October 12, 2025
Our Peace
Ephesians 2:10-22
Rev. Shannon Jordan
For we are God’s masterpieces, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them. 11 So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both to God in one body[f] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.[g] 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone;[h] 21 in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually[i] into a dwelling place for God.
The word of God, for the people of God.
Pray!
One of the most meaningful and profound concepts I heard in seminary was around the word shalom. Shalom is a rich theological concept in the Hebrew Scriptures. We often translate it as “peace,” but that only brushes the surface. Shalom means wholeness, completeness, the way things are meant to be—when all is right with the world.
As many of us explored last weekend at the retreat, we see the first glimpse of shalom in the creation story, as the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, bringing order out of chaos, beauty out of emptiness, life out of formlessness. That’s shalom—the deep harmony of creation when everything is in its right relationship with God, with others, with creation, and even within ourselves.
Last weekend at the retreat, we talked about how, even in the midst of trauma, God is present—hovering still—and how God’s presence brings hope. That hope, that healing, that wholeness, is what Scripture calls shalom.
We see this theme in the passage Isaiah passage where God’s house will be a “house of prayer for all peoples.” We also see it through the Psalms, through the prophets, through to the end of Revelation where the new heaven and the new earth are described.
With Shalom, everyone lives in unity. Everyone has what they need. Everyone is able to work and live and exist.
We hear shalom echoed in the beatitudes when we hear that it is the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—they are the ones who are blessed…throughout scripture we see this vision of a world where people look out for the marginalized, the least of these, the widows, the orphans.
The people whose lives are precarious are cared for and they have peace instead of worry. They have peace instead of conflict. They have peace instead of the churn and chaos that we see daily in our world and our lives.
When Paul says that Christ is our peace, he is saying that the full realization of God’s plan which includes justice and flourishing for all comes only through Christ. It isn’t through earthly powers or our goodness, but through God. This theme of shalom is not about a scarcity mentality—but about the recognition in God’s world that there is plenty for everyone. Paul is reminding us in our passage that God is about creating a cohesive world and breaking down walls of hostility—and God does this through Christ and God’s transformation of God’s people, so they begin to live into the fullness of shalom.
Paul lays out our peace in the movement from alienation to belonging—we are reminded we were once outsiders and that it was God who brought us in. We didn’t do it. We didn’t fix ourselves up well enough, we didn’t do the right thing, but God called us into relationship and community and reconciled us with God because God loves us. We are God’s masterpieces. God is the subject of all of the action verbs in our passage. God does the work.
God brings us peace in three areas, starting within us—then between us, and finally, beyond us.
The idea of inner peace can seem a bit gimmicky. You may have the vision of a person sitting in a peaceful setting in prayer with complete tranquility around—but we all realize life isn’t that way. Life is, life. Stuff happens. But figuring out what disturbs our inner peace, what triggers us and why, that is how to heal these broken parts of ourselves. Giving consent to God to transform us to the place where we can experience the peace of God regardless of our circumstances, that is our goal. This is the foundation for the rest—Christ is the cornerstone of the church and our inner peace. This seems simple, but it isn’t easy.
I have been doing quite a bit of reading by Thomas Keating lately for a class I am taking. He was a huge proponent and actually dedicated his life to helping people find inner peace through the transforming power of God. He worked to help people to explore their thoughts and actions so they could begin to see what is stealing their peace and to be able to rest in God. Keating puts it so incredibly well:
“The Gospel calls us forth to full responsibility for our emotional life. We tend to blame other people or situations for the turmoil we experience. In actual fact, upsetting emotions prove beyond any doubt that the problem is in us. If we do not assume responsibility for our emotional programs on the unconscious level and take measures to change them, we will be influenced by them to the end of our life.” -Thomas Keating. The Mystery of Christ
Many spiritual leaders believe there are three main areas in our lives that can throw us off experiencing the inner peace we have when we realize and recognize how much God loves us. Some of us are more heavily tilted in one direction and others in a different direction. They are the:
Security Center where people want Security and Survival: If this is you, you feel successful and safe if you can arrange your life to that you have security and safety in the different areas of your life. If you think through 10 worst case scenarios and have all of them taken care of, you might live in this area.
Sensation Center where people want Esteem and Affection: They feel successful and safe if they have the esteem and affection of others, if they are thought well of by the people around them. The idea that they are misunderstood, or thought of by others as not good enough, is their hot button. If you are constantly explaining yourself or making sure people know what you are doing and why, this might be you.
Power Center where people want Power and Control: Most people in this group don’t really trust others to have correct power or control, and if they can’t control the outcome they feel unsettled. If you find yourself always wanting to be making the decisions and/or near the person or group who is, you might be in this group.
Part of our job is to begin to recognize when we are reverting to our defaults. Some of us use the enneagram to recognize where we go astray, some of us use the prayer practice of examen—but the key is to really reflect on what gives us anxiety, what gives us joy, what we think about, and what we worry about. What causes us to descend into a place of what one of my professors calls psycho drama? Then we can go to God and let God heal these parts of us through our awareness of these default actions.
