Unleashed

For the past four weekends I've been talking about what all the church could really be if we didn't limit ministry to just a few but instead equipped each church member to serve and minister.

We've been reading about this in Ephesians, the NT letter written by the Apostle Paul, 4:11-13.

Now today I want to discuss one more thing from Ephesians—something that hinders the church from becoming what God intended.

I want to talk about walls in the church. Walls that divide and separate people. Walls that undermine ministry cripple the church.

Eph 2:11-22 (NIV) 11Therefore, 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)— 12remember 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. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by 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, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Walls. Despite what Robert Frost said about good fences making good neighbors, walls essentially are barriers designed to keep people away from each other.

Walls are made for separation. Some walls keep people out. Other walls keep people in. But basically all walls are intended to keep people away from each other.

In ancient days, people built walls around their cities to keep their enemies out. They built massive walls for protection—walls to keep dangerous people away from them.

The Great Wall of China (over 4,000 miles long and centuries old—some portions going back to before the time of Christ) was built to keep invaders out of their land.

The Israelis are erecting a wall on the West Bank expected to exceed 400 miles. They're doing it to keep terrorists out, but the wall has created a lot of distrust and antagonism among Palestinians.

The U.S. Homeland Security has been working on a 670-mile fence on our southern border to keepillegal aliens from entering the U.S.

A wall around a prison, on the other hand, is to keep people in. The idea is that if people are locked up and kept away from society for a while, perhaps they will reform their ways. We call prisons "penitentiaries" because we hope criminals will become penitent and change their behavior when we let them out.

I once heard about a guy who tried to escape from prison by sneaking into a bread truck as it was delivering bread to the prison kitchen. He hid among the loaves of bread, and the truck whisked him out without a problem. When the truck stopped, however, he climbed out only to discover the truck had traveled from one prison to the next. He was now inside another prison, still behind walls. I guess he needed to work on his penitence some more.

We see other kinds of walls these days. "Gated communities" are neighborhoods with walls around them so only a certain select few can get in. They're designed to keep all the undesirables out so the privileged insiders can feel more secure. The walls are meant to keep out all the riff-raff.

We have a wall around our yard to keep our dog from getting out and running loose. Really, it's a chain-link fence, but the concept is the same. It's a wall to keep him inside.

Years ago when we lived in Texas, we had a six-foot high fence around our yard to keep our pedigreed female Chow from running loose. It kept her in, and it was also supposed to keep other dogs out. When she was in heat, however, it didn't work that well. One persistent mongrel could climb over the fence.

You see walls today around companies or utility stations—barbed wire and fencing to keep vandals from wrecking or stealing the equipment—or even hurting themselves. You can't get into Upper Lakes or Sappi without going through the gates and the checkpoints.

Years ago after I'd finished college, I visited Europe and saw the Berlin Wall. My first glimpse of it was from inside East Berlin, in the Russian sector. I stood with a new friend, Thomas Koenig, a hitch-hiker whom I had picked up. Since he was from communist East Germany, that wall kept him in. He could not travel outside in the free world. His government wouldn't allow it. Dozens of people died (some say well over 200) trying to get out from behind that wall.

It was a very eerie sensation to stand there next to Thomas, looking at the Berlin Wall, knowing the next day I'd be on the other side but he would remain stuck inside, trapped inside a communist country. I was free; he was not. The wall made the difference.

A number of years after I had been to the Berlin Wall, President Ronald Reagan stood next to it and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan explained, "We believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace." Tearing down the Berlin Wall became a symbol of liberty.

These examples are all literal walls—real physical barriers that keepsome in and others out.

But there are also figurative walls:

• Social barriers that restrict and divide people from one another—social walls and limitations that exclude some from opportunities enjoyed by others.

Paul knew about walls. He knew about walls that divided Jews and Gentiles in ancient times. He had called himself a "Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee" (Phil 3:5). He had been one of those who looked down on Gentiles—he had considered them unclean, dirty dogs. Like any good Jew, he avoided socializing with Gentiles.

There was a gigantic wall between Jew and Gentile. It was a wall that excluded the Gentiles "from citizenship in Israel" and kept them "without hope and without God."

There were other walls in Paul's day as well—divisions between the Romans and those they conquered; separation between slaves and their owners. All around them were walls—social, religious, ethnic, and cultural walls.

It still happens. Beneath the surface remain many points of contention, many divisions in our society—and I'm not just talking about the Vikings and the Packers.

Social walls still divide people: walls between rich and poor; between the powerful and the weak; between CEOs and blue collar workers; between management and labor; between conservative and liberal, between gay and straight, between male and female.

Some are excited because our new president represents a shift in our national psyche. Because we've elected an African American, they say, the racial wall has been broken down. Despite progress, though, I'm sorry to say there are still people who despise and hate others with a different color skin.

• Emotional barriers that cause people to retreat into isolation and push others away—walls built with brick after brick of abuse, hurt, suffering, and loss; walls built to keep additional pain away.

We know about emotional walls of misunderstanding. Walls of hurt feelings. Walls of unforgiveness. Walls to keep others out.

It can happen in a home—when parents and children disagree, filling the home with anger and frustration.

It can happen in a marriage—when husbands and wives hurt each other, drive a wedge in their relationship, and push each other away.

It can even happen in a church—whenever people divide into camps that focus on differences; whenever criticism erodes relationships; whenever harsh, impatient attitudes tear others down; whenever we are motivated more by law than by love.

