August 15, 2010
Explore the Bible Sunday School Lesson
The reconciliation factor
Mary Kisor, member, First Church of Dardanelle
During the first weeks of my husband’s pastorate at a Baptist church, Susie made it a point to visit or call me almost daily. She drove me to the best butcher shop, dry cleaners and florist. She showed me the shortcuts through traffic, cutting travel time and gas cost. Best of all, she and her family opened their home and hearts to our family, helping us comfortably fit into the community.
One day I carelessly made a joking remark about a situation with which Susie was struggling. Our relationship was crushed. Without knowing it, I had broken Susie’s heart, wounding her beyond words. Months went by as I struggled to find out why Susie avoided me . Finally, her teenaged son bravely shared the truth with me. Then I was the one with the broken heart.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that although God is the offended person in our relationship, He is the One who seeks the healing. God could have destroyed mankind and started the world over again with some creature that would have obeyed Him completely. Instead, Jesus came to be our bridge back into that love relationship with God the Father.
Paul reminds us that once we have the peace and joy of that restored relationship we must not selfishly horde it, but freely share the good news with others.
Paul tells the Corinthian believers they have become “co-workers” with Jesus (6:2). He clearly says, “now is the time.” We can’t afford to wait to tell others. No one knows when the world will end or when a lost friend will move away or even die.
Convinced of the urgency of the gospel, I have begun to ask each of my family members to tell me his or her salvation story. My favorite response came from my fourth-grade granddaughter, Elizabeth: “Well, duh! Because I’m covered in Jesus’ blood, Mimi!” That little girl knows about salvation. She has been reconciled to God, and she knows it.
Paul urges us to be bold and speak openly (6:1). The time is too short and the outcome too critical to delay sharing the good news of God reconciling men to Himself through Jesus.
“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 men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (5:18-19).