August 2005: The WHY in Ephesians

Ephesians 2:11-22

WHY HUG?
Introduction
**One of my favorite “Friends” episodes was a montage episode when Joey and Chandler were fighting a lot. One of the montage pieces was of them hugging every time something good happened or something bad. Then, they looked at each other and said, “maybe we do this too much.” (clip is on “mac and cheese” episode)
**YOU CAN NEVER HUG TOO MUCH!
**Greetings, good-byes, sad times and good times.
Conflict in the Ephesian church between Jews and Gentiles.
**Jews proud of their circumcision (11-13)
**Gentiles brought near by Jesus’ blood
**Jesus ended the system of Jewish law (15)
**They became one body (14-16)
**Good news and Holy Spirit are for both groups (17-18)
**(19-22) So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with God’s holy people. You are members of God’s people. We are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.
**The Jews needed to learn to “hug” the Gentiles into their group.
There should never be conflict between those who are Jesus followers and those who are not followers.
**We should not be proud of our baptism (11-13). We should hug!
**All non-followers can be brought near by Jesus’ blood, so we should hug!
**Jesus brings peace between His followers and those who are not. (14-15) He brings about the desire to hug.
**The gospel is for those who are near or far (17)… in God’s embrace or not.
**Through the Holy Spirit, are all brought into God’s embrace (18)
Conclusion
**Joey and Chandler thought that they hugged too much… A Jesus-follower who is already in the embrace of Christ can NEVER hug too much… can never reach out too much to those outside of God’s embrace and HUG them… imagine a 21st century appeal in this text:
**So now you non-followers are no longer strangers and foreigners. You can be citizens along with the Jesus community. We are God’s family, but He wants to adopt you! You can be His house, built on the foundation of the Bible. And the cornerstone is JESUS! We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy church for the Lord. Through Jesus YOU too can join together as part of this house where God lives by His Holy Spirit.