Ephesians 2:11-22
Chancing ones arm: Who needs your reconciling arm today?
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself . . .
II Cor 5:29
The Door of Reconciliation
The Butlers and the Fitzgeralds were at war. Two Dublin families in the midst of a brutal
feud that would surely lead to bloodshed.
If you visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest church in Ireland, you will find on display
there a door. A door with a rectangular hole in its center, a hole dating back to 1492 that
reminds us of this bitter feud.
The feud had already proved bloody and Black James, nephew of the Earl of Ormond
fled from the battle and ran to the cathedral’s chapter house for sanctuary. The
Fitzgeralds were following in hot pursuit.
Their leader, Gerald Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare rode up to the cathedral when it finally hit
him. This feud is out of control. The hostility and animosity has gone far past where it
should have been. All in one instant he determined to end the feud. But try as he might,
he could not persuade Black James, who obviously suspected treachery, to come out.
So, Fitzgerald approached the door with weapon in hand and hacked a hole through the
middle of the door. But there was no anger or aggression in the destruction. Instead he
put his right hand through the door. He placed himself at the mercy of his enemy who
then had the opportunity to hack off his arm. But this daring gesture was enough. Black
James clasped the hand on the other side of the door and then opened it embracing the
reconciliation.
This door is called the door of reconciliation and this gesture is often said to be the origin
of the expression “to chance your arm.”
Let me go ahead and ask you this question: What feud exists in your life? What issue have you
never resolved? What bitterness still haunts your heart in that dark hour? And what would it take
“to chance your arm?”
Paying back the horrible barbarians
Long before 1492 there were two groups of people whose bitterness towards the other was
unparalleled. The feud had been bloody for centuries. The Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek and
Roman scum had trampled them over and over again—destroying their homes, raping their
wives, killing their children, kidnapping their best, and demolishing their temple.
But Israel knew they were the children of God. They knew that they were special—that they had
been chosen and that these heathen would one day be punished by a King like David, but so
much greater than David. By a King who would conquer their enemies and restore peace to
Israel.
Conquer them. Trounce them. Justice was necessary for these Gentile barbarians. These
uncircumcised louts. These unholy dogs.
What we once were—an alienated people
Let’s take a look
11
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called
"uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body
by the hands of men)-12
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship
in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in
the world.
I need to make sure you understand the prejudice here. The uncircumcision. That’s like saying
the unwashed hordes. The smelly and disgusting. The ones that God doesn’t love. This is the
way they thought.
William Barclay says it like this:
The Jew had an immense contempt for the Gentile. The Gentiles, ssaid the Jews, were
created by God to be fuel for the firest of hell. God, they said, loves only Israel of al the
nations that he had made . . . It was not even lawrful to render help to a Gentile mother in
her hour of sorest need, for that would simply be to bring another Gentile into the World.
Until Christ came, the Gentiles were an object of contempt to the Jews. The barrier
between them was absolute. If a Jewish girl married a Gentile boy, the funeral of that
Jewish boy or girl was carried out. Such contact with a Gentile was the equivalent of
death.1
It was evident even in their worship.
The temple itself is designed to alienate. It was built on an elevated platform encircled by the
court of the priests, the court of Israel and finally the court of the women. From this level, you
descend five steps to a walled platform and then go down another 14 steps to another wall.
Beyond that wall was the court of the Gentiles. They could look up and see the temple but they
weren’t to cross this nearly 5 foot wall and there were regularly placed signs to make this very
clear.
They actually found two of these signs (one in 1871 and one in 1935 which are now in the
Istanbul Museum) which read: “No foreigner may enter within the barrier and enclosure round
the temple. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”
You may remember that Paul was nearly killed because he was accused of taking a Gentile past
the barrier—interestingly an Ephesian by the name of Trophimus (Acts 21:27-31)
1
William Barclay, 125.
I emphasize this so much because I want to be sure we all grasp the alienation that was so
obvious in these first couple of verses. “You were without hope and without God in the world.”
What Christ does—reconciles and brings peace
Hear the alienation, the hostility, the hopelessness. Hear it as the Ephesian people would have
heard it and then hear the words of a Jewish man to them in the next line:
13
But now
It’s just like the earlier section. As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, captive to
your lusts, this world and Satan, children of wrath . . .
But God,
Here he continues, you were alienated from God, hopeless . . .
But now
13
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through
the blood of Christ.
Far away and near . . . there is so much here that I have to tell you
14
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility,
The dividing wall? That’s the 5 foot wall we were just talking about. It just got destroyed. This
is so exciting, but let me just finish the reading and then go back and show you the awesomeness
of this.
15
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose
was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
16
and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he
put to death their hostility.
17
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were
near.
18
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Abolished the law, peace, a new man, reconciliation, access. This is such an amazing passage.
