Rev. Cary M. Richert

9^th Sunday after Pentecost (B)

August 6, 2006

The Walls Came Tumblin’ Down

Ephesians 2:11-22

“No outsider shall enter the protective enclosure around the sanctuary.  And whoever is caught will only have himself to blame for the ensuing death,” meaning his death!  So declared the Jewish warning inscription on the wall that separated the sacred precincts of the ancient Jewish temple area from the outer Court of the Gentiles.  It was written in Greek, so the Gentiles wouldn’t mistake its meaning.  Even the Romans ... probably in an effort to keep peace in a region of their empire that proved to be a hotbed of turmoil ... allowed the Jews to “put to death any who passed the wall, even if they were Roman.” ⁽¹⁾

There was a huge, virtually impenetrable wall that separated Jew and Gentile in ancient times.  It was made visible by the inscription in the temple courts.  And it was made visible in the intentional efforts of especially the Jews, to not co-mingle their daily lives with the Gentiles any more than necessary.

Ronald Olson, from Luther Seminary in St. Paul Minnesota, indicates in his work, that “The ethnic, national, and religious divisiveness of our own day has nothing on the great ancient divide (between Jew and Gentile).” ⁽²⁾ Given what we observe in the Middle East today, if Olson’s right, the Jew/Gentile divide was unbelievable.

Remember the Jewish prophet Jonah at first refused to heed God’s call to preach to the Gentile Assyrians in their capital city of Nineveh?  Remember how the Galilean Jews of Jesus’ day took the long way around Samaria to get to Jerusalem, because Samaria was inhabited by Gentile half-breeds?  Remember how the apostle Peter was at first unwilling to visit the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius and preach the Gospel, because Cornelius was a Gentile Roman?  On and on it goes like this in Scripture. 

Small wonder, then, that when Jews and Gentiles found themselves united as one in the Christian faith and Church, tensions often arose.  The apostle Paul writes often about these ... most pointedly in his letters to the Romans and Galatians.  But what was it that brought Jew and Gentile together as one in the Christian faith and Church in the first place?  What had the power to unite as one, two utterly opposing peoples who passionately hated each other ... whose religions were polar opposites?

Inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, Paul answers:

    But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two into one and has destroyed the barrier of the dividing wall. [Ephesians 2:13-14]

Blood!  That’s what molded and shaped two peoples who were far apart spiritually, ethnically, socially, nationally.  Not just any blood.  Certainly not bloodshed in numerous wars between the peoples, like today.  No, it was holy blood.  The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son, which purifies us from all sin and unrighteousness, [1 John 1:7-10].  Only through the blood of Christ could there be real peace and unity ... peace and unity that surpass even human understanding.  Only the blood of Christ could ultimately breach and destroy the dividing wall that separated Jew and Gentile.

The greatest dividing wall is the wall that separates sinful mankind from the holy and righteous God of all creation.  No amount of effort on the part of sinful man can breach that wall.  The wall separates us from God for all eternity.  Out of His great love and mercy, God, in Christ, shattered the dividing wall of sin and made peace with us through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.

Through Jesus’ blood God reconciled both Jew and Gentile to Himself.

Through Jesus’ blood of forgiveness and reconciliation, God brought Jew and Gentile together as one in His Holy Church ... as fellow citizens in His Holy kingdom.  As Paul writes later in Ephesians, in the Lord’s Church both Jew and Gentile have been called by the one Spirit to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, and one God and Father of us all, [Ephesians 4:3-6].

In his poem “Mending Wall” Robert Frost wrote:  Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,  That wants it down.’ ⁽³⁾ The world today is filled with dividing walls ... walls that separate people and perpetuate hostilities between them.  Some walls are national and international: Israel and Jordan come to mind.  Other walls are more social and political, separating rich and poor, male and female, conservative and liberal.  But, perhaps the most painful walls ... are the deeply personal ones, the ones rooted in pride and self-centeredness, that separate us from those closest to us: spouse, children, neighbor, etc.

SOMEONE there is that doesn’t love a wall!  God Himself! No longer foreigners or aliens ... in Christ we’re fellow citizens with all God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord, [Ephesians 2:19-21].

Christ’s Church is the one place where reconciliation and unity ought to be most clearly visible to the world around us.  Where the sinful walls of division that separate people exist no more.  In Christ’s Church we’re led to the cross to see our sin nailing Him to the tree.  To see God’s love and mercy, that brings us forgiveness, healing, life and peace.  Here, in our Lord’s Church, we’re blessed to receive His gifts of grace through Word, water, bread and wine ... gifts that preserve and strengthen our oneness in Him.

We who are Gentiles by birth – the uncircumcised – can be thankful today that in Christ Jesus ...

... God has leveled the wall of sin that separated us from Him.

... God has reconciled us to Himself, establishing a bond of spiritual peace.

... God has knit us together as one in His mystical body, the Church.

... God holds us together as one through the power of His Spirit at work in the Gospel and in His gracious Sacraments.