Reconciliation

2Corinthians 5:16  From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20  So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This letter suggests that Reconciliation begins when I view another person with fresh eyes. I am challenged to give up looking at that person “from a human point of view” and see that person instead through the eyes of Christ. This remembers that God is “reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them”. When I choose to set aside the sense of damage that has been inflicted on me - my injured ego – I have space to remember that God is also “entrusting the message of reconciliation to us”.

You’ve called me out of death 
You’ve called me into life 
And I was under Your wrath 
Now through the cross I’m reconciled 

Chorus: 
At the cross You beckon me 
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am 
Lost for words, so lost in love, 
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered 

Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle 

Ordinary 18

40 God’s Abundant Provision

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 249.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.