“It’s hard to believe—no, impossible”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, October 28, 2023
Ephesians 2:13-22 (Forward, p. 91) CEV p. 1223
While the apostle Paul is speaking of something far in the distant past and in a context and world that may well seem very unlike our old, it has a rather strange and striking relevance.
Jews and Gentiles at the time of Christ, and shortly thereafter, were entirely separate in terms of their everyday dealings. Good, pious Jews avoided contact with Gentiles whenever possible and such was their loathing of any contact with them that they scrupulously washed their hands and dusted off their sandals upon coming home—as if to ward off any contamination from their encounter. Furthermore, many Gentiles saw Jews as hopelessly superstitious, backward and out of touch. And what was worse was that many Jews hated the Gentiles with an intense loathing—to the point as thinking that their own legitimate fate were the fires of Hell! And yet, Paul says that Jesus, in His own death on the Cross, has bridged the separation, the walls of hostility between the two. Indeed, to us today with the clarity of hindsight—looking back at Christian-Jewish relations over the centuries--might well say, ‘oh, that we might wish that this were true’.
But thinking of groups with an implacable and seemingly irresolvable hatred, what about Jews and Moslems in our world today. Think of the situation between Israel and much of the Arab or Moslem world. Could we ever believe that a reconciliation, a bridging of the separation, was possible or achievable?
The noted preacher, A. Leonard Griffith, once proposed a method by which this might work. Suppose a child of a mixed marriage, of a Jewish mother and Moslem father, took on the task of reconciliation. Suppose he actually found a way to get them together to talk. And suppose he dropped dead on the job—here, I would deviate a bit and suggest that he was the victim of a misguided plot by over-zealous fanatics on both sides. What would be the outcome? Might not it be possible that both sides would see the error and short-sightedness of their ways? This possibility really does seem quite unimaginable, even impossible, given the intrenched views of both sides, but that is exactly what Paul suggests happened in Christ Jesus.
And, certainly, in another sense, it is exactly what happened, but in terms of God and us. Jesus was born of an earthly, Jewish mother and a heavenly father, none other than God Himself. His, therefore, was of mixed parentage. And, of these two entities there was indeed a separation and a hostility. Humankind as a group had turned its back on God and declared that it would go its own way, totally independent upon God. And, during His earthly ministry, Jesus as one of us, one that estranged group, sought to bring heaven and earth together. And died on the job, a result of a conspiracy, you might say, involving both Jew and Gentile.
So, maybe, just maybe, a ‘proper’ reconciliation between Jew and Gentile, Jew and Christian, might just happen. And maybe between other alienated groups as well. And yes, maybe even between Israeli and Arab. Who knows? It did happen with us and God, so who knows where else, in God’s economy, it might happen as well. It is an incredible prospect, and hope. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Forward notes: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God”
(verse 19).
“This passage from Ephesians speaks of the tendency to divide groups into insiders and outsiders. Although my church started as a ministry of Japanese immigrants and began with worship in English and Japanese, the ethnic demographics of the area has change. Now, the surrounding neighbourhood is largely Spanish-speaking immigrants from Latin American countries.
“The inclusion of both the Japanese-American, English-speaking, longtime members with the newer Spanish-speaking local residents has not been without challenges, but when the two groups combine for multilingual worship, it is truly a glimpse of the kingdom of God. A vast array of musical, linguistic, and culinary diversity is shared.
“We may not all speak the same language, but we can bring our unique languages, histories, and cultures to worship the same God who delights in our diversity. What unites us is our love for God, and we can extend that love for God to the love of our neighbours.”
Moving Forward: “Attend worship where people don’t look or sound like you. How does the experience shape your understanding of the Body of Christ?”