Ephesians 2:19-22
I often say that the week of Easter is the best week of my year. The services begin with Palm Sunday and then move to our Seder Meal on Thursday, our Good Friday service, and culminate Sunday with our Easter sunrise service, breakfast, and morning service. These services are so packed with meaning that each year I am spiritually healed and encouraged. I tell people that is the best week of the year to visit us here in Rabat.
But these weeks in June are the most difficult weeks of my year as we say goodbye to people who leave RIC for their next assignment. In saying goodbye I often talk about an image Saint-Exupery (who wrote The Little Prince) used in his book, Wind, Sand and Stars. This is a book that talks about his experience of flying in the 1920s and 1930s for what later became Air France. He flew postal routes across the Pyrenees and across Morocco down to Dakhla. In these early days of flying, accidents were more frequent and Saint-Exupery lost many friends. After hearing of the death of one more friend, he wrote:
Bit by bit, nevertheless, it comes over us that we shall never again hear the laughter of our friend, that this one garden is forever locked against us. And at that moment begins our true mourning, which, though it may not be heart-rending, is still slightly bitter. For nothing, in truth, can replace that companion. Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak.
So life goes on. For years we plant the seed, we feel ourselves rich; and then come other years when time does its work and our plantation is made sparse and thin. One by one, our comrades slip away, deprive us of their shade.
Fortunately for us, we do not lose very many people to death, but their departure is still a death experience and we are deprived of the shade their friendship provides. What is encouraging to those of us who remain behind is that new saplings grow quickly and we are once again able to relax in the shade of friendships that develop with the new arrivals to RIC.
When I reflect back on the past fourteen and a half years and remember the people who have come and gone, I realize how great a privilege it has been to have made friends with so many wonderful people. They have come and gone but they remain in my heart.
Just this week I received an email from a young man who returned to his country in 2007 and now has a wife and two children. His email brought gladness to my heart as I remembered him. He wrote to say that he may visit Rabat next year. It is always wonderful to have friends return.
The text this morning from Paul’s letter: Ephesians, is a celebration of the beauty and diversity of the family of God that we experience at RIC.
Patrick, Elliot and I have been preaching the last few weeks from the opening two chapters of Ephesians which lifts up all that Jesus has done to rescue us. We once were far off, apart from God, enemies of God, the walking dead, with our focus on this world and our hearts lost for eternity. But Jesus brought us near and we entered into the eternal family of God.
Christians often talk about how Jesus died for me, and that is true, but the deeper truth is that Jesus died for us. We were saved into a family, into a community. The text this morning lifts up this deeper truth and leads to the rest of the letter which emphasizes the need for unity in the body of Christ.
We were lost, cut off, but now because of the sacrificial work of Jesus we have been brought near.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,
Most of us know what it is like to be a foreigner and alien. Even those of us who are fluent in Moroccan Arabic realize that we are still foreign to the culture of Morocco. We may have insights into the culture, but we are not part of the culture. We carry a different passport. Most likely, we speak with a different accent. We are separated from Moroccans by our appearance, our language, our dress, our habits, our expectations, our experiences, our cultural knowledge, and many other ways. We have a different identity.
But we have been chosen by God to be his sons and daughters, brought into one family by the work of Jesus. When we meet local followers of Jesus, we realize that we share a bond that is far more significant than our differing nationalities. We have a common identity that is far more powerful than all the differences among us. We not only have a common citizenship that gives us rights as citizens of heaven, we are members of God’s household. We do not walk by God’s household, selling our products and services. We do not visit God’s household to have tea. We are members. We belong to God’s household. God’s house is our home.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Our youngest daughter worked in the south of Tanzania, in Mtwara, for a year after high school before she started university. This region is populated by the Makonde tribe and their carvings are beautiful. We stayed with our daughter in Mtwara for a week and in that one week, the local carvers learned that there were some crazy wazungu (Swahili for white people) who bought a lot of carvings. So every day a new vendor would appear at the door with a sack full of beautiful carvings. We bought elephants of all sizes, marriage chains with the image of a man and a woman connected by a chain- all carved from a single piece of wood, and we bought towers of interconnected people. I brought two of them with me this morning. A picture of one of them is on the bulletin cover. (Click here to see an example.)
