September 11, 2005

The ministry of Jesus Christ is the ministry of reconciliation.

Reconciliation. What does that mean? The dictionary defines “to be reconciled” as “to reestablish a close relationship”.

That is the ministry of Jesus; to reestablish, to restore, our relationship with God. Through God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ, the chasm between God and this world has been bridged. Heaven and earth have been joined.

We have been reconciled with God through Christ. God’s grace flows freely through us. As the stewards of this wonderful gift, our mission is to enable this same grace to flow from us out into the world. Our mission is to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ, being ministers of reconciliation in the world today. Our role, as Christians, is to help others, and each other, to reestablish a close relationship with God, and one another.

As the Book of Common Prayer tells us, on page 855 of the catechism, “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” Once again, it all boils down to the summary of the law’ love God, and love your neighbor.

Who is my neighbor? From God’s perspective, everyone is my neighbor. As St. John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” Whosoever. God’s love does not exclude anyone. Consequently, neither can we. We work towards the restoration of all people to unity with God and each other. In the kingdom of God, there is no “us” and “them.” In the kingdom of God, there is only “we.”

This is not a comfortable notion for us. Since we were children, we have been taught to compete, to divide people up into “us” and “them.” How can we be ministers of reconciliation, when our natural inclination is to dissect the human race into understandable groupings?

We can’t help others, or ourselves, restore their relationships on our own. But we don’t have to. If we are willing, God will fill us with his presence, with his spirit. It is God working through us that will engage in the ministry of reconciliation.

To be a receptive vessel for this gift, we may have to make some room in our lives for God. One way to begin this internal house cleaning is by confessing to God the things that have drawn us away from our relationship with him. We begin by confessing our sins. In the Book of Common Prayer, on page 447, we find the confession of sin referred to as the rite of the Reconciliation of a Penitent.

Part of this rite includes these words said by the penitent; “For these and all other sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly sorry…and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and his Church.” Part of the priest’s response is to say; “The Lord has put away all your sins…Go in peace.”

God’s willingness to forgive us, and put away our sins, makes the restoration of a healthy relationship possible. It becomes a new relationship.

There’s a story about a certain Catholic woman who was having visions of Jesus. The archbishop decided to check her out.

"'Is it true, ma'am, that you have visions of Jesus?' asked the cleric.

"'Yes,' the woman replied.

"'Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession. Please call me if anything happens.'

"Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition.

"Within the hour the archbishop arrived. 'What did Jesus say?' he asked.

"She took his hand and gazed deep into his eyes. 'Bishop,' she said, 'these are his exact words: "I CAN'T REMEMBER. "

When we sincerely confess our sins to God, and intend to amend our lives, we start all over again with a clean slate, a new relationship with God.

Sometimes, restoring our relationship with God will lead us directly into the next step; restoring our relationships with our neighbors. God’s spirit may illuminate areas of our life in which we have hurt someone, maybe intentionally, or maybe just thoughtlessly. As ministers of reconciliation, we go to that person, and ask their forgiveness. We say, “I am sorry.” Such a simple thing. Those words will never undo the harm we have done. And, if we do not offer them sincerely, they are worthless. But, without them, there can be no hope of restoring the relationship.

The next step in becoming a minister of reconciliation is being willing to forgive others for the wrongs they have done to us. In this morning’s Gospel, Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” This is not always an easy thing to do. But it is essential if we are to be reconciled with our neighbor.

It is essential to our own spiritual health as well. Carrying a grudge for too long is like taking poison. The bitterness and anger eats away at our peace. Let go of it, for God’s sake, for their sake, and for your own sake.