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I love football. There is something about the armor that makes you look like a warrior of old. There is something about a crisp autumn day with falling leaves, the sound of a marching band. There is something about the contact….ohhhh, I love the contact! At least I used to! There is a story about an All-American football player in college who went on to play professional football for a few years and then returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach. One of his main responsibilities would be to go out and scout and recruit players for his college team. Before he made his first recruiting trip, he went in to visit with the head coach, the same coach for whom he had played when he was there in college some years before. The head coach was a crusty old veteran. He had held that position as head coach for many years, was widely known and highly respected all across the country. The new young coach said to him, "Coach, I’m about to head out on my first recruiting trip, and I wanted to know what kind of player you want me to recruit?" The crusty old head coach leaned back in his chair. "Son, I’ve been at this job a long time and over the years I have noticed that there are several different kinds of players. For example," he said, "you will find some players who get knocked down and they stay down. That’s not the kind we want!" And he said, "You will find some players who get knocked down and they will get right back up and get knocked down again and then they stay down. That’s not the kind we want!" And then the old coach said, "But you will also find some other players who get knocked down and knocked down and knocked down, and every time they get knocked down, they get right back up!" At this point, the young coach got excited and he said, "Now, that’s the kind of player we want, isn’t it, Coach?" "Heck no!" said the old head coach. "We want the one doing all that knocking down!!" This is what we need on our church team: Players who will do some knocking down. Players who will knock down not other people, but walls! Players who will knock down walls of hostility! Players who will knock down walls that divide and estrange… walls that separate or alienate. We in the church are called to knock down walls of hate and hostility and to build bridges of love and reconciliation. That is what this powerful passage in Ephesians 2 is all about. It is one of the greatest statements in all of the Bible. Listen to this: "For (Christ Jesus) he is our peace, who has made us both one, and had broken down the dividing walls of hostility." What are these walls that divide us? There is the wall of pride, not the kind of pride I have as a father when my children bring home excellent grades, but the pride that puts your desires before others. There is the wall of prejudice, where we judge others and slap labels on them before we ever have a chance to know their hearts. There is the wall of greed, where we believe all of our money and possessions belong to us. And we find it too hard to admit that they really belong to God. There are too many walls to mention. Do you know your walls? Do you know what walls separate you from others? Maybe you have a wall of anger that creates division in your family. What walls are keeping you on one side and God on the other? A significant purpose of any wall is for protection. Walls protect us from harmful cold and rain, from enemies, from flooding waters. Did you know that the only man-made object visible from space is the Great Wall of China? Throughout our history humans of earth have become quite good at building walls. But they rarely last. This is because in addition to protecting people, walls also isolate us. Walls do not allow us to let go of our deep fears. Walls nurture our fear. They keep it alive. And they prevent us from living in Christ’s love with those we care about most. What walls need to be knocked down in your life? Yes there is fear involved in knocking down walls. But there is also an element of fun! Years ago I led a youth group to a rural South Carolina town on a mission trip. It was hot, sweaty work. The most fun we had was destroying a drug house. With every swing of our sledge hammer we were helping to create a healthier community. Of course the best part was the last swing that caused a wall to collapse. A United Methodist youth group from Ohio worked hard to knock down a few walls in Summerton, South Carolina. When the debris was cleared it created a new space for the construction of the kingdom of God! The key is that we need a vision of life without our walls. Imagine some of your walls that isolate you from others, walls that prevent you from sharing your burdens with others. Is it even possible for you to see what life would be like without your walls? Can you envision your heart overcoming fear and experiencing freedom, and light, and love? O, how we need a vision of life without walls! We need someone to give us a glimpse of wholeness! We need to taste what salvation can be for each one of us! The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again so that you and I might break down the walls that divide! God’s doesn’t like that we live fragmented, isolated, fearful lives. God’s desire for us is freedom! It is love! In God’s vision of life for you and me there are no walls! No walls to separate us. No walls to keep us in the dark. No walls to prevent our salvation. We should never underestimate the power of prayer when it comes to knocking down walls. There is a German movie about St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig where people prayed for freedom for 40 years in the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The prayer meeting at St. Nicholas Church crescendoed over the years until the night of October 8, 1989, when 70,000 people filled the streets with candles and prayers. In the movie, the security chief testifies about his desire to use force, but his inability to do anything other than stare out at the crowd in front of his headquarters in frozen amazement: We were prepared for everything ... everything except for candles and prayers. God bless you as you prayerfully look at your walls. God bless you as you come forward today to knock down a wall that is keeping you from being all God wants you to be. |
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09.07.03 - What Walls Are You Knocking Down? (Ephesians 2:13-22)
