The church Tim from CMS

Well, I want to thank you for this opportunity to come and visit you.

How about we pray?

Our Father in heaven, we pray that you would give us insight,

understanding and conviction as we read your word

and pray that you would open up this to our hearts.

And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We recently came to Australia again about three months ago

and we went through passport control at the airport,

but it's no longer called passport control.

That department is now called border force

and only those who are allowed were permitted to enter.

And there's a great emphasis on borders and securing borders.

It's not just Australia that is keen on securing borders,

but where we are in the Middle East,

refugees flow through in their thousands and tens of thousands.

Governments are scared of these immigrants

and sometimes they start up more checkpoints and more borders and more barriers.

But it's not just governments either.

I think we too in our families and in our lives are also interested in barriers.

We bought a new desk for our youngest two boys, aged four and seven.

And the first thing our four-year-old did was to get a piece of masking tape

straight down the middle of the desk and said,

this is my side and this is your side.

If you're familiar with the storyline of the Bible,

you'll know that borders are also a fair amount,

there's also a fair amount of them in the Old Testament.

What is it, for example, that made Samson, you know, the strong guy,

such a celebrated leader?

Or what was it about Deborah or Joshua or King David?

What made them such great celebrated leaders?

It was because they defended the borders of Israel

and killed the enemies of God's people.

You see, borders define privilege.

Now, although we see a lot of that in the Old Testament,

especially with the Israelites as they enter the promised land

and secure its borders from the Philistines and others, you may recall,

we also get hints throughout the Old Testament,

made clearer in the New, about another way of thinking of borders,

where the borders do not function to keep people out,

but instead attract people in.

You might recall, for example,

Abram, later named Abraham.

And he was promised by God,

not only that he would be blessed,

but that as he was blessed,

he would bring blessing to many other peoples and nations.

Again, this privilege would not be something that he would keep to himself,

but would flow out in blessing to others.

There are many other hints of this in the Old Testament,

but I'm going to focus a little bit on the Queen of Sheba,

whom we read about earlier.

My son just asked me,

what does Almogwood mean?

And I have no idea.

Sorry.

But apparently there was a lot of it that Queen of Sheba brought.

Anyway, she comes to Solomon,

and as something of the first for the kings of Israel,

he doesn't try to kill her.

Instead, Solomon welcomes her,

invites her into his kingdom

to see all of the things that God has given him.

It's as if he were to say,

come and share in the greatness that God has given to us.

And so the borders of Israel are no longer threatening borders,

like electric fences,

but instead they broadcast a welcome to foreigners.

Come and see what God has done,

how he has blessed us.

And this episode with the Queen of Sheba

was just a hint of what was later to come.

Because when Jesus came

and fulfilled all of these hints in the Old Testament,

we see that through his death,

he offered forgiveness to all people.

All people were offered new life.

The Holy Spirit.

It was a new kingdom.

And it wasn't one that killed people

to protect its privileges.

But it was more like Solomon's kingdom.

One which attracted foreigners in

by the greatness that God had given it.

And its borders were not defensive,

but they were more like a welcome doormat.

Please wipe your souls and come in.

Frequently in advertising,

we hear the word exclusive.

And it's supposed to attract us.

You know, this is exclusively for you.

This is exclusive membership.

Maybe a house in an exclusive suburb.

Just a couple of weeks ago,

when I was reading the newspaper on the weekend,

there was an exclusive offer just for me.

But then I realised, of course,

that most of Australians

would be receiving this same exclusive offer

that was printed and delivered to almost every home.

We like the idea of exclusivity.

I want you now to turn to Ephesians,

if you have it open.

Because in verse 6,

Paul says three words together,

which he just completely makes up,

that refer to the exact opposite of exclusivity.

He says that foreigners,

or the Gentiles,

are now no longer separated from God's people

without those privileges,

but now they are,

and he has three words here,

co-heirs,

co-sharers,

and co-members

of this new kingdom.

So there's no exclusivity left at all.

There is only co-membership,

co-sharing,

co-inheritance.

And Paul emphasises that

because of Jesus' death,

our forgiveness comes by grace,

and it's granted to everyone,

Jews,

Greeks,

Romans,

Americans,

Australians,

Arabs,

all kinds.

