The text this morning is from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the second chapter:
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— 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. But 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 and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 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, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 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. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Did you know that we are, each of us here, indebted to obey Luther’s Small Catechism? It’s true. Each of us, as we have been received into membership, confess and vow that we will continue to live out the Christian faith and be taught the Word of God according to what is contained in his Small Catechism. We’d be good to remind ourselves of that.
In that Catechism, as I’m sure you’ve all been reading it this week, you know that there are six chief parts, six things Luther draws upon to point us to the Christian life of faith: the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, and the Lord’s Supper. He says these things are the foundation of our faith, and if we knew no more than these, we would all live in peace and quietness, as we pray for each week. And countless Christians, over the course of, especially, the last 500 years, have agreed. That’s why the Catechism was taught in every home, and that’s why the Church confirmed the teaching of the father to his children.
Did you catch this one thing, in the Catechism, that sounded weird, though, based off today’s text? Luther teaches the Ten Commandments. In fact, he draws so heavily upon the commandments through his Catechism, that one easily can say they are the foundation of all life. But Paul says in the text that Christ abolished the Law of commandments by ordinances. So, who is right, Paul or Luther? Or are we asking the wrong question?
I think we ask the wrong question. You see, Paul is writing to a group of believers in Ephesus, most of whom are Gentiles. They are looked down upon by other believers, groups made up of mostly Jews. In fact, the Jews have a very “un-nice” name for the Gentiles, the uncircumcision. It’d be like calling someone a redneck, a honky, a cracker. Except worse. And Paul writes to them not to worry. He writes to them saying that once they were separated from Christ, but no more.
Once, it was because the Gentiles had rejected God and His Law that they were separated from God. They could not be a part of Israel because they rejected God’s commands, and they rejected His promises. They were strangers and enemies of God. But, because of Christ, actually, more accurately, because of the blood of Christ, Paul says, they have been brought near to God, that means, they have been saved by the blood of Christ.
And this is kind of a big deal because, as the Gentiles saw the physical differences here between themselves and the Jews, as they saw what circumcision does to one’s body, they couldn’t help but think of themselves as different, as less-than. But, Paul says that because of the blood of Christ, they are now in Christ, and they have peace, for Christ is our peace.
Now, if I were an Ephesian, I would be asking myself, but the blood of Christ, that was shed nearly 30 years ago, what good does that do me today? And as a American Lutheran in the 20th century, I ask, the blood of Christ was shed nearly 2000 years ago, what good does that do me today?
The fact that Jesus’ blood was spilled does no one any good, that Jesus died upon a tree so long ago does no one any good, unless that blood can come to you today. Many people have died over history’s long, well, history. But none of them do me any good. Only the sacrifice of the God-man, Jesus Christ, could ever even save one like me. But, it does no good unless His cross, which is His flesh and blood, dying and rising for me, can come to me today.
And it would have done no good for the Ephesians either, unless it could come to them at the time in which they lived. But it does. The blood does come to them. And it comes to you. It comes to you in Holy Baptism, where you are washed in the blood of the Lamb. And it comes to you in His Sacrament of the Altar this day, as Christ will go into you, His shed blood for the forgiveness of all of your sins.
And this is great for us, because without the blood of Christ, we have no life. The Old Testament teaches us that the life is in the blood. The life of Christ is in His blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. And without the blood of Christ, we have no life, the life that we have in His name, the life that lasts for all eternity, the life that we will be given in the Resurrection. And of course, we want that, we need that.
But, wait, remember, we’re talking about the Law, right? Doesn’t Paul say the Law is abolished? Not quite. You see, Paul is talking about the works of the hands. Circumcision, a command by God, is still done with the work of human hands. It is that act that would separate Gentiles and Jews. But, Christ, Himself circumcised on the eighth day of His life, bore for us the required work of human hands. And more, because He did this, because He kept the Law perfectly, because He, according to the work of His flesh, was perfect in every way, and because He draws you near to Him by the reception of His shed blood, He breaks down all hostility. He breaks down the walls of separation. He breaks down everything, for Christ has died for the Jew and for the Gentile, He has died for you, and He has died for me. The Law is completed in Him, the Law finds its fulfillment in Him, and thus, the Law, with all of its accusing power, has no more power to damn you. If you are drawn near by Christ, you are indeed saved.
