Pentecost +8 O16B
Ephesians 2:11-22
July 19, 2015
In the name of Christ who is our peace. Amen.
What’s in a handshake?
Why do we do it?
What about germs and such?
Isn’t there a better way to greet someone, to agree on something, to bid good bye?
It wasn’t until 2800 BC that the tradition of shaking hands began (and my information is
from another pastor so I’m trusting his fact checking)
Back in Egypt, as in other parts,
warriors and leaders often carried weapons in their hands
and so when they came upon one another –
well putting your hand out with a weapon often led to danger.
The act of shaking hands required(s) enemies to put down their weapons, therefore
greeting each other in vulnerability and peace.
Here’s my open hand – see – no weapon –
I’m not going to hurt you…
It’s a revolutionary idea –
to greet an enemy in a vulnerable position.
Because it could go all wrong in a moment…or it could go all right…
And we often think of swords, guns, knives...
but what if we also dropped our weapons of fear, of speech, of antagonism, of
emotional manipulation?
How might peace look then?
It seems to me that the letter to the Ephesians is still 'on trend' for all communities
today.
The church in Ephesus had a dilemma –
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how to do previous enemies now become one in Christ?
How do they sit and share worship, a meal, a witness when all that they have known –
and what has been supported and enculturated –
has been difference, hatred, separateness.
What then?
Let’s look at this from our 21st century liv and how we live this out here…
We begin worship with Confession & forgiveness,
a reminder of our baptism and the peace that we have in Christ.
Our sinful selves were drowned to death and we were made new.
Our sins are forgiven.
Our chains are gone.
Thanks be to God.
And it is an intentional reason why as a congregation,
we get up to share a sign of peace –
handshake, kiss, hug, victory sign –
after receiving the absolution of our sins…
we witness together that we are the body of Christ in the House of God.
We witness that the walls separating us have been torn down.
Opening our hands to one another invites the Holy Spirit to work in us.
It’s a choice that we make for ourselves and for one another –
and so when the writer of the letter digs deep into what it means to be
one in Christ,
he knows the back story of these people.
They have long cultural and social walls
that are nurtured in antagonism, fear, and hostility.
Now – as a new community,
there will be growing pangs in the development of a respectful relationship between
these former social, religious, and political enemies.
They are just learning this and it’s not an easy process.
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We struggle that ability as well –
to let the walls of our fears down and to empty our hands of weapons
that hurt one another.
Yes – we are here this morning to worship together,
to let the Holy Spirit in together, to hear the Good News proclaimed and yes – to
welcome another person into the body of Christ.
But when we leave here,
how do we engage with one another?
How do we engage the community?
Do we pick up our weapons at the door or do we leave them abandoned –
so that tools for growing can be made out of them?
Do we reengage the walls between us or leave them scattered?
We see signs of physical walls separating people everywhere we go…
gated communities and home security systems complete with video surveillance.
Unequal educational systems and extreme costs for higher education. Unaffordable
housing and lack of jobs creates walls as well.
Then there are the walls that are built to keep the other out –
the Great Wall of China,
the Berlin Wall,
the wall separating Palestine and Israel,
the wall along the US/Mexico border –
all these walls that if you truly pray and discern about it –
are merely facades of a peace that we crave while at the same time saying,
“We don’t want to honor you as one of God’s creation.”
I can hear you saying…but Pastor…and I hear you.
I’ve had those thoughts as well.
This living in peace thing is difficult for all of us.
We fight it within our minds and with each other and yet,
through God’s grace,
we all come and sit together in this House of God –
as people of God.
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And I’m sure Paul heard those arguments as well.
Which is why immediately after Blessing God and greeting the community,
the letter launches into a life of Peace in Christ.
The world is broken – it was in the first century and continues to be.
Elvis Costello sang, as many others have,
As I walk through this wicked world searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity.
I ask myself, is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside, there’s one thing I want to know:
What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?
And so the message for the Ephesians and for us is to live in the reality that
peace has come.
The writer points to Christ – in whom there is already reconciliation.
There is no more longing or hoping for – it is here!
Because of Christ’s death, the walls that separate us are taken down –
It isn’t in the liturgy to bestow tranquility in the midst of worship
but to symbolize the restoration of community needed for worship.
Our Peace broke the dividing wall –
the hostility and fear between us so that we too are citizens with the saints
and members of God’s house.
We are –
not this mortar, brick, steel and wood structure –
we are dwelling places for God.
Through baptism –
we were made as one in Christ – which we will all witness shortly –
and together we proclaim the forgiveness of sin and eternal life in the creed and the
meal.
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Our attitudes, our priorities, our commitment have the amazing ability
to empower and engage the world outside of this place.
To live the opposite of the don’ts in the law –
to love, live, honor, appreciate, and give.
Ultimately, that is what peace in the world is about —
creating just, beloved community on earth as it is in heaven.
Peace isn’t a call to retreat. It’s a commission.
It isn’t an invitation to quiet stillness. It’s a sending forth into the world.
It’s not the cessation of violence, but the creation of justice.
Think about those at Mother Emmanuel in Charleston,
in the days after the violence,
refuted the call to arm themselves.
Or the Kansas church that friend visited who installed a “no
guns” placard at the door (where carrying a weapon in that
state is a legal right).
This week, the church gathered in Detroit to learn how to be peacemakers in abject
poverty. Lots of folks didn’t want to go to Detroit three years ago when it was
announced and yes there were many challenges. BUT – God doesn’t send us to easy
places to proclaim the Good News. We are sent to rise up with one another –to show
up, to listen, and to open our hands…
These things are bold in that they acknowledge that peace is here,
that reconciliation has occurred –
even if there are others who don’t believe it.
This kind of peacemaking is different because it enables us
to engage in unexpected and sometimes foolish ways –
which the rest of the world might think are hopeless situations.
The peace that we have in Christ is for all people –
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for those both near and far –
as we are one in Christ.
May the peace that passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Amen.
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