Unity and Order - Pt. 2

 

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.  (Ephesians 2:13-21 ESV).

 

As I began to put my thoughts together for this second devotional dealing with the need for unity and order in the midst of the chaos and violence of our day, three leaders came to my mind. John F. Kennedy was one, along with his brother and friend, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m old enough to remember vividly the times leading up to each of their assassinations. It was another time of chaos in our nation. To some degree we seem to be repeating some of the same mistakes. Our reading today from the Apostle Paul’s letter to Asia Minor (Ephesus) seems so current. There was enormous prejudice within the churches. Jews and Gentiles simply could not overcome their differences. That prejudice was like a circle that separates “us” from “them.” It is the same today. The people inside the circle are “normal” people, who are most like ourselves. Because “we” inside the circle are “normal,” everyone outside the circle is “abnormal.”

 

The ancient Israelites thought of themselves as normal people and everyone else as abnormal. In fact, they thought that they alone were selected to receive God’s favor.

But through the prophet Isaiah God told them that the promised Savior was coming for all people. “I will . . . make you a light for the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). JFK said, “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

 

Praise God that Jesus came to destroy the sinful distinction we make between “normal” and “abnormal” humans. He is creating a new humanity. Jesus came to put to death the hostility of prejudice and to create a new community, no “us” and “them.” In all that we do and say, measure by that standard!