Trinity 2
Eph
2:13-22
6/14/26
You have peace. That’s what the
apostle Paul says this morning. You have
peace with God. You have peace with the people of God, because you are the
people of God. He begins announcing this fact in the opening of our text as he
says, “But now in Christ Jesus….”
That word “now” alerts us to the
fact a change has taken place. And in the previous twelve verses Paul has laid
out the fact that almost all of you faced a doubly dire situation. You were under God’s judgment. You were not
God’s people.
Paul began this chapter by saying,
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,
following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among
whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the
desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
That’s a really long sentence. And it says really bad things. It says that
you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, even as you lived in them. It
says that the devil was your lord, even as he is now the lord for all who walk
in sin and unbelief. All of that is bad.
But the thing that should really catch your attention is when Paul says that
you “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Paul says
that you and every other person were by nature someone who was going to
receive the wrath of God.
Now that is certainly not what the
world believes. Insofar as it believes in God, God is certainly not wrathful.
God is loving and good. He wants you to be happy. God is not judgmental, and
he’s certainly not worried about sin.
But that is not what God has
revealed about himself in his word. God is loving and good. But he is also holy
and just. His will defines what is right and wrong, and the violation of his
will is sin. Sinners cannot exist in fellowship with the holy God. Instead, sin
evokes God wrath and eternal judgment. Paul says later in this letter, “For you
may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or
who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these
things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
The apostle says that you “were by
nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” That’s also something that
many Christians do not believe. Paul says that you were dead in your trespasses
and sins. He says that you were under the power of the devil. And he says that
you were this way by nature. You were
people who were going to receive God’s wrath like the rest of mankind.
Something that is by nature is
intrinsic to who we are. Paul is describing the fact that as descendants of
fallen Adam, we are conceived as fallen, sinful people for whom the devil is
lord. We are born and enter this world
as people who cannot know and believe in God by our own powers. That’s why Paul
told the Corinthians, “The natural person does not accept the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to
understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
And then, just before our text, Paul
continues with more bad news for almost all of you. He says, “Therefore
remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the
uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the
flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world.”
Sin entered into the world through
the sin of Adam and Eve. But God did not abandon his creation. He promised that
one who came forth from Eve – a human being – would defeat the devil. He called
Abraham, and through him created Israel as his people. God revealed himself as
Yahweh. He took Israel into a covenant with himself and said that they would be
his “treasured possession among all peoples.” He was their God. They were his
people, as he worked through them to bring forth this One who would defeat the devil.
Those who descended from Israel and continued to believe in Yahweh – the Jews –
knew God and belonged to him.
And in most cases, that does not
describe you. You are Gentiles. Your
descendants were probably somewhere on the steppe of Eurasia as they made the
long push west into Europe. They were pagans who worshipped false gods. They –
and therefore you - were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in the world.”
Everything I have said so far is
true. But then Paul continues by saying in our text, “But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ.” You were far off from God,
trapped in your sin. You were far off from God, because you were not part of
his people.
But
now in Christ Jesus you have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The first century was a time when
there was great animosity between Jews and Gentiles. In Alexandria, Egypt
Gentiles rioted against Jews. The Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome.
But Paul says that Christ has united Jew and Gentile. He states in our text,
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken
down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of
commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself
one new man in place of the two, so making peace.”
This peace between Jew and Gentile
is a result of the peace that now exists with God because of Jesus Christ. Paul
says in our text that Christ acted to “reconcile us both to God in one body
through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” Christ reconciled us to God
through his death on the cross. We were by nature children of wrath as we lived
in sin. But the just God judged our sin in Christ. Paul told the Romans, “By
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for
sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”
God condemned your sin in Christ.
And then the working of God’s great might continued as he raised Christ
from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
places. As the exalted Lord, Jesus has poured forth his Spirit. The Spirit has
now given you rebirth through the water and the word of baptism. You are now a
saint – a holy one – in God’s eyes because he as washed away all of your sins.
As Paul says in our text, “For through him we both have access
in one Spirit to the Father.”
In our text Paul says, “And he came
and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who
were near.” The Gospel is the source of peace for all. It is the source of
peace for Gentiles. It is the source of
peace for Jews.
As Gentiles, Paul speaks to you when he says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” You are no longer outsiders who don’t know God. Instead, you are fellow citizens with the saints because you are a saint – you are holy in God’s eyes because of Christ. You are members of the household of God. You are the people of God.
In fact, Paul draws upon language of
the Old Testament as he describes the Church as a temple united in Christ. He
says that Christ is the cornerstone “in whom the whole structure, being joined
together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
In
him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God
by the Spirit.”
So what does this mean for us? Well,
we start with the reason that we have peace with God and are part of God’s
people. Paul says, “And he came and preached peace to you who
were far off and peace to those who were near.” The Gospel – the good
news about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – brings this peace
through the work of the Spirit. It has for you. But of course, the Gospel is
not to be your selfish possession. It is good news for all. And Christ has
commanded his church to share this Gospel that brings peace.
Now certainly this means that you
will talk about Jesus and what he has done for you if anyone asks about what
you believe. But this morning I want to call your attention to something even
more basic: invite them to the place of peace. Here in the Divine Service you
receive this peace as you hear the God’s Word proclaimed. And then in the
Sacrament of the Altar you receive the peace of sins forgiven as you eat and
drink Christ’s body and blood. Later you will sing in the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord,
now you let your servant depart in peace.”
So invite them to come to church.
It’s simple. And it also happens to be the reason that most people report for
why they joined a church – it’s because someone invited them. You don’t need any theology to do this. And
as President Curtis has explained, if a person asks why he or she should visit Good
Shepherd, all you have to say: “Because I think it’s great.” It requires
nothing more than that.
Because of Christ we have peace with God. Our text describes that through the work of the Spirt we have been joined together in Christ. Paul describes the church as a temple. Elsewhere he calls her the Body of Christ. In chapter four Paul states, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
This is the unity that we share in Christ, and so Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Paul tells you that you are to walk
in a manner worthy of your calling. You have been given God’s peace. You have
been made part of the people of God in Christ. So be humble and gentle in
dealing with others. Put their needs ahead of your own. Be understanding
towards those who are experiencing difficulties.
Paul says that we are to “bear with
one another in love.” We can also translate this as “put up with on another.”
Sinners are annoying because they keep sinning. They do dumb and thoughtless
things. But the apostle tells us to put up with one another in love because we
are eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
If we are going to put up with one
another, then we will have to forgive one another. And that is exactly the
instruction that Paul provides in this letter when he says, “Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you.” Living in Christ, through the work of the Spirit, we treat others as God
has treated us in Christ.
You were by nature children of wrath
for whom the devil was Lord. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise because you are Gentiles. But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ. You
have been reconciled to God through the cross.
The Spirit of the risen Lord has
called you to faith in Jesus. Jew and Gentile alike have been united through
baptism in Christ. You have peace with God for you are no longer strangers
and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God. This is the peace that you share with
others as you invite them to come to this place of peace. It is the peace you share in your life as you
bear with one another in love.
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