In my home right now, my two young boys find the building of walls to be a favorite activity.

Brick by brick, blocks are used to build a barrier between the good guys and the bad guys.

Brick by brick, cardboard walls separate the Jedi from the Sith.

Brick by brick, plastic Lego walls separate Captain America from Red Skull.

At the beach, brick by brick, sandcastle walls separate the Autobots from the Decepticons.

The walls in all of these scenarios create a tension that any active imagination can turn into a cosmic battle between good and evil.

When we are young, we like building walls.

As we get older, nothing really changes.

We continue to like the task of building walls.

However, after years of education and experience, our building material becomes more sophisticated.  Instead of cardboard, plastic building blocks, and sand, we use history, philosophy, ideology, and theology to build walls, sometimes invisible and sometimes visible, to separate one group from another.

If we look at the architecture of the world, our metaphorical walls have often led us to build physical walls to separate those on one side from those on the other side.

Examples such as The Great Wall of China and The Berlin Wall both have their foundation in separating one group from another.  China built a wall, brick by brick, to separate themselves from the nomadic tribes of Eurasia.  The Eastern Bloc built a their wall, brick by brick, to separate themselves from the western Germans who rallied against their Communist ideology.  Currently, the Amercian government is trying to build a wall, brick by brick, to separate themselves from Mexico in an attempt to control immigration.

These barriers, along with many others constructed throughout the history of civilization, separated people both physically and ideologically.

On an individual level, we find ourselves building walls between ourselves and others using politics, race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, wealth, social status, history, philosophy, ideology, and theology.

“My skin is white.  I cannot be around non-whites.”

The wall goes up.

“I’m Republican.  I cannot associate with Democrats.”

The wall goes up.

“I have.  I cannot be be seen with the have nots.”

The wall goes up.

“I believe. I cannot hang out with non-believers.”

The wall goes up.

“I am pro-gun.  I cannot converse with anti-gun lobbyists.”

The wall goes up.

“I am pro-life.  I cannot be around pro-choicers.”

The wall goes up.

“I am heterosexual.  I cannot be around homosexuals.”

Brick by brick. The walls go up.

We are experts at building walls.

We are actually so good at building walls that we have even built a wall between us and God.

Because of Sin demonstrated in ungodly things like the building of walls between us and others, we end up building a wall between ourselves and God.

In the apostle Paul’s letter that he wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia, we hear about the human drive to build walls.  He says:

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

(Galatians 2.15-18)

Paul’s concern for the church was rooted in the fact that the apostle Peter was building a wall between himself and the Christians in the region of Galatia.

The problem with Peter was this–He was preaching and teaching that through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, the wall between us and God was torn down.  The wall was completely demolished for us by Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ death for us, the wall destroying death, we could now cross over into God’s presence.

However, after telling that good news to all who would hear it, Peter began building the wall between humanity and God, back up, brick by brick.

Peter’s actions spoke that:

Jesus’ death was not good enough to earn God’s acceptance. Brick.

God will only accept you if you are circumcised. Brick.

You have to make yourself clean. Brick.

You have to stay away from those that are not clean. Brick.

You have to obey God’s commandments. Brick.

Brick by brick, the wall went up.

And before Peter knew it, the wall was back up separating humanity from God.

By rebuilding the wall that Jesus tore down for us by His death on the cross, Peter was denying the message that he preached—that a person is accepted by God through faith alone and not through works of law because by works of the law no one will be saved.  Justification before God can only come through faith in Jesus’ wall tearing down death for you.

Here is the thing about the building of walls that goes on with my two young boys:

After the wall is firmly built and everything is set up and separated, my younger son gets a big smile on his face, looks me in the eyes, and then swings his hands and arms completely demolishing the wall until not one brick is left standing.

And, here is the thing about the wall that is built between you and God:

After the wall is firmly built and everything is set up and you are separated from God, Jesus gets a big smile on His face, looks you in the eyes, spreads his arms out and opens his hands to receive the nails that will pin Him to the cross until the moment of death, completely demolishing the wall between you and God until not one brick is left standing.

Brick by brick, Jesus takes the wall down for you that separates you from God.

The good news that you have is that while you were busy building a wall between you and God, Jesus died to tear down the wall for you.

Sin builds a wall between you and God.  But, Jesus tears the wall down for you.

You do not help.

You cannot help.

You only build, you cannot take down.

Jesus does it all for you.

This is the love of God toward you.

Have faith today. Place your hope in Jesus’ wall destroying death for you.

Brick by brick, the dividing wall between you and God has been removed.

Amen.

Pastor Fred.

April 16, 2018