Killing the Hostility
- David Fairchild
- May 9, 2010
- Series: Ephesians
Killing the Hostility
Ephesians 2:11-16
David Fairchild
May 9, 2010
Ephesians 2:11-16: “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.”
How many of you have sensed over the last couple of years an increase in polarization in our country? I definitely have.
I’m a bit of a news junkie, so I love to read articles, blogs and the commentary and comments that follow them. One thing I’ve been fairly concerned with is this heightened sense of hatred among various groups that disagree with one another.
The political climate has definitely heated up in our country. The promise of bipartisan cooperation between the liberals and democrats has been replaced with an anger and volatility that is quickly building momentum. Where hope was a slogan, despair is the reality.
Groups that believe strongly in their position no longer simply disagree; they are becoming radicalized at an alarming rate. Many liberals are no longer holding back their disdain for conservative ideology and this has turned into a kind of elite class mentality where public insults and open hostility are more and more common.
Conservatives that have felt slighted and threatened by the rise of the liberal agenda have started to use slogans like “take our country back” and many are subscribing to a belief that we should get armed, and if necessary topple the government.
Those might be observations of the extreme, but I’m convinced that the “mass of the middle” has shrunk as these two parties have become more polarized.
The religious landscape of our country has morphed so quickly that many sociologists aren’t sure where it’s all going. Some polls indicate that America has become less religious at a breakneck pace the last 10 years. Research shows that those who consider themselves to be atheists have doubled in 10 years, and those who have no religious affiliation has doubled in 10 years. These are huge numbers.
Strangely, there also seems to be a surge of people switching from the faith of their family to a new religion in huge numbers as well. The idea of carrying on the beliefs of your parents is simply not as common anymore.
At the same time that more are becoming atheists, more are also coming to faith in Jesus and claiming to be Christian. This is why there is such confusion right now by researchers. Less are claiming to be Christian overall but those who are claiming to be Christian are newer believers who are more committed to their faith.
So what’s happening? The middle between the two has shrunk at an alarming rate. If atheism is growing at the same time that Christianity is growing, the moderate middle is disappearing.
As the pressure to be a Christian because of your family or country has disappeared, more and more people are comfortable being honest about their beliefs. There’s no need to pretend anymore. On the one hand, this is a good thing. It’s positive that people are being more honest with their beliefs. On the other hand, we’ve become more polarized over religion than at any other time in our history.
I was in Barnes & Noble the other night, and I was amazed at how many books on atheism and the debunking of God have increased the last five years. The atheist evangelists, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris are selling quite a few books these days.
They are claiming that religion creates divisiveness in our country, all the while they are ridiculing, insulting and mocking those who disagree with them. In the last five years the numbers of atheists showing up on national talk and news shows has increased fivefold.
The promise of peace and unity doesn’t seem possible when things are as hot and volatile as they are.
Since my job isn’t to instruct the atheist on their behavior or to moderate debates between Democrats and Republicans, I’m simply going to speak to those of us this morning that name the name of Christ as our Savior and Lord.
After all, we’re going to have to learn how to be faithful to Jesus during a time when our political or religious toes feel like they’re being stepped on.
So how do we sow peace in a fragmented culture? Is it possible to make a difference? Should we try?
If we’re to be a contrast community in our world, how do we become a community of unity and peace in a culture of disunity and unrest?
Paul’s going to help us this morning as we listen in on his instruction to a previously divided people who are working out what it looks like to live in unity and peace with one another.
Let’s read the passage.
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” connects what Paul said in the first 10 verses. He wants them to remember something important about what He said so that what He’s about to say settles in their hearts.
Paul reminds them at one time they were considered by the religious Jews to be uncircumcised heathens. As a sign of being in the covenant, Jews would get circumcised on the eighth day. To be uncircumcised meant you were cut off from fellowship with God’s people and it meant you were cut off from life with God.
At this point, the Jews put their identity and hope in the act of circumcision and had lost some of the wonder of being included by God’s loving grace.
Paul not only reminds them of how they were treated by the Jews, he also reminds them of their real condition apart from Christ.
He says…
Verse 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.”
Just as verses 1-3 speak of our individual condition apart from God’s grace, verses 11-12 speak of our communal condition apart from Christ.
Paul moves from the negative social treatment from religious Jews to the actual spiritual isolation they once experienced.
