A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at
“WHO’S IN, AND WHO’S OUT?”
(Homily text: Ephesians 2: 11 – 22)
Who’s in, and who’s out?
This
question is one that we ask ourselves quite frequently.
For
example, who’s in the playoffs and who’s out of them? (Feel free to name your favorite sport.)
Who’s in
and who’s out when it comes to things like celebrities (how do they get to be
celebrities, anyway? Who determines
who’s in and who’s out? Wouldn’t you
like to know?)
Who’s in
and who’s out when it comes to our leaders?
Aren’t the polls that we see every week essentially trying to tell us
who will be “in” and who will be “out” come election day?
So, the
premise seems to be true: We are
concerned with many categories of who’s “in” and who’s “out”.
Today’s
epistle reading has to do with the question of who’s “in” and who’s “out”.
Of course,
St. Paul is concerned with the old definitions of “in” and “out”, definitions
that applied to the Jewish people (those who were “in”), and to Gentiles (those
who were “out”).
It’s worth
reminding ourselves about the mindset of ancient Judaism, which was very much
concerned with the question of “in” and “out”.
One was “out” if one was of the wrong ancestry (Gentile), if one was
unclean through disease, or through contact with someone who was also
“unclean”. A person was “out” by virtue
of sin…..remember that Jesus was often accused of being “out” because He hung
around with those who were “out” because they were tax collectors and
prostitutes.
But Jesus’
ministry had everything to do with erasing the lines which separated the “ins”
from the “outs”. That’s the reason that
He chose to associate with the “outs” of the world, the prostitutes, the tax
collectors, and others…He wanted to offer them a new lease on life, a new
relationship with God the Father, and hope for this life and for the life of
the world to come. Jesus comes, offering
hope in situations where there was no hope.
Now, Jesus’
offer of being counted among those who were “in” with God the Father is
extended every further: This new
definition goes beyond race and ancestry.
Writing to
the early Christians in Ephesus , St. Paul
But notice
that Paul tells these Gentile Christians that Christ Jesus has come to end the
separation, to end the alienation from the commonwealth of Israel
Paul now
turns to an image which is drawn from fortresses and houses….structures: He says that Christ has come and has broken
down the “dividing wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile. The reason for this is that Christ Jesus has
come in order to build a new house, a “household of God”, a house which is
built upon the foundation of Christ Jesus Himself.
One has to
wonder if St. Paul had the structure of the
ancient Temple in Jerusalem Temple
Quite
possibly, Paul did have the Temple
Our Lord
Himself predicts this eventuality…When He was speaking with the woman at the
well in Samaria (see John chapter four), He told the woman that the time would
come when people would no longer worship on the holy mountain for the
Samaritans (Mt. Gerizim), and the time would come when people would no longer
worship God on the mountain in Jerusalem, either. Instead, Jesus said, the time would come when
people would worship God everywhere, and they would worship God the Father “in
spirit and in truth”. It was those kinds
of people that God wanted to worship Him, He said (see John 4: 21 – 23).
And as the
dividing wall of racial purity came crashing down, so did the access to
God. And along with the fall of that
dividing wall, came also the abolishment of the ancient Law of Moses, with its
dietary restrictions and its ceremonial requirements. St.
Paul
Well, how
do we relate to God today? How do we
ensure that we are “in” and not “out”?
After all,
there are still some limitations, limitations that define who’s “in” and who’s
“out”.
The
limitations come from the foundation of this new way of relating to God, the way
that Jesus Christ Himself established.
Here Paul reiterates the point:
It is Christ Himself who’s broken down the wall of division, and it is
Christ Himself who now forms the foundation for the new structure. That structure rests on Christ, and on the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets who followed Christ’s example and
teaching.
We call
this new house the Church. For the
Church is – at its basic level – people.
The Church isn’t buildings or properties, the Church isn’t
institutions. The Church is people,
people who have been redeemed by Christ, people who follow the foundation that
Christ established, and which the apostles themselves built upon.
And how do
we know how to rest on the foundation of Christ and His apostles?
We rest securely
on the foundation by resting on the pillars of correct belief and
understanding. Such a foundation rests,
most importantly, on the Bible itself.
As Episcopalian Christians who are inheritors of the Anglican tradition,
we affirm that Holy Scripture is the primary source of knowing about Jesus
Christ, and therefore, about God.
But we
Episcopalian/Anglican Christians also have other tools available to assist us
in building a temple, a holy temple, to the Lord: We have Reason, and we have Tradition, to
assist us in understanding what the Bible has to say. (It was the 17th century Anglican
theologian Richard Hooker who articulated this concept of sources of authority
in a threefold form: 1. Scripture,
2. Right Reason, and 3.
Tradition.)
We ought to
explore these two other sources of authority just a bit:
·
Reason:
Hooker’s use of the term “Right Reason” needs some explanation for
modern readers. Essentially, we might
rephrase Hooker’s term and use the term “Common Sense”. Hooker reminds us that each of us is given
the gift to think, to reason things out, and to come to reasonable conclusions
about what the things we read mean. For
Anglicans, this gift is quite important, for the Anglican expression of
Christianity has always had a sense of moderation about it…As Anglicans, we
might ask about any given topic, “Does this make sense?”
·
Tradition:
We also value the Church’s Tradition as a source of authority. Put another way, we might say that Tradition
asks the question, “What has the Church said about any given issue at any time
in its history?” So, as Anglicans, we
look backward over our shoulders to see how the early Church Fathers would have
dealt with an issue. We might also look
to the early ecumenical councils to determine what decisions they made about
the matters which affected them, and which affect us now.
So the
structure of this new house grows into a “holy temple in the Lord”, joined
together, each part of the structure doing its part. As it studies the Bible, as it makes use of
Right Reason, and as it checks into what the Church’s Tradition has to say, it
remains a solid part of the whole structure, remaining “in” Christ as faithful
believers and followers of the risen Lord.
AMEN.
