FHCC
20260315 Worship Service

                • Psalm 67:1ESV

                • Psalm 66:8ESV

                                          • Ephesians 2:11–22ESV

                                        • Introduction

                                          Why is it that the longer we are together, the more divided we become?
                                          I’ve been to Pittsburgh, Kansas about a dozen times but never was aware that the town just to the North of Pitt has a legend all its own. I was told this week that the coal mines near Frontenac are sure to contain corpses from mafia activity.
                                          Just to the Northeast of Frontenac, out in the country one can find 2 restaurants within 600 feet of each other.
                                          I was told that these 2 restaurants host quite the rivalry and one story even goes that they were sisters who couldn’t get along. I did a little Internet sleuthing and found that while they opened about 8 years apart, and both restaurants are connected to mining accidents..
                                          Chicken Annie (of Hungarian descent) was first in 1934, and 8 years later Mary’s husband, Joe (of German descent), was forced to stop working in the mine because of health. Since Mary had noticed the success of Annie she began offering a very similar menu out of her own kitchen.
                                          This reminded me of the story of the castaway who was shipwrecked and found himself on a deserted island. After a few years of living alone on the island he was finally rescued like Gilligan’ and his friends. But the rescue party was surprised to find no phone, no car, no motorboat, not a single luxury, like Robinson Caruso, it was as primitive as could be.
                                          However, the rescuer notice there were 3 grass huts. Moved by curiosity he asked the lone islander what was the reason for 3 huts. The islander responded, “Well, this one is my home, and that one is my church.” The man then replied, “That makes sense, what is that 3rd hut?” The castaway then replied, “Oh, that is where I used to go to church.”
                                          Finally, one last story before we get into the text.
                                          I heard a report from March 2 of this year on a Christian podcast I follow. Then verified the story at military.com which I quote here
                                          Master Sergeant Roderick “Roddie” W. Edmonds was captured during the Battle of the Bulge after his 422nd Infantry Regiment was overrun in late 1944. After a four-day forced march through bitter winter conditions, he and 1,200 American soldiers were sent to Stalag IXA in Germany. As the senior noncommissioned officer in the camp, Edmonds was responsible for every enlisted soldier held there.
                                          On Jan. 27, 1945, a Nazi officer ordered Jewish American prisoners to identify themselves or be executed. More than 200 Jewish soldiers stood among the 1,200 prisoners.
                                          The next morning, all 1,200 American prisoners stepped forward.
                                          “We are all Jews here,” Edmonds told the commandant, according to the official citation read during the ceremony.
                                          The officer pressed a pistol to Edmonds’ forehead. Edmonds did not move. He warned that killing prisoners would be a war crime, causing the officer to lower his weapon.
                                          Weeks later, as allied forces advanced, guards prepared to evacuate the camp. Edmonds directed resistance, helping keep the 1,200 prisoners in place until liberation in March 1945.
                                          TRANSITION: Of the 4 main characters in this introduction, who do you think best illustrated the message of today’s text? I believe God’s desire is not that we divide, but that we unify. The Covenant people of the Old Testament and the Bride of Christ, which is the Church unite as one people of God.

                                          Separated: What the Gentiles Were (Eph. 2:11–12)

                                          It is difficult to overstate just how opposed the Jews and Gentiles were during the Roman occupation of the Promised Land. If Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan to illustrate the enmity between Jews & half-Jews, that was NOTHING compared to the strife between Jews and non-Jews. Today’s antisemitism has nothing on the animosity the descendants of Abraham used to have toward the “Gentile Dogs”.
                                          Eph 2:12 gives a 5-dimensional view of how the Jews considered the Gentiles to be deficient.

                                          Without Christ

                                          separated from Christ - Many devout Jews in Jesus’s days thought that they were in favor with God due to their racial heritage. While SOME were in favor by their faith in the promised Messiah, none were favored by their race. But the pagan gentiles all admitted they were not in favorable standing with YHWH and therefore separated from Christ. Only in the New Birth that Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3 would believing Jews and believing Gentiles fine a remedy for this separation.

                                          Without citizenship

                                          alienated from the commonwealth of Israel - this word commonwealth is literally πολιτείας (politias) or politics of Israel. In our culture, many deluded people appeal to their understanding of the Bible to give credibility to their political bent. Some claim that since God loves all people then there should be no citizenship, borders or walls. But this very test says that there is separation between those who belong to the politia of Israel and those who do not. God gave Abraham clear borders of what land would belong to him, Ancient cities were surrounded by Walls and God even commissioned Nehemiah to lead in the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem and here the inspired Word of God identifies those who could be considered citizens, and those who were not.
                                          Just because God instructed His people to be kind to the aliens and sojourners, does not mean that the category of sojourners or alienated from the commonwealth did not exist. Paul reminds all of the Gentiles (us) that we were once aliens ourselves.

                                          Without covenants

                                          strangers to the covenants of promise - This word strangers is literally ξένοι (Xenos) from which we get the common accusation of Xenophobia. I also notice the plural of the word CovenantS. Some are quick to connect the word covenant to the Mosaic Law. But that law was only ONE of the covenants that YHWH made with His people. Before Abraham was called out, God made a covenant with the descendants of Noah, never to destroy the earth by flood. Later God would issue the Sinai Covenant and also a covenant with David. What all 3 of these major covevantS have in common is that they all look foward with a promise. All of the OT covenants looked forward to a day when YHWH would deliver through His designated representative, or Messiah.
                                          Gentiles are beneficiaries of the Noahic covenant [no destruction by flood] but there is no promise in that unless personal faith in Christ is expressed through confession and repentance. Because there is no covenantal promise, we are...

