Ephesians 2:11-22
"Imagine"

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands--that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

New King James Version

I hope you didn't miss a beautiful glimmer of hope that was included among all the news coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The funeral mass included the traditional "passing of the peace," where those present are invited to share with each other a blessing, "Peace be with you." Seated among the powerful dignitaries of the world, Israeli President Moshe Katsav shook hands and exchanged blessings for peace with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. Katsav, himself born in Iran, continued to converse with Khatami in Farsi.

There should be nothing newsworthy about three gentlemen expressing their wish for peace, but the diplomatic corps of all three nations quickly issued statements acknowledging the high character of their Presidents for such an act, but cautioning that these handshakes were not signs of national policy changes. After all, the official stance of both Iran and Syria call for the total destruction of the nation of Israel, and an exchanged wish for peace might be considered contradictory to the will of those governments. It shouldn't mean anything; none of these three gentlemen are Catholic. They were merely present to honor the legacy of a formidable world leader in the deceased Pope.

But somehow, in the spirit of eulogizing a man whose life was dedicated in service to God's Love, maybe some of that Love seeped through the pores of the thick skins of these sworn enemies. "Love does not insist on its own way," so these three Presidents may have already dismissed the subversive concepts Love left in their minds on Friday. But maybe not, for "Love is patient," too.

Paul rejoiced with the church at Ephesus over what Love had already done. There were massive cultural barriers between the refined Greek heritage of Ephesus and the middle eastern heritage of Jerusalem. To make the situation worse, some Jewish Christians were preserving and protecting religions barriers, insisting that, to know Christ, people first had to become Jews.

Not so, cries Paul! Jesus came to eliminate barriers, so that we can be one body of believers in Christ. The Law that was to draw people to God had been twisted to create legalistic divisions between people, so Jesus broke down those divisions. During his earthly ministry, Jesus responded to questions about where and how to worship with answers that worship comes from inside, not outside, and Paul rejoiced that we together worship by one Spirit. Jesus shockingly dismissed divisions between genders, between those with good and bad reputations, between Jews and Gentiles, even between "holy" and "unholy." Paul understood that none of those divisions mattered because the only thing important is what Jesus has done for us.

John Lennon caught a glimpse of what Love can do, and he wrote it down in the lyrics to The Beatles' song "Imagine." However, Lennon was convinced that religion worked against Love, dividing people, creating conflict, and instigating war, rather than bringing people together. There are no sadder words than this song's phrase "imagine there's no heaven." There is no harsher condemnation of organized religion than to accuse it of fighting against Love.

From the beginning of time, God has given us the choice on how to live in response to Love. We can obey Love, or we can covet Love and kill those who would appear to hinder our efforts to control Love, like Cain killed Abel, and like so many millions who have been killed for religions differences. We can celebrate our shared Love, or we can rally others around differences in our imperfect perceptions of Love to criticize and condemn those who disagree with us.

In other words, we can be self-centered, or we can be God-centered. We would like to think we know the difference between the two, but we don't--only God knows our hearts that well. Only God knows where we fit into the holy temple Paul referenced at the end of this passage, in the Church being built across the ages to be the perfect bride of Christ. We have a promise of Life now and forever that defies our human imaginations, and our job is to let God bring that about in us and through us.