Transcript from the message Pastor Melissa shared at the first Sunday Gathering of Hope Boulder on August 28, 2022.
Our Hope Community is currently reading the book of Ephesians. So, it is fitting that for our message this morning, the Spirit prompted me to share a Word from there. I have been preaching for many years and sometimes when you are preparing a message it takes a lot of searching, praying, reading, and begging to feel like you have something to share. Then there are those times where it all just seems to come together so easily and so quickly.
This morning I am excited to share a Word with you that the Spirit basically gift wrapped for me. I feel very clearly that what we’re going to read and discuss this morning is a clear Word from the Lord for us as a faith community.
Overview of Ephesians
Before we read the scripture, I want to provide a little background. The book of Ephesians is a circular epistle – meaning it was meant to be circulated between a number of churches in the area – written by the Apostle Paul. Paul had spent three difficult years in Ephesus building the church. He began by spending three months teaching in the synagogue to the Jewish people. Then, when they tried to kill him, he decided to spend his time speaking to the Gentiles. He ended up spending two years teaching the Gentiles during the “siesta hour” in the hall of Tyrannus (a public auditorium or lecture hall).
The city of Ephesus is located in what is now modern-day western Turkey. It was a busy port city and considered the gateway to Asia. The city had a massive amphitheater that held 25,000 and they hosted many athletic events and festivals. In comparison, CU Boulder’s Folsom Field holds 50,183 people.
A melting pot of religions
Situated at the junction of four major roads, the city was known for its numerous forms of paganism.
Many citizens of Ephesus practiced the Greek notion of true enlightenment, which involved rising to high levels of mysterious knowledge. Ephesus was also the home of the Roman emperor cult, where people believed that Caesar was the “savior” and the beginning of the world began with him. They even adjusted the calendar around Caesar’s birth.
Ephesus was also the home of a giant temple which was the center of worship for the Roman goddess Diana (or Greek “Artemis”). This temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Paul inadvertently found himself in a lot of trouble from the silversmiths and artisans who profited off the worship of Diana. They were very upset that people were abandoning their faith in Diana and no longer purchasing items from them.
Due to all of these circumstances – port town, gateway to Asia, junction of major crossroads, plethora of pagan religions – Ephesus was steeped in materialism, sensuality, and perverted idolatrous practices.
This is the city God called Paul to plant a church in. These were the people the Spirit led Paul to minister to. This was the place where Paul spent the bulk of his time on his missionary journeys.
He found himself in the midst of Jews, Romans, Greeks, and many other nationalities. The church in Ephesus was birthed, in large part, in the midst of opposition.
A New Life & a New Community
At the time this letter was written, Paul had been absent from the believers in Ephesus for 5-7 years. He was most likely in prison in Rome, chained to a Roman guard.
He spent his days meeting with people who came to see him, talking with his guards and the Roman officials, and writing letters like this one.
The letter focuses on two primary themes:
- Who the Ephesian believers are in Christ (1:3-3:21) and
- How they are now to live in light of that new identity (4:1-6:24).
The first part – who we are in Christ – looks at the new life we have in Christ (1:3-2:10) and the new community we have in Christ (2:11-3:21).
This morning we’re going to focus in on the section about community. So, let’s turn to Ephesians 2:19-22
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
As we gather here this morning, many of us are strangers. When you think about it, there are plenty of other people who know us better than the people in this room and that we would love to spend time with. Yet, here we are, sitting together on a Sunday morning, singing songs together and listening to someone talk about the Bible.
It can be really hard to enter a new space.
We can feel alienated from everyone, an outsider, and rejected. A few verses before this section, Paul reminds the believers of their prior alienation from God and His people. In verses 11 and 12 he talks about the labels that the Jews had for the Gentiles and uses words like “excluded,” “separate,” and “strangers.” In verse 12 he says they were hopeless and without God in the world.
How did the believers in Ephesus go from being excluded, separate, strangers and become instead “fellow citizens and part of God’s household”?