• Spiritual barriers that trap people in their sins or in destructive behavior—walls that rob them of their spiritual freedom.

Paul knew that the biggest wall was the wall that separated both Jews and Gentiles from God. The law revealed their sin, their failure, their inadequacy. No one could live up to God's righteous standard.

These walls may be figurative, but they are just as real as the literal walls. People are excluded and isolated because of social, emotional, and spiritual walls. People are divided and separated from others and from God because of these very real barriers.

1. Walls can divide a church.

God will not live in a divided house. Where love is missing, God is missing. Where hatred and condemnation and strife exist, God's Spirit is grieved.

(Eph 4:29-32) 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

You see, if we're throwing stones instead of building with them, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved. God will sadly slip away from those who are divisive and argumentative. He will not bless those who build walls.

Walls divide. Walls keep people out. Walls hold people back. Jesus came to tear down walls that divide and separate, so why should we build walls? We should instead build and strengthen the church.

Jesus came to break down the dividing wall. Jesus came to open up the way to God. Jesus came to provide access to the Father. AndJesus came to bring people together.

Jesus wants to take the bricks of the wall and use them to build a temple in which God can live.

(Eph 4:21-22) 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Jesus came to break down walls! When his love embraces people, the walls begin to melt away. Fighting can stop. Bickering can end. Hatred and animosity can fade. The love of Jesus can bring together people who have differences and disagreements. The love of Jesus cantear down walls!

2. Walls can hold us back.

We can't be all God wants us to be when walls divide us. We can't be unleashed to minister and serve when we're held prisoner by the walls in our lives.

Is there a wall between you and someone else? Are you consumed by mistrust and suspicion toward someone? Does a neighbor give you fits and create all sorts of trouble? Does a boss or co-worker constantly berate or harangue you? Is there a barrier between you and your husband or wife? A wall of misunderstanding; a wall of disappointment; a wall of betrayal?

These walls paralyze us spiritually. They prevent us from being equipped and empowered to minister to others. How can you be the husband God called you to be and minister to your wife the way God intended if you have this wall of anger and mistrust between the two of you?

The love of Jesus can tear down these walls!

How is this possible? Because God loved the world so much that he sent his son. It was love—Jesus' sacrifice—that broke down the wall of sin between us and God.

Sin is an impossible-to-fix barrier separating people from God. The problem is that God is righteous and holy, but we are—by nature—sinful and selfish. This created an impenetrable wall between us and God. The holy and the unholy cannot mix.

Sinful humans cannot live up to the standards of a perfect, holy God. So Jesus came to pay the price for our sins and tear down the list of indictments against us. On the cross he paid the price for our sins, and he tore down the wall.

In Christ, Paul says, walls are broken down. He "has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (v 14). He tore down the wall of sin and condemnation.

He broke down this wall so we can come to the Father. "Through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit" (v 18). What's more, when we're forgiven the hostility in our hearts toward others melts away. We can forgive because we have known forgiveness. The things that divide us can be set aside.

Paul said: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal 3:28)

While our society has become more diverse, we have also become more fragmented. The reality in our world today is that there are still many walls that divide people. Yet, the Bible says"You are all one in Christ."

Of course there are real differences, and God does not call us to compromise our convictions. But he does call us to love. He calls us to be ambassadors of reconciliation—not strident antagonists for our personal views.

(2 Cor 5:18-20) 18 ...[God] reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 ...And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors...

Whenever we see the world divided between "us" and "them," we have erected walls in our minds. It doesn't matter what the distinction is—race, money, education, whatever. The problem is that we allow differences to divide. And these wallshold us back from the ministry God calls us to do!

3. Walls can fall.

Jesus wants to unleash us as a church by breaking down the dividing wall. Then he can build us up into a temple in which God can dwell by his Spirit. When we're build and joined together instead of being walled apart, then we become a powerful force. The Spirit dwells in united hearts.

Jesus wants the church united in purpose and call and mission. Jesus wants us joined together... Fellow citizens, in the same household, built together, joined together to be a place where God lives!

There's a story of two brothers who worked together on two farms that adjoined each other. They shared everything—equipment and tools—and worked side by side. But one day they had a falling out over some minor thing. Things went from bad to worse until finally one of the brothers used a bulldozer to scrape out a ditch in the middle of the pasture that ran between the two farms. He wanted to make sure their separation was complete and irreversible. So the brothers bickered and fought at a distance as things smoldered.

After some time a carpenter came by looking for work, and the brother on the receiving end of the ditch hired him to build a wall so he wouldn't have to look at his brother's place. The carpenter said he knew "just what was needed" and started laying out materials. Meanwhile, the farmer went to town for more materials to make sure the wall would be tall enough.

When he came back from town with the extra material, he found that instead of a wall, the carpenter had built a bridge. The ditch between the two farms had been spanned. He was furious with the carpenter. He was venting his anger on him, when he happened to glance up and see his brother coming across the bridge. His brother had tears in his eyes, but he was smiling. He saw the bridge as an invitation to be reconciled. Before the astonished farmer could say anything, his brother embraced him.

Turns out the carpenter was right. He did know just what was needed. The farmer didn't need a wall; he needed a bridge.

Jesus came to destroy the barriers, the dividing wall of hostility. So we could be unleashed to do God's will and ministry as a fully functioning body of believers.