Latest / Chapel Talks / From Strangers to Family | Ephesians 2 | Mohammad Eghtedarian

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From Strangers to Family | Ephesians 2 | Mohammad Eghtedarian · Chapel Talks

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Thank you. Thank you. It's really great to be
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here and thank you for your invitation. Well,
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you might notice I wear my fleece inside out.
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And some of you pointed out, which I said, yes,
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I know. Thank you. And some of you politely didn't
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say anything, but you noticed it. But let me
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ask you this question. Who decided? I'm wearing
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my fleece inside out. If all of you wear your
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clothes inside out, then who was a stranger?
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The person who's wearing the clothes normally,
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right? We are living according to the certain
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expectation. We decide what is normal. How people
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should dress, speak, behave, or even how we worship.
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And when someone does differently, We see, we
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notice it. And for many years, my experience
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as an asylum seeker in Britain fell rather than
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burning my clothes inside out. I arrived in the
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UK, as I mentioned, from Iran as a Muslim asylum
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seeker, and bringing with me my language, culture,
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beliefs, traditions, and understanding of life.
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I was trying to survive, find somewhere to belong.
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and become part of the British society without
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losing my identity. I had to learn new languages
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and understand different cultures and discover
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a new way of living. And I'm sure I made plenty
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of mistakes. Perhaps I talk too much sometimes,
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show off occasionally, and was sometimes too
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direct and upset too easily. People sometimes
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with great patience and kindness, occasionally
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with frustration, helped me to understand how
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things worked. And at times, I felt I need to
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take off my old personality, bit by bit, and
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put on a new one. But something much deeper happened.
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True circumstances, scripture, Holy Spirit. and
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God's works and people, I encounter Jesus, which
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I will share the rest of the story later. I discover
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a new relationship with God, a new beginning,
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and eventually call to serve him. Not because
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I successfully become a British, not because
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I have learned to behave like anybody else, but
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because of Jesus, because what he has done. on
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the cross. And that brings us to the gospel,
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to the Ephesian reading. The gospel does not
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simply bring us into a new religion. It brings
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us into God's family. I think next slide. We
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were one stranger. Paul begins by reminding the
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Gentile Christians of their past. They were once
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separated from Christ. excluded from citizenship
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in Israel, foreigners to the covenant of the
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promise, without hope, Paul said, and without
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God in the world. These are such powerful words.
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Imagine being told that you do not belong, you
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have no citizenship, and no place in the community,
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and therefore no benefits, no claim of his promises.
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For those of us who experience migration, displacement,
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or rejection, some of these words are painfully
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familiar. But Paul describes something deeper
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than geographical displacement. He's speaking
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about the spiritual covenantal separation, which
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exists between the Gentiles and people of Israel.
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The Gentiles, as most of you know, were outside
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the covenant privilege. And they did not share
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the same history, promise, or religion identity.
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Yet Paul does not remind them to shame them.
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He reminds them to say, to appreciate what Christ
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has done for them. Sometimes we need to remember
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where we come from to understand the extraordinary
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grace God has brought for us. My journey from
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Iran to Britain involves crossing national borders,
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learning new languages, and adjusting a different
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culture. But my journey towards Christ involves
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something far greater. I discovered that belonging
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to God was not dependent upon my nationality
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or cultural background or religious achievement.
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It was dependent upon Christ and Christ alone.
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something Paul wonderfully said in verse 13.
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But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far
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away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
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Notice two words, but now. Everything is changed
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because of Jesus. Secondly, Christ has broken
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down the dividing walls. Paul continued with
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the extraordinary For he himself is our peace.
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Paul doesn't say Christ brings peace. He said
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he himself is our peace. Most of you know in
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the ancient world, the Jerusalem temple includes
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boundaries separating Gentiles from the area
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of the Jewish people. Paul's language in that
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environment, in that context, is such a powerful
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language. But the division between the Jews and
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Gentiles were not just architectural. It involved
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centuries of religious, social, and cultural
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separation. Through his death on the cross, Jesus
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has dealt with the hostility that divided them.
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Paul said Christ's purpose was to create one
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new humanity out of two, not two separate communities
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tolerating each other. Not Gentile become culturally
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Jewish. And not the Jews leave their religious
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and their backgrounds and become a Gentile. Both
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one become new humanity in Christ. And that's
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remarkable. That's beautiful. That's captured
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my eyes. Because our natural tendency is often
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to make other people more like ourself. We may
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welcome someone from other cultures to our church,
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but quietly expect them to become like us, learn
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our culture, learn our tradition, learn our preferences.
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We say everyone is welcome here. Everyone is
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welcome here, while assuming everyone should
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eventually become like us. But the gospel offers
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something differently. Christ does not simply
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teach a stranger to fit into the existing community.
