Minister’s Letter – March 2019
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2nd Corinthians 5 NIVUK)
In recent weeks, I have been very aware of the reality of conflict in our world.
As you know, I am an amateur student of history. The year before I was born (1990), the Berlin wall fell, and Germany was reunited. In the early years of my life, Apartheid in South Africa ended. When I was 8 years old, the Good Friday agreement was signed, and peace (however tentative!) was established in Ireland after decades of conflict.
I look back on these, the events of my childhood, and I reflect that the general sense I have is that this was a relatively peaceful time. Perhaps I am being selective in my memories, or perhaps I was simply a naive child; either way, this was my perception.
As I write this today, this sense of peace has vanished. Instead of tearing down walls, we have a President who is threatening to build one. Instead of encouraging greater acceptance of others, we are shown statistics which state that attacks motivated by racism are on the rise. And, due to breakdown in trust, there has been no functioning government in Northern Ireland since January 2017.
And then, of course, there is Brexit. The deadline is marching ever closer, and our politicians and the general public seem entrenched in their opposing views: no willingness to compromise, no desire work together. I have never known such deep and vitriolic division, and I find it deeply disturbing.
These divides seem so insurmountable that I think it would take nothing short of a miracle to overcome them, bringing about reconciliation.
In the passage above, Paul describes something impossible. He describes how God, because of His love for us, reconciled us to Himself, through Jesus Christ. Now, despite our continued sinfulness, we are counted as God’s children, because He has adopted us through Christ. That is truly miraculous reconciliation!
And God calls us to a ministry of reconciliation. So, while I look at the world and think, “reconciling these divides seems impossible”, God prompts me to remember His reconciliation, and to take the attitude, “with God, all things are possible”.
We are all called to model God’s reconciliation. I hope, therefore, that you will take this ministry of reconciliation seriously, especially as our world seems to become more divided.
God bless,
Stuart