40 Words in 40 Days: Reconciliation
Reconciliation
The coming to agreement of two or more persons after misunderstanding or estrangement. There are many instances of this in the Bible but the dominant theme is the reconciliation of humanity to God. (Via the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible)
2 Corinthians 5:18–19
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.
Ambassadors Have Something to Say
While we debate about politics, policy and even church doctrine and practice, let us not forget God’s call to reconciliation. An ambassador of reconciliation is supposed to say something when violence, hatred, divisions and intolerance seem to have the upper hand. Can we be ambassadors for Christ when bigotry is the norm? The answer is yes, with God’s help. The message that we have been entrusted as Christian ambassadors of reconciliation is the unconditional love of God for all people. Therefore, as we communicate this message and engage the world’s hatred as well as our own, we will experience both the divine demand to cease in our efforts to alienate the other and the divine love accepting us as we are—imperfect yet precious in the eyes of God. A minister of reconciliation brings the whole word of God, demand and promise. The ethical demand is not the last word, but a reminder that God’s intention for the world is for it to be a place of peace, unity and love. The promise is the that, regardless of our shortcomings, divisions and failures, God has reconciled creation to God.
-Rev. Nelson H. Rabell-González, “Ambassadors of Reconciliation” (2019)
Reflection & Prayer
Pray for wisdom to discern the moments in which you are called to speak words of reconciliation and for the Holy Spirit to give you those words.
