The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
Year B - Proper 11 - July 22, 2018
I grew up in Southern Virginia in a town called Chesapeake. Until I was 8 years old, we lived on a cul-de-sac lot in a 3 bedroom brick ranch in a small subdivision close to an area called Bowers Hill. Considering the size of the neighborhood, we had a pretty large lot, but to the back property line, just across the ditch, was a 2 lane highway, Route 58.
It wasn’t very long before my dad and his neighbors decided to erect a chain link fence, to keep us kids in and keep the vagrants and riffraff that wandered up and down 58 out. This fence did many things, it protected us, children, kept our family dog from running away (most of the time), but most importantly it created a barrier between our quiet home and the busyness of Route 58.
We could still hear the many trucks and cars, but we felt safe because we knew that fence was there. This was my first experience with fences…
My second experience with fences was a little different. We moved to the other side of town to a larger house. This house already had a fence. In the front on the right side was a wooden, hatched fence like you would probably find in the Wild West possibly on the “OK Corral.” This fence was very different in style and reason for existing. The previous owner had it put up to separate himself from his neighbor on the adjacent property.
I don’t know the complete story, but I remember him saying that there was some sort of dispute between him and the previous owner about what trees and shrubs were on whose property. So the barrier was created.
As my life progressed, the other fences that I encountered haven’t really changed my opinion of them. In my high school at Frederick Military Academy, they were tall with barbed wire, designed to keep us in and the downtown harbor city of Portsmouth, VA out. The Citadel was very much the same with its fences, gates, and guard-shacks. To me, fences have always represented protection, but at the same time, it builds up a boundary that separates and divides. It is like we are trying to create our own little havens, and surround them with chain link and barbed wire.
As I got thinking about it, our society is full of fences. There are so many reasons why we build them: It could be security, and it could be fear... It could be to exude a sense of control. In some places, it’s still, unfortunately, it's about the color of your skin, in others it could be about what side of the tracks you live on. Or maybe it’s about being Christian or Jew or Muslim. Maybe Roman Catholic or Protestant, Democrat or Republican, or even Male or Female. For some of us, these become borders that we are not allowed to cross. Barriers that isolate, discriminate and segregate.
These are not fences made of chain link or hatched boards... These are fences of prejudice and bigotry, built by us because we think we are protecting something valuable. In the late 1800s the British writer Rudyard Kipling penned the famous phrase, “East is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet.” Kipling didn’t just make that up. He was reflecting on the world and the reality of the divided and divisive society in which he lived.
Oh, East is East, and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently
at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West,
Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
tho’ they come from the ends of the earth.
There is something deep within our human nature that makes us want to divide the world into “us” and “them” ... to separate, to segregate, to protect, to control, mostly because of fear.
The Church in Ephesus had created its own fences. As we have just heard in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the Jews were fighting with the Gentiles for equal status in the Church. During the first few decades, this was an extremely harsh situation. The scriptures tell us that even Peter (probably the most prominent Jewish Christian) didn’t want to admit Gentiles. So they built a fence… and divided up sides between the “circumcised” (or the Jewish Christians) and the “uncircumcised” (which were the Gentile or non-Jewish Christians).
By the time of Paul’s letter, divisions like these abounded and plagued the first few decades of the early church. These separations didn’t just separate this person from that person, they were designed to separated people from God. For the Jewish Christians, the Gentiles just weren’t allowed to be part of the group. From the uncircumcised Greek outsider, that did nothing more than being born to a non-Jewish family, to the Roman convert that enjoyed having a slice or two of bacon.
In that society, the Jews thought these folks were the unclean, and therefore undeserving of God’s graces. Paul wrote his letter to remind the Ephesians, that this is not the way of Jesus. It’s not the way of Jesus who “has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” There is now ONE new humanity where there once was two. So now the Gentiles are Citizens with the saints and are also members of the household of God.
In ancient culture, these were pretty powerful words. Here, two metaphors are used - “city” and “family." These are two fundamental social units that made up Jewish Life – but, now “Gentiles” are included in BOTH. Both City AND family!
By Christ’s death on the cross and his glorious resurrection, he unites Israel with the Gentiles. Jesus makes no distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the “far off” have been “brought near” and in all this reconciling work, there is true peace…
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” This is a famous line from the great American author Robert Frost. This morning, I don’t think that Mr. Frost would mind too much if we rewrote that line, “SOMEONE there is WHO doesn’t love a wall.” That someone is Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to break down the dividing walls that we humans create in our world... walls of fear and prejudice. As the great hymn that we just sang proclaims:
In Christ, there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
It is up to us to continue that task. This long season of the church year after Pentecost is a period of growth and vitality. This is one of the main reasons that the colors of the season are green. Green represents growth vitality and life and reminds us of the wonder and beauty of the God in the created vegetation around us. How can we grow, though, if we have a fence around us?
It is up to us to tear down the fences and break down the walls in each of our own lives, and where ever else we see them… We also need to be careful that we don’t contribute to building them up or maintaining them.
As we reach out and grow this season, we must examine our lives and our hearts to find those invisible, but very real barriers, that we erect in our lives between ourselves and our fellow human beings. As we find them, we need to TAKE THEM DOWN link by link, board by board, brick by brick.
This morning, we have a real opportunity to go forward in the task of Christ and remove the fences and barriers that exist. As we approach the table this morning, let us remember why we call this “communion” and let us be united with each other, and united to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because in Christ there are no fences.
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