Ephesians 2: 13-18

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Sermon Text

Alice and Jill McCracken and I like to engage in the by-gone pastime of reading aloud to one another. Currently we're reading a book by a newly published author, Owen King, called We're All in This Together. It's a funny little novella about people in a small town in Maine who are sniping at each other because of their fears and resentments and their passions for one political cause or another. The book is funny because it's so true. We see ourselves, our families, our town, our nation, our world in the bickering and longing of King's characters. The title of the book is well chosen, for I think King means to say something about life with it. He means to say is that we're all in life together, we're all connected, we're all part of the same wounded and pathetic species, although it's difficult for us to see this on account of the camps that we live in and the banners we wave.

The Bible passage that we just heard had a similar purpose. The book of Ephesians was written to persuade Jewish followers of Jesus to accept Gentile followers as their spiritual kin, in other words, to acknowledge that they were in this world together. The last verse declares that Jesus came into the world to "proclaim peace to you who were far off (that is, to the Gentiles), and peace to you who were near (that is, to the Jews). Through Jesus, both of these bickering factions could have access to God, the author explained, for Jesus by his perfect obedience to God, even to the point of giving up his life, made peace between them.

A lesson we might take from this ancient text is that we can enjoy this peace too. If we open ourselves to the same spirit that was in Jesus, we will come to realize that we are all in this together: Blues and Reds, pro-lifers and pro-choicers, conservatives and progressives, believers and non-believers?we are all in this together; we are all spiritually connected, despite the camps we inhabit. I must confess that on the one hand this sounds like very good news to me; but on the other, not so good after all. For if I were to live according to this good news, then I would miss the righteous rush that comes from waving my beloved banners, and cursing my opponents. I would miss the thrill of being right. Nevertheless, Jesus' stories and his deeds of mercy toward outsiders do persuade me that he believed in God's wide, wide mercy. Jesus did live as if we are all "in this together"; we are all children of one Creator, begotten in the same light.

So, the life of Jesus is a spiritual challenge to me in this New Year, a benchmark by which I must cast some new year's resolutions. As Alice and I put away the cozy Christmas trimmings that have transformed our home into a temporary oasis, we prepare now to re-enter the all too familiar world of partisan fury. How shall we rejoin this continuing battle-- with the same old self-righteous passions, or chastened by the child whom we call the King of kings, but was not like a king at all? Shall we live as if we truly believe that Jesus has broken down the walls that divide us? Or, shall we keep living the same old way, making Jesus into just another wall, another way of convincing ourselves that we are right and our enemies are dead wrong, and that we are by no means "in this together"? Shall we live according to the good news, which our Bible text declares: that Jesus has created a new humanity, into which we are invited; or shall we keep the walls up, refusing to change? To be or not to be?that is still the question.