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He creates a new community in which everyone
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belongs to him. A new community, everyone belongs
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to him. When I became a Christian, I didn't have
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to stop to be Iranian in order to belong to the
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church or to Christ. Of course, there were beliefs,
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attitudes, behaviors needed to change. And there
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still is. But that's true for all the Christians,
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isn't it? Every Christian needs to be Christ
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-like. And the Holy Spirit helps us to transform
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to become Christ -like, not into copying each
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one each other. John Stott famously said, the
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church of God is a new society. And in the center
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of that society is the stand, the cross. Through
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the cross, we reconcile both to God and to one
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another. And Paul in verse 18 said, Think about
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the word access. Today, almost everything requires
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login, passport, verification. But Paul is describing
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something infinitely greater. Through Jesus Christ,
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by the Holy Spirit, we have access to the Father.
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Just imagine, the Father, the one who created
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all the universe, we have access to. Without
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passport, without anything to do, it's just through
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the Holy Spirit. No limitation. Absolutely free.
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Not access reserved to one nationality or culture
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or religion or class. The same access, the same
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Christ, the same Spirit. And that reminds me
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in John 10 when Jesus said, I'm a good shepherd.
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He's a good shepherd for everyone. He's not just
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a good shepherd for Britain or England or West
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or East. He's a good shepherd for everyone. Different
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background, different journey, the same shepherd.
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And thirdly, from a stranger to God's household.
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Paul now moves from remembering exclusion to
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celebrating belonging. He said in verse 19, Consequently,
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you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but
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fellow citizens with God's people and also members
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of his household. What a transformation. What
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a beautiful transformation. From a stranger to
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a citizen. From outsider to family. But Paul
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doesn't stop there. He's changing the picture
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from the household to building a holy temple.
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With Christ himself is the chief cornerstone.
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In verse 22, and in him you too are being built
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together to become a dwelling in which God lives
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by his spirit. I found this verse fascinating
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beautifully. As you know, in Old Testament, the
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temple represent God's presence among his people.
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But now Paul described that the church itself
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is God dwelling place. Not simply physically
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building, but a community of believers joining
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together in Christ. And there is something important
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in this language. You too are being built. The
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building doesn't stop. We are not finished product.
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God is still building his church. God is still
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building me and you. We are not finished product
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at all. We are still shaped. to join together
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and transform. It is certainly true for me. I
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need to change, still need to change. And our
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hope is true for all of us here in this chapel.
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God is still working through our attitude, prejudice,
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relationships, understanding one another. And
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there is another important detail. Paul does
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not say that each believer is independent temple
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in this passage, at least. There are other passages
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we say, yes, all of us has temple of God and
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God is dwelling in us. But in this passage, he
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emphasized that together we are built for the
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kingdom of God, for God's dwelling place. The
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church is not collection of the isolated individual
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just happening to worshiping together. We belong
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to one another because we belong to Jesus. And
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that's the Holy Communion. We come together around
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the table. Because we belong to him. And perhaps
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that's one of the biggest challenges I found
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out in the ministry. Many of you are preparing
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for Christian ministry. You are studying theology,
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learning, interpreting the Bible, developing
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the personal skills, preparing to lead in the
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people of God. There are very important and necessary
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things to do, skills to do. Well, I want to ask
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you three questions. Who is the stranger? When
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you land into your congregation, to your church,
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to your community, who is the stranger? Who feels
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isolated? Might be a refugee, international student,
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someone from different social background, or
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simply somebody who hasn't been to the church
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at all. Will they find a place just people welcome
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them? as a visitor, or where they genuinely become
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a family? Secondly, who has a voice? When people
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from different cultures join the church, we see
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them as the people who need help. And we should.
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We should help them. But do we recognize that
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God may sometimes teach us through them? The
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church in Britain is not only called to welcome
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the ministry of the people coming from different
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nations. It also needs to recognize what God
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brings to the church through them. And a stranger
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becomes a teacher. And thirdly, whose church
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is this? Are we building churches that reflect
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our own culture and preferences? Or are we allowing
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Christ to build a church from different people,
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from different backgrounds, different nations,
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and different people, in a sense? Remember, Paul
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doesn't say you are building a church or dwelling
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place for God, therefore you're achieving something.
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He says you are being built together. Christ
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is the cornerstone, God is the builder, and the
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Holy Spirit dwelling among us. So let me conclude
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with this. Yes, I got my jacket right, but it
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really doesn't matter. The beautiful and the
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good news is my belonging to Christ does not
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depend on what I wear. Is it the right accent?
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Understand British custom. I, you, we belong
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to Jesus because he brought us together, because
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his blood, because his body. We come from different
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places, carrying different stories, and sometimes
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understand the world. very much differently.
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But at the foot of Christ, at the foot of cross,
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we discover no one, no one can claim the privileged
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position. We are all depend on one grace and
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one grace only. And through Christ, we are no
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longer stranger. We are fellow citizen. We are
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member of God's household. We are built together
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with the help of the Holy Spirit. And as you
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prepare, for a ministry, you're not simply called
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to welcome a stranger into your church. You are
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called to help people to discover that in Christ,
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they are already invited into God's family. So
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proclaim the Christ faithfully, welcome people
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generously, and learn from those who live differently.
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And the Holy Spirit of God will continue to build
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his church because in Christ, Stranger become
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family. Amen.