Walls that Bear Witness to the Resurrection

 

Imagine that I have handed you a piece of paper and a box of crayons. I ask you to draw a picture of a house.

I expect that the drawing starts with a square or rectangle to be the body of the house and on top of that a triangle roof. Doors and window are placed in various combinations on the front of the house. Then what – do you add curtains, flowers boxes, a car… a hedge or a picket fence?

Children doing this exercise draw houses, trees, grass, family, clouds, sunshine… and NO fences. Geographypods.com explains the phenomena of ‘the house drawing:’ Children don’t draw fences because they do not care about fences or walls. Walls are an adult thing.

 

This morning’s scriptures talk about walls, boundaries, and barriers.

In Acts, Paul went outside the city wall through the gate by the river.

Revelation draws an image of a what we call heaven, describing it as a walled city with gates that will never be shut by day- and there will be no night there – the gate is always open.

“Sundays and Seasons” worship resource generated the following as a starter idea for scripture reflection: One both challenging and life-giving image in Revelation is the city wall. Within the wall people thrive and God’s divinity dwells. The wall, combined with open gates, allows for that. What might this say about us and our communities, made in the image of God? Boundaries are easily interpreted as exclusive rather than inclusive. However, boundaries are also necessary for healthy living and for growth both as individuals and as a community. Here we learn that even the New Jerusalem has boundaries. What might our welcoming and inclusive community’s boundaries be in order for us to continue loving as Jesus loved?

 

This morning’s scriptures are not just about physical walls with gates.

The stories in Acts are a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. In that gospel, Jesus crosses barriers to minister and love the marginalized, those on the boundaries, and those outside society – women, the poor, the sick, the unclean, the traitor, the foreigner. Luke’s resurrection accounts speak of barriers to sight and recognition of the risen Jesus. Here in Acts we witness stories where Paul encounters barriers in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul navigates barriers of vast distances into territories unknown – today’s trip venturing into present day Europe. Paul also faced hurtles of acquiring transportation. There are barriers of culture and religion – Greek cities with their shrines and gods, communities of Jewish diaspora, and a larger polyethnic society. Paul faces boundaries – divides of class, economics, and gender.

 

Paul meets a woman, Lydia, outside, the city wall by the river. For whatever reason, despite there being shrines, synagogues, and holy sites inside the walls – Paul anticipated that there were those, particularly women, who gathered outside the walls to pray.

Lydia worshiped God. Scripture says that God opened her heart to listen eagerly – as if a gate was opened inside her. Whatever walls or barriers Lydia might have had, they were opened or taken down, so that she clearly heard the good news. The good news made new walls – reconstructed Lydia’s very being and understanding – created in baptism through faith on the foundation of Jesus. The good news was embodied into her being – she lived in a new home. Lydia’s embodiment of the gospel, of Jesus, has her in return opening doors. She invites Paul and his companions to her physical home – offering hospitality and her resources to the early church.

 

Through history adults have built walls, barriers, and boundaries. Walls like the Berlin Wall were built to keep people in. Walls like the Great Wall of China were meant to keep people out. Both scripture texts speak about physical walls and each of us interprets who is on the inside and who is outside; deciding if the walls were built to keep people in or out. What is important to note is that both walls have open gates  - I interpret this to mean that there is freedom and possibility for people to come and go; there are options to be inside or outside and that where one is can change. There is room for people to be sheltered and protected, to feel safe; to explore, to be included and loved, no matter which side of the wall one is on. The open gate also symbolizes a pathway between division, a connection of different perspectives, a wholeness of diversity – and the necessity to remain linked together.

 

“Sundays and Seasons” asked, What might this say about us and our communities, made in the image of God?

There is an undeniable interconnectedness of the peoples and creatures of this world. We witness the effects of  climate change, pollution in the atmosphere, movement of viruses, and the relationship of tectonic plate activity, all working outside of geographical boundaries drawn on maps. We live in a time of globalization, where trade, economies, travel, and media cross boundaries many times the world over. And yet, despite interconnectedness and globalization, a practice of eliminating walls if you will, we live in an age of division:

with firewalls, physical walls, borders, warfronts, tariff barriers, immigration rules, trade regulations…

 

What might our welcoming and inclusive community’s boundaries be in order for us to continue loving as Jesus loved?

Church – Easter living people – are made in the image of God and our communities are called to reflect the risen Christ. In dying and rising, Jesus lived the interconnectedness of death and life, God’s love and connectedness to humans and creatures, the relationship between wholeness and brokenness; Pathways between fear and peace, marginalized and belonging, despair and hope, exclusion and inclusion. In a fractured world the Church is called to open the gate in humanmade walls – to breathe life by building and restoring connection.

 

Tim Marshall of BBC Free Thinking, said in 2019:

“65 countries wall or fence themselves and that’s 1/3 of all nations in the world. Of all walls built since WWII, the majority have been built in this century. We are now living in an era of wall building!”

Walls with few gates that are heavily monitored – we know of these walls: the Mexico-United States border wall, the West Bank Barrier, the Korean Demilitarized Zone to name just three. The walls disrupt the migration of land species, the flow of water, and the movement of people. The barriers are huge physically, heavy emotionally, and harmful spiritually.

It is an auspicious moment for us to consider walls and barriers, as we consider a literal building of walls, the boundaries of living units, a contained community space. We have the opportunity to open the gate to flexible spaces, the crossing of boundaries -the blurring of or the erasing of boundaries- between children and adult ministry, sacred and everyday space, coffee and worship, tenants and members. How does the building -the very walls of this place, this property- preach and share the Good News, telling of resurrection and the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what the church is about after all.

Just as in the Gospel of Luke and the sequel of Acts, the Church is about countercultural building, meaning building community   that is in stark contrast, to empire wall building. Whether the walls are physical, emotion, or spiritual.

 

Lydia creates home. --- Going outside the wall to pray. Having an open heart. Letting down barriers to hear the Gospel. Giving herself to God. Belonging through baptism. Walls, barriers, and boundaries become a home where she ministers, providing hospitality and resources, an interconnectedness for and with others to the glory of God. In the name of Jesus Christ.

May our walls have open gates and bear witness to the resurrection – may this property embody home for all, in all, and with all – to the glory of God. Amen.