July 23, 2006 - "Then and Now"

Title: “Then and Now”
Text: Ephesians 2:11-22
Day: The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11)
Date: July 23, 2006

I don’t know about you, but my alarm went off too early this morning. I was still tired as I got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower, shave, etc, etc. And as I looked into the mirror as I was getting ready, I realized how different I look now than I did several years ago.
You wouldn’t know it by looking at me now, but when I was in college I had longer hair – it went down to about the tip of my nose. And it wasn’t this natural deep, dark brown color; instead, it was more reddish-blonde. I used to wear glasses, and my teeth used to be all crooked and out-of-place. And at that time I loved to listen to alternative rock music, but now I am a big country music fan. And the changes go on and on.
Yes, looking in the mirror this morning I realized that I was not the same then as I am now. I am different. I have changed. And the person in the mirror continues to change more and more every day.
I find that it is helpful every once in a while to have someone hold that mirror up to us. Sometimes we need to be reminded of who we once were in order to better appreciate who we are now. But we have to be cautious when we do this because sometimes the images of our past can be painful to look at. Sometimes we don’t like the image that we see when we look into that mirror.
Just ask the Gentiles in our reading from Ephesians this morning. In this text, Paul writes to them and holds that mirror up to their faces, confronting them with their past. Paul is not gentle with them. He doesn’t sugar-coat their former identity. He just lays it out there as plain as can be because Paul wants to make sure they understand the lengths that God has gone to change their identity forever through the blood of Christ Jesus. But to do so, he has to make sure they are all on the same page. There can be no misunderstanding the dire position they were in before. The image in the mirror of their past must be shown with brutal clarity.
So, putting his pen to the parchment, Paul scratches out these words to the Ephesians: “Remember,” he says, “that at one time you were without Christ. You were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers of the covenants of promise. You were a people with no hope and no God in the world.”
Ouch. You can just imagine the faces of the Ephesians looking bleaker and bleaker as the letter goes on.
It is not easy to have someone hold a mirror up to us either. We don’t like to be confronted with those things of which we are ashamed that show us who we once were. Those things that give us a glimpse of our former selves, they can still hurt us – like those hateful words that you said to your friend – they can still sting like they were fresh out of your mouth; or the callous way you treated the store clerk that afternoon a few months ago when you were having a really bad day; or the selfish way you acted when someone in your family just wanted to talk with you.
These things can still haunt us days, months, or years after the fact. You know consciously that they do not represent a comprehensive picture of who you are, but you cannot deny that they are part of your past. These things can stain our self-images.
And lest we think that we are somehow exempt from these images of a shameful past, we must remember that we are all members of humanity – a membership that bestows to each of us some hefty responsibilities that have still not been accomplished. When we look into humanity’s past, we see some of the bleakest images of all: the brutality of slavery, the somber faces of starving children, the destructive power of wars, the hostility between races, ethnicities, and religions. Whether or not you choose to acknowledge images like these as part of your past, we cannot deny that they are part of our world’s past, and, therefore, we have a hand in them. Or, perhaps it is better said by philosopher John Stewart Mill: “A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.”
We don’t like to look at the ugly images of our past. We don’t like to acknowledge that our current identities are stained by our past actions or inactions. We don’t like to acknowledge it for what it is: our Sin. But sometimes it is helpful for us to really take a good hard look at our Sin, to really confront it, to really come to terms with it. Because it is at that point, when we are faced with our bleakest images, that we can fully appreciate the extent that God has gone to bring us near to him.
So Paul can bluntly confront the Ephesians with their ugly past identity, but he does so knowing that as soon as they can no longer bear to look at their past he will begin to explain how God has changed their identity forever. So, Paul writes, “This is who you once were. Remember that. You were once people who had no hope and no God in the world. That is who you were THEN…but NOW in Christ Jesus you were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
By the end of the reading for today, Paul is so caught up in this good news that he piles image on top of image to try and explain the magnitude of this gracious work of God. Back then, the Gentiles were considered aliens or foreigners; now they are citizens. Back then, they were far off; now they are brought near to one another. Back then, they were strangers; now they were members of the household of God, built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. By confronting who they were then, they can truly rejoice at who they are now.
After reading through this Ephesians text at our Wednesday Morning Bible Study this past week, someone summed it all up in one concise word: WOW! And I say, that’s exactly right. We can hardly just sit here after listening to what God has done for us and not say anything; it elicits a response.
So, we’re going to do something a little different this morning. We’ve done it once before during worship a few months ago, and I loved it! I want each of you to get together with one other person in the sanctuary. And I want you to take just a few minutes and I want one of you to share with how God has changed you. Try to be specific. Who were you then, and how is God working in your life to change you? After a couple of minutes I’ll tell you to switch, so that the other person can share as well. And, this is important…if you’re not sharing, I want you to really listen and pay close attention. So, the floor is all yours…
(After both parties have had 3-4 minutes to share) Okay. I made it a point to mention that you have to listen because now I want you to take just a short amount of time and take turns saying a prayer for one another. I know this is going above and beyond what we typically do here, but I believe prayer is powerful. If you’re uncomfortable praying aloud, take a few moments to pray silently for the other person. Go.
(After most parties are finished praying, get responses/feedback from the congregation. What was that like for them?)