We're all reconciled to God

on that same basis.

And therefore,

as we're all friends with God now,

reconciled by Jesus' death,

there is nothing more

that separates us from each other.

You can no longer say,

like you could in the olden days,

in the times of Israel,

they are God's blessed people,

and we are on the outside.

They are higher than us.

Paul says,

no,

there is only now

co-membership,

co-sharing,

co-inheritance.

Both groups,

Jews,

and the rest of the world,

are saved,

so that they can be saved together.

In fact,

you're either saved together,

or you can't be saved at all.

Now,

this is,

according to Paul,

a great secret

that God has only revealed

in his preaching

and since the time of Jesus.

It was not made known

to widely in the Old Testament.

As I said,

there were hints about it,

but it wasn't,

if you like,

the norm.

And even in Paul's time,

it wasn't as if this idea

was common.

The Jews,

up until the time of Jesus,

never expected

that God

would invite

everybody in

to share their privileges.

No,

they expected

that God

would raise them up

victorious

over the Romans

and other filthy foreigners.

But that's not

what God did.

If you would have asked

the Romans

what they thought

their gods would do,

well,

they thought

that these strange Jews

who regarded themselves

so highly

would simply perish away

and fade.

But that didn't happen either.

You see,

with Jesus,

God's secret plan

only hinted at before,

but since the time

of Jesus made clear,

a new thing happened.

A church

was established,

a new community

where Jews

were saved,

foreigners were saved,

and both came together

as a result.

They would be

co-heirs,

co-members,

co-sharers

in all of these privileges.

There would be

no exclusivity.

And the church

was a big surprise

and no one

expected it.

I want you now

to have a look

at verse 10.

Paul says

that God's intent

was that now,

through the church,

the mighty wisdom

of God

should be made

known

to the rulers

and authorities

in the heavenly realms.

Now,

Paul

and his readers

knew that there

was evil

in this world.

They didn't know

much about it

in details

and they spoke

of it as belonging

to the heavenly realm

behind the scenes.

It's not something

you could

put in front of you

or see with a

magnifying glass.

It was their way

of speaking about

those things

that we cannot see,

the spirits

of evil.

If you would

have asked them,

what is it

that caused

nation

to go to war

against nation?

What causes

families

to struggle

and relationships

to break?

What causes

diseases

and grief?

And partly,

they would say,

it is these

spiritual forces

in the heavenly realms,

these darker powers

that work

against God.

And Paul says

of them

that they

are the ones

who need to hear

this message

about the church.

That through the church,

this mighty new wisdom

of God

of bringing people

together

should first of all

be announced

to those guys

out there

in the heavenly realms.

It's as if

God is playing

a mighty game

of cards

and

nobody knows

what he's doing

and he's surrounded

by these other

evil forces.

But in the end,

God lays down

his last card

which makes

clear

his strategy

from all along

and his wisdom

is now

apparent

for everybody

to see.

And God says,

I will not vindicate

the Jews

against the Romans

or vice versa.

I will make

the two

one.

Forgiveness

for all

and therefore

creating

a new community,

a church.

and so

as Jew

meets Roman

or as Australian

meets Arab

or as Australian

meets Australian,

they both

receive grace

in Christ

and this is

something that

those heavenly

powers

would never

have wanted

and never

have guessed.

Christ.

You see,

as we meet

in church

every week,

we recognise

in each other

that we are

receivers of grace.

We are not

privileged

more than

some other race

but we are

co-sharers,

recipients

of grace.

There is so

much in the

news,

you know,

that goads

us to

the old

ways of

hatred

from person

to person

and people

group to

people group.

So much

in the history

that we read

goads us

to despise

or to fear,

for example,

people in the

Middle East.

But

Christians

in Australia

are on the

same par

with Christians

in the Middle East.

We are all

part of the

same church,

recipients of

grace.

And this

is God's

masterstroke

and the

very fact

that he

wants those

rulers in

the heavenly

realms to

sit up and

take notice.

