March 30, 2025

Suggested Readings:

Joshua 5:9-12

Psalm 32

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

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The New Revised Standard Version heads the passage from 2 Corinthians with the title, The mystery and ministry of reconciliation. It is a very appropriate title for this short passage. In these verses the apostle reminds his readers that in Christ we are new creations.

This means we have been forgiven and reconciled to God. We not only get a “do over” we get a complete “make over.” Our sins are no longer counted against us, but we are reconciled to God. That literally means that we are returned to favor with God. God does not look back and remind us of our past failures, but welcomes us into the community of the redeemed as new persons.

The very familiar parable of the lost son serves to illustrate the point. When the wayward son returns home his father does not berate his past sins, but rather welcomes him home and insists it is time for reconciliation, not recrimination.

It is both mystery and ministry. The love of God is mysterious in that it is beyond human comprehension. We understand the anger of the elder son. It is expected. He has been the good son, yet his father welcomes the wayward son with a banquet. Therein lies the mystery. God’s love is patient and compassionate beyond any human feelings of love. The ministry is that we are called to be ambassadors, representatives, of that same love. This is the difficult part. We want people to get their “just desserts.” We just don’t want that kind of justice for ourselves.

Reflection: How can I live into God’s love in a tangible way? In what ways can I be an ambassador of God’s forgiveness?

Repentance: The lost son had to change the direction of his life. Is this the moment when I need to change direction? Is there someone I need to forgive? Is there someone who needs to forgive me?

Reconciliation: Father and son were reconciled by an act of repentance. The lost son deliberately changed direction and returned home to the joy and celebration of his father. To be reconciled with God means to change direction. I have to let go of me and lean in to the gentle embrace of the Heavenly Father.

Renewal: In reconciliation there is renewal. “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”