E Pluribus Unum – In Christ - Graves Memorial

[Pages:4]Ephesians 2:11-22

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E Pluribus Unum ? In Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

July 18, 2021 Graves Memorial Presbyterian Church

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins

Back in 1776 when the Great Seal of the United States was being designed, it was suggested that the Latin phrase, "E Pluribus Unum" be adopted as the national motto. While the phrase was never officially adopted as a national motto, it nevertheless did make the final cut as part of the Great Seal of the United States. We also find it prominently imprinted on our currency, as well as anywhere the Seal is published. The English translation is "Out of Many, One", and it speaks first of the unity we cherish as a nation comprised of many states; and in recent years the phrase has been quoted to point to the unity we experience though we are a melting pot of many peoples, many cultures, many races.

Unfortunately, E Pluribus Unum is more of an ideal than it is a reality. In our nation, we are becoming ever more polarized by our differences, than we are united in the midst of the differences. Nowhere is that more evident than the current political climate. And of course, we find the polarization and separation also when it comes to issues of race, gender, even theology. I'm not sure that E Pluribus Unum is a key value of our society today.

In Sunday school this summer we are studying a book written by Philip Yancey titled, "Vanishing Grace." He first wrote the book in 2014, and at the initial publishing the subtitle of the book was "What Ever Happened to the Good News?" When the book was reprinted in 2018, the contents of the book were unchanged, but the publisher did change the cover to a more moody purple landscape photo, and the subtitle of the book was changed to "Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World."

There it is again ? a deeply divided world. Whatever happened to E Pluribus Unum? Unfortunately, the problem of division and conflict between people who are different is as old as history itself. From the earliest civilizations, people have used their differences to erect unseen but real barriers between themselves and others. One race is lifted up over another. Male is lifted up over female. Master is exalted over servant. From one generation to the next, things remain essentially the same. Divisions are created, and have resulted in hostility and conflict and even warfare. This was a problem that Paul repeatedly addressed in the early church. For Paul, one of the problems was the hostility that existed between Jews and Gentiles, a dynamic that remained even after both Jews and Gentiles converted to the Christian faith. In the eyes of the Jews, the Gentiles represented everything that was dirty and immoral and unrighteous, and they wanted nothing to do with the Gentiles. The Gentiles in return hated the Jews and wanted nothing to do with them, either. In the Temple in Jerusalem, there was a series of courtyards and inner rooms. The Gentiles were allowed in the outermost courtyard, but no further. Even Jewish women could go further into the Temple to worship than the Gentiles. An inscription was found on the wall in the outer courtyard, and it read, "No man of another race is to proceed within the partition and enclosing wall about the sanctuary; and anyone arrested there will have himself to blame for the

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penalty of death which will be imposed as a consequence."1 As Paul addresses the church at Ephesus, he is addressing Christians who are primarily of

Gentile descent. And his first word to them in today's lesson is "remember." Remember what it was like to be on the outside. Remember that you are not of the circumcised race. Remember that you were excluded from citizenship among the chosen people of God. Remember that you were foreigners to the covenant of promise. Remember that you were without the revelation of the living God, that you were without hope in the world.

But Paul doesn't tell them to remember just so he can boast his superiority over the Gentile Ephesians; he calls them to remember, so that he might remind them that they are now a part of a new reality, a reality created by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. "But now," Paul says. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. . ."1

This is the blessing of inclusion in Christ. It is the blessing that declares that in Jesus Christ the walls that divide us are torn down. It is the blessing that declares that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and there is room for all who would gather there. It is the blessing that declares that those barriers and classifications that the world erects in order to separate and divide people from one another ? those barriers and classifications and divisions dissolve in Christ. It is the blessing that promises that the reality of E Pluribus Unum is, indeed, possible for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And yet, despite Paul's pointing out this reality, one of the greatest scandals in the life of the church is that the church itself continues to erect walls even in the face of the reconciling work of Jesus Christ, or we choose to ignore the walls that are in place, and we conveniently allow them to remain. You know as well as I that as much as we declare with our lips that "all are welcome," in our hearts we hope that not everybody will hear those words. You know as well as I that in the Christian church we spend far too much energy focusing on our differences, and allowing our differences to divide us. It's a scandal that there are so many Christian denominations that refuse to recognize one another.

I'm reminded of the story of a time when a pastor was traveling by plane. He loved the Lord, and he enjoyed being in the presence of other Christians. So he was excited when he saw that the man sitting next to him on the plane was carrying a Bible.

"Are you a believer?" The pastor asked the man. "Yes," said the man. Well, the pastor had learned that you can't be too careful. He needed to ask a few more questions, just to be sure that the man was, in fact, a Christian. "Virgin birth?" He asked. "I accept it," came the reply from the man. "Deity of Jesus?" "No doubt." "Death of Christ on the cross?" "He died for our sins." The pastor thought to himself, "Could it be that I am face to face with a Christian?" Still, he continued his checklist and resumed his grilling of the man sitting next to him. "Status of man," the pastor demanded. "Sinner in need of grace." "Return of Christ?" asked the pastor. "Imminent," replied the man without hesitation. "Bible?," said the pastor.

