28 October 2015 - strangers no longer

in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

We are being built together. We need to be open to this. 

We can't continue to live like strangers and sojourners. Yet we do live like this. Isn't this our experience of Sunday worship? Or do we truly experience coming together with fellow citizens? Are we really one household or are we rather many island households in the same general area? If Jesus can bridge the gap between Jew and Gentile surely he can bridge the gap between us and our pew neighbors. Perhaps some in the Church love football, others painting, or still others science. Even if we hold no hobbies or interests in common we are nevertheless united by something greater than any of those.

Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;

It isn't really about our preferences. Do we suppose that the Twelve were the type who would hang out together on their own? Yet they are called by Jesus and they do come together. They are united.

When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:

This is the supernatural union of the Church, the international family of God. It can completely transcend any differences on the natural level which might otherwise keep us apart.

in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

It is the unity of the Spirit that unites God's family. The contrary can also be true. If we subvert that unity, if we avoid it, if we ignore and omit opportunities to encourage it, we, to one degree or another, quench the Spirit who desires to create this unity among us. This is bad, because this unity is a visible sign of God's presence with his people.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (cf. Joh. 17:20).

All on it's own this unity proclaims the glory of God.

Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.

Our part is simply to welcome the Spirit, to get out of his way, and to let him work.