Reconciliation

Newsletter article for June 2004

© 2004 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

Reconciliation is a word which has weighed heavy on my mind lately. Perhaps it has been on your mind, too. It means to become friends again. Obviously this assumes that something has happened between friends which has broken their friendship or even in an extreme case has made them enemies. The opposite of reconciliation is estrangement or alienation. The ultimate cause of estrangement is sin, and because we are all sinners estrangement is not all that strange to us. Since estrangement is familiar to us then reconciliation also ought to be familiar to us, but people’s sinful pride gets in the way of that far too often.

In my consideration of the word “reconciliation” I did what I often do, I went to the Holy Scriptures to see how God uses this word. This is a good habit to get into. I learned this from a good friend. Jesus himself had the habit of going to the Holy Scriptures to deal with events in His life. He did it to teach. He did it to answer questions (both honest questions, and evil ones intended to entrap him). He did it to withstand temptation. He did it when He was dying, and He did it after he was resurrected from the dead. Jesus was familiar with the Bible because He was familiar with God. If we wish to be a member of God’s family then we also ought to be familiar with the Bible.

When you use your concordance (or computer Bible word search) it is important to keep in mind a few simple rules of Bible interpretation. Jesus was a very good interpreter of the Bible. He was the best, and although this also is one way in which no one can fully measure up to Jesus, it is not hard to properly interpret the Bible. The people who make it hard are the ones who don’t believe God’s word. It is actually quite simple. Proper Bible interpretation all comes down to the answer to this simple question: “What does the Bible say?” It really is that easy. The hard part comes when, in our sinfulness, we don’t like what the Bible says and we try to make it say what we want it to say instead of what it really says. We saw that a couple months ago in an unauthorized article in this newsletter which quoted Bible verses about praise, but did it in a way which ignored the context of the verses and really said something opposite to what the those passages really teach about the true praise of God. The rules of Bible interpretation are simple, but they are absolutely important.

I found nine occurrences of the word “reconcile” in its various forms in the NIV Bible. Several of the passages (Matt. 5:23-24; Luke 12:58-59; Acts 7:26; and 1 Cor. 7:11) encourage or command people to become friends again with each other. As I said above, this is to be expected in a sinful world in which our pride is a great sin. There are many other Bible passages which show reconciliation and how it should be handled such as Matt. 18:15-17 and Genesis 45:4-7, but for this essay I am simply focusing on the passages which use a form of the word “reconcile.” The passages which are most helpful to us estranged sinners are the other passages which describe our reconciliation with God. You may find these in your Bible at: Romans 5:10-11; Rom. 11:15; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:14-18; and Colossians 1:15-23. You may not think that the verses which tell us how we are reconciled with God would be more valuable to us in reconciling with one another, but that would be wrong. God’s ways are not the same as the world’s ways, and Christians especially need to be reconciled with God before we are reconciled with one another.

We are all estranged from God because of our sinfulness. Remember how Adam and Eve were kicked out of God’s garden paradise after they sinned against God’s command (Genesis 3). The estrangement of sin is severe, and there is nothing we can do about it. Romans 5:10-11 reminds us that our sin makes us God’s enemies, but we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Jesus. It is Jesus who has made us friends again with God. He has endured the punishment for our sins so God is no longer angry over them, and he has also forgiven us for causing him to suffer. The effect of Christ’s reconciliation is that we can have access to God’s heavenly paradise where we shall live in peace and happiness forever.

Because of Christ’s reconciliation, St. Paul told the believers in Corinth (2 Cor. 5:16-21) that we now regard no one from a worldly point of view. If Christ went to the cross and the grave in order to make us friends again with God the Father, then our estrangements here on earth are petty and small by comparison. They may not seem small, but we may quickly learn from experience that things aren’t always what they seem. If we look at our estrangements from God’s point of view they all are small and easily overcome. The key is forgiveness. Here again we learn forgiveness from Jesus. We learn in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35) that Jesus has forgiven us so much, that if we treasure His forgiveness then it is relatively easy to forgive the little things which keep us apart.

Reconciliation is easy for Christians because Jesus enables us to do it all the time. Reconciliation is impossible for unbelievers because they reject the forgiveness of their sins through Jesus Christ, and so therefore they reject the forgiveness of one another. Christians rely on God’s forgiveness every day of their lives so reconciliation is quite familiar. I pray that God would lead all sinners at St. Timothy to repentance so that they may joyfully receive Christ’s forgiveness, and having received this treasure they may also share that forgiveness and reconciliation with one another. I include myself in this, but it would be a tragedy for me to be the only one to repent. I repent of my sins daily, but I am not here to be the only one who receives Christ’s forgiveness and reconciliation. I am here to lead Christ’s sheep to the green pastures of His paradise. Christ has taught me that the way to paradise comes only through faith in His forgiveness and reconciliation. Read the Scripture passages which I have referenced above. May Christ lead you to repentance of all your sins, and receive the blessings of His forgiveness and reconciliation.