And because we are saved in Him, we have peace; He, in fact, is our peace. There is no more hostility between God and man. You see, if we truly knew, or even if we acknowledged, the depth of our sins, we would realize that we deserve nothing but the wrath of God. We would realize that we were at enmity with God; we would be His enemies in every way for all that we have done against Him and His Law. But, in Christ, He who kept the Law, He who earned life from the Father because of His perfection, we have no fear. Jesus gives us His blood, His perfect blood, and so we need nothing more to break down the hostility, for if we have His blood, we, too, have life forever, we have the promise of the Resurrection of the Dead.
He has reconciled every man to Himself in His body, Paul says, making the two groups, Jew and Gentile, one body, one holy temple. But, if there is no reconciliation, if you hold onto your judgment, hostility, envy, toward any of your fellow believers, you are taking yourself out of the Lord’s temple and throwing yourself off a cliff. Paul writes to the Gentiles to give them comfort; but Paul also confronted strongly the Jews who would judge the Gentiles as unworthy believers. Today, it may not be Jew and Gentile; it might just be us versus them, me versus her, you against anyone who disagrees with you.
But that’s not Christian. That’s not in Christ. That’s just plain sin. And it needs to stop. Whatever walls we set up are hurtful and harmful to the body of Christ. We sin against our neighbors. We hurt them in their bodies, in their minds, in their emotions, in their needs. We need to stop this. We’re making walls and alliances and hostility where Christ has broken down such things. And if it doesn’t stop, well, that says a lot about where our priorities are.
Paul tells us that our priority needs to be the peace of Christ, not only for me, but also as I share the peace of Christ with others. It used to be, that instead of our holy handshake, you would kiss the cheek of your brothers and sisters when you would share the peace. That kiss would show intimacy, it would show love, it would show humility, it would show reconciliation. And then, when that kiss of peace was given, the people of Christ would walk to the altar of the Lord together and receive true peace, the peace that is only found in the body broken and the blood shed for you.
But, we have a hard time doing that. According to our sinful selves, we would do well to listen to Luther. You shall not murder. What does this mean? Answer: We should fear and love God so that we may not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need. You shall not steal. What does this mean? Answer: We should fear and love God so that we may not take our neighbor’s money or property, nor get them with bad products or deals, but help him to improve and protect his property and business. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. What does this mean? Answer: We should fear and love God so that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, ‹think and› speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. What does this mean? Answer: We should fear and love God so that we may not craftily seek to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or obtain it by a show ‹of justice and› right, or any other means, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.
These are big ones, right? And these are always the ones we have trouble obeying, along with the other six. Yet, we have promised to do so here in this congregation. We have vowed to one another to do them. So, let us do them. Let us speak kindly toward one another, let us help one another, let us defend on another, let us do all that the Law commands. The Law of God is not abolished so that we can break it whenever we desire. The Law of God is abolished in that you no longer need fear it, for our Lord has kept it all and gives you the benefit of that perfect life.
Our Lord has not saved us so that we might have our way. The Lord has saved us so that we may have life in His name. And indeed we do. We have been given that life through the waters of Baptism, where we are claimed in God’s name by the washing of regeneration, the washing which is in His blood. We have been given life through the power of the Absolution, where there is not judgment from God, but mercy, grace, and forgiveness, won for us by the redeeming power of Christ’s blood. And we have been given life through the true broken body, the true shed blood, in, with, and under the bread and the wine, for the forgiveness of our sins.
If we have these things, we have no business creating walls of hostility among ourselves. And if you reject them, that’s exactly what you will do. But, if we have these things, all hostility is broken down, between God and man, between Jew and Gentile, between male and female, between person and person. All hostility is gone if you have Christ. And you have Christ, my friends. Which means you have His peace, that peace that shall see you through until the Last Day, the Day when our Lord removes even the wall between life and death.
On that day, we shall be raised, and we shall see that there are no barriers between people anymore, not the barriers we created in this life, not the barriers of hostility that were so important to us, there shall be no barrier of sin. Instead, we shall see Christ standing with His bride, the Church. We shall all see the temple we have been crafted into, the one true Church, Christ’s bride, built upon the teaching and the teachers of the Church, the apostles and the prophets, and all whom Christ gives to her, and we will be with Him in peace forever, without sin, without fear. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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