One new humanity

J. Daryl Byler
Director of Washington Office
MCC U.S.
Ohio Regional Peace Gathering
Columbus, Ohio
October 28, 2004

Ephesians 2:11-22
11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision" -- a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands -- 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens 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 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.

15 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, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Introduction

This presidential election season -- which mercifully will end next week (or at least we hope so!) -- has made us acutely aware of the sharp divisions that exist in our nation between so-called conservatives and so-called liberals. These divisions have a way of spilling into the church as well.

And if one looks at the global scene, divisions abound. U.N. General Secretary Kofi Annan recently lamented: "The world is a really messy place. I have not seen it this bad ever since my association with the U.N." In making his dismal assessment, Annan cited global poverty, AIDS, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, environmental degradation and serious conflicts in 19 areas of the world.

Our own nation has launched a global war on terror that promises to go on for years if not decades. But this war seems only to have isolated the United States from the rest of the world, intensified anti-American sentiment abroad, inflated the ranks of Al Qaeda and increased the likelihood of more attacks on U.S. soil.

Given this context, my strong sense is that Christians who are committed to nonviolence are in for some very difficult challenges ahead. If you're like me, sometimes -- given all this division in the world -- you may feel helpless and perhaps hopeless about what to do.

So, during my three presentations, I plan to work with some of the "you are" statements that New Testament writers use to describe the church -- specifically, "you are God's temple" (1 Cor. 3:16); "you are a holy nation" (1 Pet. 2:9-10); and "you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world" (Matt. 5:13-16). For times like these, we need a biblically-rooted faith that helps us focus our identity, our mission and our vision as the church.

We'll begin tonight by looking primarily at Ephesians 2 -- which, along with a similar text in 1 Corinthians 3 -- speaks about the church as God's temple or dwelling place.

Thankfully, divisions are not new to our time and setting. Divisions were felt just as deeply thousands of years ago. Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus from his prison cell in Rome. Ephesians is among the most powerful of Paul's letters. Chapters 1 through 3 contain a sweeping vision of God's grand purposes to unite all things in Christ -- beginning with the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles. The remainder of Paul's letter offers more practical advice for living in reconciled relationships.

Our text today makes three primary points:

1. Divisions are real (vv.11-12)

Paul makes no attempt to paper over the deeply felt divisions between Jews and Gentiles. In today's text, Paul begins by reminding his Gentile readers of the longstanding hostility between them and the Jews. Folks used derogatory labels back then, too. The Jews proudly called themselves "the circumcision" -- the mark of their special relationship with God. By contrast, they disdainfully referred to the Gentiles as "the uncircumcision." Insiders and outsiders.

In the current election campaign, President Bush has sought to cast Senator Kerry as outside the political mainstream. In a similar way, Paul reminds his Gentile readers that previously they were way outside the religious mainstream. At one time, they were: "without Christ . . . aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. . . strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" (v.12).

In his commentary on Ephesians, Mennonite biblical scholar Tom Yoder Neufeld says that to allege that the Gentiles were once "without Christ" was to imply that "they were excluded from the community from whom and for whom the Messiah would come." And later when Paul describes the Gentiles as being "without God" he uses the word from which we get our word "atheist." Yoder Neufeld says that this "is exactly how Jews viewed Gentiles: hopelessly adrift in the universe."

Indeed, it may be difficult for us to fully realize how deep was the animosity between Jews and Gentiles. The Jewish practice of circumcision and their observance of many ordinances and religious regulations created a sense of superiority among the Jews and contributed to their sense of disdain for the Gentiles. At the same time, these practices and attitudes created a strong anti-Jewish backlash among the Gentiles. The dynamic was not unlike that of internalized racist superiority and internalized racist oppression that are connected with racism in our own country today.

One of most visible expressions of this distinction and hostility between Jews and Gentiles was found in the temple. There, a wall divided the inner court sanctuary -- which was open only to Jews - from the outer court, which was also open to Gentiles.

The historian Josephus tells us that, along this dividing wall - posted at regular intervals -- there were bilingual warnings in Greek and Latin. An excavation in 1871 uncovered one of these warnings which read: "No man of another race is to proceed within the partition and enclosing wall about the sanctuary; and anyone arrested there will have himself to blame for the penalty of death which will be imposed as a consequence."

We can only understand the power of this text if we understand the depth of enmity that existed between the Jews and Gentiles. Dividing walls. Separation. Disdain. Divisions are real.

2. Christ is our peace (vv.13-16)

In spite of this long history of division between Jews and Gentiles, Paul writes that Christ "is our peace" (v.14). There is perhaps no more powerful text in the Bible to remind us that evangelism and peacemaking are inseparable and must go hand-in-hand. You see, when Paul says that Christ "is our peace," he means both that Christ restores us to relationship with God and that Christ has made possible reconciliation in the human family. So evangelism and peacemaking are both part and parcel of the good news.

