Together in Diversity
September 11th, 2022 – Together in Diversity
Good morning beautiful church family, whether present in this room or online! Today we are continuing our “Together” series, looking at how to live flourishing lives interdependently with God and one another. I’m referencing Scriptures from the NRSV translation of the Bible, if you’d like to follow along.
A man was shipwrecked on a deserted island. He lived there for ten years before finally being rescued by a passing ship. As he stood on the ship’s deck, the captain was curious. “I thought you were stranded alone. How come I can see three huts on the beach?” “Well,” replied the castaway, “The first one is my house, and the middle one is where I go to church.” “And the third one?” the captain enquired. A scowl came over the face of the man as he reluctantly admitted, “Oh, that’s my old church.“
Division is so widespread in our world that sometimes we don’t even get along with ourselves.
Today’s topic is “Together in Diversity.” Various ideas and images may crop up in our minds when we hear the word “diversity.” The term has even been saddled with negative connotations in some contexts. So, let’s start with some definitions. The word “diverse” means “consisting of two or more elements” or “going in two or more directions.” Something that is not diverse consists of elements that are uniform, identical, the same. When everything or everyone is identical, when sameness is the norm, there’s not only an absence of freedom, but there’s also no possibility of either unity or division. Just sameness, which means that everyone is created in the image of something other than God. Being created in God’s image means that there is a beautiful array of differences and diversity. It’s actually only when diversity is present that there is true freedom. It’s only when diversity is present that there is a potential for unity or for division.
Today we’re going to look at a lot of Scripture and some practical ways that we can be together in diversity. It starts with understanding that this is part of the Kingdom of God, the already-not yet of God’s rule and reign here on earth.
Last Sunday, John mentioned the five core values of the Vineyard movement. One of these is Reconciling Community – here are some excerpts from that value on our Vineyard USA website: “Jesus is reconciling humans to God, to each other, and to the entire creation, breaking down divisions . . . We seek to be diverse communities of hope that realize the power of the cross to reconcile what has been separated by sin . . . We are convinced that the church, locally, nationally and globally, is meant to be a diverse community precisely because Jesus is Lord over every nation, tribe and tongue. We . . . are eager to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom here and now and to realize this mark of the kingdom in our midst.”
Our main Scriptures today are found in the book of Ephesians, a letter written initially to the early church in the city of Ephesus. Let’s focus our attention for a minute on the situation in Ephesus in the first century. The church in Ephesus was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles (a term simply meaning “not Jewish”). This resulted in both ethnic and cultural diversity, which sadly lead to division in the church. We can relate to that in our culture and in the big C church today.
The apostle Paul, in writing this book of the Bible, is sending more than just a “Hi, how are you?” letter. The book of Ephesians offers praise to God, encouragement to the church, and exhortation to persuade the readers towards a particular course of action. This letter, sent initially to the church at Ephesus, was also copied and distributed to all of the early Christian churches. And 300 years later was included in the canon of Scripture that we now call “The Bible.” It’s relevant and applicable to us today.
Let’s dive into our readings from Ephesians and try to discover more of God’s heart in how we can be together in diversity.
Ephesians 1:3-4 (NRSV) – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” A long list of specific blessings follows – we’ll look at these shortly. A lot of blessings, a lot of favors, a lot of gifts, a lot of good things that have been given to us. Why? Well, we know for sure it’s not because of our ethnic or cultural background, it’s not because of our high or low position in life, it’s not because of our gender or preferences, it’s not because of our ability or disability, it’s not because of our successes or failures.
Why have we been given these blessings, favors, gifts, and good things mentioned in Ephesians chapter 1? The text says it’s because of Christ that God . . . has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. It’s because of Christ that he chose us . . . before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. It’s because of Christ that God destined us for adoption as his children. It’s because of Christ that God freely bestowed . . . his glorious grace . . . on us in the Beloved. It’s because of Christ that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. It’s because of Christ that God has made known to us the mystery of his will. It’s because of Christ that God will gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. It’s because of Christ that we have obtained an inheritance. It’s because of Christ that we can live for the praise of his glory. It’s because of Christ that we were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit . . . the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people. Wow, that’s a lot of blessings!
