Why do we find it so easy to define ourselves by whoever we keep out of our group? In one story a castaway built two churches on his desert island: one he attended and one he stayed away from, because that way he knew who he was. The message reads the second chapter of Ephesians, where Paul shows that Christ removed the division between Jews and Gentiles and made of them one new humanity (Ephesians 2), and closes with C.S. Lewis reminding us that on our own we can never fully know another person, let alone Jesus. Listen if you are keeping too much of your life to yourself.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Ephesians 2:11-12 Paul describes the Gentiles as people without Christ, without hope and without God, and the Jews as those who looked down on others because of the law. What do you think was at the root of this division?
- The sermon mentioned the temple wall with a warning that any Gentile who crossed it would die. What would it have meant to the first readers that Jesus, through the cross, tore down the dividing wall and gave access to the Father?
- The story of the man who built two churches on a desert island shows how often we build our identity by excluding others. Where do you most easily draw your sense of who you are, and how does that affect your relationships?
- A Korean student who hated all Japanese people came to love a Christian girl from Japan. What has to happen in a heart for identity in Christ to matter more than nationality, opinions or background?
- Paul calls believers members of God's household and one building that keeps growing. Thinking of a home where my problems are your problems, what do you feel is missing in your experience of community today?
- C.S. Lewis wrote that it takes a whole community to really know a person, and even more so to know Jesus. What could you stop keeping just for yourself this week, such as your time, your home or your struggles?
