Brought together by the blood of Christ

 This week's verses are Ephesians 2:11-22:

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands— that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship 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 used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In these verses, the apostle Paul is simultaneously talking about the grace that allowed the Gentiles to be saved despite not having any prior connection with God, and about the destruction that Jesus brings to denominationalism in those who follow him. He's reminding these Gentile believers that they did nothing to earn the invitation Jesus extends to them to join His kingdom, and yet they are now on equal terms with the Jewish believers who had been discriminating against them and treating them as if they were still outcasts.

It's simultaneously humbling and vindicating. As a Gentile believer, you're reminded of the fact that you had nothing to offer, that the Jewish believers could just as easily have continued on following God without ever knowing you existed. That you had nothing they needed and nothing God needed that would justify the gift you now have. But you have that gift, and nobody can tell you it doesn't belong to you.

Charity can be embarrassing and humiliating to receive. That's why our sinful pride sometimes prevents us from accepting much needed charity, not because we're too good to accept it, but because we're too selfish to face reality. So Paul starts with the reality: "Look, you guys were bound for Hell and there was nothing you could do about it. You had nothing, and you could get nothing, and nobody would give you anything even if you knew to ask."

But then he also humiliates the Jewish believers a bit by pointing out that physical circumcision no longer matters. Their Jewishness no longer matters. All of their history, all of the holy separation from non-Jewish people and things and customs no longer matters. They are no longer distinct. They no longer have a yardstick they can use to measure themselves against the Gentile believers, because they are all one people now. They are not Jews and Gentiles, but Christians.

We don't like that either. We want to stand behind our Christian traditions, the two millennia of Mother Church, our doctrinal statements, our chart topping worship songs, and so on, and judge other denominations against the pieces we feel we do better at, but there are no denominations in heaven. There is only the Church. So we're like, "Why did I go to a Bible school?" "Why did I do catechism?" "Why do I feel happy when someone leaves another church and comes to ours?"

But we're not supposed to be divided. And we're not supposed to be outcasts or to have outcasts of our own. Jesus came to bring us together under his banner of peace. Someone who has been a Christian for 20 years is not better than someone who dedicated his life only this morning. None of us did anything to earn our place among the saved. There is no circumcision anymore to identify who is in and who is out. There is only Jesus and the formerly lost.

When we read these verses in humility, they are the most wonderful news in the world. We get salvation at no cost to us! Our enemies and competitors become our new brothers and sisters and friends! Instead of lobbing missiles at each other and snubbing each other at social events, we gather around a big table and share a meal in joy. We are no longer outsiders, divided against each other, and locked out of eternity.

But when we read these verses in pride, they are horrible news. They are offensive! Everything we and our ancestors fought for is meaningless? All of our good deeds count for nothing? We're on equal standing with losers? Our traditions don't matter? Our heritage and cultural identity can just be handed to others who have nothing in common with us? And do we really bring nothing of value to the equation? Are we really powerless to save ourselves? Are we really nothing but charity cases? Wards of the eternal state?

It reveals the question: Do we follow Jesus because we need him, or do we follow him to distinguish ourselves from others? Is Christianity our identity because it accessorizes well with our stance against injustice and our upholding of tradition to make us look good? Or is it our identity because all other distinctions were destroyed by the cross?

So if you find yourself making distinctions between you and other Christians, whether it is to pat yourself on the back or to lament how you don't fit in, remember Paul's words: But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.