In my opinion, there are few things worse than the first day of school, whether it be the first day of kindergarten, elementary, high school, college, or graduate school. There’s the anxiety of finding your classes, figuring out your schedule, and answering the all-important question of where to sit at lunch. Not to mention the fact that the boredom is absolutely unbearable as teachers pass out books, assign desks, and in my case, feel the sudden urge to read the syllabus to graduate students just in case they have forgotten how to read during the summer. And then, the professor says those dreaded words “Let’s go around the room and have everyone tells us who they are.”
Who am I? How do you really answer that question in thirty seconds or less? Fortunately, I’ve been taking seminary classes for nearly five years now so I’ve developed a standard answer. I stand up in class and say
“My name is Kyle Ferguson, I’m married and have one daughter and another on the way. I work at a church in Wisconsin just west of Milwaukee and I’m taking this class to finish my Masters Degree.”
There you have it—who I am in less than forty words. Of course, if we really stop and think about it, I have not really answered the question. I’ve simply listed a series of basic external facts.
Often, though, this is the exact same approach that we take when we are asked what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. Who are we as the church? “Well we are Cornerstone Church, our worship service is at 10:00 a.m. with Sunday school for all ages at 9:00 a.m.. Cornerstone is located on highway 83 just one mile south of Highway 94 in the town of Delafield.” But this does not really answer who we truly are. Saying that “Cornerstone” answers who we really are as the church of Jesus Christ is as useless as saying that “Kyle” completely describes who I am as a person. While that might work on an answering machine or the first day of class, it fails to answer who we are because it is only an external description.
External descriptions were a problem in Paul’s day as well. He begins our passage here in Ephesians, by addressing the old external descriptions that were still being used by some in the Ephesian church. The concern was whether you were a Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, an Israelite or alien. If you could not be identified as a circumcised Jew you were without hope and without God. But in verse 13-15, Paul argues that those distinctions have been made obsolete by the coming of Christ. In verse 14 Paul says, Christ has made us both one. It is no longer Jew or Gentile, circumcised or not. Instead, in verse 15, Paul says that God has created one new man in place of the two. In Christ, the old categories are no longer valid. Now there is now only one true identity—we, Jew and Gentile together, have been united into the people of God. We are THE CHURCH.
Unfortunately, in place of the old identities of Jew and Gentile, circumcised and old, we have created new external descriptions. We identify ourselves by a church name or a denomination. Just as in Paul’s day, we have ignored our true identity as the church of Jesus Christ, settling for a man made category. Are we Cornerstone? Yes. Are we a Presbyterian church? Yes. Is my name Kyle? Yes. Does these adequately describe who we are in the deepest part of our being? No. They are as outward focused as categories of Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised. We are the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ, and our identity goes so much deeper than just a name.
In response to the Ephesians misunderstanding of identity, Paul spends the rest of chapters two and three explaining who we are as the Church. This morning I want to look at three of these markers of identity and then consider how we are living out that identity. Are we living up to our identity? Are we truly being who we were meant to be? Or are we settling for first day of school type answers?
The first answer to who we are as the church of Jesus Christ is found in verse 18 of chapter 2. We as the church are those who have access to the throne room of God the Father. Paul says in verse 18 “Through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” The church is those who have access to God. The word access is only found only three times in the entire New Testament, twice here in Ephesians. Besides the verse I just read it also occurs in chapter 3 verse 12 “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.” Outside of the Bible, the word access is a little more common. It’s often used of the access a boat has to a harbor, or in terms of people, having access to an audience with a King. That is the idea that Paul has here. In Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, those who were near and far off, as Paul says in verse 17, have access the throne room of God. Like a boat entering a harbor or a person approaching a King, we have access to enter the throne room of God and speak directly with Him through the blood of Christ.
