Be Reconciled
“...if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 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. 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.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Are you reconciled to God?
We hear a lot these days about reconciliation. Yet, I suspect reconciliation from one to another is perhaps quite hard if one is not first reconciled to God.
As a younger man, I did a good bit of whitewater rafting. One of the most challenging rivers was the Chattooga, where the movie, Deliverance, was filmed. The river is filled with currents slow and raging, and some of the most intense rapids were strenuously exhilarating or perhaps exhilaratingly strenuous! Fortunately, we had an expert guide.
There was only one rapid that required a special stop. Our guide told us to paddle to shore and get out. A short hike would put us over this particular rapid that had several jagged rocks and two steep drops offs. He explained that the rapid ranged between Class IV and Class V.[1] He told us we had the option of walking around it or pressing forward. He made no bones about it; it would be a wild ride and a dangerous one if we did not follow his directions to a tee.
What our guide was doing was giving us all an opportunity to reconcile ourselves to what that rapid would surely deliver. If memory serves, everyone agreed to go through, and his words proved to be true in every way.
The church in Corinth proved to be one of Paul’s wildest rides. It was a large port city that was a cultural crossroads. It was a fishbowl of virtually every ethnicity, religious practice and persuasion, where you could aspire to whatever you wanted to be. The Corinthian church was divided over loyalty to different Christian leaders who had baptized them and was puffed up by the spectacle of charismatic gifts. Preaching the Gospel there was a challenge; and even after those who received Paul’s message came to faith, keeping them together and focused on Christ was an ongoing challenge.
In the passage above, Paul writes about a “ministry of reconciliation.” We know from other passages in the Corinthian correspondence that loving one another was essential to being a faithful Christian.[2] In this passage, he reminds them the source for reconciliation is God. God chose to reconcile Himself to humankind. He chose, despite our sinful ways, to press on in His journey to reconcile Himself, through Christ, to all who would receive Him.
Paul uses this mini-essay to implore his audience to be reconciled. He, like our river guide, makes it clear God chose to “go through the rapids” first. God looked ahead and saw the painful, dangerous and, ultimately, deadly journey that would be required to reconcile humankind to Himself. Reconciliation, for God, would not come without cost.
Reconciliation is a gift to us from God that comes without our paying its cost. The cost, if you will, comes after we receive the gift. The cost is the price of being a disciple: inviting Christ into our lives, receiving His Spirit and relinquishing our control such that He can made all things new. Reconciliation with God, brought but one cost—death to ourselves—so we can “become new,” part of God’s new, reconciled creation.
Paul reminds us the journey to that new life is reconciliation with God, which means putting aside what separates us from Him. He has done the work to make it possible; your choice is whether or not to go along for the ride.
Let me invite you to pause and consider, “Are you reconciled to God in Christ?” Faith is about holding fast to the mercy and love of Christ Himself, but in order to be reconciled to Him, you have to let go of anything else that gets in the way. Where do you need to be reconciled to God today?
On my whitewater adventure, I did decide to reconcile myself to going through that rapid. I held fast to every word our guide gave and when we made it to the other side, I felt like a new man.
What—or who—do you need to release so you can be united with Him? Name it. Give yourself to the hands of our Divine Guide. He will get you to the other side and you will be born anew.
A Prayer
Be born in us,
Incarnate Love.
take our flesh and blood,
and give us Your humanity;
take our eyes, and give us your vision;
take our minds,
and give us Your pure thought;
take our feet and set them in your path;
take our hands and fold them in Your prayer;
take our hearts
and give them Your will to love....
Nail our hands
in Your hands
to the Cross.
make us take and hold
the hard thing.
Nail our feet,
in Your feet
to the Cross,
that they may never
wander away from You.
Make our promises and our vows,
nails that hold us fast,
that even the dead weight of sin,
dragging on the nails
In our last weakness,
may not separate us from You,
but may make us one with You
in Your redeeming love.
Amen.
Frances Caryll Houselander, d. 1954[3]
[1] A Class V is the most treacherous level of a river current and carried the threat of great harm or even death.
[2] See Meditation XXXIII.
[3] Maisie Ward, The Splendor of the Rosary (London, Sheed and Ward, 1945).
