Memories: Ephesians 2:11-22
I’ve spent a fair amount of time this week talking to people about what things used to be like. I’ve been with families preparing for the funerals of their loved ones, who remember what family life used to be like when they were growing up. I’ve had conversations with people living in Cavour Street in Etruria who have lived there through all the changes of the last fifty years. Through the closure of industries, the demolition of one lot of houses and the building of another lot. I heard about how close knit that community used to be. To be honest, I suspect that in these conversations there were, in some cases, rose tinted glasses being worn, but, mostly, the memories of the things being recalled were good memories, that make life today seem a bit flat, disjointed, with communities that aren’t as strong and more people that are lonely and lost.
Most of the people that I spoke to seemed to have lost something that they remember having, and they aren’t sure if they are ever going to find it again.
In contrast, our first reading this morning encourages those who hear it to remember in a different way. Rather than looking back, remembering that things were better then and worse now, they are told to look back and remember that things were worse then and are so much better now.
You see, this letter was aimed at Gentile Christians. It was written to those who knew that in the past they had been completely excluded from God’s people. They were without hope, they didn’t know God. They were in darkness. They had no promise from God for their earthly lives, or for what would happen when their earthly life ended. They were all at sea.
But not anymore. Something had changed. There was a shift from the way that they used to live, and now they lived in a different way.
But now. What great words. It’s such a powerful word, “but”. When my kids say, “but” I have to admit that it usually makes me pretty cross, and I often come out with the highly original “but me no buts”. Why is this? I think it’s because “but” is an arguing word. It’s a word that is used to try and change minds and the way that things are. It is a word of opposition.
This is what it used to be like, but now, it’s like this. You used to be far away, but now, you can be close to God.
So what is it that has changed? What is it that has made the difference between then and now? What is it that has allowed those who were far away to come near? What is the “but”?
It was Jesus. In his life, and death, and resurrection. Jesus came to bring peace and to destroy barriers.
This work of Jesus is seen most clearly at the cross, where he died in physical and spiritual anguish so that we can experience peace. And it’s the cross itself that reminds us that this peace goes in two directions. It goes up and down, and it also goes across.
The up and down peace Jesus made is the peace between humanity and God. He destroyed the barrier that our rebellion and sinfulness had created between us and God. This means that anybody who believes in Jesus and trusts him can experience a new peace in their lives. They can look back at a time when they were without hope, were far from God, were without life and know that now they have a new hope, are near to God, and are full of life.
The across peace Jesus made is the peace between Jews and Gentiles. The descendents of Abraham had been chosen to show God’s glory to the world, and to be the channel through which God’s blessings would flow out to all people. But this hadn’t happened because the channels had got blocked and barriers of religious law and practice had developed between the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus, a son of Abraham, came and broke those barriers down so that Jews and Gentiles could become one humanity, serving and praising God together.
We might not think that this is very relevant for us, but I think that it is in two ways. Firstly we are Gentiles, and if this had not happened we would not be able to enjoy the relationship with God that we do. Secondly, I think that this peacemaking between different people groups goes wider than between Jews and Gentiles. I think that Jesus’ peace making work on the cross continues to be needed wherever there is conflict between people on earth. That might be nations, or ethnic groups, it might be on a global scale or on a very local scale, such as on the streets of Shelton.
There is one God. Jesus the one Son came to open the way for all people to come to the one Father, by the one Spirit. There are not many Gods, and there are not many ways to the one God. There is one God, and there is one way for everyone to live in restored friendship with God, the way of the cross.
So that is how then became now, and how far became near. But is this where the story ends? It doesn’t seem so, because the writer continues with another powerful word: “consequently”. What used to be has changed, and something new is here, and that has consequences. As well as a “but” there is also a “So what”
Those who have had peace made between them and God are now members of God’s family. They have joined God’s household. All households have different characteristics, different ways that they work and live together, and God’s household is just the same. It seems to me that there are three characteristics of God’s household that this writer is especially interested in. Peacemaking, building, and worship.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that peacemaking is high up on the agenda. Jesus himself said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God”. We cannot do what Jesus did on the cross to make peace between God and humanity, but we can bring that peace to other people. Where our friends, family and neighbours are stuck in darkness and without hope, we can tell them about the hope and life that we have found in God. When we meet people who are scared by death and dying, we can pray for them and ask God to help us show them the hope that we have in God, so that they can find peace in trusting God with their life and their death.
We can be the people of peace in our communities where there is so much mistrust and conflict. We can be agents for change and use our homes as places of welcome and openness to encourage conversations between different parts of our communities. This is hard and difficult work, we must never forget that it led Jesus to the cross, but it is the work that we are called to.
The second characteristic of God’s household is building. Life in God’s family is never boring or static. It is a place of growth and change. It has the foundations of the teachings and examples of the heroes of the faith. People like Moses, Deborah, Mary, Peter, and Paul. Members of the family look back to them, not because things were better in those days, but because their example of faith in tough times builds up faith and hope today. And the most important part of the foundation is Jesus himself, the source of all strength and confidence for those who rest on him.
The third characteristic of God’s household is worship. We are built together into a holy temple. A place of worship. All that we do and all that we are, as individuals and together is to be for the glory of God. That is why we exist. Our worship takes many forms. It is to be seen in how we make peace, and in how we build. It is to be seen in how we live our lives, talk to people, carry out our work. Everything points to the God who came to meet us in Jesus and empowers us to live by the Holy Spirit. It also finds expression in the times that we come together to sing, pray, praise, and hear God’s word together. This evening some of us will gather here again to learn some new songs and experience a longer time of sung worship and prayer than we normally have time for on a Sunday morning. It is our prayer that as we deepen our availability to God in worship, we will see the Holy Spirit working in this church and community in a new way.
So, where do we fit into all this? Do we look back and wish that things were still the way that they used to be, or do we look back with grateful hearts knowing that we are now part of God’s family?
As the building work starts on this physical building tomorrow, making this place more fit for mission and the worship of God, are we willing for similar building work to go on in us and between us. Are we willing to go through the sometimes painful process of clearing out the rubbish, throwing things that used to be useful or precious into the skip? Are we willing for walls to be torn down? Walls that might have been in place for years. Walls that support parts of our lives, that keep us safe, that stop us thinking about the possibility of us doing something different? Will we allow God, by the Holy Spirit, to remodel the way we relate to each other and live our lives so that we become more fit to carry out God’s mission?
It seems to me that one of the challenges that faces us is to work out how we can make use of the new facilities that God is giving us to become peacemakers, builders and worshippers in and through our community.
So that we too can be built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Amen.