Sermon Text: Ephesians 2:13–22
Date: August 16, 2026
Event: Proper 15, Year A

Ephesians 2:13–22 (EHV)

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he himself is our peace. He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them 15when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh. He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace. 16And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it. 17He also came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. 20You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Jesus Unifies Us

There is a lot of division in this world. We find divides along racial lines, along political lines, along national lines, along lines that really don’t matter at all, like sports teams, musical acts, and hobby preferences. So much divides us that we long to find what unifies us. So we take solace in those things that band us together with others. Maybe that is camaraderie for our favorite team, maybe that is surrounding ourselves with like-minded people, maybe that is just finding someone else with a sense of humor that is a fitting compliment to our own.

This morning we’re looking for that unity, we’re looking for that solace in being bound together with others, not in a shallow way based on a baseball team or a group going wild for a specific perfomer at a concert. We’re looking for unity where it matters; we’re looking for unity where we couldn’t make it happen. We’re looking for unity that only Jesus can work.

The Christian faith is one of division and unity. The whole reason that we need Jesus at all is because of division—division that we caused. Our sin not only makes us a pariah and an offense to other people, but much more so it makes us an offense to God. Our sin separates us from him, like an impenetrable stone wall that we can’t even dent or shift, let alone tear down.

Jesus’ work was to tear down that wall and bridge the gap between sinful mankind and God. And he did that by offering his life in exchange for ours. Jesus both lived the life that we could not and died the death that we deserved. He fully and completely took our place in all of those things so that there would be no barrier between us and God any longer. By giving us his perfection and taking away our sins, Jesus has atoned for us, put us back “at one” with God by covering over all of our failings with his life.

But the dividing wall isn’t only up between God and us before Jesus; there are also divisions between other people and us. Some of that division comes from sin, some comes by other means. The Jewish believers were keenly aware of this. So many of the civil laws God gave to govern Israel as a nation centered on this division—and on preserving it for a time. Israel was God’s special, chosen people. Not because there was anything in them naturally that should draw God to them, but because God chose them. God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to King David, and then eventually to Mary that through them would come the Savior of all mankind, the one who would free the whole world from their sin. When God first promised this to Abraham, he assured him that a blessing would come from his family for all nations.

But in the meantime, God wanted a divide to preserve his people and his promise. So, the divide of the Jewish people from everyone else—the Gentiles—was enacted. God’s people knew they had to take care to avoid intermingling with those who were not the children of the promise. No intermarrying with them, and by the time of Jesus, that had even progressed to not wanting to spend any time with a Gentile, to not even enter their home.

But once Jesus came, once the promised Messiah arrived, the purpose for that divide was over. No longer did one nation need to be carved out from the rest; the need for the separation was over. So while Jesus united sinful people with their estranged heavenly Father, he also united people everywhere together as one.

There’s a whole lot more that unites us than divides us, or at least more important things. Sure, languages, customs, food, preferences, political ideals, and even what team you cheer for. But we all share the reality of sin. Every person in every place has failed to live up to God’s expectations—demands—of perfection. So in that sense, we are all unified in failure. There is no “she is better than him” or “he is better than her.” In God’s eyes, one sin is too many, which means we all stand condemned before him on our own, regardless of what we have done.

But we are also unified in how Jesus views us. Because he looks at you and he looks at me and sees someone who is worth loving, someone who has value because he gives you your value. To Jesus, you were worth dying for. Everyone in the whole world was worth dying for. And so he did.

Jesus’ work means that even “sanctified” divisions between people are gone. Paul was urging his original readers to set aside the idea of Jewish people vs. Gentile people, because that wasn’t a real distinction anymore after Jesus, other than to point to family lines. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace. He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh. He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace. And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it.

Jesus’ work means we can now see other people the way Jesus sees them: as worthy of his eternal love and protection. We don’t have to have an “us vs. them” attitude toward anyone—nor should we! Instead, we should see how beautifully unified all people are in God’s forgiving love. Your parent, sibling, or child? Blood-bought souls. Your cashier at the grocery store? Blood-bought soul. The person begging for food or money on the road? Blood-bought soul. The person on the other side of the world with whom you seem to share nothing in common and you are unlikely to ever meet on this side of eternity? Blood-bought soul.

The people of God are stones in this ever-growing organic temple. You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Jesus unites us with the members of our congregation. Jesus unites us with believers around the nation and around the world. Jesus unites us with those who have gone ahead of us in the faith and those who will come after us. Jesus unites us all as his dearly loved and forgiven brothers and sisters.

And so we can have the confidence of the Canaanite woman in our gospel. We can be confident of God’s love for us, even if we view ourselves as nothing more than dogs sniffing around the table legs for scraps. But the truth is that we are not strays desperate for sustenance, and neither was she. We are members of God’s household. And not only are we in God’s home, but in an unfathomable paradox, God’s home is inside of us as well: In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

There is so much room in this family. All are welcome; all are invited. Go out, confident in your place here, and invite others in. Share your unifying Savior with those who’ve forgotten about him or those who’ve never known him. Find peace that you are united with God and in that unity you are also united with your fellow people. And in all things, praise the one who freed you and the whole world from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Rejoice in the one who makes you whole. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria