Dividing Walls
“Now in Christ Jesus you Gentiles, who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”
Ephesians 2:13-14 RSV
“Dividing walls … the hostility between us.” Paul wrote these words about the divisions between the Jews and the Gentiles of his day and age; however, his words echo through the ages to every generation that struggles with division. So, I guess that means that his words echo to E-V-E-R-Y GENERATION.
Think of the word division in terms of “us vs. them” or “we think/believe this way” and “they think/believe that way." Sadly, the things that divide us can and do lead to hostility: nations at war, family or friends who no longer speak and a host of divisions that keep us from loving our neighbors as ourselves. Paul reminds us that, through Christ’s blood (His death on the cross), we are brought near and made into one group, and that Jesus has broken down the dividing walls of hostility.
During the journey of life, we encounter dividing walls of all sorts: political, racial, theological, financial, social, sexual (male vs female, as well as straight, gay and a host of other variations) and the list goes on. So, here is the question for today: “who” is your “them?” From whom are you separated? Now, think about (and pray for) that person or group, remembering that they too were created by God and in His image. Pray that, with and through God’s love and grace, all the myriad ‘us and them’ barriers may indeed be broken down and the world of all of God’s children will become a world of “we,” where we do ‘love our neighbors (family members, friends and enemies) as ourselves,’ even though we will not always agree.
1 Peter 3:18: "
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."
Romans 6:10: “The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”
