“But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life? And not only that: we even take pride in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one through whom we now have a restored relationship with God.”
“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.”
THE PROCESS OF RECONCILIATION
The faithful work of reconciliation between individuals and communities begins with Jesus Christ, who initiated this work through his ministry, life, death, and resurrection. The power of sin that breaks, divides, and separates us from each other is disrupted, repaired, and healed through the reconciling power of Jesus Christ. We cannot do reconciling work without its author, Jesus.
As a result, disciples - or followers - of Jesus are called into this same work. Jesus commands his disciples to continue the restoring work of God in the world around us each day in order to bring ourselves and others into the “kingdom” - or family - of God. We cannot truly embrace the fullness of God’s vision for humanity without first recognizing the pain we cause one another and then work toward restoration and reconciliation.
Latasha Morrison outlines important steps for reconciliation: 1. Awareness, 2. Acknowledgement, 3. Lament, 4. Confession, 5. Forgiveness, 6. Repentance, 7. Making Amends, 8. Reconciliation, 9. Restoration, and 10. Reproduction.
This is hard work but it is also faithful work. We have the confidence of Jesus having gone before us and continuing to guide us today. And, as the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Galatia, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9, NIV).
Because brokenness has many forms, we are beginning to form groups that are dedicated to addressing, ministering, and building bridges toward reconciliation. Below you can learn more about our bridge building efforts.
Bridge Building
What’s next?
You can learn more about the groups within Mountain Park UMC that are committed to the work of various forms of reconciliation.