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Strangers in a Household


Ephesians 2:19-22

We are all familiar with being strangers as many of us have had the experience of being in a new country and not knowing people or places. How do you feel as a stranger? Think back as you moved to Canada as your new country. What was it like? New language, new places, new customs, new friends. Perhaps you found it difficult to adjust. We are told to be pilgrims and strangers here in this world but sometimes we forget and we live like we will be here forever.

This is the Christmas season where we remember when Jesus came to this earth as a stranger. What would it have been like to have been in Glory in the splendor of Heaven and be born as a baby in a stinky, cold manger. No sterile hospital with doctors or nurses but a cow's feeding trough, Mary had probably laid in a fresh bed of straw to give birth. How strange and challenging it must have been to be arriving in a new village with no place to stay and then having to give birth in the stable. Could not God have prepared a nice castle for Jesus to be born as a king? Because Jesus was born in a lowly manger, he knew everyone in the whole world could identify with him as a person of humble means. He did not come showing off his royalty but he came as a babe born in a manger so that no one however poor could identify Jesus came as a stranger.

If we live as strangers here, we will need to live with eternity in mind. We never know when we will be called to spend eternity with God so we need to be ready at all times. God wants us to live with this kind of attitude. Have you ever thought about what that would mean and how that attitude may affect us? Peter had as he wrote in I Peter 2:11, 12, "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage against your soul, live such good lives among the pagans that....they may see your good deeds and glorify God..." Although we are to be strangers to this world we are not to be strangers but rather fellow citizens of God's family.

What is our attitude toward other strangers that come into our life? In the Old Testament God directed the Jews to welcome strangers into their community and help them. When God brings strangers into our lives what do we do? Jesus said in Matthew 25:35, " I was a stranger and you invited me in." Hebrews 13:2 commands us, "Do not forget to entertain strangers for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it." We read the story about 3 visitors who came to Abraham in Genesis 18 and he was hospitable to them. He received a real blessing from them for his kindness. I wonder what we have missed out on because we were in too big a hurry or not sensitive to God's voice and we missed out on an opportunity which God wanted us to enjoy. I have heard stories of people who picked up hitchhikers and they told the driver that Jesus was returning soon and then disappeared. We do not know what soon means but we do know that Jesus said that if believers help others we will receive a reward for the good works we do that glorify our Father in Heaven.

Every believer should accept strangers and people who are different to include them and make them feel welcome and important. Just as we ourselves were accepted so we need to help others to feel the same acceptance that God gives to every person. It does not matter to God how bad we have been, what kind of sin we have committed, how far we have gone into the domain of evil God still loves us. That means that the worst criminal, the person that has lived an immoral life or the best believer are all accepted and loved by God. What a message of hope and encouragement. It is never to late to develop that love relationship with God. He knows that we will sometimes mess up but just like the prodigal son, we can always come back and Jesus is there to forgive, understand our hurts and help us to be victorious over-comers. That seems to be too good to be true but Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still simmers, Christ died for us." If Jesus accepted the thief on the cross into his kingdom at the last moment, He will accept us anytime that we want to receive his love, forgiveness and blessings. I urge you not to wait though because it is so wonderful to live in the center of God's best and blessing. It is truly wonderful to enjoy the uniqueness and fellowship of all God's family

The next image that Paul uses is that of being a part of God's household or family. Paul says at the end of verse 19 you are "fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God." If you come from a dysfunctional family or a family with poor relationships and tension, that may not sound like such a big deal, but a family that works together and lives together in harmony is fun to be a part of. We are not to be outsiders looking in as we saw in the previous verses, but full participants in the family of God. That means that we share in the responsibilities and blessings of the family. The more we share in the responsibilities the more that we can enjoy the blessings which God gives to all people. Being a part of the family of God means that we will share the blessings and glories which God is giving to the members of His family. Jesus told his disciples in John 14:2, 3, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

This is a picture of a Jewish man who is engaged to be married to a young lady. In the Jewish custom, the two families would get together for an engagement party. Then the young man would go and build a place for his bride to be and when it was ready, he would go out and get his bride to have the marriage celebration. He would not be "dating his fiancee" during the engagement period but working hard to prepare the best place for his future bride. Jesus has gone back to Heaven to be with His Father and they are preparing a place in Heaven for everyone who believes. When I look around me and see the beauty of nature, I wonder what kind of beautiful place God is preparing for me. Knowing that God wants to bless us for our faithfulness, we want to do our best for God, using the abilities, talents and resources with which God has blessed us. So we want to be faithful in serving God and helping in the family of God, to live together in harmony and love.

The last picture that Paul paints in the passage this morning is the picture of a glorious dwelling for God. We saw in the previous verses how God is not concerned about a physical structure in which we come to worship, but He is living in our bodies as the temple of God. Stop and realize that your body is the temple of God. Do you think He is comfortable with the things you hear, watch on TV or the internet, with what you do and say to others, especially other family members? What can you do to change to make God want to spend more time with you and bless you even more? How can we live so that we remove all tension in our families and work together to help each other, instead of living a selfish life, wondering how we can get others to serve us?

When I was studying these verses I did not get a picture of a beautiful cathedral, Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Montreal where Pierre Trudeau had his funeral. If we think of God dwelling in people not buildings, we get a very different picture. The picture I got was one of a human pyramid. A couple years ago, while vacationing in Florida, we went to Cypress Gardens where they have a ski show. One of the final acts that they do is a human pyramid where about six skiers are towed by one boat and they make a human pyramid as they are skiing along. There are three men on the bottom row, then two ladies stand on their shoulders. Then while they continue to ski along a third lady climbs to the top and stands there as they circle the lake shore. It takes a lot of strength, balance and co-ordination to create such a pyramid.

So it is when we are creating the temple of God that is carefully joined together. God has given his people gifts, material and spiritual, to get the family of God to work together to build a glorious church. When the temple in Jerusalem in Solomon's day was built, every piece was carefully cut and fitted together with great precision. It was a glorious temple with huge amounts of gold, silver, bronze, precious gems and fine lumber. The temple God builds today in our lives should be equally as awesome. He has given us responsibilities to help each other. I cannot do everything myself. I need others to help work together with me to get certain things done. We should never think that we have so little to contribute that it is not even worth starting. Remember Jesus said that the woman who only gave a couple pennies in the offering plate had given a far greater offering than the rich man who gave a large offering. We are to give and contribute what we can and then God will multiply it to the furthering of His kingdom. Do not worry about how little you can give but give what you can and God will bless you in a mighty way. Some of you may not be able to give much financially but you can give something in terms of serving and helping in the worship service, at gatherings where you invite others or just encouraging and praying for others. We all have something we can give to others and so we are giving to God.

God has brought us together so that as we all give what we can to the furthering of His kingdom, we are fitted together like a beautiful building. Consider what you can do to be a part of the great plan of God. Think about the talents, the abilities and the gifts that you can share with others to encourage and bless them. In doing so you will be fulfilling the purpose God has for you in his kingdom and helping to make his family a wonderful group which lives in harmony and joy. Remember that we can only give to others because we ourselves have been so richly blessed.

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December 8, 2001