This is a lifelong effort on our parts, to consent to God’s work in and through us. It isn’t self-help but learning to pay attention and eventually turn off our own reactions and responses so that God can continue to transform us.
This inner peace is the foundation for the peace we are able to experience with others—which most of us, if we are honest, would say can be a bit tricky!!!
There was an old joke about a person who was praying to God and said, Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you that I have been 100% kind to people. I haven’t been judgmental. I haven’t been rude or selfish or greedy. I have wanted what is best for the people with whom I have come into contact. I haven’t worried or been anxious. I have trusted you completely today and I haven’t sinned. Thank you Jesus. Now I am going to get out of bed, please help the rest of my day to go as well!
I think that most of us would say that we can be really patient and kind and nonjudgemental—until we come in contact with a person or situation that pinches a little bit. Having been with toddlers for the last week, I can tell you that they are amazingly perfect as long as things go their way, they get the attention they want and have appropriate food and sleep. However, if things don’t go according to plan, or one of these buckets is low, then all bets are off. The funny thing is, I think if we all were honest, we might also not act the way we would want to if we are tired, hungry, are made to wait for something we want or don’t get our ways. We can also respond in a way that attempts to change the situation to align with what we want. We may justify our actions or reactions, we may decide that we have the right to be angry or rude or unkind or selfish or give excuses for our behavior to others or even to ourselves. This is the part of ourselves that God wants to heal so we can have inner peace.
There are other defaults we often have. Paul reminds us that we were once strangers and aliens…so when we judge others or feel anger or superiority towards others, we forget that we have the views or perspectives we have because of our circumstances, relationships, or personality—it isn’t because we are better or smarter. It is because of the God directed the path that has brought us to this point. When I remind myself that throughout scripture we are told to love our enemies and our neighbors and see over and over how God has demonstrated God’s love to imperfect and misguided people in scripture, I am compelled to work to reduce conflict with others and work towards peace, no matter how hard it is. God’s grace is expansive and as recipients of God’s grace—we are called to share that with others. Christ breaks down and destroys walls of hostility between people. If we are building walls between peoples or seeing people as “other” we are working against God and God’s peace.
As we experience inner peace it will spill over into our relationships, and, as a church, that peace will spill out and allow us as a community to work to bring about God’s justice to a wider world.
One of the most powerful examples I have seen of this is a Methodist pastor in South Africa named Themba. You may have noticed the photo on the front of the bulletin. As soon as I knew I was preaching on this I knew I wanted this shot as my cover image as this image was life changing for me and what comes to mind when I want to “other” a group of people for whatever reason.
As some of you know I spent over three weeks during seminary in the country of South Africa—both in Cape Town and in Johannesburg. I went to a Methodist Seminary and the United Methodist denomination is an international denomination with conferences around the world. My seminary had close ties to people in South Africa and we did cross cultural immersions there every other year. For half of the time when I was there in 2011, our guide was a Methodist pastor named Themba. He, a black man, and a white pastor were pastors of the Central Methodist Mission, the first desegregated church in Cape Town. The cross on the cover is made from pews of the two formerly segregated churches.
The plaque under the cross reads—and you can see this image on your bulletin cover:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed
the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Eph. 2:14
This cross was formed from wood taken from the pews of the Metropolitan and Buitenkant Street Churches to mark the amalgamation of the two congregations into the Central Methodist Mission on 31 January, 1988. This amalgamation signified the end of more than 150 years of racial separation in the Methodist Church in Cape Town and restored the church to the unity it had enjoyed during the first 30 years of its existence.
After studying the horrific impact of apartheid in South Africa, seeing this glimpse of hope was a beautiful experience. Hearing firsthand from Themba how hard this was in spite of the “rightness” of it was inspiring. If he could be as forgiving and forward thinking as he was, who am I to hold a grudge or unforgiveness?
So what does this mean for us?
It means that we are invited to grow in our awareness of God’s peace—the peace within us, the peace among us, and the peace that flows through us into the world. We really can’t ignore any of these. Working in community often exposes where I need healing within myself; and tending to my own inner world shows me how God is calling me to bring reconciliation and grace into my relationships and ministry.
When peace is alive within us and among us, it naturally moves outward, into the world God loves. Peace restores our identity as we remember that we are God’s masterpieces. We experience peace in community as Christ tears down the walls between us. And we discover that we—unique, diverse, imperfect as we are—are being built together into a dwelling place for God.
We are, quite literally, the construction material of God’s peace, just like the pew wood that became the cross on the bulletin, once divided, now joined into a single sign of grace.
We are God’s church, not this building, not these walls, but us, the living temple of God’s Spirit. And God sends us out into the world to be that place of welcome and joy, a people who begin, even now, to live into God’s shalom and to share it with all nations.
So may the peace of Christ, our peace, our shalom, take root within you, bind you together, and move through you into the world God so loves.
Amen.