In the early years of our marriage, Kevin
and I became friends with Bonnie and Seth. Bonnie and I taught math together at WWH School. Like Kevin, Seth was a graduate
student, with a part-time teaching job in the university math department. About the same age—in our early 20s, at
the same stage of life—married with no children yet, all 4 of us math nerds, we
had a lot in common. Bonnie and
Seth were a hoot, and we often hung out together—watching movies, playing
games, and sharing meals. One
year, they invited us to share the Seder meal with them at Passover. Yes—Bonnie and Seth were Jewish. Because of the close relationship we
Gentiles shared with these Jewish friends, it’s a little hard for me to fully
understand the barrier of hatred—the dividing wall of hostility—referred to in today’s
text. But 2000 years ago, Jews and
Gentiles were not as close as Kevin & I and Bonnie & Seth.
Near
the end of the 1st century A. D., the Roman empire dominated the known
world, in all areas of life. More
than one of the Roman Caesars had been “officially” deified—legally named a god
and joined the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods who were worshiped. Jewish communities thrived in large
cities throughout the Roman empire, but the Jews kept to themselves. They worshiped “the one true God” and
believed themselves to be set apart by this God for God’s purposes. Circumcising their male children, the
Jews were bodily set apart.
Avoiding certain taboo foods and strictly adhering to the prescribed
manner of preparing their meals, Jews were socially set apart as well. Into their homes to share their meals
and the close camaraderie around their table, Jews invited only other
Jews. They separated themselves from
the unclean, unholy Greeks and Romans.
And these Gentiles separated themselves from the clique-ish, fundamentalist
Jews. Centuries of
separateness built up animosity and ill-will between the two groups. This segregation is the “barrier of
hatred”—the dividing wall of hostility—that Paul refers to in verse 14.
But
in the newly-forming Christian communities, Paul sees this barrier of hatred
being torn down. For the good news
of Jesus the Christ—received in faith by some Jews in the synagogues Paul
visits and received in faith by some Gentiles in the public forums where he
speaks—the good news of Jesus the Christ is drawing together individuals from
these two hostile groups. Baptized
into the faith and receiving the Holy Spirit, both Jews and Gentiles are
meeting together in each other’s homes to worship and to study and to share the
table fellowship that will later become what we call the sacrament of
Communion. The peace of Christ is
bringing together these who were once separated by hatred. The peace of Christ is uniting Jews and
Gentiles in the house churches in Ephesus, in Philippi, in Colossae and
throughout Asia Minor. Jewish and
Gentile Christians are becoming one—one household, one family—the family of
God.
Barriers
of hatred, dividing walls of hostility . . . Have you ever encountered these? I have. Traveling in Israel in the spring of 2011 with a group
of Presbyterians, I was confronted with this wall and its implications. It is a wall separating Bethlehem from
Jerusalem. It towered above our
bus as we drove through its gate.
The Israelis don’t want tourists to take pictures of it, so we couldn’t
stop the bus and stand beside it.
I had to sneak this picture, as the bus traveled, from the side of the
bus opposite the guard booth—camera readied in my lap, quick up to my eyes,
snap the picture and put the camera away in my bag—pronto. Not even our guide or driver knew what
I was doing. We had been told—do
not take pictures of the wall!
Even now—after 11 months here in Kansas—Olathe, Lenexa, Overland Park,
Prairie Village, Kansas City, KS, Kansas City, MO, Leawood, Lee’s Summit—in my
mind and to my eyes, they’re all Kansas City. I don’t know where one ends and the other begins. Houses and
other buildings blur the boundaries between the cities. It is sort of like that
in Jerusalem. Houses and buildings
and people expand the borders of Jerusalem until . . . it swallows up the land
all the way to Bethlehem. And
then, we meet the wall. The wall
separates people—one group separated from another. The wall adversely affects the economy of Bethlehem.
One
of the days we visited Bethlehem, we stopped at a shop owned by a Palestinian
Christian. He proudly showed us
many items he had to sell and told stories about some of them. When he finished, he asked us for one
thing—only one thing and it wasn’t “please buy something.” Instead, he asked us to pray—to pray
with him there in the shop and continue to pray—to pray for peace in Bethlehem.
In
terms of text today’s text, he asked us to pray for the peace of Christ that
tears down dividing walls of hostility that separate his family from their
Jewish neighbors. And he is
confident that God will answer our prayers. He has hope built on the work of reconciliation Christ has
already done—reconciling you and me with God our creator and reconciling those
ancient Jewish and Gentile Christians we read about in today’s text. Through our prayers, the action they
will move us to, and the relationships we will form because of them—God will
work to break down barriers of hatred in Israel.
Dividing
walls of hostility are not only in the Middle East. What about Berlin and the
southern US border and demilitarized zones in Asia? Dividing walls of hostility don’t just separate
ethnicities—Jew from Gentile; Israeli Jew from Palestinian Christian. What about the dividing walls that
separate Catholic from Protestant, conservative from liberal, progressive from
fundamentalist? Dividing walls of
hostility are not just physical barriers like the one I saw of concrete and steel
and barbed wire. What about
legislation and immigration policies—from South Africa to North America? What
about dividing walls built with labels—pro and anti, red-neck and tree-hugger,
queer and straight? Dividing walls
of hostility can be erected deliberately or they can be built
unintentionally. As noted in our
prayer of confession today, we can inadvertently erect walls with our hasty
words that cause conflict and tension.
Dividing walls of hostility are anything
that causes separation between us and
others or separation between us and God.
What are the dividing walls of hostility in your life?
When
I became the librarian at SS Elementary, I met J. Demanding classroom manipulatives—rather than asking for
them, insisting on a rigid checkout schedule for her students, and holding onto
materials she was no longer using and that others needed, J was not
particularly likeable. From day
one, there was a wall between us.
I’m a person who wants to be liked. And I wanted J to like me. I wanted to work with her students—teaching them the same
skills I was teaching the other students—not just check out books to them once
every 2 weeks. I wanted to share
with her ideas and lessons I was receiving from other district librarians and
sharing with other SS Elementary
teachers. But, after each
encounter with J, it seemed as if that wall was taller and thicker. It felt like no matter what I tried, my
chisel had not chipped away at any it.
That wall still stood stout.
Getting
nowhere on my own, I finally I asked God for help with the wall. One day, before J’s class was scheduled
to come to the library, I prayed—that I could get through the next 30 minutes
with J without becoming a knot of tension . . . and I did. The next morning, in my daily
devotional time, I prayed for J.
The next day, I prayed for her.
Each day, I prayed for J. I prayed—God, please change J and make her
likeable. Well, I didn’t see any
change, but I kept praying. And
somehow, somewhere along the way, my prayers changed. I began to pray for J’s well-being. Then I began to pray that God would
change me—change my attitude about her and my actions toward her. It was a big, thick wall. It didn’t come down quickly. But one day, after a couple of years, I
realized I didn’t bristled when J walked into the library. I realized I was calm when listening to
J. I realized I had genuinely compassion when I talked with her. After a couple of years I realized my
prayers were being answered.
God was changing me. Over
time, the wall between J and me came down. Oh, she still made demands—of other people—there were still
walls around J, but the wall between us had come down. When she retired, J told me how much
she appreciated working with me the last years of her career—how she had felt
supported, encouraged, and befriended by me.
So
there is good news! Christ has broken down the dividing walls of
hostility. Christ is still
breaking down those dividing walls.
Christ will continue to break them down.
Opening our hearts with compassion for
others in pain, sorrow, and distress, we help Christ chisel away at the walls
of isolation. Opening our ears and
minds to listen and our mouths to engage in respectful sharing, we help Christ
chisel away at the walls of intolerance. Communicating directly—“this is what I
am thinking;” “here’s what I am feeling;” “this is what I need”—communicating
directly helps Christ chisel away at the walls of miscommunication,
misunderstanding, and misdirection.
With Christ, the walls come down.
His peace fills the space where the walls once stood.
And
here’s even more good news. When
the walls come down, we are not left with a bunch of bricks littering the
landscape. Instead, on the
foundation laid by prophets and apostles—whose words we hear and whose actions
we see when we read the Bible—and with Christ as the cornerstone, and using
God’s love and our grateful response mixed together as the mortar, we bricks
are built into something new.
Together, we bricks are built into a community, a space—where God’s spirit
dwells. Together we bricks become
a space—I envision a semi-circle—open, inviting, welcoming all who seek—even
the demanding Js. We bricks become
a space—like a semi-circle, a diverse family gathered together in a loving
embrace—like Bonnie and Seth and Kevin and me all those years ago—laughing and
eating and playing together—sharing our lives. We bricks become a space—like a semi-circle, a community in
which people are drawn to the comforting protection, the invigorating
fellowship, and the renewing love of Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Through the peace of Christ, divided no
more, we come together.
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