Peace is one of the dominant themes in Paul’s letters. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet.” When we take a walk in the quiet wood covered with snow, or when we watch birds feed over the window, we say, “That’s peace.” But the word peace (Shalom in Hebrew) in the Bible is more than merely good inner feelings; it is more about relations. It’s a comprehensive term for salvation and life with God. When we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. By this, we then have peace of God – a sense of wholeness, a sense of being at home, a sense of belonging, a sense of security, a sense of purpose. That’s biblical peace, shalom.
The word for peace (eirene in Greek) occurs 43 times in Paul’s letters, and eight of them are in Ephesians. In today’s scripture Paul says, “He [Christ] is our peace” (v. 14), “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity from two, thus making peace” (v. 15), “Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders” (v. 17). So Christ is our peace, Christ makes peace, and Christ proclaims peace. Christ Jesus is the one who makes peace possible. And in him peace is available and can be enjoyed. This is God’s reality. But as we look around, we see a huge gap between God’s reality and our difficult reality in this world today. Paul proclaims the good news that Christ has already broken down the dividing wall, the hostility between us. But what we see today is division, separation, loneliness, hatred, name-calling, hopelessness, purposelessness. And we ask, “Can we have peace in this world?” Paul’s answer to this question is an enthusiastic yes. He gives us three metaphors for our better understanding: God’s kingdom, God’s family, and God’s temple.
God’s Kingdom
First, God’s kingdom. The peace of God rules in our hearts when we live as citizens of heaven. In today’s scripture Paul says, “Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel… [But now] you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints” (vv. 12, 19). Christians are dual citizens – heavenly citizens and earthly citizens. To be more accurate, Christians are eternal citizens of heaven, and temporary residents (aliens) of earth. We Christians are to be respectful to earthly authorities. But our highest allegiance is to our highest authority, the God of heaven. But some people are confused with God’s kingdom and earthly kingdom, Christianity and nationalism. On January 6 rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Many participants carried Bibles, carried Christian flags, and shouted praises to Jesus as they broke into the building. Jenny Cudd, a florist from Texas, posted a 20 minute Facebook video in which she boasted about how she “charged the Capitol with patriots,” exclaiming “I’m proud of my actions.” She concluded her video by saying, “To me, God and country are tied — to me they’re one and the same,”[1] History tells us that this is not something new. The crusades wanted to establish a theocracy (government and religion are one). Puritans wanted to have a theocratic state.
God’s kingdom, however, is not a country (territorial jurisdiction). God’s kingdom is wherever God reigns. It’s interracial and international. There is no place for racism, nationalism, tribalism in God’s kingdom. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this very well. They were respectful to their governing authorities. But when they were forced to do something unjust, such as worshipping other gods, they said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter” (Dan 3:16). Here they were saying, “I must be disobedient to a king in order to be obedient to the King.” In his sermon But If Not, Dr. King said,
God’s Kingdom
First, God’s kingdom. The peace of God rules in our hearts when we live as citizens of heaven. In today’s scripture Paul says, “Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel… [But now] you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints” (vv. 12, 19). Christians are dual citizens – heavenly citizens and earthly citizens. To be more accurate, Christians are eternal citizens of heaven, and temporary residents (aliens) of earth. We Christians are to be respectful to earthly authorities. But our highest allegiance is to our highest authority, the God of heaven. But some people are confused with God’s kingdom and earthly kingdom, Christianity and nationalism. On January 6 rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Many participants carried Bibles, carried Christian flags, and shouted praises to Jesus as they broke into the building. Jenny Cudd, a florist from Texas, posted a 20 minute Facebook video in which she boasted about how she “charged the Capitol with patriots,” exclaiming “I’m proud of my actions.” She concluded her video by saying, “To me, God and country are tied — to me they’re one and the same,”[1] History tells us that this is not something new. The crusades wanted to establish a theocracy (government and religion are one). Puritans wanted to have a theocratic state.