Ok, back up to verse 12 and actually verse 17 too. See this language of far and near. This is
language that is well known in Hebrew religion. Now, I don’t know if the Ephesians would have
picked up on it, but Paul is using stock language that has a very specific meaning. It comes
directly from Isaiah 57:17-19. This is what some people call Third Isaiah because it is talking
about a time when people have come back to the land. Its talking about God’s disposition
towards Israel. And it doesn’t start pretty.
17
I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he
kept on in his willful ways.
18
I have seen his ways, . . .
This is how God sees Israel. Those who have remained in the land and those who have only
recently returned from exile. But it doesn’t end there.
but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
19
creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and
near," says the LORD. "And I will heal them."
(Isa 57:17-19 NIV)
Peace to those far and near.
That is, those who have remained and those who are returning. Far and near. It all refers to Israel.
No Gentiles. NEVER!
It’s amazing enough to Israel that he would proclaim peace and comfort to Israel considering
their failures and sin. But Gentiles? They don’t even get to come into the presence of God. They
are foreigners. They are aliens. They have no hope. That’s why he writes verse 19
19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's
people and members of God's household,
But we aren’t there yet. Back to the far and near.
See, now Paul has changed its meaning. Its not the far Israelites and the near Israelites. It’s the
near Israelites—those who can come pretty close to the holy and the far Gentiles, those who are
killed for entering the temple area.
But now, those who were far away are brought near. How?
The Blood of Jesus
Verse 14 says
14
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility,
The blood of Jesus makes peace. Jesus is our peace. He has made the two one. And destroyed the
barrier.
Get the idea here. When Jesus died, this wall got bulldozed. There are no longer 19 stairs
between them and the holy. The two have been made one. There aren’t two different groups of
people anymore. Only one. By granting access to the father (verse 18) the two people have
become one people. There are no longer any ceremonial laws like circumcision of anti-pork or
cleanliness rituals (it’s not that no one has to follow laws anymore. Gentiles are allowed access
to God.
Paul finally gets what was always the plan of God. Not that they would be separate, but that there
would be unity. One church. One united group of People. A new Israel of God.
And just look at verse 17—who did he reconcile to himself? The Gentiles? No, both the Jews
and the Gentiles. The reality is that even the Jews were hopeless and without God in the world.
Paul is admitting to this Gentile scum that he was just as lost as they were without the blood of
Jesus.
Friend, there is really only one kind of person in the world. Those who are hopeless and without
God. The only possibility of there being another group of people in the world is the blood of
Jesus.
What we become—Gods new society
I want to say more about these last few verses next week because I fear that we still don’t fully
grasp what it means to enter into Gods family, but hear this as an amazing ending:
19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's
people and members of God's household,
20
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the
chief cornerstone.
21
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the
Lord.
22
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives
by his Spirit.
(Eph 2:11-22 NIV)
The section starts off with what we were. It then says what Jesus did. It ends by reminding us
who we now are.
I want to focus on a couple of words this morning before we close.
The first is reconciliation and the second is peace.
I wonder where unity is lacking in your life. Where division is king and hostility reigns.
Who do you need to proclaim peace to? That’s what forgiveness does. That’s what reconciliation
does. It not only heals the two parties, but it proclaims peace to those around. It makes what
Jesus did visible. It rings out the good news—it proclaims that God reigns
7
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your
God reigns!" (Isa 52:7 NIV)
It screams out to those who are far and near, peace, peace.
Who do you need to reconcile with?
Corinthians says that we are a ministry of reconciliation, committed to the message of
reconciliation and ambassadors of Christ
18
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation:
19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
So, let me ask you, what areas of your life require reconciliation?
Is there a father that you still resent?
A sibling that wronged you long ago?
A boss that you truly can’t stand?
Maybe it’s a husband or wife. You know it’s not okay to resent him or her, but you don’t
know how to get past it. He betrayed you. She cheated on you. Maybe it wasn’t physical but it
crushed you all the same. And every day the bitterness increases.
So who is it for you?
Is it someone in this room? Maybe its not enmity, but just not friendship. Its just doing what you
have to. It’s not a relationship. Maybe its tense and its time you dealt with it.
Maybe it’s time to call home and tell them that because of the grace of God, you are ready to
forgive. Or maybe you need the forgiveness.
Philip Yancey in Rumours of Another World shares a story of the remarkable. The story
of an atrocity that happened during the days of apartheid in South Africa and the
reconciliation that followed in a court room many years later.
A policeman named Van de Broek recounted an incident when he and other officers shot
an eighteen-year-old boy and burned the body, turning it on the fire like a piece of
barbecue meat in order to destroy the evidence. Eight years later Van de Broek returned
to the same house and seized the boy's father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen
bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over his body, and ignited it.