You see,

as we recognise

in each

other another

sharer of

God's grace,

another member

of God's

kingdom,

you know,

even if we

come from

very different

cultural

backgrounds,

even if we

are very

different ages

to each

other,

it's then

that God's

purposes in

the church

are made

clear.

We could,

for example,

have, you

know, one

church for

this racial

minority group

and another

church for

this age

group, you

know, perhaps

47 to 50

year olds,

and another

church for

this other

group with

people with

blonde hair.

people with

love.

But you see,

that wouldn't

be the

people come

together,

that they

are co-sharers,

co-members,

and co-inheritors

of these great

privileges and

forgiveness from

God.

It's either a

co-church or it's

not a church at

all.

See, God is

interested in

the church

because it

shows what he

has been

planning all

along.

It is his

greatest master

stroke.

See, where do

you see the

wisdom of

God?

Well, you

could see it

in the birds

and clouds

and in the

universe.

But what is

God most

proud of?

What is it

that he wants

to put on

display, even

to those

heavenly rulers?

Well, it's

the thing that

he kept hidden

until the time

of Jesus, until

that last

moment.

It's the

church.

all of us

being saved

by the

same grace.

So this

idea that

God, being

motivated by

such kindness

to all and

refusing to

vindicate one

above the

other, especially

as both are

sinners, but

instead urging

them to come

together in

forgiveness in

Christ to

himself and

to each other,

this is God's

plan.

And this is the

basic reason why

our family is in

the Middle East.

You see, the

church in the

Middle East lacks

trainers and

people with good

education in

theology at the

moment.

A hundred years

ago it was

different.

A hundred years

from now it

might be the

other way

around.

Who knows?

And recently

the church in the

Middle East has

found new

opportunities to

respond to

questions from

Muslims.

Muslims.

And the

church has

faced new

challenges as

its own

members have

been alerted

to new

questions about

the Christian

faith from

the internet

and so on.

So of course

the church which

has rich resources

in this area,

being co-members

and co-sharers

with the church

in the Middle

East, of course

will share with

them and by

doing so show

those heavenly

rulers God's

great plan of

forgiveness for

all and joining

disparate groups

who were once

enemies of each

other.

So once we

understand God's

plan and what

he's most proud

of, then sending

people to the

Middle East is a

natural and an

obvious thing to

do because we

realise what the

church is.

So my challenge

to you this

morning is just

to continue to

you being that

kind of church.

Not just the

church in

Kilara made up

of people who

are a certain

age group with

a certain

hairstyle or

lack of hair,

but the church

that Paul speaks

of, a church

where all are

co-members, all

are co-sharers

and co-inheritors

of these great

privileges, God's

masterpiece built

on grace.

A few verses

later in

Ephesians, not

in the part that

we read earlier,

but around verse

17, Paul says

this, and you

might remember

this quotation,

and I pray that

you, being

rooted and

established in

love, may

have power

together with

all the Lord's

holy people

to grasp how

wide and how

long and high

and deep is

the love of

Christ.

And I don't

think Paul is

speaking here about

God's love for

us at an

individual level,

although that's

true, he does

love us individually,

widely and deeply

and so on.

But he's speaking

about how wide

God's love is

across nations,

across Jews and

Gentiles originally,

but now across all

nations, across all

different types of

people that are

sitting here this

morning.

Do you realise how

wide God's love is

that that person

next to you is

also a co-sharer of

those same privileges

that you have?

When Christ died,

he died for all.

And Christ died so

that all may come

together with him

through the Father.

He's not interested,

God is not interested

in lots of little

relationships of this

person with God and

that person with God.

God's finishing

masterpiece is the

church where those

who are once

estranged come

now together

and serve each

other and show

the heavenly

rulers out there

just what the

power of God

and the love of

God is.

Let's pray.

Our Father,

we thank you for

this great love

that you have

shown us

and this grace.

Father,

we pray that you

would remind us

always how we

are co-sharers,

co-members and

co-inheritors.

And these things

that we have from

you, we have not

exclusively,

but we have them

through love and

grace and we share

them with each other

through the church.

And we pray that

through our

demonstration of that

love and things

we do each day

and the way we

do church together

that might bring

glory to you

as others see

just how you

bring people

together to you

and to each other.

And we ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.