I am still happy about everything we bought. We gave some away as presents and kept many for ourselves. They are beautiful. What I like about the towers of interconnected people is that they remind me of how interconnected we are as followers of Jesus. The Makonde call them “trees of life” because they represent the family genealogy. They wonderfully illustrate for me the image Paul uses of the Body of Christ in which we are all interconnected and dependent on one another.
As members of God’s household, we are a living temple, being constructed so we can give praise to Jesus. We stand on the shoulders of the generations that have preceded us. Paul wrote that the foundation of this living temple are the apostles and prophets. So we stand on the shoulders of Peter, James, John, and the other disciples. We stand on the shoulders of Isaiah and Micah and the other prophets who saw into a future they did not completely understand and spoke of Jesus who was to come. The first generation of those who became followers of Jesus stood on these shoulders and as Jesus has rescued members of each generation the temple has continued to rise over the centuries. We are now at the top of the temple but unless Jesus comes soon, there will be future generations standing on our shoulders.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
We all stand on the shoulders of Jesus. Let me play you an Adidas ad that playfully points this out.
Jesus is the chief cornerstone. Take Jesus out and the entire building will collapse. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:12–19, without Jesus being raised from the dead, we have nothing.
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. … if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
If Jesus was only a good man, then we have no faith. If Jesus was nothing more than a moral teacher, we are still lost. If Jesus was not God in the flesh, then we are still heading toward eternal destruction.
The moment we take our eyes off Jesus and begin to pursue what the world has to offer, we begin to slip away from any security we have that we will be saved. When we stop holding on to Jesus we lose our footing in our place in the living temple being constructed.
Let me make some applications from the truth contained in this image.
Because we are all connected, what you do affects others. We do not live isolated Christian lives, hermetically sealed off from all others. Our actions affect those in our community.
When Moses received the law from God on Mt. Sinai, he revealed himself to Moses and said, (Exodus 34:6–7)
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
This is a Semitic blessing that is found four times in the Bible. There are some who give a spiritual interpretation of this and speak of cutting off generational curses – and it does not hurt to do that. But this blessing was spoken at a time when there were not nursing homes. Families lived together. Young parents with children lived with their parents and sometimes grand-parents, all in the same house – four generations. When one person sinned, all were affected. When Achan kept some of the spoils of Jericho in his tent, he and his entire family were killed. All were affected by his sin.
When parents divorce, the children are affected and their children will be affected. When a father commits suicide, his children and grandchildren are affected by his action. Anger, greed, bitterness all affect the entire family.
What is true in families is also true in our Christian community. When you give in to sexual temptation, the brothers and sisters in Christ who are close to you will be affected by your action. When you refuse to reconcile, this disrupts the harmony and unity of the entire body. This is even more true if you are a leader in the church. We look to our leaders for inspiration and encouragement and when they fall, it affects our faith.
When we sin, others are affected by our sin, not just ourselves.
On the positive side, when we use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us, we build up the brothers and sisters around us. Paul writes about spiritual gifts in Ephesians 4 and then says, (Ephesians 4:15–15)
speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
When you sit on your gifts, for whatever reason, the body of Christ suffers. When you use your gifts, the church is blessed. Your brothers and sisters in Christ need you. The church is dependent on you. You are not alone. You do not live for yourself. You are part of the living temple being constructed to give praise to Jesus.
Your relationships with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ are important. When there is unity, the living temple is strong. When there is disunity, the living temple is weakened. Read through Paul’s letters to the churches and see how often he is pleading for unity. When we come back to Ephesians next year after Easter, this will be the theme of the rest of the letter.
At the end of his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote: (Philippians 4:2–3)
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
It grieved Paul to see these two leaders of the church cut off from each other in some dispute. It hurt him because of his affection for them and it hurt him because their dispute meant the church in Philippi was suffering because of their broken relationship.
When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he warned them against behavior that was creating disunity. (2 Corinthians 12:20–21)
I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
These lists of negative behavior are opposed by the New Testament writers, not simply because they create problems between ourselves and God, but because they disrupt the unity Jesus died for. Our sin breaks apart relationships Jesus died to create.
I mentioned last week that we do not get to choose our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus chooses them for us and we have the responsibility to work in harmony with them.
