September 16, 2012 Joined & Knit Together: 2. “The House That God Builds”

Preface to the Word Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity. Paul lived in Ephesus for a couple of years, from 52–54 AD, working with the growing congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands. He became embroiled in a dispute with artisans, whose livelihood depended on selling the statuettes of Artemis in the Temple of Artemis (Acts 19:23– 41). Between 53 and 57 AD, he wrote the letter we now know as 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the "Paul tower" close to the harbor, where he was imprisoned for a short time). So it’s a bit surprising to read in the section between last week’s reading and this week’s reading: “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints…” (Eph 1:15) This is just one of many reasons scholars doubt that the Apostle Paul actually wrote this letter to the Ephesians. There are important differences between Ephesians and the other letters we’re fairly certain Paul wrote. For example, many of the words in Ephesians do not appear anywhere else in the apostle’s correspondence and some important terms have a different meaning in Ephesians than in Paul’s other letters. The style of the letter, with its loose collection of phrases and clauses in long sentences are not characteristic of Paul’s letters. Some scholars think that these differences simply show changes in Paul’s thought and style. Many scholars, however, hold that Ephesians was written by a follower of Paul who had in hand a collection of Paul’s letters and who interpreted the mind of Paul to the church of a slightly later day. That would explain the many parallels to Paul’s other letters (especially Colossians) that are woven into the text, which is a striking feature of Ephesians. Tradition has it that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesian church from a prison cell in Rome around 62 AD. But if it was indeed written by a disciple of Paul, then it was likely written much later…sometime between 80 and 100 AD. Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:4-22 Sermon I. A. Way back when I was in seminary being trained as a pastor, we were taught to put a sermon together using an introduction that caught people’s attention, then make three different points, and then bring it home with a memorable conclusion! If you’ve attended a mainline church long enough, you’ve heard at least one of these infamous “three-point” sermons and probably a lot of jokes about them as well. B. It’s been a long time since I’ve preached a three-point sermon. I’m usually happy thinking that people leave worship with at least one good point to think about. Today, however, I’m going to make two-points based on our reading from Ephesians 2, and each point is basically saying the same thing but applied in two different ways. C. Here are the points… First point: In Jesus Christ, God has broken down the barriers between God and us, bringing us near to God through the church that God is building. Second point: In Jesus Christ, Gods has broken down the barriers between us, bringing us near to each other through the church that God is building. II. A. We heard read to us Eugene Peterson’s rendition of Ephesians 2 from his paraphrase of the Bible called The Message. He has the author of Ephesians saying: “God is building a home. God is using us all – irrespective of how we got here – in what God is building.” B. I like that image of God building a home. The idea is that the church of Jesus Christ is like a vast building project in which we – you and I and others – are the materials God is using for the building. The “apostles and prophets” are the foundation for the building. Jesus himself is the “cornerstone that holds all the parts together.” And we are, you and me included, “a holy temple built by God,” “a temple in which God is quite at home.” C. Now let’s be clear here. Ephesians is not saying that our building is God’s dwelling place. Of course, this is a beautiful place of worship. Typically when someone comes in during the week to ask about the church, I will bring him or her into this place and almost always there is a comment about how inviting and “worshipful” this space seems. Like many sanctuaries, it feels sacred and sometimes it feels like God must dwell here. But we know that God is not restrained by brick and mortar, even as lovely as this, and can be worshiped anywhere. No. The author of Ephesians is not talking about our buildings as God’s dwelling place. He says that people, the human beings of the church, are God’s dwelling place. D. Often we get the sense that this is true. But sometimes it’s not so easy believing that this place, our church, our life together, is God’s dwelling. And it’s even harder to believe when we step back to observe how Christians of other denominations and congregations treat each other. - Sometimes our differences get the best of us and we find it tough to get along together. - Sometimes our apathy is stronger than our excitement and we abandon each other in our search for thrills. - Sometimes our busyness chokes our commitment to one another and God’s “building project” is put on the back burner. - Often we function no differently than any other human association and we find it tough to get it together in the church. E. St. Augustine once taught that the whole purpose of Scripture is “to build up charity toward God and neighbor.” Sometimes we find it much easier to experience that charity toward God than toward the neighbor, particularly when you look around at the neighbors we’re supposed to be charitable towards! Some say it was Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon, others say it was Albert Einstein that is responsible for the quip – “I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand”? So true, some times… many times… more times than we want to admit! F. Sometimes those people we can’t stand are sitting down the pew from us in worship or across the table at a Bible study or in a committee meeting. And we wonder to ourselves, why can’t God’s dwelling place be built with better materials? III. A. Then, if we’re fortunate, we’re reminded by Scripture, such as this passage from Ephesians, that each of us were once “strangers,” “wandering exiles,” “outsiders to God’s ways.” The writer was penning these words to gentile Christians who had been brought into the church. But in a way, what he wrote to them applies to any of us. We have no “right” to be here. We are here because a gracious