We recently spent a couple of months here at Liberty Vineyard looking at various heroes of faith throughout Scripture. Back in Old Testament days, God made a covenant, an agreement, with Abraham that he and his offspring would be God’s chosen people. Unfortunately, as with all people in all times and places, God’s people fell short of the covenant. But God always holds up His end of His promises. Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” Adoption was a common practice in the first century Greco-Roman world. The adopted child was taken legally into their new family and assumed all of the rights and responsibilities associated with that new family. No matter what the culture, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what the choices, adoption meant explicit, entire, and enduring acceptance into the family. Here in Ephesians, Paul explains that we become members of God’s covenant, explicit, entire, and enduring members of God’s family, by Christ and what God has done, not by our or anyone else’s culture, circumstances, or choices. We can be together in diversity. Remember that as we read further in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:16-23 – “I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
In this beautiful prayer which we can continue to pray today, we are reminded that when God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He gave us the ultimate example of His power. If He could do that, He can do anything, because death is the ultimate enemy of humanity. 1 Corinthians 15:26 (NLT) – “the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) – “He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The fact that God has put all things under his [Christ’s] feet and has made him [Christ] the head over all things means that Christ is higher than all powers. Let’s unpack power a bit further. Powers can be human, divine, angelic, or demonic. Power can be the social production of an effect that determines the capacities, actions, beliefs, or conduct of people. Power can refer to the threat or use of force. Power can be exerted through institutions. Power can order people in relation to one another. Power can involve the use of language that lends legitimacy to some behaviors and groups over others. Power can be evil or unjust. Power can be good and used to help, move, or empower others. No matter what kind of powers or power we’re talking about, Christ is over all of them.
Let’s look deeper still at verses 22-23, still in Ephesians 1: God has put all things under his [Christ’s] feet and has made him [Christ] the head over all things. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Rhetoric, the art of persuasion, played a central role in the ancient world. Good rhetoric included repetition for emphasis, to ensure that readers got the point. I just learned this week that in the original language, Greek, these two verses contain no less than seven words beginning with the letter “pi.” Apparently, Paul really liked alliteration, too! The main point here is that all of the divisions and distinctions between people have been transcended in Christ. It doesn’t mean that the divisions and distinctions don’t exist or that we should pretend to not notice them. It means that Jesus Christ is higher than all of them.
God has put all things under Christ’s feet. God has made Christ the head over all things. The fullness of Christ fills all, indicating that there are representatives of all peoples in the church, in God’s family. Who would that include? I put together an incomplete list of types of diversity after googling common reasons for division in our world today: There will be all kinds of people in the church with all kinds of abilities, affinities, ages, cognition, cuisines, cultures, disabilities, economics, education, ethnicities, genders, handicaps, hobbies, identities, impairments, interests, languages, locations, looks, music, nationalities, politics, preferences, sexuality, and status. The fullness of Christ fills all in all. It’s not because of any particular differences or attributes in us that we become members of God’s covenant, members of God’s family. It is by Christ and what God has done. We can be together in diversity.
To quote the modern hymn written by Townend and Getty: “In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.”
My son Michael’s Asbury Seminary professor, Craig Keener (also world-renowned New Testament scholar and a Vineyard guy) introduces the first section of Ephesians chapter 2 by saying: “Paul continues to explain God’s gracious exaltation of the Christian with Christ.” God chooses to exalt us with Christ, again, not because of anything in our background, anything we’ve done or haven’t done, but because of His grace, which is “generous, free, totally unexpected, undeserved.” Grace is created by God and given as a help to us because (and only because) God desires us to have it.
Let’s continue reading in Ephesians 2:4-10 (NRSV) – “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.”
