Ephesians 2:11-22

William F. Schnell

July 19, 2009

There is a Peanuts cartoon with Lucy saying to Charlie Brown, "I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!" Charlie says, "But I thought you had inner peace." Lucy replies, "I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness." Many times our outer behavior does not conform to our inner feelings. Inside we really love our spouses and children and siblings, but an objective observer on the outside might wonder given the way we continually fuss and fight and contend with those we love.

I don’t think we really want it this way. What we want is peace--and not just inner peace because how can we have inner peace in an obnoxious environment? We want peace on the outside too. Parents want their children to live peaceably with one another and children want their parents to live peaceably with each other. We often refer to law enforcement personnel as "peace officers" because we want them to "keep the peace" among our citizenry. If we have a loved one serving in Iraq or Afghanistan we probably pray for peace in these places, peace in the Middle East and peace in our world.

In these and many other ways we desperately want peace. Why, then, do we have so much trouble achieving peace? Our message for this morning is about a secret for achieving peace where there is animosity and hostility. It is a secret demonstrated for us by Jesus and revealed to us by St. Paul. It is a secret that we can learn and practice in our relationships that may have become strained or even broken. I am sure that we can all relate to previously vital relationships which have, for one reason or other, degenerated into estrangement and hurt feelings. Today we learn the secret by which we can restore them.

Our message is the second in a series of four from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Last week we learned that this letter was an encyclical, meaning that it was not addressed to a particular congregation in Ephesus but to Christians in general from many congregations scattered throughout Asia Minor (whose capital was Ephesus). The title of last week’s message was "Chosen." We saw how, in Christ, even Gentiles (or non-Jews) were to be regarded as the chosen people of God. This understanding is certainly echoed in the opening words of our text for today.

Therefore, remember that formerly you, who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ (Verses 11-13).

We are going to get back to the blood of Christ and its importance in achieving peace in just a moment, but for now I would like to point out a little name-calling that is taking place here. Did you notice how the Gentiles were called "uncircumcised" by the Jews? That was a term of derision used by Jewish Christians among themselves when referring to non-Jewish Christians, as in "that uncircumcised so-and-so." You must remember that Jesus was a Jew, his disciples were Jews and the first converts to his way were Jews. But then Gentiles, or non-Jews, began converting to the faith, and many Jewish converts regarded them as substandard, second-class Christians—uncircumcised Christians.

From ancient times newborn Jewish males were circumcised on the eighth day following their birth as a sign of the covenant between God and his chosen people. As God told Abraham, Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised (Genesis 17:10-11). Circumcision was the physical sign of the covenant that established the Jews as God’s chosen people.

Some Jews were not ready to give up this spiritual distinction, so they mocked Gentile Christians as "uncircumcised." That is how we usually mock one another—over physical differences. When my brother was traveling in China a native of that country yelled something at him. He asked his interpreter what the fellow was saying. His interpreter responded, "He’s calling you a long-nose." It wasn’t a compliment. Neither was calling a Gentile, "uncircumcised."

We like to think that we are a cut above, a little more deserving, a little more privileged. Of course this is an insult to others who figure that we put on our shoes the same way they do. And so it is that peace is disrupted between individuals and between nations. Muslim countries are generally poor. The emirates are wealthy, but the people are poor. That may not be our fault, but it should not surprise us that the focus of Muslim angst is the world’s greatest superpower. America is the "Great Satan," not Ireland and not Argentina.

When Muslim fundamentalist extremists targeted America for terrorism on 9-11, what exactly were the targets? The World Trade Center—representing financial power; the Pentagon—representing military might; and probably the Capitol or White House representing political supremacy. Religion was hijacked with the airliners to justify the actions, but religious differences were not the issue. The real issue was rich versus poor, powerless versus powerful and underprivileged verses overprivileged.

How is peace restored under such circumstances? Is it through imposing financial sanctions, or military "shock and awe," or removing political thorns like Saddam Hussein? Does that remove the angst and make for peace? How could it when the world’s disparity of financial, military and political power is the issue that drives the terrorism? If these means alone are not enough, indeed if these means serve to aggravate the problem, is there a secret solution?

