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Ephesians 2:11-22

Pastor Brian Haibig has an incredible way of taking scripture that is dead to me and making it come alive. I have prayed often for this to happen for me over the past few years. I've heard the stories so many times, seen so many of the same illustrations it is easy for me to miss the meaning, the gravity, the incredible, almost crushing weight  behind the words that were breathed by none other than the Almighty Himself. On Sunday we were in Ephesians where we have been dwelling for some weeks now. When the scripture was read at the beginning of the service it didn't do anything to grab my attention. I was listening with apathetic ears. Then I began to feel the weight. You have to hear me out on this but...Paul is reminding the gentiles that when God originally made promises to the patriarchs He wasn't making deals that applied to them. The promises of redemption, mercy, hope, etc were made with the Jews. The dire state of the Gentiles (of which I am one) was overwhelming. The desperation, the hopelessness, the state of absolute destitution, the promise of condemnation was so heavy I almost fell from my chair. Stop. Think about it. No promise that God will redeem you, clean your slate, intervene in your judgement. Imagine standing in front of God covered head to toe in wretched sin pleading for mercy, screaming out for a savior that will not come. BUT... though those promises were made to the Jews, God in his unending grace has covered not only the sins of the Jews but also those of the Gentiles.  My wretched sins have been washed clean. Not just mercy but grace has been poured over me. My Saviour has come. Never before have I wanted so badly to stand and yell "hallelujah I am redeemed". 

And what of the Jews who (with a nasty sarcastic 6th grader tone of voice) were calling the Gentiles "the uncircumcised". The Jews were God's elect. They were looking down their nose at the inferior Gentiles. Oh but Paul a word for them too, because in Christ we have all become equal. Jew or Gentile, black or white, Arab or American, Baptist or Presbyterian, Republican or Democrat, richest of the rich or poorest of the poor. The Gentiles were not welcomed into the family as the red headed step child. They were a full fledged unabashed member of the family. There is no second class Christian. Oh what a relief. We can now unite with no prejudice. We are one church. There is only one bride for Christ. 

Thinking about this unity I went home and watched something that was mentioned in the sermon. If you watch it just normally it's pretty entertaining. If you watch it with the unification of the church in mind, with these ideas ringing in your ear... well it's nothing short of amazing. It's a youtube video that's blown up over the past year called "where the hell is matt (2008 version)". Here's the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY