(2 Corinthians 5: 11-21)
Back when I was in private practice, I built my legal reputation on trust and my ability to serve the best interests of my clients even though what was in their best interests was, in some cases, not what they were hoping for. I had to work at not only gaining their trust, but also the trust of their loved ones. Sometimes they would say something like: “I know you are court-appointed and don’t make much. If we pay a little extra, could you do more?” (Code for work harder.) You see it was widely held that a court-appointed attorney would just try to get you to take a plea bargain, whereas a “free-world attorney” (One you actually hired.) would work harder to secure your freedom. I wasn’t insulted because I knew the indigent defense system had a “you-get-what-you-pay-for” reputation. I built my practice on going that extra mile and giving them more than their money’s worth, even if they weren’t paying anything.. A byproduct of doing business that way was that I got a lot of referrals from former clients hoping I could do the same thing for their friend or loved one who was now in serious legal trouble. They were putting their trust in me that I would do as good a job for their friend or loved one, not let them down, and reconcile the case with the best possible outcome. That’s an added layer of pressure and responsibility. It’s one thing to be hired to do a job but it is quite another to be entrusted to do a job. In one you get what you pay for and in the other you hope to get what you expected, i.e., quality representation. Believe me, there is a difference.
And it’s a trust issue that the Apostle Paul is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth over his concern for the struggles they were experiencing with their Christian faith and lifestyle as they were surrounded by the influences of idolatry and immorality. He had written to bolster them first by defending accusations that had been made against him regarding his ministry of the New Covenant to them. He stressed to them the glory of the New Covenant and the treasure they had through God’s mercy. He urged them that even though they were hard pressed on every side not to lose heart as their light and momentary troubles were achieving for them an eternal glory that far outweighed them all. He told them of the reward of their heavenly dwelling reminding them that they live by faith, not by sight.
With this encouragement serving as a foundation, he moves on to speak to them about the important ministry of reconciliation. Paul says that since he and others know what it is to fear God that they are trying to persuade people and he hopes that they know in their hearts his true intentions. Paul tells them: The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: one died for the sake of all; therefore, all died. He died for the sake of all so that those who are alive should live not for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised. What Paul is saying is that Christ died for all, everyone. All means all, all humanity and not just those who profess to be believers. Access to God is now open for all to live as part of the new creation in Christ, if they believe. So then, Paul says, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards. Even though we used to know Christ by human standards, that isn’t how we know him now. Think about that for a minute. When you identify yourself to someone, when you’re introduced to someone new, depending upon the setting, what it is that you want them to know? How do you want people to identify you? Hi, my name is Scott. I’m a Methodist minister, I was a lawyer but before that I was a police officer. I’m married with two kids and two grandkids, and three grand-dogs. I don’t belong to an organized political party, I’m a Democrat. Sorry, stole that one from Will Rogers. Now that we’re Christians we’re supposed to see people in a different light. Paul goes on to explain: So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived! He explains that all of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. He says: in other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. To be “in Christ” is to be in union with him via the Holy Spirit, and through this union the believer is and belongs to the new creation anticipated in the prophetic word as proclaimed in Isaiah 65: 17 where it is written: Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist denomination, felt and believed that only the power that makes a world can make a Christian where all things become new. He, the believer, has new life, new senses, new faculties, new affections, new appetites, new ideas, and conceptions. His or her whole tenor of action and conversation is new, and he or she lives, as it were, in a new world. God, man, the whole creation, heaven, earth, and all therein, appear in a new light, and stand related to him in a new manner, since he was created anew in Christ Jesus.
And then Paul ups the ante, raises the stakes when he says: He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. Wow! No pressure there! All this time we’ve been told to trust in God and now Paul is telling us that God is putting his trust in us to be his ambassadors, his representatives here on earth to do his work and his will. Paul says: God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ’s representatives, be reconciled to God. And that’s the crux of the issue. God has brought us back to himself by blotting out our sins and making us righteous. We are no longer God’s enemies, or strangers or foreigners to him, when we trust in Christ. And because we have been reconciled to God, we now have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same, and thus we are those who have this new “ministry of reconciliation.” As Paul reminded the believers in the tenth chapter of the Book of Romans, those of us who declare with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, will be saved, for it is with our hearts that we believe and are justified, and it is with our mouths that we profess our faith and are saved.
So, we who live in Christ no longer live for ourselves, but live for Christ. And because we live for Christ, God has placed his trust in us to be his ambassadors. Through the reconciliation brought about by Christ’s sacrifice, we are a brand-new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives us new life and we are not the same anymore. We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated. We are re-created into a new creation living in vital union with Christ. At our conversion we are not merely turning over a new leaf, we are beginning a new life under a new master. There is a new covenant, a new perspective, a new body, a new church. All of creation is being renewed and it requires a new way of looking at all people and all of creation.
As ambassadors of Jesus Christ, entrusted with his message of reconciliation to the world, we assume, we take on, this important responsibility, one we dare not take lightly, to carry his message of love and light out into an angry world lost in the darkness. In doing so, you need to ask yourself two questions. First: Does your life reflect this new perspective? And second: How well are you fulfilling your commission as Christ’s ambassador?
Let us pray.
Merciful and compassionate Father, this is a day of new beginnings, a time to remember and move on, a time to believe what love is bringing, and laying to rest the pain that’s gone. Gracious God, we praise you for the new creation made possible only by the great sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ who has made for us a world of difference as faith and hope are born again. Move us through the gift of your Holy Spirit to step out from the past and leave behind our disappointments, guilt, and grieving so that we may seek the new path of your ministry of reconciliation. As Christ is alive and goes on before us, he shows us what love can do and how, as your ambassadors, we can share the love of Christ with everyone because all means all. This is a day of new beginnings as you have made all things new. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.