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“Reconciliation”
2 Corinthians 5: 16-21
Dr. Richard J. Alberta
Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church
April 9, 2017
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV) 16 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. 17 Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is
from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's
sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 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. 21 God made him who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
In these few short verses, the Apostle Paul has used the word “reconcile” in various forms
five different times. Needless to say, he is quite eager to make a point about this reality:
reconciliation. We will go back and look closely at what he was concerned to say. First, a brief
review. Last week, we spoke of those who rejected Jesus as their Savior; we looked closely
at Judas. Those who rejected Jesus did not understand why he came to be among them; that
is also true today. That is why a couple of weeks ago, we had a message called “The
Misunderstood Messiah.” Jesus came, as Paul says, to affect a “ministry of reconciliation.”
So, although Paul does not mention the Lord Jesus Christ in this passage today, he is talking
about the whole story…of Easter. The Cross was about reconciliation. Jesus came to bring
about reconciliation between God and humanity and between people and other people.
In fact, think of it. Even in English, the word “reconciliation” is easily understood. “Conciliate”
means to stop tension or to bring together. In fact, the Latin origin “conciliare” means to
“combine” … to “assuage” and bring about calm. So, “re-conciliation” means to bring about
a return to a calm and an agreeable status. To “re-conciliate” is to return to a peaceful state.
So, suppose that two men are great friends and then have a brutal break-up and now they
have no relationship. But if they are brought back together, they may be said to be
“reconciled” … returned to a conciliatory state. This is critical, however: very often, someone
else has to bring about the “re-conciling”… the reconciliation.
NOW… Easter was needed because humanity was in a state of enmity with God because of
sin. Humanity initially was at peace with God before sin entered the world. Then the
relationship broke apart. That is why before you were saved you sensed that God exists but
that He was just…out there somewhere…hidden and distant and unfindable. Someone
would have to bring you and God together. That coming together….that reconciliation that
was needed was made possible by the Cross. Someone else had to bring the two parties
together, God and man. That someone else was Jesus. But before the Crucifixion, very few
people, if any, understood what Jesus was really all about. Only after the Resurrection did
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Paul by the Holy Spirit grasp it. Here then is the whole sermon: The rejection of Jesus made
possible our reconciliation with God. His suffering upon the Cross satisfied God's requirement
that sin be paid for. Thus, his suffering brought about our reconciliation. The Cross of Christ
was the means of our being reconciled with and to God and to each other! Before going
further, let us pray.
I was recently encouraged by our son Chris to watch the movie “Hacksaw Ridge” and I
declined. It is a very graphic account of a company of soldiers in World War Two fighting in
the Pacific against a determined Japanese unit stationed atop a defensive position on a
mountaintop. I simply do not like the violent parts of war movies much so I resisted. But I
changed my mind and watched it with him. I’m glad I did. I commend the movie to you. You
can easily fast forward much of the violence to see the story unfold. I re-watched it with
Donna and that’s what we did. She also found it a remarkable movie. Why?
It is a true account about a young soldier named Desmond Doss who wanted to serve in the
army to help defeat Japan after they attacked Pearl Harbor, but he wanted to serve as a
medic. Doss described himself not as a “Conscientious Objector” but as a “Conscientious Cooperator.” He understood the need to defeat the enemy so their evil designs of domination
could be stopped. But he wanted his part to be saving lives not taking them. He said “I
understand the need for us to fight but as other men are killing I will be saving lives.”
Doss was placed into a training platoon where the other soldiers and leaders did not
understand him and many despised him. He refused to pick up a rifle. He was beaten and
abused in every way but he stuck it out and eventually went into combat with his unit. In the
end, he proved to be more courageous than anyone and he saved dozens of lives. At one
point, he stayed in the battle long after the other soldiers had retreated and had gone back
down over the ridge. There was Doss making slings of rope as he hid from the enemy’s bullets.
He lowered dozens of men down the face of the ridge and even saved a couple of Japanese
soldiers…his enemies. Only after he was himself cut down by bullets and rescued did the men
in his company come to appreciate him and what he did. Interesting that after they
understood his mission and his sacrifice for themselves…they were reconciled with one
another.
I thought of using this true story as an illustration in our Easter sermon. After all, it is the story
of a man who sacrificed himself for others and was misunderstood in his mission. But I want
to apply it differently today. Private Doss was considered a real oddball and maybe a coward.