This is the reality the Ephesians were born into. In every way, they were distant from God. I wonder if we are aware that before God showered His grace upon us, we were in the very same position.
How many of you have felt separated, alienated, like strangers, hopeless and without Him? One of the first ways to begin the process of reconciliation with one another is to remind ourselves who we were before God. This humbles us and acts as an antidote to our pride.
As we’re going to see in a few minutes, so much of our problem with one another is rooted in pride. We’re not supposed to walk proudly before God and one another, but humbly.
There is a history to our communal conflict. We were made by God to live in the world He created and to walk with Him as sons and daughters. Humility was our first posture because we knew we were creatures who were dependent upon Him for everything.
Yet pride slithered into the Garden. Instead of walking with God in humility, our first parents began to doubt God’s intentions for them as they listened to the Liar who promised a better life for them. As they fell from believing their God to believing the lies, their actions followed and they betrayed their God.
The first community that was beautiful and without division became ugly and divided. Adam blamed Eve for his sin, then he blamed God. Eve blamed the Serpent. Neither of them took responsibility for their sin.
Instead of being close to God and one another, they become strangers. Instead of being a family as God’s children, they become aliens. Instead of knowing God and one another, they become strangers. Instead of a life filled with joy and faith, they were hopeless. Instead of communion with their God, they were without Him.
Peace and unity with God and one another was what God made us for. But sin brought war and division. Racism, classism, gender conflict, and all other prejudice is the result of our first fall.
Yet God made a promise to them that one day He would begin to bring back together what had been lost in the Garden. One day, those who were sent away from God and away from His garden, would be brought back to Him. One day, there would be a Prince of Peace who would crush the Serpent and his work by being crushed for them.
Paul turns the attention of the Ephesians from what they once were to who they are now.
Verses 13-16: “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.”
But now!... Again, this is such a great statement. Our life was a life of failure and isolation, but God broken in. We no longer have to shed each other’s blood to deal with our division, Christ has shed His. We no longer have to live as strangers and aliens, we’ve been brought near. God’s promise came true! We no longer have to live at war with one another, Christ is our peace. We no longer have to be hostile towards one another, Jesus took it on His body and killed our hostility.
In the body of Christ, broken on a cross, He toppled the walls that we’ve built between one another.
This is our new reality. That was the new reality for the Ephesians that Paul was proclaiming. We’ve been saying this in many ways over the last several weeks. He’s done it all by His grace. What an amazing truth. But I fear this truth is overlooked.
Read verse 15 again with me so that we don’t miss how God has made us one and gave us peace. The verse might seem a little obscure, but it is a bomb of truth that will give us a way forward out of our polarization and division.
Verse 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,”
Is Paul saying that Jesus did away with the Law of God? It would seem strange since Jesus said Himself:
Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Paul is saying something that we need to listen very carefully to. He’s making a statement to the Ephesians that is going to help them get past the division they’ve experienced with the Jews and to help the Jews get past their discomfort with calling the Pagan Ephesians their brothers and sisters.
Paul says that the way Jesus brought peace to us was by abolishing or doing away with the Law as a way of relating to God and one another. In other words, their primary motivation wasn’t supposed to be one of Law keeping to earn God’s favor, but grace.
Religion is the Problem
It’s the difference between two narratives of this world. One of works, by keeping the various commands we construct and adhere to, and one is grace, by living grateful lives because someone kept them on our behalf.
The only one who can offer grace that makes us humble and allows us to love those we disagree with is Gospel Christianity.
You see, the default mode of the human heart is religion. We are hopelessly religious people. What I mean is that we always tend towards building a righteousness that makes us feel as if we’re ok. This is nothing but law keeping as a way of earning favor.
Those who work for Greenpeace believe that the way to live up and keep standards is by adopting their values and keeping their laws. They quickly can look down their nose at those who disagree with them or simply don’t keep the same laws.
We were at the mall on Friday to watch Iron Man 2 and there were several young girls with clipboards walking around asking people if they want to save whales. As I watched them interact with people they reminded me of street evangelists who pass out tracks. They were evangelizing their religion. They were calling others to adopt their beliefs and practices. They were full of smiles until you ignored them or disagreed with them, then they would look at one another and make faces or comments about the “law breakers” that didn’t repent and turn!