Paul is making a pretty powerful statement here. In the era of the Old Testament, access to God was limited. Hebrews 9, which Butch read early, gives us a good picture of the limited access to God in Israel. In Israel, access to God took place through the temple and required a sacrifice. In fact, one of the words for the offering of sacrifices in the Old Testament literally means to draw near. Through the constant shedding of blood, the Israelites were reminded that their sin separated them from a holy God. It was only through the forgiveness of their sin through the shedding of blood that they could draw near. Yet, even with that blood, only one person, the high priest, could actually enter God’s throne room in the temple, the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year. For the rest of the year, no one had access to the room where God’s presence dwelt. If you were the High Priest, you had access once a year, after offering a sacrifice for yourself and the people. If you were a Levite, a priest of Aaron’s line, you could get close to the throne room by entering the first room of the temple, the Holy Place, but the Holy of Holies, the throne room of God on earth, was strictly off limits. Israelite men could not enter the temple itself but they could enter the temple grounds and approach the altar to offer their sacrifices. Israelites women could not even come that far. Everyone could pray at the temple, like Hannah, Hezekiah, and David, or towards the temple, like Daniel, even though he lived in Babylon, but no Israelite except the High Priest had access to God, and then only once a year. The Israelites were near, they were close, but they did not have access.
The situation was even worse for the Gentiles. If they wanted to come near to God they had to come to the temple as well, but they could not even go in or offer sacrifices on the altar. They had an outer court at the temple where they could pray, but they could not even get as close as Jewish women. The ancient historian Josephus tells us that there were signs at various points approaching the entrance to the inner courts of the temple, warning Gentiles that they would be killed if they entered the temple as a Gentile. Excavations have found such signs that read in Greek and Latin: No one of another nation to enter within the fence and enclosure round the temple. And whoever is caught will have himself to blame that his death ensues. Paul would have been quite familiar with this exclusion of Gentiles from the temple courts because Paul is writing the book of Ephesians in prison having been arrested by the Jews in Acts 21 on the charge of bringing a Gentile into the temple. And the Ephesians would have been well aware of their limited access and exclusion from the temple because the person who Paul supposedly took into the temple was an Ephesian. Gentiles knew they were excluded. They knew they were far off. They could not offer sacrifices for their sin without becoming an Israelite first. They could not enter the temple. The Jews did not have access, but the Gentiles could not even get close. They were far from the throne room of God.
But now, Paul tells us in verses 14-16 that Christ has made peace, reconciling us to God. The dividing wall is gone. Literally, the wall of the fence he destroyed. Commentators debate just what this fence is. Is it the fence that kept Gentiles out of the temple, or the curtain of the Holy of Holies, or is it simply figurative of our sin? The point of all three is the same. Christ has made peace between us and God. His blood has washed away our sin so that we no longer need sacrifices to approach God. Christ is our sacrifice. The separation, the division is gone. Now, we can enter boldly into the very throne room of God, not just the Holy of Holies in the temple, but into the very real spiritual throne room of God. Through Christ, we have immediate and constant access to the throne room of God.
Do you realize, right now, sitting in your pew, that at this very moment you can enter the throne room of God the Father and ask Him or tell Him or thank Him for anything. In the Old Testament, Israelites had to bring a sacrifice if they even wanted to thank God for something. They were constantly reminded through the continual shedding of blood that access to God’s throne room was not an option. But right now, you sitting here, whether male or female, Jew or Gentile, if you have put your faith in Christ and been washed by His blood, have immediate access to God. You do not have to offer a sacrifice, Christ already has. You do not have to wait for the high priest to go in during His one time a year, Christ has opened up the way permanently by being a perfect High Priest. The writer of Hebrews says “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God…let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We as the church are those who have access to that throne of grace. We can enter at any time for whatever we need. But how do we act? We totally forget what we access. What would the world think if Donald Trump decided to live on the streets as a homeless person? Access to millions of dollars and he chooses to be homeless. That’s like Michael Jordan when he quit basketball to play baseball. Easily the greatest basketball player ever and he chooses to play baseball. But that’s what we do as the church. We have access to the very throne room of God but we rarely act like it.
We have access to the overwhelming grace and forgiveness of God and yet when sin shows up in our midst we sweep it under the carpet. Sin, what sin? No sin here, I mean, come on, we’re the church. We don’t sin. Rather than taking our sin into the very throne room of God and receiving grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, we hide and cower. We worry more about our image. We show up here and leave our sin at home. We act as though the church is a place for good Christians who never do anything wrong. We shouldn’t check our problems and issues at the door. We should bring them with us, into the throne room of God to have them dealt with because that’s who we are.