But the key is that they did not understand his mission which was to save life not take it. That
was very much like Jesus. We’ve looked at how badly and how thoroughly he was
misunderstood. But to put a finer point on it, today we look at how they misunderstood his
mission. Like the soldier, Jesus came to save life not destroy it. For Doss, that meant dodging
bullets and dragging wounded men to safety. For Jesus that meant going to the cross and
bringing people to salvation. But that mission of Jesus…the mission of Reconciliation…was
not perfectly understood by many. In our passage today, Paul is explaining it. In a nutshell,
Doss was about saving lives at the risk of his own life. Jesus was about saving souls thru the
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cost of his own life. Doss brought men to safety; Jesus brought sinners to salvation.
At one point in the movie, another soldier says to Doss “What’s wrong with you that you don’t
want to fight like the rest of us?” That reminded me of those people at the foot of the cross
saying “What’s wrong with you Jesus? If you are the Christ come down off the cross and save
yourself!” But if Jesus had done that, he would not have fulfilled his mission to save souls.
Just as if Doss had picked up a rifle to kill he would not have been able to fulfill his mission to
save lives.
I think it is critical to understand that only after the Cross…the Crucifixion and Resurrection
did people understand Jesus and what he came to do. We could say only after the
Resurrection did people come to appreciate Jesus. Only after the Cross and the sacrifice did
the Apostle Paul and the young church understand what Jesus had accomplished. He was
abused and even murdered to bring about our reconciliation with God. That is why Isaiah
explained his own lack of understanding and then his realization about who Jesus was and
what he did. We studied this recently. Let’s review:
Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV) 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we
considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced
for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like
sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid
on him the iniquity of us all.
Here the Prophet said “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his
wounds we are healed. He is using a word that means reconciliation on one level. Peace with
others and peace with God. Reconciliation is all about peace. Isaiah might as well have said:
“I suddenly understood that the Messiah was wounded not for any sin of his own but
for our sins! The reconciliation that we are offered with God was made possible by
his taking our punishment. The Messiah is our peace maker with God! Now I
understand his mission! NowI understand what he was about!”
Paul told the Church in Ephesus that Jesus “was our peace” (Ehp. 2:14). Jesus was about
reconciliation between us and God…and Divine reconciliation brings about peace with God.
Peace. Consider how often the Lord Jesus Christ used the word peace. It is always the same
Greek word: “Ir-rah-new-oh” from which we get the word “irenic” … something that
promotes peace. “We might say her attitude was “irenic” in that she wanted the angry people
to make peace.” If you know a woman named “Irene” you might remind her that her name
means “Peaceful.” Peace was a favorite theme of Jesus. In John Chapter Fourteen, Jesus
said to his disciples:
John 14:27 (NIV) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as
the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
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Jesus wants his own to be at peace because they have been reconciled to God. And, of course,
he wants us to be at peace with each other. He says in Mark Chapter Nine these words:
Mark 9:49-50 (NIV) 49 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make
it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."
Jesus said he was the Light of the World (John 9:5) but he also said we, as his followers, are
the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). If I am the light of the world and the salt of the earth
because Christ is in me…I should be one who longs for peace. Jesus said “Be at peace with
each other!” There is no greater indicator that a person has been born of the Holy Spirit than
that they long for peace and reconciliation with brothers and sisters in Christ!
I must tell you a brutal truth. It is this: if someone insists they they are a Christian but they do
not seek reconciliation with other people…where there has been breakage…if I do not seek
that then I am a spiritual dwarf! And so are you. Not a nice thing to say. Jesus said we are to
be at peace with each other. The Apostle Paul said we must at least try to reconcile. He wrote
to the Church at Rome and said this:
Romans 12:17-18 (NIV) 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is
right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God and if I don’t have a heart for reconciliation with you then I
do not have a heart for Christ. And let me be brutal: if you say you love Jesus but do not have
a heart for reconciliation with your brother or sister then you are badly self-deceived and
perhaps not even saved. That is why Jesus taught his own:
Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT) 14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly
Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not
forgive your sins.”
Let me say this again without apology. If anyone says they are a Christian but that person has
no heart for reconciliation they are probably not really in Christ. Whether a person is eight or
eighteen, a lack of love for reconciliation is a lack of love for Christ! If you have been harmed
by someone, the Lord Jesus Christ gave us a procedure to follow hoping for reconciliation:
Here it is:
Matthew 18:15-17 (NLT) 15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point
out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person
back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back
again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If
the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t
accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
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This is the protocol for attempted reconciliation. You go and talk with that person. If there is
no peace you ask others to listen in and even go to church leadership to mediate the dispute.
