But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:13
Sisters in Christ,
Have you ever felt left out or like you weren’t included? Maybe you didn’t get that invite to the party, or maybe you weren’t in on that inside-joke. Or perhaps, you knew that you didn’t fit in with the group of regulars, or surfers, or Mandalorian fanatics. If you’ve ever felt excluded or like you didn’t belong, you’re not alone. In this post-pandemic age, more than two in five adults report “always” feeling “left out” and more than half of U.S. adults (58%) are considered lonely (Cigna Group, 2022). Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus about the major division, exclusivity, and segregation that was happening right there among church people.
The Ephesian church was made up of people who believed in Jesus, but they couldn’t be more different from one another: Jews, raised with the Torah and knowledge that they were God’s chosen people, and Gentiles, basically anyone who wasn’t a Jew and probably came out of a life of idol worship. These two groups were so divided that they didn’t even eat together. I wonder if the Gentile Christians felt the sting of exclusion when they didn’t get the invite to the feasts of the Jewish Christians, or if the Jewish Christians were bummed about missing out on brunch plans at Kono’s. There was absolutely a level of exclusion and separation between the Gentiles and the Jews of the church, but even more so, there had been a separation of Gentiles from the Lord.
In Ephesians 2:12 we see the real chasm of division that these people had faced, exclusion from the people of God and the hopelessness of separation from Christ. Prior to knowing Jesus as Lord of our lives, we all were far away and with no hope of inclusion, of belonging to a people, or of ever getting to know the God we were created to worship. But by the blood of Christ, Jesus became the way for us to be brought near to God. His sacrifice on the cross brought us hope to be invited into the promises of His glory and to be included in His chosen people. We’re no longer excluded or left out, no longer in the darkness or loneliness of separation. Now we can experience true belonging as children of the most-high God!
Christ is our peace, and He has torn down the dividing walls of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, making these completely different groups into one people (Eph 2:14). I pray that we would know Jesus is continuing to do that even today between our own differing groups and people. We have an awesome summer full of fun events to join together and let any walls of unknowns, division, or hostility come down as we look to Christ. Come on out to the Hearts to Pray Dinner Celebration on Tuesday, June 27 at 6:30pm for another opportunity to connect and be encouraged in the great things God is doing (Location: Karen’s home: 66-475 Kilioe Pl. Haleiwa).
In His grace,
Jaime Angel