The courtroom grew hushed as the elderly woman who had lost first her son and then her
husband was given a chance to respond. "What do you want from Mr. Van de Broek?"
the judge asked. She said she wanted Van de Broek to go to the place where they burned
her husband's body and gather up the dust so she could give him a decent burial. His head
down, the policeman nodded agreement.
Then she added a further request, "Mr. Van de Broek took all my family away from me,
and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month, I would like for him to come to the
ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him. And I would like Mr. Van de
Broek to know that he is forgiven by God, and that I forgive him too. I would like to
embrace him so he can know my forgiveness is real."
Spontaneously, some in the courtroom began singing "Amazing Grace" as the elderly
woman made her way to the witness stand, but Van de Broek did not hear the hymn. He
had fainted, overwhelmed.
Are you ready to forgive? Are you ready to reconcile?
I think it is time. Are you ready to chance your arm?
Have you been reconciled to God?
If this seems impossible, may I remind you or perhaps tell you for the first time about the
reconciliation of God and people who have sinned far worse against him than anyone has against
you.
Can I call you to look at the most important relationship?
Have you been reconciled to God?
Look more carefully at 2 Corinthians 5:17ff. it doesn’t just call you to be involved in
reconciliation and to proclaim peace and to be an ambassador. It tells you how this is possible.
17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!
Are you a new Creation? Has something happened in you that has moved you from hostility to
friendship? That happens when God reconciles us. How you ask? That’s verse 18
18
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation:
19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
(2Co 5:17-20 NIV)
I implore you now, Be reconciled to God.
You may have holed yourself up in the cathedral with a wooden door between you and God. And
yes, you can be in the church with a big door closed to God. You can even live a pretty decent
life and still not be reconciled to God. So here you are in the church with a wall of hostility set
up between. And perhaps God is standing on the other side and you hear him pleading with you
for peace. You refuse. And then you see him picking up the weapon as he approaches that door.
And that axe comes down time and again on the door ripping a hole in the middle. To shoot an
arrow through? No, he reaches through with his arm and begs you to take it. He chances his arm.
But unlike the beautiful story at St. Patricks, you grab a hammer and a nail and as that hand
comes through you nail it to the wood. You flog him, you beat him, you pierce him through time
and again. And his act of love ends in his death. And that door stands between you. You think
there is peace but there is not. You know your actions, you know your thoughts.
And then one day, the one you pierced stands whole again. And the door or hostility is ripped off
the hinges and you are open and vulnerable and weaponless and he once again holds out his
hand. His whole plan throughout time was to reconcile you to himself.
Are you ready? He doesn’t hold anything against you. He is reaching out to you with nothing but
love and forgiveness.
Coming to Jesus is the greatest act of freedom you have ever experienced. Everything that holds
you down is removed. You can fly. It’s not a list of do’s and don’ts, it’s the accepting of the
news that Christ has reconciled men to himself and that you are one of them. It’s a trust in Christ
as savior and a bowing the knee to him as king. It’s giving up your own aspirations and
exchanging them for his. It’s following without a glance back. It’s not perfection, its longing. Its
repenting, and changing and longing and being made new.
Once upon a time two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. It was the
first serious rift in 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor
and goods as needed without a hitch.
Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew
into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed
by weeks of silence.
One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a
carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work" he said.
"Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you?"
"Yes," said the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm.
That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow
between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between
us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. See that pile of
lumber curing by the barn? I want you to build me a fence - an 8-foot fence - so I won't
need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow."
The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the posthole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."
The older brother had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the
materials ready and then he was off for the day.
The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing.
About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The
farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.
There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge... a bridge stretching from one side of the
creek to the other! A fine piece of work handrails and all - and the neighbor, his younger
brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched.
"You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking
each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. "No,
wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you," said the older brother.
"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more bridges to build."
His brother’s hand only stretched out because of what someone else did. He built a bridge.
I know I spend a lot of time reminding you about the cost of that bridge, but since we are on a
bridge theme, I thought I would end this morning with a clip about a bridge.
The Bridge clip
Now because of his building a bridge, a bridge that crushed his son, we can build bridges too.
We can chance arms. We can reconcile and scream out peace peace to those far and near.
Let us go from here and do just that.
Let’s pray.
1) At one time you were alienated from God and from his people Israel
2) By hisdeath on the cross Christ Jeuss has reconciled Jews and Gentiles both to each other
and to God, creating a single new humanity (15)
3) You are no longer alienated by full members with Israel of God’s people and family
Remember tha at one time you…were alienated…but now in Christ Jesus you…have been
brought near…for he is our peace…so then you are no longer starnagers…but fellow citizens
wth the saints…
a) the portrait of an alienated humanity—what you once were (11-12)
b) portrait of the peacemaking Christ, or what Jesus Christ has done (13-18)
c) the portrait of God’s new society, or what we have now become. (19-22)