Paul uses a number of phrases and images in verses 13-16 to describe the broad scope of Christ's reconciling work. In short, Paul says that Christ has eliminated the root causes of the hostile division between Jews and Gentiles. Both groups are reconciled to God through the cross.

Far and near. First, Paul says that those who once were far off -- the Gentiles -- "have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (v.13). In using this image of far and near, Paul cleverly borrows from the prophet Isaiah who once distinguished the Jewish exiles who were far off in Babylon from those who were left behind in a decimated homeland (Isa. 57:19). And just as God had once restored the Jewish exiles, now, in Christ, God would do the same thing for the Gentiles.

Jews and Gentiles focused on their differences. But, as Paul infers, both groups had this in common: each had known the experience of being estranged from God. The sacrificial life and death of Christ would benefit all who would believe -- both Jew and Gentile.

Dividing wall. Second, Paul says that Christ has broken down the dividing wall that represented the hostility between Jews and Gentiles (v.14). I noted earlier that this dividing wall in the temple kept Gentiles from having access to the inner court of the temple where they could worship God. Instead, they were banished to the outer court where they had to contend with the noise and distraction of the merchants and moneychangers. The wall was a constant reminder that the Gentiles were second class at best. Paul says that Christ broke down the dividing wall in order to make both groups one and offer both groups equal access to God.

Abolish the law. Third, Paul says that Christ "has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances" (v.15). At first blush, this statement seems to be at odds with the comment of Jesus when he said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17).

What Paul is most likely referring to is not the law insofar as that term described God's divine will for humanity. But rather, the human-contrived law of endless ordinances, commandments and dogmas of which Jesus was so critical.

While being faithful to God's law would have drawn the Jews closer to God and to their neighbors, this human-made law with all its regulations and legalisms had only served to separate the Jews from God and had been a source of their disdain for the Gentiles. God's people were to be a blessing to the nations. But instead, they had set themselves in opposition to the nations -- the Gentiles.

In short, Christ is our peace, because Christ has dismantled, disarmed, put to death and made a public spectacle of those things we humans construct to make us feel special and superior -- things that cut us off from God and from one another. And in their place, God has reconstructed one new humanity in place of the two (v.15) and has reconciled both groups to God in one body (v.16).

Christ is our peace.

3. The church is God's new dwelling place (vv.17-22)

There's a lot of buzz in Washington these days because the city is supposed to get a major league baseball team next spring. The Montreal Expos are coming to D.C.! But while many folks are excited, plans for building a new stadium are also creating quite a ruckus because it means tearing down some long-standing businesses and houses.

This is the image that Paul uses here: Christ demolishes the old order so that he can build the new. In this "one new humanity in Christ" -- which we call the church -- Christ is reconciling former enemies and constructing a new temple where God can dwell.

The old temple, because of its dividing wall, had been a painful symbol of alienation and separation between Jews and Gentiles. But this new temple will be the symbol of reconciliation and unity.

The mother of one of the members of our small group at Washington Community Fellowship, recently remarried after being widowed for several years. As is often the case, both she and the widower that she married decided that they would each sell their old houses and buy a new house together. That way they could grow into their new home together rather than one needing to make all the adjustments of coming onto the other's "turf."

New Testament scholar Francis Beare makes a similar observation about the way in which Christ formed "one new humanity" from the Gentiles and Jews. Beare writes that it was "not by the victory of one part over another, (not) by the conversion of the Gentile world to Judaism, but by the harmonious union of the warring elements into something altogether new. . . The Gentiles, who were 'alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, are not beaten into submission to the religion of Israel, but are given an equal part in the making of the new (humanity)."

Paul makes several observations about the nature of this one new humanity -- the church:

Both groups will have equal access to God. We hear a lot about access today. In Washington, the individuals who make the largest campaign donations are those who have access to members of Congress. And we also hear this word "access" in relationship to health care. While many in our country have access to good health care, some 45 million persons now have no health insurance at all. And who could have imagined that lack of access to a basic flu vaccine would become a presidential campaign issue this year?

Paul says that in Christ, both groups -- former enemies -- now have equal access to God. This access is based, not on the law, not on ancestry, not on circumcision, but on the cross of Christ. Which is to say that this access is based on God's initiative and on God's grace and mercy, not on human accomplishments.

Both groups will have full rights of citizenship. One of the issues in the presidential campaign has to do with immigration -- specifically, what rights to afford to immigrants. The fact is that many immigrants -- whether documented or undocumented -- don't have the same rights and privileges as do citizens.

Paul says that both groups -- Gentiles and Jews -- are full citizens and members of God's household. One group is not "strangers and aliens" while the other group enjoys all the rights and privileges of citizenship. The privileges that were once afforded only to the people of Israel are now granted freely and fully to the Gentiles as well. This one new humanity in Christ is to offer space for all to meet and to experience God's presence and welcome.