God’s kingdom, however, is not a country (territorial jurisdiction). God’s kingdom is wherever God reigns. It’s interracial and international. There is no place for racism, nationalism, tribalism in God’s kingdom. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this very well. They were respectful to their governing authorities. But when they were forced to do something unjust, such as worshipping other gods, they said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter” (Dan 3:16). Here they were saying, “I must be disobedient to a king in order to be obedient to the King.” In his sermon But If Not, Dr. King said,
You may be 38 years old as I happen to be, and one day some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause—and you refuse to do it because you are afraid; you refuse to do it because you want to live longer; you're afraid that you will lose your job, or you're afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity or you're afraid that somebody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house, and so you refuse to take the stand. Well you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90!
Aliens live in fear – fear of deportation, fear of not belonging. But Paul exhorts us to remember our identity and live as citizens of heaven. “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ” (Phil 1:27 NLT). God’s peace becomes our reality when we live as heavenly citizens.
God’s Family
The second metaphor is God’s family. The peace of God rules in our hearts when we live as members of God’s family. In verse 19 Paul says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but… you are members of the household of God.” Anne Rice, author of the famous Vampire Chronicles, became a Christian later in life. But ten years later Rice decided to leave church, and she wrote the following wards: [2]
Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group.
In some ways, Rice’s words make a lot of sense. There are times when we are tempted to just throw in the towel and live as guests and outsiders rather than members. To borrow the words of Justin McRoberts, “Being a Christian can sometimes feel like being in a family with a thousand drunk uncles.”[3] But the local church was God’s idea. Through the cross Jesus created in himself “one new humanity” (v. 15) – new society, new community, that is the Church. And church is family. We don’t get to choose our family members. We are simply given to each other by our Father in heaven. As D.S. Carson said, the church itself is not made up of natural friends. It is often made up of natural enemies – those who think differently, look differently, act differently. But they are not our enemies, but our uncles and aunts. They are our family. Paul exhorts Timothy (and us) to treat others as follows: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim 5:1-2, ESV). God’s peace becomes our reality when we live as members of God’s family (cf. Col 3:15).
God’s Temple
The third metaphor is God’s temple. The peace of God rules in our hearts when we live as parts of God’s temple. Paul says, “In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God” (vv. 21-22). Here we find the spirit of “togetherness.” At the center of this holy temple is Christ Jesus, the cornerstone (v. 20). Cornerstones in ancient Israel were the primary load-bearing stones. Such stones have been found in Palestine, one weighing as much as 570 tons.[4] Jesus makes the whole building possible. He holds all things together. In him we are joined together, built together, grow into God’s temple together.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer desired to live in the Christ-centered community. So he started Confessing Church with his seminarians. He believed that Christ continued to be present in the world through his followers as they lived the Christian life together. So Bonhoeffer and the seminarians would enjoy a simple common daily life together. They would read and pray the Psalms together, sing hymns together in the early morning. During the day they would be united in service to one another, study together, share burdens together. At the end of the day, they would gather and confess their sins to one another, partake in the Lord’s Supper together. Yes, we can enjoy our fellowship with Jesus by ourselves. But “life together” is essential for Christians. Where there is brotherly love among God’s people, God is present there in the midst of them. That’s why we gather here in person or virtually today, that’s why we share our daily verse and pray together, that’s why we come to the Bible study and share our lives together. God’s presence, God’s peace becomes a reality when we live a life together as parts of the body, the temple.
Called to Be Peacemakers
Today we heard the message of hope. Can we have peace in this world? Yes we can! Let us remember what Jesus has done for us. By the blood of Christ you and I are forgiven and reconciled to God, others, and ourselves. And let us remember our identity. We were aliens, but now citizens of heaven. We were strangers, but now members of God’s household. We were hopeless and useless to God, but now essential parts of God’s temple. So let us live our life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And the peace of Christ will rule in our hearts and compel us to be peacemakers.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
Amen.
[1] Jack Jenkins, “Capital violence brewed from nationalism, conspiracies, and Jesus,” Christian Century (January 25, 2021)
[2] Scott Sauls, Jesus Outside the Lines (p. 49). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
[3] Ibid., 49.
[4] Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians (The NIV Application Commentary Book 10) (p. 138). Zondervan Academic.
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