This is a problem in every church, today and throughout the centuries of church history, and we desperately need to extend grace to each other. In our international church, it is often the case that people are communicating in English which is a second or third language. When this happens, it is easy for misunderstandings to occur. We have difficulty expressing ourselves as clearly as we need to when we are missing the words to say exactly what we mean. We need to be patient and extend grace toward each other.
Our RIC Covenant expresses this need.
With the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we propose to walk together in Christian love, to watch over one another in brotherly love, to remember each other in prayer, to aid each other in sickness and distress, to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech, to be slow to take offense but always ready to be reconciled.
We need to be slow to take offense and always ready to be reconciled. When someone says or does something that offends me, I try to think about what is happening in that person’s life that leads them to say or do what they did. When I think I understand what is behind the words or action, it is much easier for me to be gracious and not take offense. This is what I encourage you to do. Be slow to take offense but quick to be reconciled.
Pray for others in the church. Your prayers build the body, make the living temple more powerful. Make it a habit to do acts of kindness for each other. Think creatively about how you can bless the brothers and sisters around you.
What we do affects others.
It is also important to learn from those who have come before you. You stand on the shoulders of the apostles and prophets, and you also stand on the shoulders of the generations that have preceded you. We read the letters of Peter and Paul. We read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We read the writings of the prophets. We also need to read the writings of the early church fathers. Read the sermons of Augustine and learn about his life. Read about the lives of those who lived and sacrificed for Jesus through the centuries.
In every generation, Jesus called people to come and work with him. Some of those have written accounts of their lives. The library has a lot of biographical accounts of these brothers and sisters on whose shoulders you stand. Learn about those who have come before you and on whose shoulders you stand. Read their stories and be challenged and encouraged.
We have amazing people in our own RIC community. Look around the church and see who it is you admire and then make it a point to get to know that person. Take time to have a tea or coffee and listen to the story of how that person became a follower of Jesus. As the relationship develops, ask questions. Make friendships with people older than you. With age comes experience which leads to wisdom. Learn from the generation that has proceeded you.
I have loved listening to the parents who have taken the Parenting Children and Parenting Teenagers courses. During the sessions, there is group discussion and it is amazing to hear how helpful it is for parents to know they are not the only ones who have fears and anxieties about parenting. There are no expert parents. All parents are doing this for the first time and it helps a lot to know others are facing similar problems and challenges. A major benefit of the parenting courses is to know “I am not the only one.”
Be inspired by those who have come before you. You are not the first person in the history of the church to struggle with temptation. When you hear stories of those who have been able to resist temptation, be inspired that you too can find the strength to resist.
When you find opposition to your faith too much to bear, be encouraged by those who have stood up under much greater opposition. The writer of Hebrews wrote to Jews who had become followers of Jesus but because of the persecution of Christians, thought they might go back to being Jews. The writer of Hebrews reminded them of those who had proceeded them. In chapter 11 he lists the great heros of our faith. He begins with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab. Then he continues: (Hebrews 11:32-38)
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them.
You stand on the shoulders of many who lived for Jesus, who sacrificed what the world offered for the sake of Jesus. The world is not worthy of them and we stand on their shoulders.
The writer of Hebrews continues in chapter 12:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
We draw strength from those who preceded us and follow their example by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
When we stand with each other, building up and encouraging each other, the living temple of which we are a part broadcasts to the world the truth we live.
Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica: (1 Thessalonians 1:6–8)
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.
The best witness of Jesus is not a well-written tract or a cleverly designed presentation of the gospel. The best witness of Jesus is a community united in praise of Jesus, living out on a daily basis what is proclaimed when the community meets in worship.
This was the prayer of Jesus in the upper room. He prayed for unity and then this: (John 17:23)
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
When the living temple is strong, we send a powerful message that Jesus is God and that we are loved by God.
One last point, notice that this living temple is filled with the Holy Spirit.
22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Paul talks in his letters about each of us being the temple of the Holy Spirit, but here he talks about all of us together being the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is really inevitable. Since it is the work of the Holy Spirit to transform us into holy creatures and since God works to create, build, and unite, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit we will be drawn together.
I can live alone and God can shine through me, but the light is so much more powerful when God shines through the community of faith. I am a flashlight for Jesus but we are a floodlight for Jesus. May he shine brightly through our community at RIC.