Jesus.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.”
two become one
The Jews and Greeks were rivals – think democrats and republicans, Coke vs Pepsi, Microsoft vs Apple, Hatfields and McCoys, CU Boulder and CSU. Yet through Christ the two enemies become friends.
Jesus’ death had a vertical and horizontal purpose – reconciliation with God and reconciliation with our fellow man.
Up until Jesus, the Jews and Gentiles were separated by the regulations of the ceremonial law and the condemnations of the moral law. Christ abolished the law as a means of salvation through His death on the cross. He eliminated the division. The result is He created “in Himself…the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.” (v 15).
This isn’t just taking the Gentiles and transforming them into Jews or vice versa, but through Christ the two were created into a new man that hadn’t existed before. He created a new way for them to relate, which also hadn’t existed before.
Now the words Paul uses are “fellow citizen,” “God’s househould,” fitted together,” and “built together.” These words emphasize the two have been synced, not only to Christ but also to one another.
our new identity
This is also our identity. I want to take a closer look at the word pictures that Paul uses to illustrate this:
- Citizens
- Family
- Stones
Citizens
In verse 19, Paul says we are “fellow citizens with the saints.” In the Message version, Eugene Peterson says, “You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your new home country.” Everyone gets to be part of this community.
Jesus’ sacrifice makes the way so that we all are citizens with the privileges that accompany that.
Family
Also in verse 19, Paul says, the believers “are of God’s household.”
The Message says, “You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone.”
We are all part of God’s family. He is our Father. We are adopted children. We are one family, living together on mission.
Stones
Finally, in verses 21 and 22, we read that in Christ the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord and in Christ we are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
We are the body of Christ. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I love this building. I want to use this building in as many ways as we can to bless the people who live in this community. But, the church is not a building we go to or an event we attend. The church is a community of believers living on mission together. And the foundation of that building, according to Paul, is the apostles and prophets. Everything we do is building on the foundation of those who have come before us.
The church is not a building we go to or an event we attend. The church is a community of believers living on mission together.
Our church charter says that the Boulder Foursquare Church has been in this city since 1952.
Seventy years ago, a Foursquare pastor came to Boulder and planted a church. Over the past seven decades, the Foursquare church in Boulder has functioned under multiple leaders, multiple names, multiple locations, and many people have come and gone. Despite the fact that none of those leaders are still here, we have the honor and privilege of continuing to build on that foundation, as well as the foundation of the apostles and prophets we find in scripture.
Christ as the cornerstone
The centerpiece of that foundation is Jesus. He is the cornerstone. He makes the whole building possible. The whole community is built on Him. He gives security to the building and He gives it alignment. Jesus is also how the church grows and is held together. There is no unity or growth if Christ is not the cornerstone.
Each of us, and each person that walks in our door, is a carefully shaped building block fitted to build this temple. Each new member is added to it.
Paul says, through Christ, by the Spirit, there is a better temple than the one they all revered in his day. This better temple is made up of people from every tribe and tongue. We are joined together and built together. Each one is related to the other in a special way, and we are all growing together in Christ.
Practically, that means every person counts. We need one another’s time, talent, treasure, love, resources, encouragement, and rebuke. We are to live the Christian life together as a multiethnic temple, centered in Christ, rooted in the teaching of Scripture.
We are no longer strangers
Each of us came into this place as strangers. We felt – in varying degrees – alienated, isolated, hopeless, and separate from God.
Because of the work of Jesus on the cross and the grace and mercy we receive from His work, we are now “no longer strangers.” Instead, we are now fellow citizens of the kingdom of God and members of God’s household; His family.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, God is building a new church on the foundation of those who came before. In Christ, He is fitting us together and growing us into a temple, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
This is the foundation of what we’re doing here at Hope Boulder.
Our desire is to see strangers in the neighborhood around this church come together as fellow citizens, as family. We want to see everyone transformed into a new creation through the power of the Spirit. We strongly believe that God is the one building this church.
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone that gives us direction, stability, and alignment. The story we will tell years from now will be how He built His church, stone by stone, person by person, through the power of the Spirit’s transformation in our lives.
