Breaking down walls A vision of radical inclusion A reflection on Ephesians 2:1122 on the Daily Bible refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller.

Hello, my good friend Dr.

Brad Miller here with you with Daily Bible Refresh.

We come here every day to give you the very reading for the day for the Revised Common Lectionary, please for year C, which is what we're in now in the Pentecost season, we make the reading of the Bible relatable by giving you some points to ponder and understandable by reading from the from the message version and applicable giving you some questions to apply to your life.

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Here's our reading for the day from Ephesians 2:1122 Reading from the Message don't take any of this for granted.

It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways had no idea of any of this, didn't know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ.

You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, had the clue about what God was doing in the world at large.

Now because of Christ dying that death, shedding his blood, that you are once again out of it altogether and are in on everything.

The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders.

He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance.

He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine printed footnotes that it hindered more than it helped.

Then he started over.

Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

Christ brought us together through his death on the cross.

The cross got us to embrace and that was the end of hostility.

Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders.

He treated us as equals and so made us equals.

Through him, we both share the same spirit and have equal access to the Father.

That's plain enough, isn't it?

You're no longer wandering exiles.

This kingdom of faith is now your home country.

You're no longer strangers or outsiders.

You belong here with as much right to the name Christian as anyone else.

God is building a home and he's using us all, irrespective of how, of how we got here and what he is building.

He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation.

Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.

We see it taking shape day after day.

A holy temple built by God, all of us built into it.

A temple in which God is quite at home.

Then is the reading which is all about this radical inclusion into God's world.

It's about breaking down barriers, creating new forms of community that transcend traditional divisions.

Let's get into some key points, some takeaway points.

The first is going beyond religious nationalism.

The text challenges religious exclusivity and nationalism, particularly relevant in our era of rising Christian nationalism.

Paul envisions a faith that breaks down walls between insiders and outsiders, suggesting that authentic spirituality transcends religious, national and cultural boundaries.

This speaks to our need to resist using faith as a tool for exclusion or political power.

Second point is about dismantling hierarchical religion.

He It's a quote.

It says he repealed the law code that becomes so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped.

Close quote.

This critiques how religious institutions often create complex systems of rules and doctrines that serve to control rather than liberate.

Progressive faith calls us to strip away these barriers to focus on radical inclusion and transformative love.

A third point is about building new communities.

The metaphor of being built into a living temple suggests that authentic community isn't about conformity, but how different pieces fit together while maintaining uniqueness.

This challenges both assimilation models of inclusion and rigid separation.

It envisions communities where differences contribute to strength rather than cause division.

Here's your action step.

Identify one boundary outside of your community that separates insiders from outsiders, whether based on theology or culture or sexuality, economic status, racial or any other factors.

And create a concrete opportunity for genuine connection to take place and relationship building across the boundary and document how this experience challenges your assumption about who belongs.

We'll come back and have a closing prayer in just a moment.

Just want to lift up that we have a resource for you called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible study method.

Head over to our website voiceofgoddaily.com pick that up.

It will help you in your daily Bible study.

Let's pray.

Oh God, you are the divine architect of unity.

We confess our tendency to build walls when you call us all on us to build bridges to create barriers.

When you call on us to create belonging, help us recognize the ways we've turned your inclusive love into exclusive clubs, your boundless grace into bounded spaces, your radical welcome into rigid rules.

Give us and guide us in dismantling divisions we've constructed between us, the hierarchies we've hidden behind, the exclusions we've explained away.

May we become living stones in your temple of inclusion, each unique, each essential, all connected in love.

Transform our communities from fortress to fellowship, from barriers to belonging, from division to divine unity.

Amen.

Well, my good friends, so good to be with you here on the Daily Bible Refresh.

I really hope that you'll join me.

My name is Dr.

Brad Miller.

Join me in this tat, this, this opportunity.

We have have this mission.

We have to get the audible word of God into two millionaires, a million people by 2028.

The best way you can do that is to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcast or Spotify or other website Voice of God Daily and invite someone else to join us.

That helps so much.

We'll look forward to seeing the next time here on Daily Bible Refresh.

Until then, remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out gives merciful olive hasn't dried up.

It's created new every morning.