                                          Without hope

                                          I recall a comedy sketch about a man who was sick. Because he was in Christ he had hope even though he was ill. He states because I am ill I will either get better or worse; If I get worse I will either live or die; if I die I will either go to Heaven or Hell; Since I know my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, I am assured of Paradise so I’m not bothered by this sickness.
                                          By contrast, those separated from Christ are having no hope, which is a desperate situation to realize.

                                          Without God

                                          having no hope in the afterlife also establishes a situation where people are without God in the world. This is a situation that some of you can describe from your own experience I have must accept your word. Since I had the privilege of coming to Christ early in life, I did not experience this depth of despair even in my times of wandering and rebellion.
                                          Our church had regular “revival meetings” when we would come to church every night usually for a week and a preacher from out of town would passionately talk about the despair of being outside of Christ. Even during the emotional appeals to come down the aisle to the altar, as a wayward son I still had the security that God was involved in my life and I would not experience anything beyond His control.
                                          Later on I would experience a child in NICU, a child with in-patient mental health isssues, a child who was sexually abused and had to go to court to testify against the perpetrator, I suffered job loss, bankruptcy and foreclosure during the housing crisis of 2013. But I always had God! I can’t begin to imagine those who have no eternal hope and those who do not have access to what Paul calls “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding [and] guards hearts and minds”.
                                          TRANSITION: The “but now” in Ephesians 2:13 parallels the “but God” in Ephesians 2:4. Both speak of the gracious intervention of God on behalf of lost sinners.

                                          Reconciled: What God Did for the Gentiles (Eph. 2:13–18)

                                          The enmity between Jews and Gentiles (Ep 2.13–15)

                                          Antisemitism or Jewish exclusivism are no longer a thing because of Christ. It is not because racial heritage disappears, but because a greater unifier is introduced. It is not that being American, or Canadian, or Japanese, or Ethiopian or German goes away. It is that in Christ Jesus and the blood of Christ we are made both one. The dividing wall of hostility can come down because He creates in himself one new man in place of two! What unites us (Christ) is stronger than what used to divide us (our nationalistic identities).
                                          but more importantly, the text goes on to emphasize a Greater reconciliation.

                                          The enmity between sinners and God (Ep 2.16–18)

                                          Eternally more important than what I think of Jewish people or what they think of me is how I understand God and how He sees me!
                                          He came to those who were far off and offers peace and access to the Father!
                                          The peace mission between Jews and Gentiles is secondary to the peace mission between God and humanity. We don’t find Him, He comes to you and says “Here I am, I love you so much that I provided a way at unimaginable expense to myself to offer you peace and access.
                                          TRANSITION: Through acceptance of this priceless gift we call the Gospel the 5-fold separation becomes a 3-fold unity in one loving Savior.

                                          Unified: What Jews and Gentiles Are in Christ (Eph. 2:19–22)

                                          One nation (Ep 2.19a)

                                          What used to separate becomes less important as we become fellow citizens of a Heavenly kingdom where God reigns over presidents, kings, prime ministers and “supreme leaders”. Being a Christ One is more important than being an American, or any other national pride.

                                          One family (Ep 2.19b)

                                          Our unity is expressed as THE (one) household of God.
                                          Can you imagine an existence where being Kansan was more important than being a Shocker, a Wildcat, or a Jayhawk?
                                          Can you imagine a reality where your love for God is stronger than your love for Pat Mahommes, Dak Prescott or anybody on the Patriots?
                                          Can you imagine a family where both wrestlers and basketball players belong to each other?

                                          One temple (Ep 2.20–22)

                                          This is a household that does not dwell in geography or time. This one household abides in a home where both the prophets who foretold of Christ and the Apostles send by Christ blend together in one body of holiness where God’s presence indwells, illuminates, and infuses with life.

                                          Conclusion

                                          Two days ago Ann and I spent some special time with some people from our church who used to live near Chicken Annie’s and Chicken Mary’s. As we drove towards Olpe Chicken House, I asked which they prefer. I was told “neither, We prefer Gebhart’s.”
                                          I think that answer was in the spirit of Roddie Edmonds who said “Today we are all Jews.”
                                          In Christ we can say with heartfelt confidence that we are neither this, nor that, we are His. My prayer is that as this church moves forward the testimony in Chase County will not be “I preferred Pastor Dave” of “I’m glad we got a new Pastor”, but that we all are together in Christ.

                                          Light and Lamps

                                          Light for my Path
                                          Are you willing to exchange personal preference for Christ’s peace?
                                          Lamps for my Steps
                                          Head– list 3 values you are willing to set aside in order to experience true peace.
                                          Heart– select 1 of the previous 3 and resolve to “mortify” that specific value this week.
                                          Hands – what will you do before Saturday to demonstrate that you mortifying that value?
                                              • The Bond Of Love

                                                  • Ephesians 6:23–24ESV

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