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February 2002
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Ash Wednesday (February 13, 2002)
“Reconciled to God”
Dr. Van Kemper
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
SERMON
For the past few weeks ago, we have been hearing the apostle Paul speaking to
the church at Corinth, and – by extension – to our church here in Oak Cliff.
We have heard his declaration that “God is faithful,” (1 Cor 1:9a).
We have heard him appeal to the Corinthians “that there be no division among
you” (1 Cor 1:10b). And we have heard him urge the members of the church at
Corinth to “Consider your own calling” (1 Cor 1:26).
Well, tonight we have heard a few more of Paul’s choice words to the folks at
Corinth – and these words seem to me to be just what we
need to hear as we enter into the Lenten Season here at Trinity.
Remember
that the two epistles known to us as First and Second Corinthians probably
represent the surviving elements of five different letters sent by Paul to the
church at Corinth. In this early part of Second Corinthians, Paul is making a
strong appeal to the folks there to appreciate their special relationship to God
and God’s special relationship to them.
In 2 Cor
5:20a, the first part of the verse with which we began tonight’s Epistle
lection, Paul described himself and other Christians as “ambassadors for
Christ,” which in the original Greek uses the same word from which we derive
the word “presbyterian.”
As an
ambassador for Christ, Paul is appealing to the folks at Corinth to “be
reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20b). Early along, the first-century church
developed a three-part tradition: (a) that God was reconciling the world to
himself; (b) that Christ was the agent of this reconciliation; and (c) that
reconciliation means not charging sinners with their sins. (cf. Victor P.
Furnish (1984) , II Corinthians; The
Anchor Bible vol. 32A, p. 334).
The
emphasis is on God’s initiative in reconciling humanity to God.
This is clear from what we hear in verse 20: “be reconciled to God.”
The verb is a command, but also is in the passive form.
Paul does not appeal to Christian believers to rush out and begin a
campaign to reconcile themselves to God. On
the contrary, Paul urges that we be open to the wonderful fact that God already
has been doing the reconciling.
This
reconciling is being provided through Christ.
Listen again to 5:21: “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
What an amazing turn of events! The
one without sin is made to take on the sins of others, so that all of us might
be part of God’s own righteousness.
But there
is more to this idea of reconciliation than a simple substitution of the “one
without sin” for all of us sinners. Paul
also wants to alert the folks at Corinth to the “new creation” in which we
see God’s love for all humanity, as expressed through the life, sacrifice, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God’s
reconciliation brings with it a ministry of reconciliation in which Paul and all
other Christians serve as ambassadors, that is, as presbyterians.
In our role as presbyterians, we should be working together in ministry.
Paul appeals to us to have “great endurance” (v. 4) through all kinds
of adversities; to work at reconciliation with “the power of God” (v. 7); to
be equipped with the “weapons of righteousness” (v. 7); and to appreciate
the paradox of being Christians in an unChristian world (vv 8-10).
Let us take a moment to consider the implications of the paradox of the
Christian way of seeing the world, at least according to Paul’s words to the
Corinthians.
He claims
that “we are treated as impostors, and yet are true.”
He goes on to add that we are considered “as unknown, and yet are well
known.” And then he raises the stakes to the limit, when he says that we are
thought by others to be “dying”, even though “we are alive.”
And this
brings us to the Lenten Season, our time of preparation for the resurrection of
Easter, following the agony of that Calvary Cross. Jesus was treated as an
imposter, yet he was the true Messiah. Jesus
was treated like a nobody, a person whose very existence is not documented
directly in any surviving historical sources, aside from a few first-century
accounts gathered together in the New Testament. And yet, Jesus has become the
most widely-known historical figure in the world.
Jesus was thought to have suffered death on the Cross, and yet he rose
again to a new life.
This is
the message of Lent, this is the paradox of dying and living that carries us
from the Calvary Cross to the empty tomb. This is the season for which we are
preparing. Mardi Gras is past. The Pancake supper is behind us. The party is
over. And yet, the time of
expectation and hope is upon us.
In a few
moments, in the Litany of Penitence, we will confess our sins, individual and
collective. Then, in the act of the Imposition of Ashes, we will hear the
words, taken from Genesis 3:19, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you
shall return.”
This is
not a declaration of doom, but a recognition of God’s power over all creation
and over all humanity. Though we
would be nothing but dust and ashes, though – in Paul’s words – we have
nothing, in following the path of the empty tomb we possess
everything. In the end, through our savior Jesus Christ, our sins have been
forgiven, we have become joined to God’s righteousness, we have been
reconciled to God.
Amen.