Text used – Ephesians 2:14-22

• Drawing close to the end of our summer series on the Beatitudes → only 2 left
  • Today: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.[1]
  • Next week → going to combine the last 2 beatitudes for the final one because they’re so similar in subject/tone
  • Back in July, we talked about “Blessed are the merciful” and how that particular beatitude was possibly the most deceptively simple beatitude – the repetitiveness of mercy for mercy, the obvious nature of it (“Of course we should be merciful!”). Today’s beatitude feels like it falls in the same category: deceptively simple, obvious … maybe even too obvious for us to handle?
    • Again, of course we want peace → joke in the movie Miss Congeniality
      • Brief synopsis of movie
      • Joke that pokes fun at beauty pageant contestants: “World peace!”
    • But the challenge in this particular beatitude is in the simplicity. Yes, we should all be peacemakers … peace-bringers … peace-sharers … peace-infusers. Yes, we want peace in our hearts, in our relationships, in our world, in our faith. … But after thousands upon thousands of years of human history, we still can’t seem to get that part right. God knows we’ve been trying … but God also knows we are still far from getting this one right!
      • Google search for “what are peacemakers?”
        • Lots of hits for this particular Scripture passage
        • Some general “characteristics of peacemakers” type of posts
        • Conflict-resolution-focused hits → Think corporate teambuilding and HR mediation-type articles.
        • Definitely some school-focused hits
          • Peer mediator training in elementary school
        • Then I came across a number of different faith-based hits that made a very particular distinction between being a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. → bottom line: peacemakers are more active and intentional in their work whereas peacekeepers try to minimize conflict – sidestep it, whitewash it, sweep it under the rug
    • I think with this idea in mind – this idea of peacemakers being the ones who work through conflict in the healthiest ways possible – this beatitude is the hardest one for us to enact in the world in which we live today. We’ve said all along that these blessings that Jesus laid out in the Sermon on the Mount were countercultural, and this one definitely feels that way because somewhere along the way, we seem to have lost the ability to deal with conflict together as humans. I have my side. You have your side. And there is no middle ground. If you don’t see it my way, you must be ignorant. If I don’t see it your way, I must be corrupt.
• And yet Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” … not “Blessed are the label-makers.” So what do we do with this one? → enter the reminder we get in letter to the Christians in Ephesus
  • Background
    • One of the epistles that was traditionally believed to be written by Paul himself → scholars have since come to a general consensus that Eph was written by someone else in Paul’s name
      • No specific greeting like we find in Paul’s other letters
      • No mention of any kind of relationship with those receiving this letter → Even in Romans, which we know was written by Paul, he talks about the fact that he and the Roman Christians lack a relationship because he’s never spent a lot of time in Rome. But Ephesians includes no such declaration.
      • Still draws heavily on themes, language, theology of Paul
    • Not even sure this was originally intended specifically for Christians in Ephesus – scholar points out: The [opening] phrase “in Ephesus” does not occur in many of the earliest manuscripts. Nor would that locale be appropriate for an audience that does not know the apostle. Paul had worked extensively in Ephesus. He may even have been imprisoned there. (She goes on to give some detail about the purpose of Ephesians.) … Ephesians never refers to false teachers whose doctrines must be avoided. Therefore, the epistle appears to be addressed to Christian churches in general, not a particular situation.[2]
  • Into that backdrop of it being a message for all Christians, we read today’s passage: Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barriers of hatred that divided us.[3] → Okay, let’s stop there for a minute. Really, that single verse alone could be our sermon for this morning. Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barriers of hatred that divided us. There’s so much to dig into there.
    • Gr. “peace” encompasses both Heb. sense of peace (welfare, health re: one’s relationship with God) and the Christian sense of peace (tied to salvation through Christ) → So basically, Christ is the peace we need for our bodies. Christ is the peace we need for our souls. Christ is the peace we need for our everything.
    • Next: “He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group.” → I don’t think we can appreciate just how divided Jews and Gentiles were at the time. Heck, there are still some of the stricter branches of Judaism that doesn’t have much to do with Gentiles (general term for anyone and everyone who isn’t Jewish) on a regular basis. The gap between Jews and Gentiles was a gap not breached in most circumstances. The Gentiles were almost always the conquerors of the Jews – those who enslaved them, oppressed them, occupied their homes, and taxed them just for inhabiting their own homelands. Truly, there was no love loss between Jews and Gentiles. And yet … “He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group.” Now that was a countercultural declaration!