But this last part must not be misunderstood! Jesus says if the other person will not humble
themselves before leadership and admit they should apologize and repent, the this:
“Treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.”
What does that mean? Hate the other person? No. Write them off and even treat them rudely
when you see them? No. Avoid them with an unforgiving heart? No. You see…because of
Christ in us we can forgive people who do not even repent and ask for forgiveness! That’s
what Jesus did on the Cross! Listen closely please: if someone will not reconcile that is tragic
but you can still go forward with a heart of forgiveness. So, what would it mean to treat
someone as a pagan or a tax collector? It would mean to lower your expectations and
understand that the other person’s behaviors show that they do not know Christ!
Jesus came to bring peace to his own and he expects them to live out their reconciled state
by being reconciled to each other. Jesus loves and wants peace because he knows of our
suffering. Remember the woman who was healed by touching his cloak? We read:
Mark 5:33-34 (NIV) 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and
fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
Jesus did not just say “This is great! You are healed!” He said “Go in peace!” Remember what
Jesus said as he wept over Jerusalem?
Luke 19:41-42 (NIV) 41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you
peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Jesus wanted peace for Jerusalem but he was grieved that they would not receive it. Even
when Jesus came to his disciples, after the Resurrection, notice the first thing that he said:
Luke 24:36 (NIV) 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood
among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Peace. In his great book “Mere Christianity” C.S. Lewis speaks of true Christians and says they
are called to be “Little Christs.” He did not mean by that they we could save anyone but that
we are to be like Christ…that when people see us and watch us they see Christ in us. Little
Christs. That is what Paul is getting at in our passage. He writes about this MINISTRY OF
RECONCILIATION. We read:
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All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry
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of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting
men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 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.
We Christians are the main agents for spreading the message of reconciliation…and the Lord
Jesus Christ expects us to do that! To perform as if we understand how to live the Christian
life. You can almost liken the Christian walk to a game with skill. Let me lighten up and tell a
funny story that might illustrate this truth…that we should learn how to do this ministry of
reconciliation and we should not surprise our Lord with spiritual ineptitude.
The baseball season is upon us again and I’m excited. Football is ok but, as writer George Will
said: “Football combines the worst two things in American society: violence and committee
meetings!” Baseball is more peaceful. Anyway…in 1962 the New York Mets played their first
season in the National league. They finished an incredible sixty games out of first place with
a record of 40 wins and 120 losses! They whole team was comprised of retried guys who were
never great players to begin with.
In one game, they committed six errors in one inning! Their manager, Casey Stengel who was
about 75 at the time, walked slowly out to the pitcher’s mound and called all of his players in
from their positions. The umpires just watched knowing Casey was a jokester. He did not let
them down. When all the guys were gathered around him…the guys that had made six errors
and there were still no outs…Stengel looked at them and said: “I have a question: have any
of you guys ever played this game?” Everyone broke up. As their manager, he simply was
expecting them to demonstrate some skill!
There are times when I think the Lord Jesus Christ would watch us fail to forgive and fail to
reconcile and fail to carry out the ministry of reconciliation…and Jesus might call us in and ask
“Has anyone here ever played this game? Has anyone here ever forgiven someone else? Has
anyone here ever worked until they were exhausted to bring about reconciliation? Has anyone
here understood that I said ‘Be at peace with each other?’”
Paul said “God is making his appeal through us!” In a world of hatred and sin we are to visibly
live out the ministry of reconciliation! And what do we do to Jesus with our hopeless childish
refusal to reconcile? What does it do to Jesus when he sees us hate each other and fail to
come together?
Imagine Private Doss being finally taken off the battlefield himself on as stretcher. Bruised
and broken and bleeding. Imagine he looks off to one side and sees two of the soldiers that
he rescued from death…fighting each other! Brutalizing each other! That’s Jesus looking at
his own on Easter Week. He went to the Cross to get us reconciled with God and now…he
expects us to be reconciled to each other! Jesus said “He or she who has ears to hear, let
them hear!” In other words, if you are getting the point, be sure to start living it out. Let us
pray.
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