We have access to help in a time of need, but entering the throne room of God and getting that help is what we do when all else fails. If we truly understood the access we have, we would be a church of constant prayer. I’m not talking about more prayer meetings or a time of prayer on a Sunday morning, although that is part of it. I’m talking about being in constant prayer for everything around us. We have access to the very throne room of God and yet the thought of prayer seems as dreadful to those of us in the church as it does to those outside of it.
Do you realize who we are? We are those who have access into the very throne room of God. But how often do we actually go there? Let’s remember who we are. Let’s be who we are. Let’s take advantage of our access and constantly be on our knees as a church. Let’s take advantage of our access and stop hiding our sin, but take it to our gracious merciful father who deals with it in the blood of Christ. Let’s stop worrying about what we look like or what fake image we present. We are the church, and we have access to the very throne room of God.
Not only does Paul say that the church has access to the throne room of God, Paul says that we have the presence of God. Look at verses 20-22. With Christ as our cornerstone, the whole structure, being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Paul is saying that we as the church are God’s temple, the place where God dwells.
The imagery that Paul is using here would have struck a major chord with both Jew and Gentile. In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where people had limited access to God because it was understood as God’s dwelling place on earth. In the desert, when the Jews had a temporary tabernacle, the pillar of cloud would descend and fill the holy of holies. When Solomon built the temple, the glory of God again descended and filled the temple. Hannah, David, Hezekiah, and Daniel prayed towards the temple because it was God’s house, the place where God dwelt. Isaiah saw God’s glory in the temple and Ezekiel saw the presence of God departing and returning to the temple. The temple was a symbol of God’s presence with the Israelites. You can even see this in the abuses of the temple in the days of Jeremiah, when idolatrous Israel incorrectly assumed that having the temple’s presence meant having God’s presence and blessing that would protect them against the approaching Babylonians. In the Jewish mind, the presence of the temple meant the presence of God.
The Gentiles understood temples in the same way. Remember that Paul is writing specifically to Ephesians living in Ephesus. The city of Ephesus was famous for its temple to the Greek goddess Artemis. The temple of Artemis in Ephesus housed a sculpture of the goddess Artemis and people would come from around the world to Ephesus to worship this idol. In Acts 19, Paul caused a riot in Ephesus when he said that idols made by human hands were not gods. When Paul said that idols are not gods, the Ephesians like Demetrius the silver worker knew exactly what Paul was saying. There was no presence of Artemis in the temple of Artemis. Just like the Jews, the Gentiles understood temples to be symbols of divine presence, the place where the deity lived, and it was key part of their economy.
Paul is not the only one to borrow the imagery of the temple. Jesus described his body as the temple. Peter also uses the idea of temple to speak of the church. Paul uses it here to remind us that we no longer have a temple because are the temple, with Christ himself as the cornerstone. We, as the church, are the spiritual dwelling place of God, who dwells in a temple not made with human hands. We are being built; it is still in process, we are certainly not yet a perfect community. The church is not yet a perfect temple. But God is already spiritually dwelling among us, right now.
As the church, the real question then is not what programs we offer, how dynamic the worship is, or how warm and inviting the people are. The question that we have to ask the church is when people come into contact with the church “Do they meet God?”
We go to The Milwaukee zoo to see animals, theaters to watch movies, and restaurants to eat. What’s the point of going to a zoo if you can’t see animals? What would be the point of going to a mall if all the stores were closed? What’s the point of going to a movie theater if there are no movies playing? What’s the point of going to a restaurant if they are out of food?
That’s the question Paul is asking. What’s the point of the church if people do not meet God? It is the place of God’s presence! How good of a temple are we really if people do not meet God? People who come to church should come face to face with the holy God. Here they should hear of the cornerstone, Jesus Christ and of his eliminating the dividing wall so that we can have access to God. Here they should worship the one true God and declare “God is really among you.”
