is but a dress rehearsal for worship up there when all reconciled races will gather around the throne to worship the Lamb who was slain

I love the picture of multiple people groups praising God together in Revelation 5:9: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  Our worship down here is but a dress rehearsal for worship up there when all reconciled races will gather around the throne to worship the Lamb who was slain.

2. See other believers as your spiritual siblings. 

One lady that attends here always refers to me as “Brother Brian.”  This makes me smile because it reminds me that she is my spiritual sister.  Perhaps we should start greeting each other like this.  Hi brother Bob!  How are you, sister Suzy?  One advantage of this is when you forget someone’s name, you can just say, “Hey, brother” or “Hi, sister.”  This goes for born again believers in other churches and gospel-preaching pastors who used to be pagans.  

3. Increase your commitment to the local church. 

Many of you are gathering with God’s people on a regular basis but some of you are spotty in your attendance.  Many of you have joined the church, but some of you have been hesitant to become part of the family here.  It’s time.  Scripture knows no such thing as solo Christianity.  Sadly, it’s widely accepted among many professing Christians.  I often hear people say something like this, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t really go to church.”  Mark this.  The church is God’s Plan A.  There is no Plan B.

One writer puts it like this: “Churchless Christians.  Flockless sheep.  Bodyless body-parts.  First century Christians would not have had a category for such a thing. It would’ve been one of the more bizarre phenomena imaginable.”

4. Be reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

The tallest and thickest wall of hostility in human history is the separation our sins have caused between us and a holy God.  Jesus has torn this wall down, but you must repent and receive Him in order to experience the peace He provides.  Once you do, you’ll be at peace with God, and you’ll be able to live in peace with others.

I just finished reading an amazing true story called, Wounded Tiger by T. Martin Bennett.  The book traces the sovereignty and grace of God as three lives become intertwined when the gospel breaks down longstanding and bitter barriers during WWII.  Fuchida was a Japanese nationalist who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jake DeShazer was a bombardier on the Doolittle Raid when he unleashed bombs on Japan, and Peggy Covell grew up as a missionary kid in Japan.

The book is 600 pages long so any attempt at a summary will be inadequate but here goes.  Peggy’s parents were beheaded by Japanese soldiers in the Philippines. When she grew up, she ministered to Japanese prisoners of war in a U.S. hospital.  One of the prisoners later remarked, “That girl loved us like we were her own brothers.  Even better than brothers.”

Jake was captured by the Japanese in China and was brutally tortured in prison.  It was in prison he was given a Bible which led to him getting saved.  After the war, he returned to Japan as a missionary.  In one of his sermons, he said this: “I attacked Japan for revenge. That’s what I wanted. That’s what every American wanted.  I hated the Japanese for what they did at Pearl Harbor.”  Recognizing he needed to be freed from the power of hatred, he concluded: “It wasn’t evil around me I need to be rescued from; it was from the evil inside me…He made this great sacrifice because of a great love – for me, for you.  In that dark cell, I was set free from the prison of hatred, and a deep love for the Japanese people began to grow in my heart.”  Jake served the people of Japan for thirty years, helping to establish over twenty new churches.

Fuchida was so impacted by Jake’s conversion and by how Peggy served Japanese prisoners that he surrendered to Christ and was saved.  His salvation was a headline in Japanese papers (show pic).  Fuchida went on to share the gospel with thousands of Japanese.  Here’s a picture of him speaking to a crowd of 15,000.  The man who led the attack on Pearl Harbor was reconciled to God and in the process was reconciled to one of the men who bombed his own country.  Here’s a picture of him, the former commander who directed the attacks on Pearl Harbor, shaking hands with Jake, the former bombardier who dropped bombs on Japan.  Only the gospel can do that.

The only way these walls of hostility could come down was because Jesus came down and died in our place, providing peace with God and with others.  As a way to remember what Jesus has done for us, we’re called to celebrate communion.

We’re given some guidelines in 1 Corinthians 11.  

1. Look up.

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.” (11:27)

2. Look within.

“Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” (11:28)

3. Look around. 

“So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” (11:33)

Prayerful Contemplation

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.