In June of 1990, I was fortunate to be in Berlin on a performing tour. After leaving Denmark, we entered what was then East Germany. This happened to be just days before borders came down, and we then made our way to Berlin. While we were in Berlin, the borders that had divided east from west did come down. And, while we were in Berlin, we were able to chop down our own piece of the wall. My piece of that memorable, insidious, hostile wall now sits on a bookshelf in my kitchen as a reminder of that trip and that historic event. It also always reminds me of something else - that walls of hostility, whether concrete or metaphoric, are created because of fear and they ultimately divide families and nations as the Berlin wall did for so many years.
As we look at today’s reading in Ephesians, we hear about dividing walls, the dividing wall of hostility that had existed between “Jew” and “Gentile.” The heart of this reading is Paul’s reminder that in Jesus Christ these two distinctive peoples have become “one new humanity.” The powerful image of the dividing wall of hostility being broken down provides for us the good news that this world desperately needs to hear because we continue to fall into habitual battles that create walls of hostility.
Walls are created by conflict. While unfortunate, conflict is one of the most ordinary spaces in which we live. And, conflict creates both physical and metaphorical walls. Encampments form, and the dividing wall of hostility is constructed and often reconstructed, in spite of our best intentions. We don’t have to go too far to find walls of hostility that divide people today. There are plenty of them right here in front of our eyes. Instead of “Jew” and “Gentile,” it is now orthodox and progressive, mainline and evangelical, right and left, Republicans and Democrats, Israelites and Palestinians. Walls of hostility are built and the mudslinging we see between these divided groups just seems to increase. This petty pattern of mudslinging and wall construction often reminds me of when my children were little as they sat in the back seat of our car. Those sweet, little, innocent boys would draw an imaginary line between them and spit out venomous words like, “Don’t cross that line! Mom, he is touching me!”
Well, today the writer of Ephesians calls us to dream of and live into another day, a day without dividing walls. It says that Christ has already “made both groups into one, putting to death that hostility.” The peace of Christ that is proclaimed in this text is truly a shocking new reality in which former enemies who would not touch one another, let alone eat with one another, now reach out to one another in recognition of their common humanity. To further comprehend the astonishing proclamation in this reading we must gain a better understanding of what these words meant to the Ephesians. Living under the iron rule of Rome, these words directly challenged the boastful claims of Rome’s emperors, who saw themselves as the semi-divine forger of a new world peace. Likewise, these words would have seemed to undermine all systems that secure insider distinction and top-down privilege by setting up barriers that identify some as outsider or inferior. Theologian, Sally Brown, articulates the power these words had to the Ephesians who heard them. She writes:
It is crucial to recognize that any talk of peace within the context of Asia Minor in the late first century under Roman rule would be politically charged talk. Roman emperors, Augustus in particular, were hailed as the semi-divine inaugurators of an unprecedented peace that would settle the turbulent rivalries of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. This Roman brand of "peace," of course, was an enforced peace wrought through military dominance. When necessary, terror would be used -- specifically, the terror of crucifixion for anyone foolhardy enough to challenge peace on the Empire's terms. On state occasions and festival days such as the birthday of the emperor, when the emperor's "lordship' would be celebrated, the emperor as "peace-bringer" would be lauded in public speeches…. Therefore, to say “Christ is our peace” would be a pronouncement bordering on treason. What is being claimed, after all, is that despite all the swaggering claims of Rome's emperors, true peace has been inaugurated by a man the empire crucified. The dissonance between the chilling rhetoric of the state and the thrilling rhetoric of the Gospel would set any listener's blood racing.
The writer of Ephesians is declaring peace on new terms. It is a peace forged not by the "lords" of Empire in its manifold forms, but in the blood and bone of the Crucified One. The cross undermined the wall dividing Jew and non-Jew, but that is only the beginning. The new household of God is not a purely spiritual reality that we visit briefly on Sundays -- a weekly "time out" in which we pretend peace is possible by sitting next to people we scrupulously avoid the rest of the time. The church is the daring practice of a new politics -- a different kind of power, the self-outpoured, boundary-crossing power of Christ's cross. And we who are named and claimed by this boundary-crossing Christ, trust this power, letting it undermine every wall, until we are "built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God."
The destruction of the “dividing wall” that has been accomplished by Christ is good news for our divided communities, divided households, and divided selves. And, now, Kim is going to say more about how this really connects to our everyday life, about how this peace becomes incarnate within our very lives.
KIM O’BRIEN - It’s pretty much a joke in my family now that I cry when Pastor Ellen gives me communion. Just about every week. This past week, despite the bra advertisement that popped up on YouTube I still found myself tearing up at the words “The Body of Christ, given for you”. As I continued to kneel and accept this gift, my daughter finally looked over at me and said, “Are we going to get up or stay here for round two?”
Later in the week as I was driving Zakaria to the Williamston Fitness Center my anger was sparked by the Recall Petition Signing tent in McCormick Park. That spark ignited a meaningful discussion between Zakaria and I about religion. Zakaria described to me that Islam is like a boat that guides him, first learning to love himself and then spreading that love outward toward neighbors. As we continued on our separate ways I reflected on his message. I realized that his message was an unexpected gift that I needed to hear and I cannot give these gifts to myself. I need to live in community with other people to receive these gifts, and Zakaria was the gift-giver I needed that day.
I think that the second reading from Ephesians connects these two experiences from my week. I think another round of communion would be nice sometimes and I think Zakaria is right: love is the answer. Today we hear of the unity, peace, and membership gifted to us and to all people by God through the blood of Christ Jesus. Our culture today gives us countless options for dividing ourselves. (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Muslim, Republican, Democrat, Immigrant, Citizen, gay, straight, white, black, young, old. . .the list goes on) Pick a side and take a stand. So many divisions can often lead to feelings of anger, resentment, alienation and separation.
When I’m completely honest, I admit that sometimes I don’t limit my feelings of alienation and separation to other people in distant lands or family members who don’t see things the way I do. Sometimes I feel alienated even within myself, and even alienated from God. When I hear “The body of Christ, given for you” my first reaction is to look over my shoulder to see this amazing “you” that must be standing behind me. This enormous gift of grace cannot possibly be for me. But it is. Every time. For me. So, I kneel, and cry, and sometimes long for another round, as I accept this gift into the brokenness of my heart and feel its healing power. I need to accept the Grace of God who is calling something out of me, an ordinary stay-at-home mom in middle class Okemos, MI. I have to first accept this love into myself before I can share it with my neighbor. I need to recognize that I, like each one of you, am called to create peace, reconciliation and togetherness. God calls us to build His holy temple with the combined gifts that each one of us already has inside our hearts. Join me. Add your brick.