Scripture Reference: Isaiah 11:1-9; Ephesians 3:1-13

When we organize a club or church, we act as if we want everybody to be a part of what we’re going to do; it can be that important to us. In reality, though, we spend our greatest amount of energy dealing with those whom we do not regard as suited for our clique. We deal with our elitism by saying that barriers to participation can be overcome by any outsider who will agree with our point of view, denounce what we denounce, get a wardrobe up to par, and understand that people of color still have their place.

Strangely enough, and we almost never remember this, the earliest Christians were Jews like Jesus. The early Jewish Christians, too, misunderstood their position in relation to God. Jesus and Christianity ultimately were not only for the Jews; the early Jewish Christians didn’t have exclusive rights either to God or this new revelation of God through Jesus. They were to take the benefits of their relationship with the Lord and become witnesses to all persons. They were to point others to Jesus Christ as Lord.

However, most often it didn’t work that way. Generally, they became possessive, proud, and selfish as they imagined that Jesus was only for them. Anybody who wanted to become a Christian, they believed, had to become a Jew first. Well, of course! Anybody who doesn’t do it our way is suspect.

Because of the brief earthly ministry of our Lord, this issue became more focused in Paul’s ministry than in Jesus’ ministry. When Paul wrote this Letter to the Ephesians, he was in jail. He was in jail when he wrote Ephesians for an unbelievable reason.

Paul, too, was a Jew. He had maintained his contact with the Jewish traditions and practices as long as there was no conflict with the implications of his faith in Jesus Christ. He had gone to the temple one day with two Gentile men; he had taken a couple of friends to worship with him, and he was accused of taking them further into the temple than they were supposed to go. The temple was set up in sections. Animals, Gentiles, and lepers could only go in a little way into a court called “The Court of the Gentiles.” Jewish women could go a little further. Jewish men could go a little further still. Priests could go up to the holy of holies, but only the high priest could go all the way into the center of the temple. The holy of holies was where the presence of the living God was thought to dwell, and a high priest could go to the center only one time a year. Paul was accused of taking Gentiles beyond their rightful place, and he was put in jail for it.

Now, Paul stood in a unique relationship with God, no doubt. It was in his ministry that a place for Gentiles in the church was first proclaimed. That was no easy position to take. Anytime the church makes some expansive choice to include, at any level, those who have not been freely accepted the status quo is threatened.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.