At the Ronald Reagan Library there is an authentic slab from the infamous Berlin Wall. Hundreds of people were shot to death trying to scale that barrier and escape into the freedom of western democracy. Perhaps President Reagan’s most shinning and prophetic moment came in 1988 when, at the Brandenburg Gate, he hurled this challenge into the face of tyranny: “Mr. Gorbachev take down this wall!” At that moment, the president was standing on the right side of history and facilitating the work of God.
The work of Jesus is summarized in this biblical phrase: “he has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility … thus making peace” (Ephesians 3:14-15). We humans have a long history of building walls of hostility. The God revealed in Jesus is forever working to break down barriers and build bridges that span the gap between warring factions, ethnic origins and ideologies.
My wife and I happened to be living in Heidelberg in November of 1989 when the wall finally came down. People were literally dancing in the streets as a delicious whirlwind of euphoria swept over the land so long divided and now united. For the first time in 40 years, German people could flow freely back and forth to embrace family and friends.
For me, this has become a historical paradigm, which illustrates what Christ is doing in our modern world. He is chipping away at those man-made barriers that divide people, churches and nations. The important thing is not that he be on our side but that we are on his.
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