Sermon: Being Reconciled to God

Fourth sermon on the Atonement
"The Savior as Bridge"
March 6, 2005
Rev. Cynthia O'Brien
Smith Memorial Presbyterian Church

EPHESIANS 2:11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth ... 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 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.

We are continuing with our series on the atonement, how we are saved through Christ. Today, the word of the day is reconciliation, and how Christ is the one through whom we are reconcilied to God.

Have you ever been estranged from someone else?
Ever felt as if you just didn’t fit in, or weren’t welcome?
Are you, or have you ever been, an outsider?

All of us, except perhaps the Native Americans, were at one time outsiders, foreigners. My dad moved from Minnesota to California; I moved from California to Oregon. Michael’s grandfather moved from Italy to the Bronx. Michael’s mother moved from the Bronx to San Jose. Michael moved from San Jose to Los Angeles to San Diego to Oregon.

Do you ever feel like an outsider? Most of the people associated with this congregation are white, English speakers, and we don’t feel like immigrants or foreigners. Most of us are upstanding folks, and we don’t know what it’s like to be despised or outcast, except maybe by the occasional relative. But some people do know what it’s like, and if you’ve ever been an outcast, a foreigner, an outsider, the Bible has a good word for you.

Paul described the situation of some outsiders:

EPH 2:11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth ... 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.

It’s true, they really were outsiders, in every sense of the word. Even spiritually.

In fact, the Bible says that everyone was, at one time, a spiritual outsider. In Romans, it says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

But, we read here in Ephesians,

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Remember the last two Sundays. We talked about how Christ paid the penalty for our sin, and how Christ was a sacrifice, with the blood of Christ washing away our sins. Through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, there is atonement for our sins.

Here in Ephesians, we learn another way to see atonement. It says here that we, who once were far away, have been brought near. In other words, reconciliation.

Keep a finger in Ephesians 2 and turn to 2 Corinthians 5:16 for more of this:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

It’s time right now to get a new attitude towards anyone that you’re still regarding from a worldly point of view. Just think for a moment about how we regard people who are different from us.

If she’s smarter than you, she’s a know-it-all;
if she’s dumber than you, she’s an airhead.
If he drives a sports car, he’s having a midlife crisis;
if he drives a truck, he’s a redneck.
If those kids live in an apartment, they probably don’t care about the community.

We have to shake off any trace of worldly judgments. Why? Because, see verse 17,

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (and she) is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

We don’t get to be stand-off-ish from other people any more. We don’t get to judge them.

Each one of your elders has taken up the challenge to bring a new person to church in the next few months. We are all talking to people outside the church and hoping to introduce them to Jesus Christ. The other day, I had a great talk with one of our elders, who said, “These people I know are totally “not the church type,” but I’m inviting them anyway.” And after we got that out of our systems, we encouraged each other not to limit God. After all, some of the most enthusiastic Christians I know are not the “church type,” whatever that is.

Remember when Jesus told the fishermen to leave their nets, saying, “I will make you fishers of men” or “I will make you fish for people?” I’ve heard it said that if we catch ‘em, Jesus will clean ‘em.” I’m not sure how that works, but God does say, “The old has gone, the new has come.”

Still in 2 Corinthians, 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 (and women’s) sins against them.

This is what I’m getting at this morning. Not only does Jesus pay the price for our sins, not only does Jesus sacrifice so that we will be made spiritually clean, but Christ is the way that God is reconciling us to God’s self.

Let’s flip back to Ephesians 2:14. For he (Jesus) himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,

Do you want to know an easy way to explain this to someone? Let’s say you’re having a brew at McMenamins, or tea at Rose’s, or you and your friend have all the kids at McDonald’s, and you want to explain this and all you have is a pen and a paper napkin. I don’t have any visual aids here, so let me borrow some youth.

(put them in a line) God created the world and God loved us. God has a wonderful life for us, filled with blessings and eternal life.
(separate everyone from God and Jesus) But sin separated us from God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. There was no way to get back to God. People try, but they can’t cross this great separation.

God loved the world so much that he sent his son, Jesus, who became the bridge. Ephesians 2:14, “He himself is our peace…” and verse 18, “Through him we both have access to God through the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus died so we wouldn’t have to. Jesus rose from the dead and showed he has power over death. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

Notice that the scripture says “Through Jesus we BOTH have access to God.” Who is the both? That’s you, the insider, the good one, the churchy one, the English speaking one, whatever makes you acceptable, and the outsider, the questionable one, the different one, the non English speaker, whatever. You both have access to God. You both use the same bridge.

So, what do we do with this knowledge? Back in 2 Corinthians:

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.

We are the ambassadors. Remember what Christ did:

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

It is the mission of this church to preach peace to those who are far away and peace to those who are near.
Peace to the person you’re estranged from and peace to the one you love.
Peace to the person at the store and peace to your neighbor.

Both Jew and Gentile – the insiders and the outsiders – our culture and the foreign culture – we both have access to the Father. We should not be hesitant to invite anyone to find God.

The bridge to God has been established, and we are on it. We are in Christ. Every time we invite a person into the faith, we invite them to step up on this bridge.

Have you crossed paths recently with someone not of your race? At my daughter’s dance studio I met a man whose daughter is in Rachel’s class. His name is Carlos and he’s always smiling and he loves the Lord and he goes to an evangelical fellowship in NE Portland where people are coming to know Christ, and that little fellowship is sponsored by a regular English speaking church.

I wonder what it was like when that fellowship started? Obviously there are a lot of things the English speaking church could have said that would have killed it. That church could have said, “I don’t know about that guy Carlos, he wears a black and red jacket and a gold bracelet.” That church could have said, “Hey, all those Mexicans are illegals, they’d better get legal before God can love them.” That church could have said, “If they’re interested in God, let the Catholic church take care of them.” But that church didn’t say any of those things. That church has welcomed Carlos and his family and his friends up on the bridge.

There are only two Protestant churches on this side of town that are sponsoring any kind of Hispanic ministry, that I know of: Rockwood Church of God, where Pastor Cathy has been there for at least 10 years, and Grace Community Church in south Gresham, where my friends Jorge and Donna Osorio have pastored the Communidad Cristiana for about eight years. I don’t know of any ministry in Fairview to Spanish speaking people who don’t know Jesus. And yet, Hispanic is the fastest growing ethnicity in Oregon, especially in East County. A full third of the students at Fairview Elementary are Hispanic. They are starting to come to Powerhouse and Cherub Choir. They are delightful, enthusiastic people who want to know Jesus.

Why should we care? We are Smith Memorial. We are almost 115 years old. We are the historic, stable, healthy, vibrant presence of God in Fairview. Our ministry reaches people all over East County. We support Presbyterian Unified Mission that takes the good news to needy people around the state and around the world.

But we have yet to take the gospel to the nations in our own back yard, the people who hear this bell ring on Sundays and wonder “Que es esto? Que paso en esta iglesia pequena? Quienes son las personas que se llama Smith Memorial? Conocen ellos al Senor Jesucristo? Pueden ayudarme con las problemas de mi vida?”

To tell you the truth, I don’t know what questions the Hispanic people in Fairview are asking about God or about faith. I’m learning from people who know. Because I have a vision that shows God reconciling the world to himself here in this church, and I believe it begins with the people that God has given us for neighbors.

How will we reach these people for Christ? By the power of Christ. Christ is the reconciler. Christ is our peace. Christ is the bridge. God is reconciling the world to himself.