7 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ² the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵ Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? ⁶ I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. ⁷ Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders^[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ⁸ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; ⁹ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, ¹¹ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. ¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

 

Ephesians 2:16-22

¹⁶ and might reconcile both groups to God in one body^[a] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.^[b] 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 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.^[c] 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^[d] into a dwelling place for God.

How many of you are familiar with the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”?

The goal is to link any actor to Kevin Bacon through no more than six connections, where two actors are connected if they have appeared in a movie or commercial together. It was created by three students at Albright College in Pennsylvania who came up with the concept while watching Footloose. On September 13, 2012, Google made it possible to search for any given actor’s ‘Bacon Number’ through their search engine.  This idea of connection comes from the concept:  Six degrees of separation is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are Six or fewer steps away from each other so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of Six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthyin 1929 and popularized in an 1990 play written by John Guare.  We love to seek those connections.  We need to feel that connection to other people.  We are not the first to desire being linked to others or seeking to find ways to build relationships with others.

The Apostle Paul writes to a community that is struggling to build relationships because of perceived barriers.  Paul reminds them that they are connected by something greater than family lineage or previous traditions.

This pericope is clearly divided into three parts. In verses 11-13 Paul reminds his Gentile Christian readers of their condition before Jesus changed everything. Paul’s description of their previous situation will not surprise us; indeed, it will sound like a depressingly familiar echo of our news broadcasts.

¹¹ So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth,^[b] called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical 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. 

Verses 14-18 announces the Good News of the surprising way Jesus changed everything, a way our secular peers and even some of our Christian friends will find shocking.

¹⁴ For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ¹⁵ He has abolished 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 groups to God in one body^[c] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.^[d] 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. 

Verses 19-22 focus on the results of what Jesus did. Paul describes a new world so counter-cultural that we will struggle to understand it.

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are 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.^[e] 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^[f] into a dwelling place for God.

There are no outsiders in the church, no second-class citizens, no tourists who just visit for a while but don’t really belong, no resident aliens. Everyone who believes in Jesus is not only a full citizen, but even a dearly beloved member of God’s family.  That is what Christ is building.  A connection between all people and God plus linking all beloved children to each other.

Nathan Sawaya’s largest Lego project to date is a replica of a Chris Craft speedster.  It took him more than 180 hours, and he used almost 250,000 bricks.  It is more than ten feet in length, and it holds the world record for the largest Lego boat.  When commenting on his method, the builder said that building with Lego bricks takes a “bottom-up approach.”

The same is true with relationships.  When you make a connection, it lays a foundation upon which you can build.  The more connections you make, the strong your foundation becomes and the higher you can build.  Strong connections prompt people to come to the assistance of other people.

We are connected by more than six degrees and we have a stronger foundation than those built with Lego bricks.  We might even sing the Lego Movie Song:

Everything is awesome, everything is cool when your part of a team
Everything is awesome, when you’re living out a dream

Everything is better when we stick together
Some have said you and I are gonna win forever?
Lets party forever
We’re the same unlike you, you’re like me we’re all working in harmony

Everything is awesome, everything is cool when your part of a team
Everything is awesome, when you’re living out a dream

Woo! 3, 2, 1, go!
Have you heard the news? Everyone’s talkin’
Life is good ’cause everything awesome
Lost my job, there’s a new opportunity
More free time for my awesome community
I feel more awesome than an awesome possum
Dip my body in chocolate frostin’
Three years later wash off the frostin’
Smellin’ like a blossom, everything is awesome
Stepped in mud, got new brown shoes
It’s awesome to win and it’s awesome to lose

Everything is better when we stick together
Side by side, you and I gonna win forever?
Let’s party forever
We’re the same unlike you, you’re like me we’re all working in harmony

Everything is awesome, everything is cool when your part of a team
Everything is awesome, when you’re living out a dream

Sermon based upon the book by Ron Hunter, Jr & Michael E. Waddell and commentaries by Stan Mast, Kyle Fever and Rachel Butler.

“Everything is Awesome” from the Lego Movie:

Songwriters: Joshua Bartholomew / Lisa Harriton / Michel Patterson

Everything Is AWESOME!!! lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group