Ephesians 2, Part 5
Have you ever heard someone refer to a bricks and mortar building as “God’s house”? I cringe just a bit inwardly when I hear that. I cringe because we are not theologically correct to call a physical building, “God’s house.” In the Old Testament, God resided among his people in a literal building, the tabernacle, then eventually the temple. But no longer.
This week studying Ephesians 2, we’ve followed Paul’s argument about unity in the church. In case there is any shred of uncertainty about what he means about unity in Jesus, he says more in 17-20, and what he says relates to calling church buildings “God’s house,”
“[Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
You are in! it doesn’t matter that you don’t have a Jewish heritage, you are in. Jesus made it possible.
I love the metaphors that Paul uses to describe just how deeply it is that we are in. We are citizens with God’s people. And we are members of his household.
The citizen imagery reminds us we are citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus. These temporary nations of the world that we are born in, automatically becoming citizens of, pale in comparison to the citizenship that we have in the kingdom of God.
Citizenship in the kingdom of God is amazing, but the kingdom is huge. A citizen can feel like one tiny part of a massive organization. You usually don’t get to know the leaders in the massive organization like a king. They are distant, often inaccessible. But household? That is much more personal, relational. You know all the people in the household, and you know them intimately.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, whatever barrier to entrance existed has been torn down, and we are in. The kingdom and the family. God wants to be close to us.
Paul concludes in verses 21-22,
“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Now another metaphor. God wants to live in his house. What house? A physical building like a church? The Spirit of God is in you, and individual person, and collectively, the people of the church. In this new work of Jesus, God, through his Spirit, was to reside in us.
All can be part of the group in which God wants to make his home.
Here in Ephesians 2, Paul clearly notes that there should be unity in the church, precisely because of the salvation available to us by God’s grace in Christ. This has significant implications for the American church in 2026. Are we unified? If not, why not? And what can we do about it? Of course, no one local church, can solve the disunity in our nation, but we can do something about it.
As N. T. Wright suggests in his book The Vision of Ephesians, “The church of Jesus is the small working model of new creation,” when it pursues diversity and multiculturalism. At Faith Church, the diversity present in our church family is beautiful. The diversity present in our church building is beautiful. But we need to pursue it more.
What can we do to tear down the walls further?
Do you have in groups and out groups in your own church family? Are there people who you notice sitting by themselves? Reach out to them.
Maybe you’re thinking, “I wish people would reach out to me.” Take the first step. Reach out, even if you wish people would reach out to you.
It is hard to reach out, isn’t it? We would much rather sit in the same pews, sit at the same tables in the fellowship hall, go to the same classes. Even if you are shy. Take the initiative, just like Jesus took the initiative to reach you. Think about how sacrificial he was, and do likewise.
Also, when thinking about the specific concern of ethnic diversity, what could you do to better reach out to the many diverse groups that live around you, or who are in your church family?
My congregation, Faith Church, has rented to so many diverse ethnicities over the years: Hispanic, Ethiopian, Honduran, Burmese, and Puerto Rican churches meeting in our building. Currently a Haitian church, and a Nepalese Church. All of them, including the other rental churches that are American are followers of Jesus. There is no in group or out group. We could do better at connecting.
Dream of ways to connect, worship together, serve together, fellowship together. Take the initiative to break down the wall, just as Jesus did lovingly, sacrificially for us.
What barriers are there in your heart and mind? What do you need to ask the Spirit to break down? What do you need to confess?
Whenever you celebrate communion from this point forward, may it remind you of how sacrificially Jesus loved us, and inspire you to live with the same sacrificial love toward the people in your church family and community.
Photo by Erika Giraud on Unsplash
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