Breaking Down Barriers

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)

“And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply.”

You may recognize that as the first line of the song made popular by the Canadian rock group, The Five Man Electric Band in the 1970s. If I had even the least bit of musical talent, I would sing it for you, but with a tune or without, the words still speak truthfully concerning a fundamental flaw in our human nature. At its core, it is a problem of fear. Fear of the other; fear of the unknown; fear of anything that is different from what we judge to be acceptable. And because of our fear, we erect barriers – barriers between us and them.

They don’t look like us, act like us, sing like us, vote like us, love like us, worship like us, so they must not be us. And so we build barriers to keep them out… We erect border fences and membership vows, we erect gated communities and constitutional amendments, we erect no fly zones and political parties, we erect church doors and denominations. And we huddle in fear behind our locked doors, and hope that our gates are strong enough and our walls tall enough.

Maybe this time we have it right, just the right mix of mortar and brick, measured just so, a wall of just the right height. And so we begin to feel a little safer. Now, safe, secure, behind our locked doors, and impenetrable walls we breathe a collective sigh of relief. Thankful that God has for one more day protected us from the onslaught that rages beyond our boundaries.

But a strange thing begins to happen within our sanctuary, with no “enemy” present to command our attention; we have time now to examine these strange folk with whom we have cast our lot. Funny thing is, there not as much like us as we had originally thought. In fact, they are not anything like us. Maybe it’s time for another wall, or at least a small fence. That should be enough, to begin with, but one never knows. The more I think about it, the more I’m sure, that these people aren’t anything like me at all…

And we build our barriers higher and stronger, never stopping to consider where the madness will end.
You would think that we as members of the Christian faith, after two-thousand years, would have become pretty good at dismantling the barriers between us. But sadly, that’s just not the case at all. In fact, we seem to be well on our way to perfecting the art of wall building. Nevertheless, our inability to embrace the truth as written by the Apostle Paul makes it no less true. It only means it’s difficult. But, difficulty didn’t stop Paul, and it shouldn’t stop us.

You see, the Apostle Paul knew all about barriers. The eclectic group of people that comprised the first century church was as diverse as any that we could imagine. Male and female, young and old, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, the differences were many. And they would build their walls. They’d build them up, Paul would tear them down. Some would even say that he built a few barriers himself, but that’s beyond the scope of this simple five minute sermon. But one thing is within its scope, and that is a simple but profound affirmation; an affirmation that transcends our differences and reveals the remarkable power of the Gospel. In a few short lines, it paints a vivid picture of a reality that most of us can only dream of, but dream we do. Or should I say hope? It is a reality that we hope for, a reality that we pray for, a reality that we work for- diligently chipping away, bit-by-bit, stone-by-stone, brick-by-brick, dismantling the barriers that divide us.

The Apostle Paul wages an all out assault on all the barriers that have been, and all the barriers that will be, with the simple affirmation that we are “one in Jesus Christ.” Barriers that we would seek to build crumble when we live into the truth that the Apostle Paul affirms – there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female. For we are all one in Jesus Christ.

Paul opens to us a world without barriers, a world without divisions, a world united by the living Christ. And as difficult as that may be for some of us here to imagine, there are glimmers of hope. Signs, if you will – unlike the “signs” in the lyrics of the song by the Five Man Electric Band – these signs remind us what the world could be like. Last week I witnessed something that I never believed I would see in my lifetime – the nomination of an African-American by a major political party as their candidate for president of the United States. And now, this week, the other party nominates a female as their vice-presidential candidate. Politics aside, whether you support one or the other or neither, it is nevertheless, an incredible example of the breaking down of barriers and a reminder to all of us that anything is possible.

Some would say that this is only political maneuvering and has nothing to do with the teachings of Paul, and less still with what it means to be Christian, but I can think of no better example. When people stop judging others by the color of their skin or their gender, and instead try to hear the message they proclaim, God must surely be at work – dismantling the walls that we would so quickly build.

And even our friends, The Five Man Electric Band, by the end of their song recognize that God’s kingdom is one without barriers and leaves us with a glimmer of hope. The last verse says this…

And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn’t have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I’m alive and doing fine