1 Quoted in Lectionary Homiletics, June/July 2003, p. 59.

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"Inspired. Infallible"

At this point, the pastor could feel his heart start to flutter. Had he come across a kindred soul?! He continued his line of questioning: "Conservative or liberal?" The man was also getting interested in the way the conversation was moving. "Conservative."

"Denomination?" asked the pastor. "Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist Triune Convention," said the man with tremendous pride. The pastor couldn't believe his ears! That was his denomination, too! "What branch of the denomination do you represent?" the pastor asked the man. "Pre-millennial, posttribulation, non-charismatic, King James Bible, one-cup communion, immersion baptism ? believers only." The pastor's eyes started to well up with tears. He had only one other question to ask the man. "Which hymnal--red 1954, or blue 1995?" "Blue" came the response of the man. At that, the pastor felt his neck stiffen up and the blood rush to his face. "Heretic!" he yelled to the man, and they didn't speak another word for the rest of the flight.

That is a humorous anecdote, but it makes a point. Even within denominations, including our own, we look for differences more than for what we have in common; we divide into camps of liberal-vs-conservative, biblical legalists-vs-social justice advocates, groups within our denomination defined by the issues that divide us.

Despite Paul's declaration that the dividing walls of hostility are dismantled by the work of Christ, the church that bears Christ's name continues to erect them.

I was talking recently with someone who shared a story about an effort to establish an Episcopal congregation in a town in Eastern North Carolina in the 1970s. There was a small core group of a few people who were working with the bishop and the diocese to make all the necessary arrangements. At some point early in their planning, this core group of Episcopalians was invited to a gathering at the town hall. When they got to the town hall, they were met by a full house consisting of representatives of every denomination in the county except the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. And the message they were given was unmistakable: "We don't want an Episcopal church in our county, with its incense and its prayer books and its rituals. You are not welcome."

To their credit, the small group of Episcopalians were determined, and they persisted in their efforts. Over the years, they slowly gained acceptance in that town, mostly by modeling grace to those who looked down upon them. Today, forty years later, there is still a small, vibrant Episcopal congregation in that community.

It is a scandal that the church that has its name from Jesus Christ has often failed to demonstrate the reality that Paul emphasizes so strongly in this morning's passage: that in Christ we are no longer strangers and aliens, but are members of the same household of God. But we dare not stop at simply naming the scandal. No, God's word to us challenges us to be aware that divisions exist, and then to be intentional about breaking across boundaries and expanding our own boundaries to embrace others who share a common faith. The reality that Christ establishes is that divisions and barriers don't belong in the body of Christ. Our responsibility is to identify, dismantle, and eliminate those dividing walls. We don't have permission to erect them or to ignore them.

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Our responsibility is to show them that Jesus Christ makes the saying, E Pluribus Unum, possible. In fact, in Christ it is our mandate to demonstrate that reality in the life of the church, and to seek that reality for the communities in which we live.

A few weeks ago Thaddeus Godwin, the pastor of the Lisbon Street Missionary Baptist Church, called me. He wanted to gather some of the local pastors and welcome new pastors in the community. I told him that was a great idea, and that I'd be happy to host the gathering here at GMPC and serve lunch. On this past Tuesday, we had thirteen pastors representing Pentecostals, Methodists, Missionary Baptists, Independent Baptists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians; five of us where white, and eight were black; we ranged in age from 25 years old to 68 years old.

As we enjoyed lunch and fellowship around the tables, we also shared our hopes for the community. One of the pastors suggested that if the churches were to work side by side and hand in hand, then there is nothing that could stop us from a revival in this community, to which everyone said "Amen." (Actually the Episcopal priest and I nodded our heads, because, you know, saying "Amen" except at the end of prayer is a little out of our comfort zone!) And we left with a commitment to continue meeting on a monthly basis, and to invite more and more pastors and church leaders. We have not had a viable ministerial association in this community for years. Hopefully this will begin a long season during which the churches of Clinton and Sampson County work together to share the Gospel in word and in deed.

That lunch meeting made my heart smile with gladness. In a world divided along so many fronts, the people of Christ have an opportunity ? a divine mandate, really ? to demonstrate the unity that is possible in Christ. In fact, that was Jesus' prayer that he prayed for his followers on the night before his crucifixion: that we may be one, as he and the Father are one.

Friends, our world is filled with enough boundaries as it is. Don't you think that the church of Jesus Christ ought to be a place where those boundaries begin to diminish, and eventually disappear altogether?

Men may be from Mars and women from Venus, but in Christ we are not aliens to one another, because in Christ we are one.

You may say p?-can, and I may say pecan, but in Christ those are differences to celebrate, not cause for division, because in Christ we are one.

Some may be Democrats, and others Republicans, and people may disagree on politics and social issues. But in Christ we come together and wrestle with those things from common ground because in Christ we are one.

There are enough boundaries in this world that separate and divide. Don't you think that the church ought to be a place where those boundaries are broken?

1 Ephesians 2:13-14

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