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Ephesians 2 resonates profoundly with our Catholicity through the lens of the

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multi-ethnic Church. This passage holds the potential to not only inspire

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conferences but also to feel the hopes and efforts for those who labor for

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congregations made up by diverse cultural backgrounds, for dreams to

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become reality, for efforts to be sustainable. It is essential that the

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growing fascination with the intercultural Church be grounded in

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sound doctrine and Paul gives it to us. Throughout the letter the Apostle

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champions the idea that in Christ God draws together all things and all people

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to one Lord, one baptism, one faith, in one church. But there's a problem. Jews and

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Gentiles find themselves in a state of hostility. There's a dividing wall of

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hate between them. What's triggering this according to Paul? Ironically he seems to

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say what it is because God has to deal with it. It's the law of commandments and

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regulations. Now remember the Jews received this law as a gift intended to

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show godliness to the other nations. It was meant to be a blessing to all but

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they failed. The law became the catalyst for hostility. On one side the Jews came

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to despise the unclean Gentiles because they didn't have the law. On the other

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the Gentiles came to despise the Jews for despising them. As a result there was

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hate and what was supposed to be a good gift from God became the very foundation

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of discord. While circumcision and washing rituals may not be our struggles

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today we cannot help but wonder how much of this dynamic applies in other

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contexts. To what extent could we see this relationship between Jews and

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Gentiles as a template for a more universal situation? The situation in

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which God blesses us with good gifts, qualities, and there's something in us

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that take those good gifts, elevates them up to the ultimate value, then looks at

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everyone who doesn't have what we have and doesn't do what we do and causes us

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to look down on them, to name calling them, to despise them. When a good gift

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becomes the basis for hostility, when the way we define ourselves is by taking

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something good, something distinct about us, lifting it up, then judging everyone

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else, oh we are not like them, we're better. The prayer of the Pharisee,

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oh Lord thank you I am not like them. The layers in identity blessed are you Lord

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who has not made me a Gentile, a woman, or a slave, or you fill the blank, them. The

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good thing that becomes an idol, the good gift that draw boundaries and become a

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wall of hostility between people. We've all got examples of this in our lives. I

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know my share, the ones who I label as them, the ones who I would prefer to

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work, play, shop, eat, move, take their children to school, buy a house, go to church, somewhere else.

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The devout religious man who is shipwrecked on a desert island. You know the story? He was the only person on the island

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and he was there for a year and when they rescued him they found he had

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built two little churches on the island, two little shacks. Why did you build two

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churches? There's only one of you. He said of course you have to have one

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church to go to and one to stay away from. That's how you know who you are. The

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walls we build so we know who we are. The walls we build when we build our

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identity, idolizing something good and then looking down on others. God's

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solution to this division and hostility is found in the gospel. The good news

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here in Ephesians 2 that Christ not only reconciled us with God but also with one

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another. And the gospel is beautifully expressed in this text. God brought about

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peace by abolishing in his flesh the law with commandments and regulations. His

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purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two. See this isn't about

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simply merging one group into the other it's about something entirely new. A new

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humanity, a new reality. Verse 17 underscores that both groups needed the

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gospel and that Christ's peace reached them both. How did Jesus accomplish this?

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Paul begins saying that Christ did this by preaching peace to both groups and

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pointing us to how Jesus repeatedly crossed boundaries to reach those on the

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other side. That's true. Jesus did that but Paul emphasizes something even more

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profound. The work of Jesus on the cross. In verse 16 it's mentioned that Jesus

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reconciled both groups to God through the cross where He put to death their

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hostility. On the cross God dealt with our hostility. We should be the ones

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facing destruction for all the harm we have caused in this world. Instead Jesus

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took that destruction upon Himself so that we could be forgiven. He observed

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the punishment we deserve offering us reconciliation instead of retaliation

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with God and with one another. That's why Paul highlights the blood of Christ.

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Without the blood of Christ we are stuck in the cycle of division and hostility

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in a toxic pattern of walking down the street silently judging others rolling

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our eyes and feeling superior. Without the blood of Christ we keep doing this

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because we need to. It's one of the ways we feel better about ourselves. Only the

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blood of Christ can free us from that. No amount of multi-ethnic potlucks,

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roundtables, and memorandums of understanding will do it. Being gentle

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and socially engaged are good things but they don't have the power to operate the

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miracle to make us truly one. Only the blood of Christ has. Why? Because the

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blood of Christ gives us the much better gift, the perfect gift, the layer in the

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identity that runs deeper than any other layer, the identity of being a child of

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God. Not the only one, not the favorite one. Fellow citizens, members of the

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family together calling everyone mi compa. The differences we have don't

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evaporate but they find their place and only the blood of Christ can do that

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because the blood of Christ covers all people, covers you and me and I tell you

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the secret. The blood of Christ covers even them. What do we do with that? As

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Walter Kasper noted, Jesus didn't primarily express his desire for unity

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in a sermon or a commandment to his disciples but in a prayer to His Father.

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The kind of Catholicity that a multi-ethnic church requires and can

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manifest is ultimately a gift from heaven, is God's grace at work. And while

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we acknowledge that, that our efforts alone cannot accomplish anything, God

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calls us to participate in His divine work. What is descriptive of the Una

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Santa is prescriptive to our synod and to our local churches, in an eschatological

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way at least. A work in progress and maybe the present tense in the verse 22

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help. You are being built. It's an ongoing project of the Spirit. Life in

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the multi-ethnic church is at the same time about being and we are and becoming.

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So take heart. Let's keep at it. Ups and downs. We are going to fail but in the

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end of the day, thank God, we can always fall back to grace. Is it easy? No, not

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even safe. Paul was in prison for championing this idea. Look at where his

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preaching on multi-ethnic church took him. But don't be discouraged. Not

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because it's cool but because it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing

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to be. We will not please everyone. We cannot please everyone but we can please

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God. And your voice is necessary. Your love is necessary. Through followers of

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Christ like ourselves, gathered in churches like ours, the gift, mission, and

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hope of the Catholicity of the church moves forward. Not easy but these are

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the instructions. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy

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Spirit. Amen.