    • Last sentence in that verse: “With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us.” → I’m not the only one yearning for that type of breaking down today, right? In this world in which we live in today, it feels like there’s nothing but “barriers of hatred that divide us,” right? It seems like every post … every headline … every soundbite … every political slogan … even things that are supposed to entertain us like country songs … it seems like everything we encounter throughout the day constructs a new barrier of hatred that divides us. And yet we are assured that Jesus breaks those barriers down.
      • Passage goes on to declare how Jesus makes peace btwn those for whom peace was thought inconceivable – Jews and Gentiles
        • Speaks of creating a new person out of the 2 groups
        • Speaks of making peace
        • Speaks of reconciling all to God through the cross
  • Eph passage also extends that peace OUT! – text: When [Jesus] came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near.[4] → makes it clear that this peace that Jesus brings is a peace for all
    • Jew and Gentile
    • Near and far
    • Those who are strangers and those who are not
    • Text: So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household.[5] → Does that sounds like being called “children of God” to you? Because it does to me.
  • Eph passage also goes into the call that’s associated with being a peacemaker – text: As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.[6] → This part of our passages presents the idea that being a peacemaker – being a child of God – is a process. It’s a journey, not a destination. It’s a building being built one decision … one kind word … one act of peace … one prayer … one particle of faith at a time. But no matter how it’s built – no matter what it looks like or how long that building takes – Jesus is always both the builder and the cornerstone, the one that anchors the whole building firmly and undeniably in a relationship with God. You see, being a peacemaker is not just about how you “do.” It’s also about how you “be.”
    • See this in the Gr. “they will be called children of God” → Gr. “called” has three particular meanings
      • 1^st = most obvious: “named/addressed”
      • 2^nd = choice element of being called: “invited” → We are invited to be children of God, but we have to willingly and genuinely accept that invitation each and every day.
      • 3^rd = flip side – the compelled element: “summoned” → We are free to make the choice … but we cannot deny that there is something deep inside us that is drawn to God, something that yearns for God.
        • Gr. language source: “almost equivalent to the verb ‘to be’” → That call to be a “child of God” runs that deeply within us – that it is mystically and inextricably linked to our very being!
• And yet we find ourselves living and moving and trying to find God in the midst of a culture that has long since valued profit over peace … politics over peace … proof over peace. For too long now, the emphasis has been on proving myself right, not just by making a sound argument for my point but by denigrating and even vilifying your point. We’ve forgotten that true peacemaking requires coming together. We’ve forgotten that true peacemaking requires We’ve forgotten that true peacemaking requires effort and compromise. It involves uncovering and confronting some uncomfortable things and dealing with them – grappling with them, learning both about them and from them, and letting that process of dealing with them bring about change … sometimes even change in ourselves. Y’all … we have gotten SO BOGGED DOWN in the ugliness of this that for nearly 20 yrs., one of the U.S.’s main weapons of war – an intercontinental ballistic missile – was called the Peacekeeper. That’s sick.
  • Words of author Marianne Williamson: Hate has talked so loudly for so long. Greed has talked so loudly for so long. Liars have talked so loudly for so long. Love has got to stop whispering. → Friends, we are called to be peacemakers. We are called to actively work and pray and hope and dare for peace in all the corners of this world – within ourselves; within our relationships; within our homes; within our communities; and within this crazy, messed-up, broken gathering called humanity. Jesus never promises that it will be easy or fun or even safe work (foreshadowing: we’ll get into that more with next week’s beatitude!) … but still, it is the work to which we are called.
    • It’s what we sing every Sunday: [READ lyrics] “Let There Be Peace on Earth”
    • Truly, friends, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Amen.

[1] Mt 5:9 (NRSV).

[2] Pheme Perkins. “The Letter to the Ephesians: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary series, vol. 11. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 354-355.

[3] Eph 2:14 (CEB).

[4] Eph 2:17.

[5] Eph 2:19.

[6] Eph 2:20-22.