I think there is, and I would like to point to a contemporary illustration before returning to our text for a biblical explanation. When I first came here in 1995, two kinds of social unrest were in the news. First, inner-city gangs were growing and their destructive influence was moving into the suburbs and beyond. Second, right-wing militias were springing up in the heartland with their own brand of anti-government criminal activity. The former were primarily populated with disenfranchised Black Americans and the latter by disenfranchised White Americans. These are folks who felt left out of the American Dream and denied their slice of the American Pie.

Then came along something called "information technology" which fueled the greatest economic expansion in America’s history. Before you knew it, the Crips and Bloods were out of the news, and so were stories about domestic terrorism and right-wing standoffs with various government agencies. Where did all the gang members go? Where did all the militiamen and women go? The answer: most all went to work, most all bought back into the American Dream, most all went after their slice of the pie. All the angst just—whoosh—disappeared. Problem solved.

The secret to achieving peace is undoing what leads to hostility in the first place. If disparity of financial, military and political power is what leads to hostility among the nations of the world, reducing the disparity is what leads to peace. I think that might be what is happening right now. In 50 or 100 years the world might look back at this moment and see it as when all the other ships in the harbor were raised up to the level of the American ship of state.

Relatively speaking, that will mean that the American ship of state will have to come down a bit. Not sink by any stretch, just come down a bit relative to the rest of the ships in the harbor. Might that not be a small price to pay for restoring peace in our world? Imagine if the clash of civilizations between the West and the rest—whoosh—disappeared. The enormous additional expense since 9-11 to secure our homeland—whoosh—disappeared. Stubborn real estate issues between Israelis and Palestinians —whoosh—disappeared.

Imagine all that just for reducing the disparity of power and wealth in our world. This is the secret for creating peace where previously there has been animosity. Somebody has to be willing to give up something, just like Jesus gave up his life on the cross to create peace between Jews and Gentiles according to Paul. In his rather convoluted way of writing Paul puts it this way: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one (who has made Jews and Gentiles into Christians), by abolishing in his flesh (upon the cross) the law with its commandments and regulations (all those scriptural, traditional and historical understandings limiting the chosen people of God to a single ethnic group).

His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two (again, where before there was a Jewish convert and a Gentile convert now there is only a Christian) thus making peace, and in this body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility (Verses 14-16). The cross is the secret for putting to death hostility and making peace. The cross is the image of sacrificing for righteousness’ sake. Not sacrificing so that life may be diminished or destroyed, but so that life may be raised to new and higher heights by the resurrecting power of God.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Verses 17-18). Being at peace with God depends upon being at peace with one another. We cannot war with God’s other children and fool ourselves into thinking we can privately find peace with God on our own. Therefore it behooves us to make peace with one another, and the cross of Christ is the secret for doing that.

We have thus far talked about this on the international level, but the same dynamics are applicable on the more personal level of primary relationships. I am sure that all of us have become estranged from folks who were at one time very dear family members or friends. Misunderstandings happen, things are said, feelings are hurt and before you know it, years go by with no contact. But we remember the slice of life we shared, the laughter, the good times; and so do those with whom we made these memories. Nobody likes these estrangements. On the surface our egos may insist that we could care less, but down deep we wish it was otherwise.

Maybe it is our egos that need to be crucified on the cross of Christ. Maybe it is our judgmental attitudes which is quick to see the splinter and blind to the plank. Maybe it is our unwillingness to forgive perceived slights that may never have been intended. Maybe we have to sacrifice our claim upon pitifully small amounts of money and inconsequential things that have come between us. My heavens, I have seen brothers and sisters disown each other over who got Aunt Gertie’s necklace with the gold cross, which is the height of irony if you think about it in light of our text. Maybe we need to be "Dying for Peace" with Jesus.

Somebody has to give, just like Jesus gave for us. But that is the secret for making peace. It does happen you know? Somebody finds the grace to give first, and then—whoosh—all is forgiven and forgotten. Tears are shed, hugs are exchanged and there is peace: peace within, peace without and peace with God. We may not be able to single-handedly bring about world peace, but we can bring peace on earth to the extent that we deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow the Prince of Peace in remaining one with those he has given us to love.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with—the answer is the same for us all—me.