Sermon -- 9th Sunday after Pentecost (July 22, 2018)

EPHESIANS 2:11-22

WE ARE RECONCILED 

INTO ONE FAMILY, BY GRACE.

In the name + of Jesus.

     In the Garden of Eden, there was perfect harmony.  Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect fellowship with God.  God loved and blessed them.  Adam and Eve loved and served God.  Adam and Eve also served and blessed each other.  There was no jealousy, no rivalry, and no hostilty.  But when sin entered into the world, this blessed fellowship was destroyed.  Adam and Eve ran from God and tried to hide from him.  Rather than love God, they despised him.  Rather than serve God, they sought to avoid him.  And when God confronted them about their sin, Adam was quick to blame Eve for everything.  The Bible does not record any conversations between Adam and Eve after their exchange with God, but I have to believe that they sparred with each other over whose fault it really was that sin entered into the world.
     Since that day, the world knows all about divisions, hostility, and rivalry.  It is seen in wars, revolutions, and violent crimes.  It is seen in politics and labor disputes.  It is seen in racism, social classes, divorces, and classroom bullies.  It is even seen in cliques.  Those inside the clique see themselves as a group of tight friends.  But to those outside the clique, it is viewed as a members-only club where others are clearly unwelcome. 
     The Church is not immune to these divisions and rivalries either.  Perhaps it was not as pronounced in Ephesus as it was in other congregations, but there were often hosilities between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.  The Jewish Christians were able to boast of their lineage as God's chosen people from the Old Testament.  In their minds, to be Christian was to be Jewish.  Some suggested that certain requirements had to be met before Gentiles could really be a part of God's family.  The Gentiles, on the other hand, were hostile toward the Jews.  The Gentiles did not care to be regarded as “less-than” Christians because of their ethnic background. 
     St. Paul declares that neither had their place in God's family because of bloodline or skin tone or language or accent or even moral character.  All, alike, were sinners, violators of God's Law, and hostile to God.  No one is a natural born member of God's family.  Our adoption into God's family was purchased by the blood of Jesus alone.  He has reconciled us to God.  St. Paul wrote: “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one...  (He has created) in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross....” (Ephesians 2:13-16)    
     Jesus reconciled us to God by fulfilling everything the Law demands.  He did not play favorites.  He called both Pharisees and prostitutes to repent.  He showed mercy to both pro-Roman tax collectors and anti-Roman zealots (even including one of each among his apostles).  He served both rich and poor.  He healed fellow Jews, renegade Samaritans, and unwelcomed Gentiles.  Jesus was not influenced by nation, tribe, language, or race.  He came to serve and to save mankind.  He did not come because you are special; he came because you are a sinner.
     We are reconciled into one family, by grace.  “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  … For he himself is our peace, who has … [reconciled] us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:13-14,16)  It is the innocent blood of Christ which has signed the adoption papers which brings you into God's family.  It is at the cross where Jesus paid the price for all jealousies, rivalries, and hostilities and put an end to them.  God is not angry with you.  Jesus declares peace from God to you.  He has reconciled you to God, restoring the fellowship which sin had destroyed.  Therefore, you recognize God is loving and merciful to you.  He does not merely tolerate you and tell you to keep your distance.  He brings you close to him.  He did not convert Jews into Gentiles or Gentiles into Jews.  Instead, he converted both into Christians.  Old rivalries were done away with and gave way to a new creation—the family of God.  The Lord calls you beloved sons and daughters.  You are his, and he is proud to say so. 
     You have been reconciled into one family, by grace, and that is what defines you now.  You are God's people—Christians, bearing the name of your Savior.  No longer is there any rivalry with God; for he is on your side.  He continues to teach you by his word to despise your sins as destructive and deadly so that you will put them away.  He continues to guide you by his word so that you recognize what is truly good and right—not because the world directs your thinking, but because God directs you.  And the Lord makes you eager to go and do it.
     We have been reconciled into one family, by grace.  The harmony we have with God also extends to each other because we all dwell in the same family.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  (Ephesians 2:19-21) 
     We have been reconciled into one family, by grace.  We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and this is what identifies you.  But Satan still sows seeds of discord among us by having us think of ourselves in worldly ways.  We think that our identity and value are found in our opinions, our interests, our jobs, our social status, and so forth.  Then we gravitate to people who are similar to us.  We don't want to bother with those who are different and think that they need to be fixed.  Republicans and Democrats remain at odds.  The rich would rather not give much time to the poor.  And German- descent Lutherans might give the impression that you have to be German to be Lutheran.  While the world may label you according to your qualities, interests, and opinions, God does not.  God's household is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.  (Ephesians 2:19-20)  It is not our interests, our skin tone, our social status, or our accent which bind us together.  God does not convert these.  Rather, God converts you all to be one new, holy family in his household.  God's household is joined together by the word of God.  This is what marks us as God's people.  This is what saves us.
     We are all reconciled into one family, by grace.  How we serve in that family may vary.  Your vocation may make you more money or more famous than others, but it does not make you better.  You serve in your vocation as a child of God for God's glory and for the good of your neighbor.  That is what makes your vocation honorable, whatever it is.  And God still does not play favorites.  No one here is more a child of God than another because of vocation, social status, bloodline, skin tone, heritage, or even because of how long you have been coming to church.  Just as a newborn is as much a part of the family as a grandfather, so you are all equally members of God's household.  You are all dearly loved by the Lord.  You are all equally redeemed by Jesus.  You are all equally heirs of God's kingdom.  For, you all have this in common: You all have the same Savior. 
     We are all reconciled into one family, by grace.  No matter what your vocation is, someday it will come to an end.  But your status as a child of God endures forever.  Therefore, your place in God's family as a brother and sister should be more precious to you than any status the world wants to give.  And you should view every fellow member as equally precious—not because their opinions or social standing match yours, but because they are also fellow saints and members of God's household with you.  We are all reconciled into one family, by grace.
     When St. John caught a glimpse of the Church in heaven, he saw the saints gathered around the throne from every nation, tribe, language and race.  Whatever differences they had in their ethnicity, accent, or opinions did not matter.  They all had one thing in common—they were only there by right of their baptism into Christ which redeemed and cleansed them.  By this, they dwell as one family before God's throne.  The harmony has been restored.  God and men are reconciled; and mankind is also reconciled to each other.  It is what Jesus suffered and died to achieve.  It is what Jesus has included you in.  This is the family you have been brought into.  This is the family you worship with and pray for.  For, we are one family in Christ.  And since we are so loved by God, it is right that we love and serve one another.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.