Sermon---July 23, 2006---Proper 11B

The Peace of Christ be with You!

Ephesians 2:11-22

"The peace of Christ be with you!" I begin this morning with a benediction which usually comes at the end. Why?---Because it is the central theme of today's Epistle, but it has also been the keynote of my ministry among you---to present the peace of Christ as a reality in our parish life.

I don't intend to review the accomplishments and shortcomings of my ministry with you. These you know all too well. The central purpose of any sermon is to glorify Jesus Christ. This sermon will focus on Jesus Christ being our peace.

In today's Epistle from Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, Paul shares these words about Jesus.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For HE IS OUR PEACE, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and 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 bringing the hostility to an end." (Ephesians 2:13-16)

These words tell us that Jesus Christ makes peace personal. Jesus transforms peace from an ideal into a real living person embodied in Himself. Jesus IS our peace!

What does that statement mean for us who yearn not only for peace in the world, peace within our beloved Church, and also peace within ourselves?

Today's Epistle begins by speaking of a universal condition of alienation which is two -fold. First, the people of the world (the Gentiles) were alienated from Christ. Secondly, these Gentiles were alienated from the people of God (Israel). They were "strangers to the covenant of promise." They had "no hope". They were "without God in the world."(Ephesians 2:12)

Such a state of affairs leads to a lack of peace in the world as well as within human beings themselves.

Consider the world into which Jesus Christ came. There was a spiritual emptiness. The golden age of Greece had passed with its panoply of gods and goddesses. Their names were changed to fit Roman tastes. The temple buildings were still there along with a paid priesthood, but the substance of the old religion was gone. The people went through the religious motions, but there was no sense of personal fellowship with the civic gods.

You and I were exactly in the same plight before we had the opportunity to enter into a personal belief in Jesus Christ. Our religion was a matter of habit inherited from others. It was centered on either paying our respects to a God spoken of by others or we had our own philosophy which served as our religion. It could have been a definite code of ethical behavior which distinguished us from those who had different ideas of right and wrong. It also could have been a vague belief in the "good life" distinguished by a yearning for prosperity and respect for ourselves and our families. What we were lacking at that point in our lives was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To many of us, Jesus was a historical figure who preached and did good things. However, our present day life was not characterized by a lasting peace because the peace we thought we were seeking was a human creation. Our mindset went something like this. If the diplomats could only get fair treaties between nations. If the military could only get a handle on the terrorists. If the politicians could only pass beneficial laws. If the business and laboring interests could only work out an accommodation to keep the economy in balance. All these things would create the peace we seek.

History is showing us that these human initiated courses are not working to bring any lasting peace. War begets war. Terror begets terror. Trying to balance self-centered interests begets more self-centered demands. Hatred and prejudice begets more of both. What are we to do?

What we discover is that the initiating for peacemaking begins with God Himself. That is the earth-transforming message of the gospel. Today's Epistle tells us that "in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ."(Ephesians 2:11) What are those wonderful words picturing?

Being "brought near" is a picture of personal conversion to the centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives. In the typical synagogue of Paul's time, there were the circumcised "insiders" and the "hearers" who sat on the outside of the gathering for worship. The women were segregated into still another section. The "hearers" admired the Jewish ethical law and the integrity of people who practiced it, but they did not belong because they had not undergone the required rite of circumcision. That required ceremony was a real barrier for many people. It was an embarrassing and painful ritual which kept many males and all Gentile females from becoming members of the Jewish Covenant.

Paul faced this dilemma as he carried the gospel among the Gentiles. How were they to become people blessed by God's covenant? Paul realized that God had to do something extraordinary to overcome this barrier so that the people of the world could be reconciled to Him. What brought these outsiders "near"---the hearers and the women---was the coming of Jesus Christ.

That extraordinary action of God began with His incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth. God "became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) Today's Epistle says that God abolished "in His flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man (by whom he means the Body of Christ---the Church) in place of the two," (that is the Jew and Gentile as separated people). Thereby Jesus made a very unique kind of peace by creating a new community of people united to Himself. (Ephesians 2:15)

Thus, Jesus in the flesh did a very fleshly deed in bringing this peace---shedding His blood on the cross. Jesus accomplished two things by this extraordinary action. He abolished "in His flesh the law of commandments" and He also abolished the law of "ordinances".

The law of commandments refers to the moral law. When we look at what Paul said in his other letters, we realize that the death of Jesus did not abolish the moral law itself, but it did abolish the obligation of following the moral law as a requirement for our salvation. Requiring the following of the moral law in order to receive eternal life with God was divisive. It worked against peace and encouraged human pride. Our salvation comes only through the shedding of Jesus' blood fulfilling God's required sacrifice in order for us to receive God's forgiveness for our transgressions of His moral law. We are still to follow God's moral law based on the Ten Commandments as a grateful response to His saving action for us.

While the shed blood of Jesus did not abolish the law of commandments---the moral law as a requirement for salvation and inclusion in the Church , it did abolish the law of ordinances--by which Paul meant the ceremonial law. Thus the ritual of circumcision was no longer a requirement for inclusion in God's Covenant. A hearer coming to worship God could now be included in the Body of Christ--the Church--no matter what his/her previous background had been. Thus Paul could say (as he did to the Galatians --3:28)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

This is the basis of true peace. All people are offered a nearness to God which had not been possible before Jesus shed His blood on the cross.

What does all this say to us as we face the future? The purpose of us being one in Christ is to live into the full implications of the peace of Christ. Essentially, that peace is not a mere absence of conflict. In fact, conflict might even be a means to that Christ-centered peace.

Christ-centered peace is a positive state of life in which each of us is allowed to grow into his/her potential. It is a condition of intimacy which allows each of us to be ourselves, where we can be honest with one another as we live into (what I talked about last week) God's plan of being His household of faith.

What is our part in responding to what Jesus Christ did for us in becoming our peace? How do we respond gratefully to the shedding of Jesus' blood for us?

First, Christ's peace needs to be at the center of our prayers. In the coming months, we must pray that the peace of Christ will prevail, not only in the conflicts of the Middle East, but also in the struggles of our own church. Christ's peace is the realization of His highest good for us and all others in what we face together.

Second, we must make a diligent effort together to recover the full biblical vision of peace found in the 384 references to peace in the Bible. Look them up in any concordance and reflect on these biblical passages in their contexts. You will discover a rich revelation of God's purpose for us.

Finally, we must keep before us that we the Church are the continuing embodiment of the peace of Christ. We are Jesus' Body meant to unite all people in Him. We exist to show Jesus Christ as the way of access to God. We don't just quote John 14:6 (Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me), but we live our lives so that all people whom we meet will see Jesus personally in you and me as the "way" the "truth" and the "life" giving them access to God. As someone said,

"You and I may be the only Jesus many people will see." Let us be the embodiment of Christ's peace in what we say and do.

My brothers and sisters, the peace of Christ be with you as you continue to be the St. Thomas expression of the Body of Christ in Thomasville.

The Rev. Charles M. Bennett