Citizenship in the Kingdom
Unlike Romans or Galatians, in Ephesians, the gospel is not explicitly called the revelation of God’s righteousness. This gospel is the gospel of peace and Jesus the Messiah himself is the bringer of this good news. God’s work is not identified with this person’s sin or that person’s iniquities. The gospel in Ephesians is not concerned with so much the existential and individual confrontation with God, but of the corporate. Let me say that these two aspects of faith, individual and corporate, sin and the ordering of communities, are not mutually exclusive. When we lift up the gospel message in Ephesians, we are lifting up but one aspect of the gospel amongst a larger host. Therefore, in this passage of Ephesians, we see that God’s work is not identified with the salvation of this or that sinful person, but with the union of formerly separated and opposed persons. This is their salvation and new being. This is their citizenship in the Kingdom.
The Messiah Jesus was a Jew and part of the line of faith linked to David and Abraham. Jesus was the One promised to bring salvation to the world. And, yet, this citizenship into the Kingdom was contested for some. There was an obstacle to peace: a firm, legal wall of enmity standing between Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles’ lack of circumcision barred them from the community, the hope, and the help of Israel’s God, and their aloofness are all described in the first three verses. This dividing wall is described with the word enmity, which is only later used to express the enmity of humanity against God. We hear the notes of enmity in the New Testament when Jesus himself refers to a Gentilic and Syrophoenician women as a dog in Mark 7. This vitriol comes at great cost to all nations. Ephesians notes that neither the Jews nor the nations have peace except when the Messiah comes to save and unite both to himself. Despite being the people of God, despite being heirs to the promise, Ephesians affirms that we must be more than heirs, we must be citizens of the Kingdom. We must all be in Jesus.
The phrase that continues to pop-up in and throughout the letter is “In him” or “in his person.” Last week we discussed how God the Father acted in Christ to choose us. This week we look at the result of this adoption. Being in Christ is transformative. In this person, enmity has been killed. In this person all the divisions which stand between us are obliterated. The cross not only dramatically alters the relationship between God and humanity, but also the interrelation between people groups is radically changed. In this person we are not only heirs to the promise, but citizens of the Kingdom. We not only receive the rights and freedoms of adoption, but we are given the injunction to extend this gospel amongst one another. The work that Jesus has accomplished resurrects not only the content and direction of our souls, but also resurrects and creates a new relation and direction between ourselves.
The question treated in this passage is “what salvation there is for this world?” The gospel of peace does not forget or neglect the souls, but their concern for the individual is imbedded in the conviction that they are ambassadors of God’s kingdom to the whole world. Their citizenship in the Kingdom means that their task is spiritual, social, and even political. Let me pause here for a moment. Nowadays, the word politics or political is marred by the American political landscape. It is undergirded with the meaning of division, absolutism, and rigid definitions of right and wrong. Undoubtedly, the Christian faith, for us, lies at the center of a macro-political project. Our faith has and will always continue to influence our broader political leanings. Keep in mind, there are Christian political leaders on the right and the left. Our own United Methodist Church has presidential representatives in the last twenty years in Bill Clinton and George Bush representing just two sides of our political makeup. The beauty of our church lies in this diversity. We have the opportunity to dialogue, to explore our own values and commitments, and to have the space to freely express where we see God in the world. All this is good, but when I speak of politics, I don’t mean this macro-political project. At its most basic level, when I speak of politics, I mean in the concrete involvement of the church in their local community. The effect of peace is no less important than the making of reconciliation, but this result is always the result of the accomplishment of God.
Every week, we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is a prayer in which we long for the gospel of peace to be delivered, embraced, and lived out in our communities. This is a prayer that is political because it is grounded in a tangible participation in our communities. This is a prayer that embodies the same movement that Ephesians implies. We move from the church’s experience of the risen Christ in worship and conversion, toward the realization of this to individuals and communities outside of the church. Our longing for our friends and neighbors to know Jesus, mirrors our longing for the peace, joy, and liberation we feel in church to be extended to our family life, to our work cultures, and to our local communities. We can never forget or neglect the soul and conversion, but to be one temple of God, one body of Christ, and to be citizens in the Kingdom the proof of our work lies in the communion of Jews and Gentiles where all are one in Messiah Jesus.
The composition of the resurrected being out of the “two” safeguards the rights of Christians to be different from one another. We are to remember our distinct histories and to respect our divergent priorities. This resurrected interrelation, this citizenship in the Kingdom contrasts the supremacy of one people group, gender, or ideology over and against another. It creates true tolerance in us because we are enjoined to one another. It is revealed that we cannot possess salvation and peace in Jesus without one another. We come into heaven accompanied by our fellow person. Ephesians 2:6 says that God has in Jesus raised and enthroned us together in the heavens. Love of the enemy or of the other or of our rival is commended on the Sermon on the Mount and is enjoined to us as believers. There is no salvation of individual souls unless they are surrounded in the community of those confessing “by grace we have been saved.” Those who, by nature of their personality, ethnicity, gender, or politic, or sexuality who are inclined to hate one another and God are enabled by the work of Jesus to repent, to forgive, and to be resurrected one in Christ.
Thus, this new being is created to be a social being. Citizenship in the Kingdom is a distinctly social existence. We are not made to retreat into our own, to rely only on the spiritual blessings and promises we are set to inherit. This new being, this citizen in the Kingdom, this follower of Jesus is concerned for our neighbor and our community. Being in Christ, gives us the freedom to love our neighbor for their sake. It prompts Corvallis United Methodist Church to be both the city on the hill and the hands and feet of the valley. It prompts us to extend radical welcome, kindness, and inclusion not only to our incoming pastor but to our neighbor, to the friend who is struggling, and to the folks we see every day in town. This new being resurrected in Christ and a citizen in the Kingdom prays for revival and works for renewal, prays for healing and brings about healing. In him you, too, are being built together so as to be a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Citizenship in the Kingdom implies that we are the light on hill worshipping and praising God for sustaining us, and that we are Christ’s hands and feet of the valley showing and extending the love of God to one another in this new age.