In the early church, one of the divisions that Paul is trying to address here had to do with the understanding of who was included in God’s family. There were some who agreed in principle that they were saved by God’s grace in the Abrahamic covenant, but they were not able to extend this idea to those who had backgrounds other than direct descendants of Abraham. We, too, may agree in principle that we are saved by God’s grace through Christ, and yet we may struggle extending this same grace to those who are different from us in some way. Perhaps we feel like it is our job to be the gatekeepers of who is “in” or “out”; perhaps we think that we need to help the Holy Spirit in bringing conviction to other people; perhaps we have a misguided idea of what “purity” means; perhaps we are afraid of a segment of the population because we are different or diverse in some way and just haven’t gotten to know each other. Christ is higher, stronger, greater than everything and everyone. We can be together in diversity.
Let’s read on in Ephesians. In these next two verses, Paul is emphasizing that before Christ, circumcision had been (past tense) the entry point in being grafted in as a member of God’s covenant people.
Ephesians 2:11-12 (NRSV) – “So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
Then the very next words are, “But now in Christ Jesus.” These words introduce good news for us all! I’ve underlined several phrases in this to emphasize the sheer wonder of God’s plan and grace.
Ephesians 2:13-22 (NRSV) – “But now in Christ Jesus you 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 into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”
Paul writes this letter from prison with passion and with authority. The reason he was in prison was because he had been falsely charged with taking a non-Jew inside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:28). The initial recipients of this letter, the church in Ephesus, undoubtedly knew why Paul was in prison.
In the Old Testament, the only division in the temple was between those who were priests and those who weren’t. But by the first century, barriers had been added to keep non-Jews and women away. God’s original plan has finally been restored in Christ. What had become impossible has been made possible again. We can be together in diversity.
Ephesians 2:14-15 (NRSV) – “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both [Jews and Gentiles] into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two.” All of the dividing walls have been shattered in Christ. Psalm 118:22 (NRSV) – “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NRSV) – “So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”
Christ Jesus is the cornerstone of God’s true, spiritual temple, which includes an invitation to all people. All. No more dividing walls. No more barriers. God has created in himself one new humanity, as He originally intended. This is good news! There is no more “us” and “them.” In another place, Paul spells this out very specifically by naming the three primary divisions present in first century Israel, the three primary sources of division in the early church. Galatians 3:28 (NLT) – “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This is not saying that differences didn’t exist. It’s not saying that injustices didn’t exist. What it is saying is that in God’s eyes, we are all human, made in God’s image – invited, welcomed, included, embraced. Again, this is not saying there are no differences or justice issues involved. We want to live in the real world where there is still a lot of justice work to be done.
In our world today, we might paraphrase it like this: There is no longer youthful or elderly; impaired or healthy; citizen, immigrant, or refugee; liberal or conservative; disabled or able; impoverished or affluent; libertarian or authoritarian; dark or pale; educated or ignorant; apart or assimilated; oriented this way or that way; tea, coffee, soda, alcohol, energy drink, juice, or water; clergy or congregation; beautiful or ordinary; sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy, or umami; rural or urban; classical, choruses, hymns, or hip-hop. For we are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all one in Christ Jesus.
Let’s conclude with two final verses, from Ephesians 3:5-6 (NRSV) – “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
When writing about these verses, Craig Keener notes, “The coming of Christ had made it clear to his apostles and prophets that by faith in Christ everyone could now approach God on the same terms.” We are all one in Christ Jesus. We can be together in diversity.
Application:
God is inviting us to be together in diversity. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit to show us where we have drawn lines of division in our minds, by our words, or by our choices. Let’s surrender those divided places to Him and allow Him to bring freedom to our hearts and minds so that we can invite, welcome, include, and embrace all, as Christ did, to receive the gracious gift of God. May God give each of us the grace to live in the reality of one humanity in Christ, and to do all that we can to break down any dividing walls that keep people from being or doing all that God has created them to be or do. All of the divisions and distinctions between people have been transcended in Christ.
I want to close by reading Romans 15:7 in two translations:
- (NRSV) “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
- (NLT) “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.”