How do we live up to our identity at Cornerstone? When people enter these doors, do they come into the presence of God? Do they sense from our worship that we are worshipping God or going through the motions? Do they hear in our preaching the message of Jesus Christ, who is our peace, or messages that make us feel good? Do they see the incredible unity of believers and conclude it must be the work of God? I would say the answer to those questions is very often negative. I would say when people come to Cornerstone, come into contact with the church, they do not always meet God. I say that because Paul says that. In verse 22 of chapter 2, Paul says we are “being built.” We are not perfect yet; we have not arrived as the church. We still have room for growth.
So let’s examine ourselves as the body of Christ and see those ways that we keep people from meeting God. If it is our false worship, our lack of unity, or even a program that we think it important but proves a hindrance to the gospel and the presence of God, then we need to change, because we are the church, the temple. The presence of God dwells here. Here, people should meet God.
Finally, Paul says that not only is the church those who have access to the throne room of God, those who have His presence, the church is also called to reflect the wisdom of God. In verses 10-11 of chapter 3, Paul says the church exists to proclaim the mystery and plan of God, even to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
In verses 1-9, Paul explains this plan and mystery. The mystery is the unity of Gentiles and Jews in the plan of God in the church. Verse 6 says “The mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Who knew in the days of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob that Israel being a blessing to all nations meant all nations would one day become one people of God! Not even the rulers and authorities in the spiritual places saw that one coming! In the church, the incredible wisdom of God, worked out through all of history, is displayed in the church’s unity. We have the identity of proclaiming God’s wisdom and hidden mysteries simply by our existence as a unified people. It is not just by our words or our messages, but by simply being who we are. We are the church, a united body in Christ, and that truth, properly lived out, demonstrates the wisdom of God through the ages, uniting people of all tribes, tongues, and nations in Jesus Christ.
So how are we doing? Are we a unified people? Gentiles and Jews absolutely hated each other in the time of Paul. Most of Paul’s letters contain some appeal to unity in the church between Jews and Gentiles. The tensions between Jews and Gentiles continue to this day in some places. Here at Cornerstone we are mostly Gentiles. We don’t hate each other; we aren’t harboring centuries of animosity against one another. Compared to Jews and Gentiles, unity here at Cornerstone should be easy, a piece of cake. So is it? Are we united? Unfortunately, the same divisions that took place along Jew and Gentile lines do exist here at Cornerstone. We gossip against one another, backstabbing each other. We allow personal desires and selfishness to get in the way of service to one another. Sometimes we do not even notice if someone is missing. We spend our time on Sunday morning talking with our friends instead of people we may not know. With the amount of disunity that exists in the church, it is a good thing that we do not have additional Jew/Gentile tensions to deal with. In many ways, I think we look at this passage and think “I’m a Gentile. I have no problem with Jews. This passage must not apply to me,” totally missing the point that the wisdom of God, His plan, is for the unity of His people in one new man, one body of Christ, and that applies to each and everyone of us. If we claim to be the church, then we are to be proclaiming God’s plan and wisdom for a united people to all who are watching, whether that be humans, or angels, or the minions of Satan. If we are the church, we must stop our bickering, and gossiping, and put personal ambitions aside and be the united people of God. Paul says in 2:22 that we are being built together, so let’s live like it. Let’s be united as a church and allow unified existence to proclaim the glory of God’s wisdom.
So, who are we, really? We are the church, the people of God. We are those who have access to the very throne room of God the Father through Jesus Christ, we are those have the presence of God dwelling among us, and we are those who proclaim the wisdom of God through our unity. We are the church.
My parents are originally from Massachusetts where they attended a church called “Grace Chapel,” pastored by author and speaker Gordon MacDonald. During a sermon on grace, Pastor MacDonald challenged them to live up to their name. Grace Chapel. He argued that Grace Chapel should be above all, a place of Grace. Remember your name he said “Grace chapel.” Remember your name.
I give you a similar challenge this morning. Remember your name. Remember the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, but also remember what comes after Cornerstone. We are Cornerstone “Church.” We are a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s in our name. So remember you name. Remember who we are. We are a part of the Christ body, the church, we have access to the throne room of God, among whom the presence of God dwells, a people who proclaim the wisdom of God simply by our unity. Let’s live out our identity. Let’s be who we are. Remember who you are. Remember your name.