Equal access. Full citizenship. In the one new humanity, there is no longer a first class and second class. God will only dwell where God's people are living out this one new humanity. The church is to be living proof of God's mighty power to reconcile. When we are not willing to live in reconciled relationships, we should not expect God to be present in our midst.

Application

So what does all this mean for us today in an age of terror? In a world that seems increasingly divided by labels -- American and foreigner, Christian and Muslim, Democrats and Republicans?

1. Distinctions have their place but are not to be worshiped. Ethnic and national and political and denominational identities will always be a part of who we are. These distinctions bring with them rich traditions and customs and tastes -- all of which are to be celebrated as gifts from God.

When Paul wrote that, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ" (Gal. 3:28), he did not mean that there are no longer any distinctions in the human family. What he meant was that these distinctions are not an appropriate basis for deciding who is part of the body of Christ -- or for determining one's status, or for assigning human worth, or for apportioning power, or for making judgments about good and evil.

When we give human distinctions that kind of power, the very distinctions that can be a thing of beauty become the basis for divisions.

The message from Ephesians is that from whatever nation, or tribe or background, all can be restored to God and to one another because of the cross of Christ. God takes the initiative to extend grace and to offer a place in God's family for all who will respond to Christ with a faith that expresses itself in a willingness to follow.

2. We aren't ultimately responsible to fix the broken world in which we live. That's a relief, because some of us peace and justice types are tempted to try. Paul says that God is already gathering up or reconciling "all things in (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth" (Eph. 1:10) and that Christ has already broken down the dividing wall of hostility (Eph. 2:14). So we should be cautious about taking too much responsibility for fixing the world.

Some of you may be thinking, well, if God has already done the work of reconciliation -- if Christ has broken down the dividing wall -- why is there still so much division in the world and even in the church? And if Christ has already done the work of reconciliation, then what is our role? What is left for us?

Our job is three-fold: 1) to not rebuild the barriers that Christ has demolished; 2) to tell the truth about what God has done in Christ; 3) to follow Christ in making peace.

Let me quickly say a word about each of these.

1. Our role is to not rebuild barriers. While Christ has broken down the dividing wall, we humans continue to construct barriers to make us feel superior to others: education levels, economic status, ethnicity, cultural Mennonites vs. Mennonites by confession and choice. When we make these distinctions the basis for excluding some, or for showing favoritism, we are guilty of rebuilding the barriers which Christ dismantled.

While we are not to rebuild barriers, neither are we to tear down the temple that God is building. The text from 1 Corinthians 3 has strong words in this regard: "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" (v.17).

2. Our role is to tell the truth about the power of Christ's reconciling work. Telling the truth about what Christ has done is harder than we might at first think. Especially for those who have historically held power and privilege. The radical thing about the New Testament church is that some Jewish Christians like Paul told the truth about what God had accomplished in Christ, instead of trying to preserve privilege for themselves and other Jews.

Many other Jewish Christians in the first century were not particularly interested in telling the truth about the radical nature of God's reconciling work in Christ. They were not particularly interest in having the Gentiles share equal access to God. And so they insisted that Gentiles jump through all kinds of hoops. They insisted that they be circumcised and observe all manner of rules and regulations. Essentially, they insisted that Gentiles become Jews if they wished to be part of God's family.

Paul refused to fall into this deception. He told the truth about the extraordinary thing that God had done in Christ. The truth is: no more walls; no more exclusive access; no more second class folks. The truth is one new humanity.

3. Our role is to follow Christ in the way of peace. The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective says, "Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace, doing justice, bringing reconciliation and practicing nonresistance even in the face of violence and warfare" (Article 22). Indeed, Paul says that Christ has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).

The fall issue of Courier, the publication of Mennonite World Conference, includes a series of stories about how churches around the world are attempting to follow Christ in the way of peace. One story comes from the Mennonite Church in Angola. There, a congregation owned a large piece of property and planned to build a church, a school and a health center. But before they could get the finances in hand to begin construction, several families from the community who opposed the church's presence decided to build homes on the church's property.

The congregation wrestled with what to do. They did not want to go to court. Rather, they wanted to live out the biblical principle of loving one's enemies. So finally, in conversation with the two families, the church agreed to buy the two houses, providing the funds for these families to build elsewhere.

"Today," says the Courier article, "there is a Mennonite school on the church's property, which has enrolled 1,200 children from the neighborhood. Many from the community are also active church members. Relations are good." (Courier, Vol. 19, No. 3 ).

This is our role: not rebuilding walls; not destroying God's temple; but instead, telling the truth about the amazing scope of Christ's reconciling work and following Christ in the way of peace.