Tear Down the Walls!
November 9th, 2009Today, November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I remember watching the incredible news on TV, as a young college girl back in Guatemala. The images of loved ones hugging each other and of young people in heavy coats, huddled together, dancing and chanting in their German tongue, while others climbed the wall and lifted their arms in triumph – still move me.
But the images that will forever be embedded in my mind were those of the people who grabbed sledgehammers and began pounding on the wall, “a symbol of oppression between free West and communist-side East,” as WI Congressman Ron Kind described it.
Rep. Kind was present at the time the infamous wall fell and even took a sledgehammer to knock chunks off the wall. In an interview with the Associated Press, he showed the reporter a chunk he saved, which he keeps at his office as a constant reminder of his participation in “one of the most important moments in the history of our lifetime… The East and West reunited, knowing that from that point on the future would be remarkably different.”
The fall of the Berlin Wall, he concluded, demonstrated that, “individuals working together for a common goal can accomplish great things.”
Two thousand years ago, a humble carpenter broke down the greatest wall that divided mankind from God. Ephesians 2 says that Jesus “is our peace, who has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… to reconcile [men and women] to God through the cross. He came and preached peace to [those] who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (NIV)
By tearing down this “wall of hostility”, Jesus offered salvation and access to our Heavenly Father. However, many other walls still need to be torn – walls people build for safeguarding, which end up becoming their prison; walls of anger, hurt, resentment and addiction that come between loved ones. God is calling his children to participate alongside with Him in breaking down these barriers.
Just like those eager German men grabbed sledgehammers to help bring down the wall that for more than 30 years divided the country in two, we Christians can individually and collectively “knock chunks off” dividing walls with our prayers, our faith, our obedience to God’s Word, and with actions that reflect our Savior’s love.
In his famous speech, President Ronald Reagan urged then General Secretary Gorbachev, “If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, tear down this wall!”
Dear friends, if you seek peace within and around you; if you seek spiritual and physical prosperity; if you long for freedom; grab on to your faith, swing your “sledgehammer” and start tearing down those walls!
Ana