This is what it means to live by the law. We have to look down our noses at other people. When we are motivated by a works narrative that says, “Keep the law and you’ll be accepted.” We have no other choice but to compare ourselves to law breakers. Works righteousness always produces arrogance and superiority because we’re proud of keeping up our commandments.
This is why many of us here this morning, our greatest need for repentance might not be the “bad things” you’ve done that you knew you weren’t supposed to do, but the “good things” you’ve done that has made you feel like you’ve done your job.
We’re a culture crying out for peace, sensing our growing hostility, but trying to fix it by good works. George Whitefield says something stunning in one of his sermons about getting peace:
“Further, before you can truly speak peace to your hearts, you must not only be troubled for the sins of your life and sins of your nature, but likewise for the sins of your best duties and performances…Your obedience and good works are no motive or inducement to God to have mercy on your poor soul. He sees them all as filthy rags and hates them and cannot erase them if you bring them to him in order to recommend you to his favor.
“Our best duties are full of…sins. Before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must not only repent of your sin, but also of your righteousness. There must be a deep conviction before you can be brought out of your self-righteousness. It is the last idol taken out of the heart…Unless you repent of your righteousness you cannot speak peace to yourself. You must lay hold by faith of the all-sufficient righteousness of Jesus Christ, and then you shall have peace.”
In the Garden, when we experienced separation from God and felt the shame and guilt of our sin, the first thing we did was to try and sew together fig leaves to cover our shame. We’ve been doing this ever since.
We think we are able to fix the problems we’ve created. This is what makes us tend towards works and laws to make ourselves righteous. We are all on a campaign to justify ourselves.
The Two Thieves
It isn’t just the religious who are trying to save themselves, it’s the irreligious as well. There are two temptations for us and two ways to hide from God (as Whitefield put it).
One is moralism and the other is relativism. One is conservatism and the other is liberalism. One is religion and the other is irreligion. But make no mistake, no matter how different they look, they are essentially the same self-salvation scheme.
Religious Salvation
You see, the religious assume, like many of the Jews in the time of Christ, that by keeping the rules they were going to have favor with God. Jesus taught them that they were actually irreligious by showing them that as long as they thought they could earn God’s favor by keeping the Law, they were actually insulting the Law. They had made the Law something they could attain and keep.
They lowered the standards of God so that they could save themselves. Why Jesus?
Irreligious Salvation
At the same time, Jesus showed us that the irreligious were far more religious than they would ever admit. In all of their law-breaking, they were actually trying to be their own Lord. They were making gods out of sex, wine, pleasure, approval, acceptance, comfort, and power. They worshipped these gods with their whole hearts and devoted themselves to them as a way for saving themselves.
Both religion and irreligion are different ways of becoming our own saviors and lords.
Both are simply trying to deal with the guilt and shame of not living up to God’s standards or their own.
But the Gospel way is different. The gospel shows us that we’re not justified by keeping laws, but by grace. The gospel shows us that even though we may have gone through an irreligious phase or a religious phase, we were basically trying to do the same thing, run from God and save ourselves. In fact, the best place to hide from God is the church.
What keeps us from God and from one another is a religious commitment that breeds pride and arrogance. It creates separation, alienation, hopelessness and makes us strangers to God and one another.
As Whitefield says, we have to repent of our righteousness, our self-righteousness and turn to the one who was righteous for us.
Jesus stands in the place of the irreligious who have purposely broken the law as a way of avoiding Him and for the religious who have kept the law as a way of avoiding Him.
In doing so, He has to take on the penalty for our law breaking and our law keeping. He’s treated like the vilest sinner, the most depraved person you could imagine. And, He’s treated like the goody-two-shoes who doesn’t think he needs the good news.
If we’re saved by grace and grace alone, we can actually have peace with one another because what kept us hostile, the law, has been abolished as the way we’re motivated to live.
This not only affects how we treat one another as Christians in community as one “new man” in the place of the two. It also affects the way we treat others who disagree with us. We don’t have to hate those who hate us because there is nothing we’ve done to earn God’s favor. If God can save us, then God can save them. We are free to love those who don’t love us. We are free to be gracious to those who are not gracious with us. We are free to serve those who refuse to serve us.
In fact, that is exactly what Jesus did for us and it is the logic of the Gospel!
0 Comments | Login to Post Comments