God reached out to us, cleared a path back to God in Christ, kicked down the door separating us from God. B. We are the house that God is building. We didn’t earn our way here. As the passage says, “It’s God’s gift from start to finish! ...we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and the saving.” This core truth needs to be burned into our brains as we try to figure out how we are going to live with each other. C. The truth of the matter is that we are a family of strangers. We’ve been surprised to learn in the assessment we are doing for the upcoming church consultation that nearly 40% of the active participants in this congregation have been here for only 10 years or fewer. Ten years or fewer! We are a church filled with relative newcomers! We don’t come from the same biological family, not from the same social class, not from the same part of the country, not even from the same denomination, if any at all. All these things make us strangers to each other. But in baptism we have been made into a family – each one of us adopted, grafted into a new family tree, made into a new people – a people God with which God is building a home. Out of many have been made one. D. Do you believe that? I have to confess I do, because I’ve seen it to be true in you. I’ve only been here for little more than a year, but in that time I seen this truth in the ways that you, although there are a lot of things that could separate you, have learned to work together, pray together, grow together, serve together. How is this possible in a world reflected in our current events and politics where our differences and divisions are emphasized and pull us apart? It’s possible because the Spirit of Christ, having brought us near to God, also brings us near to each other. That’s what Ephesians 2 claims. E. It’s not unusual for communities to be separated by age. Many communities like Roseburg have isolated adult communities and single adult apartment complexes and developments that don’t allow children or pets. We have a growing demographic of retirees. Some of us live in neighborhoods where most of our neighbors are about our age. But the house that God is building is intergenerational – children, youth, young adults, middle age adults, older adults. We’re all together in this, all together in Christ. F. Communities like Roseburg are also often separated by economic status or social class. In fact, this may be the greatest barrier in our society today. If we are poor, we move in circles of the poor. If we are rich, we socialize with people who have money. If we are middle class, we are most comfortable in the company of middle class. There’s little intercourse between us. It’s true of our communities and it’s usually true of the churches in those communities. We need to hear today that the house God is building does not separate us according to economic class. Never has. Never will. We are here for each other, as God is here for us. G. In Oregon it’s unusual to be with persons of another race than our own. This reality is slowly changing over time, but Douglas County remains one of the “whitest” counties in Oregon. The lack of racial diversity in this State is part of Oregon’s unfortunate history and we are here to change that history, for the house that God is building is the place where racial barriers are torn down and a new humanity is formed. I pray for the day to come when the people God uses to build this dwelling place will reflect the diversity and beauty of the races and ethnicities that are growing around us. H. You know, I actually believe that God can build God’s dwelling using traditionalists and innovators, conservatives and liberals, saints and sinners. I believe God can build with believers of differing orientations, bold Christian leaders that are male and female, long-time disciples and those spanking new to the faith. Heck, I even believe that God can build with Duck fans and Beaver fans. I’d go a step farther with the belief that God can build with staunch Republicans and dyed-in-the-wool Democrats who put their trust in the Jesus we see in the gospels! It’s what God does in and through the church. It’s the gospel we remind ourselves of as we gather around Christ’s table for the sacrament of Holy Communion and sing songs like: One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless, and we, though many, through out the earth, we are one body in this one Lord. Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man, no more. One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless, and we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in the one Lord. I. So, once again here are those two points from Ephesians 2 –  First, this statement of faith: “God has made us one with God.”  Second, this promise: “God has made us one with each other in the church.” Oops! I guess there is a third point! It’s the work we are called to do.  “Live in the church as witnesses to the power of God’s barrier-breaking love in Christ.” What this means to me is that if folk in the world around us are going to put stock in the idea that our painful divisions can be overcome, any prayer that unity and peace are truly possible and not just some pipe dream, then they’re going to have to see in it us first. We are, after all, the house that God builds. We are the concrete, visible, tangible evidence that in Jesus Christ the world is being reconciled to God. Are we getting the point? ++++++++ A Prayer: Gracious God, even before we dared to reach out to you, you reached out to us. Even while we were like the prodigal son, far off, living less than we ought in a far country, you waited for us, called to us, embraced us and welcomed us home. Before we knew enough about what was wrong with our lives to look for you, you were busy looking for us, ready to have us when we, at last, were ready for you. Remembering that we were once strangers to you, help us pay special attention to those who are strangers to us – those who live in other nations, yet who are also your beloved children; those who call you by a different name, yet are also created by you; those who are of a different economic class or of another race, yet are also cherished as much by you as you cherish each of us. And because you received us as strangers, help us receive others into our fellowship so that even as we are being transformed from strangers into friends, they too might be received by us into your family so that together we will be transformed into a new reality and truly be your dwelling place…