Looking in the Window

Scripture — Ephesians 2:11-22 (NRSV)

Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” —a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Devotion

I’ve talked before about the Bible study I attend most Wednesday evenings at our small-town Methodist church. We’re currently about two-thirds of the way through Genesis, but last year (as I mention in that linked devotion) we studied Galatians. (I know the passage above is from Ephesians. Stay with me for a minute.)

There was something I realized during that Bible study about Paul’s letters that I had not realized anywhere near so deeply before. The pastor leading the Bible study made a point of emphasizing the way in which Paul describes Gentiles coming into the family of God. If you read through today’s passage quickly, you will probably note first the words that speak of reconciliation, unity, Jew and Gentile becoming one through the sacrifice of Christ, the two groups joined together as a single structure.

But if you go back and read it again, you may notice something interesting. Before the dividing wall was broken down (Ephesians 2:14), both groups were not standing in the same place.  Paul, writing to Gentiles, says “So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (2 17, emphasis mine). The problem that needed to be solved—and it’s worth going back and reading Ephesians 2:1-10 to see this even more clearly—was the general problem of redeeming human sinfulness, to be sure (Ephesians 2:1-2), but also the specific problem of how to achieve that redemption by bringing the Gentiles into the covenant.

In other words—and it hit me this strongly sitting in Bible study—in this passage, I wasn’t the one doing the problem-solving. I was the problem that needed to be solved. I was the one on the outside looking in. Glory be to God in Christ, Paul was testifying, the problem had been solved and I was a citizen of the Kingdom and not a stranger. But I realized in that moment how much I so often assume in matters of faith that I’m on the inside and that other folks that Jesus needs to save are somewhere out there. Poor them. No, I realized at that moment: poor me. Amazing God.

We have many subscribers here at Life for Leaders, all around the country (the world, in fact) and in many different walks of life, and I have no idea who you all are. But I suggest that, if your walk of life is one which our society shapes as a position of power, that you reread Ephesians 2 a few times and remember that you’re the one looking in through the window from the outside. And that it is the grace of Jesus Christ, and not your own social or political or cultural power, which opens that window and lets you in.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: How Did Christ Tear Down the Wall?.