Dare You Come to Reconcile with Your Enemies?
Versi Bahasa Indonesia dari tulisan ini sudah lebih dulu dimuat di WarungSaTeKaMu.org dengan judul Beranikah Kamu Datang Merangkul Seterumu?
A few weeks after my first time celebrating Christmas in church as a follower of Christ, heavy rain flooded my hometown Jakarta in early 2013. One of the buildings that were affected by the flood belonged to the sister church of the congregation where my family worshipped. As our sister church waited for their building to finish renovating, all their worship services were integrated with ours, including their youth fellowship. As it turned out, the people whom I encountered in the combined youth service would revive one memory that I thought had disappeared into the jungle of reminiscence.
Swung, tasss, swung, tasss. “Hahaha.” I could listen clearly to the noise of my pencil case being thrown and caught like a baseball by “my friends”. Those who heard their laughter should be able to detect the lousily masked ridiculing undertone. And in the midst of my struggle to reclaim my pencil case, not a single classmate even tried to help me. Some people just watched excitedly from their seats as if we were playing in the final seconds of a game, while others seemed to turn a deaf ear to the commotion in class, busy with whatever business they had. I began wondering, “What did I do wrong that they make fun of me like this? Is it because I am a new kid in this junior high? Or is that I am too serious so that I need to loosen up and ‘play’?” The longer this “game” went on, the more furious I became. And seeing me getting emotional only added fuel to those who claimed to be "my friends". The “game” only ended when the class bell rang, signifying that recess time had ended. Just before a teacher entered the classroom, “my friends” put my pencil case in place and acted as if nothing had happened during recess. This pseudo atmosphere quickly spread to every corner of the classroom. No one reported to the teacher, including me, because none of us wanted to be branded as tattletale. In light of the account of my repentance, this event was a decisive push that led me to deny God’s existence as well as embrace atheism and agnosticism. It was not the first time that “my friends”—some of whom were members of my future sister congregation—made fun of or ignored me. My belief in a loving God, which had weakened significantly in my first year at this Christian middle school, was almost instantly annihilated by those who claimed to be His followers since birth. The behaviour of “my friends” did not resemble Jesus Christ at all and brought me to conclude that the Christian faith was nothing more than a toothless belief. So when I myself was eventually convinced by Christ to believe that He is the one true God, I was confronted by one conundrum: what would I do when I meet these Christian “friends” in church?
A purpose of the First Coming
In my reflection, the Holy Spirit led me to a passage in Ephesians 2:
11 [R]emember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated 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 Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both 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 members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone[.]
Although here Paul was discussing the peace which Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross between God and all people, especially the Gentiles (vv. 11–13), I found that this truth could also apply to the situation that I faced. I was further assured when I perceived that Paul was talking to non-Jew Christians (v. 11); in my case, “my friends” who claimed to be followers of Christ since birth are the “circumcision” while I who believed in Lord Jesus later in my life is the “uncircumcision”. So what did God want to convey to me through this passage? He pointed out to me that in Christ, I who once denied His existence (“far off”) and was made fun of by those who confessed to being in the faith (“ near”) is now also a part of His family (v. 13). By His precious blood, I am graciously allocated a portion in “covenants of promise” and “hope… in the world” (v. 12). Moreover, God the Son who came two millennia ago had made peace between my friends and me, “reconcil[ing] us both to God in one body through the cross” (vv. 14–18). By His grace, we who were enemies are now “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (v. 19).
An enemy whom Christ made “a brother”
In retrospect, I do not know if my friends repented of their bad treatment of me back in junior high. But what I do know for certain is that the Lord who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11) will also empower me to love my enemies (Mat. 5:44–45). For Christ is the cornerstone who underlies the relationship between all believers (Eph. 2:20). Awkward nods followed by short greetings when we passed one another were my small first steps in the long journey of having my relationship with my friends healed by Christ.
Despite my migration to Singapore eventually preventing many classmates to become more than “acquaintances from school and church”, there is a classmate who has become like a brother in our stay overseas. As we were the only ones from our class to continue our study in Singapore, we naturally began interacting more often. And thus the brotherhood slowly grew, from being discipleship group buddies to becoming housemates. All of this, of course, could only happen by the grace of Lord Jesus, “our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14). Such is the Kingdom which Lord Jesus proclaimed in His first coming, where He “create[s] in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace” (v. 15). Whether you have been a follower of Christ since birth or only recently believed in Him, whether you are honoured like the Magi or lowly like the shepherds, all people are invited without exception to partake in His peace as “members of the household of God” (v. 19).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be cooped up at home or stranded out of town like me. So in Christmas service this year, I invite you to thoroughly observe the people around and in front of you: these are your spiritual brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts which Lord Jesus has bestowed upon you through His first coming into the world. With them, “you are no longer strangers and aliens” (v. 19).
Moreover, let us come and invite those who may feel lonely during the pandemic—especially our enemies—to partake in the only eternal family which is headed by the Everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6), just as He has come to invite us.
I pray that you may celebrate the first coming of Lord Jesus this year with believers from all places and times, soli Deo gloria!
Questions for reflection
Have you experienced something similar to what I recounted above? How did yours end? Did your enemies also become your siblings in the household of God?
Read Ephesians 2:11–22 thoroughly. Record the truth(s) which you find engaging your heart and mind, especially with regard to your experience in number 1.
Is there anyone whom you would like to invite into the household of God during the Christmas celebration? Pray for these names, plan how you would come to and invite them to join the Christmas service, then extend your invitation by the power of God the Spirit.
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