There are some things in life that you simply need to hear again and again. Sometimes from the lips of a parent, a spouse, a grandparent, a sister, a brother, a child. Other times maybe the words come from a teacher, a mentor, a friend, a co-worker. These are the kind of words that never get old. “I love you”, “You can do it”, “You are such a gift to me”, “I love you anyway”, “Keep trying” “Thank you” Words that you ought to hear again and again and again. “You can be anything and do anything you put your mind to”, “I believe in you”, “I’m right here”, “I know you can do it”, “I trust you”, “You will never know unless you try”, “I will always be here for you” “You have a real gift”, “I missed you”, “I forgive you”, “I love you”.
      As in life, there are some things in faith that you simply need to hear again and again. Like the stories from the life of Jesus told from the lips of children here this morning in the words of the anthem. It is the Christ Child....He is my teacher...He calls me blessed...His works are holy....He gathers friends there to sup....He is hung there on a cross....The tomb is empty; but I can see Him. ...He is my Savior, my King.” Stories and words, over and over again. Words of scripture. “For God so loved the world.....” “In the beginning God created....” “By grace you have been saved through faith....” “In my Father’s are many mansions...” “I will be with you always, until the close of the age....” “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might...” “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female....” “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life...nor anything else can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The kind of words, when it comes to our life in God, the kind of words that never get old.
      Like the words of scripture found in our text this morning. Words of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, see everything has become new! All this if from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation....So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making God’s appeal through us...” Again and again and again. Some things in faith you just have to hear over and over again. New creation. Ministry of reconciliation. Ambassadors for Christ.
      I have this early memory of my mother sitting at the dining room table surrounded by paper, working for a long time, and getting increasingly frustrated. Envelops torn up. Scrap paper crumpled in a pile. A larger tablet kind of thing with fancy paper and a nice leather cover. I realize now that was the checkbook. I realize now she was balancing the monthly statement. I still remember my father saying, “Jane, it’s only a penny!” And she kept on working. Years later, when I knew about balancing a checkbook and the realities of a penny here or penny there, I asked her about that early memory of watching her obsession with the right balance. She told me it was only partly about knowing how much exactly was in the account. The other part was about trying to prove she was right. That’s not the kind of reconciliation mentioned by Paul.
      I have reconciled myself to the fact that I will never be a good basketball player. I have reconciled myself to the understanding that I will never again have a 32" waist, that I will never be 6'2", that the good old days are a thing of the past, that my children will never walk 10 miles to school up hill both ways through the snow like everyone’s father says he did. That I will never enjoy a television show again as much as I enjoyed MASH, that jello will never taste as good if your grandmother doesn’t make it, and that there will never be as good of a romance song as “Suddenly” by Bill Ocean. I have reconciled myself to those opinions. I have resigned myself. I have come to the ultimate conclusions. That’s not the reconciliation mentioned by Paul.
      Every day there are reports in the news about negotiations, arbitration proceedings, contracts, treaties, parties. World leaders sitting down. Diplomatic solutions sought. Labor and management at the table. Owner and player agent in conversation. Families in dispute. Custody hearings. Reconciliation comes through negotiation, arbitration, a judge’s ruling, various forms of compromise. Differing sides sitting at the table, coming to an agreement somewhere in the middle. That kind of reconciliation is not mentioned by Paul.
      “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Godself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” Reconciling. Reconciliation. So many connotations to the word. Yet Paul is driving at something that goes beyond a definition. Paul is pointing to something bigger, a God-centered understanding, a kingdom of God connotation when it comes to “reconcile.” I did my homework with the Greek dictionary and the word for “reconcile, for reconciliation”, one of the definitions was “to put one into friendship with God.” I’m not sure that’s enough either, when it comes to the reconciliation mentioned by Paul.
      Reconcile. To restore harmony. To bring about oneness. To make otherwise. To take the initiative to challenge the status quo. To institute change. To question the way of the world. To give new life. To offer a vision of the kingdom. To overwhelm with grace. To draw in to the heart of God. To spark transformation. To cause a new creation. It’s more than friendship. God doesn’t compromise with humanity; like a treaty writ large. God doesn’t resign Godself to the pervasiveness of human sin; as in giving in to the stone cold reality. God doesn’t go about balancing the checkbook in the Book of life. This reconciliation. It is all from God, and it is in and through Jesus Christ, and friendship with God isn’t enough, because we have been reconciled to God so that “we might become the righteousness of God.”
      A new creation, that’s who you are. You have been changed, transformed by the love of God made known in Christ the Lord. God has chosen. God has acted. God has taken the first move. Restored to a right relationship with the Almighty. Infused with a vision of one’s place in the very kingdom of God. One definition or phrase doesn’t begin to describe Paul’s argument, Paul’s take on the ministry of reconciliation. Paul exhorting the community to take on such reconciliation. Paul trying to convince the church that God is making God’s appeal through us. God in and through Christ reconciling not just you, not just me, but God reconciling the world. You ambassadors for Christ. God’s appeal through us.
      Lent is traditionally a time of examination; self and God. A season of reflection on what we casually label our “walk with Christ.” If we’re honest, one of those other definitions of that world “reconcile” may be more descriptive. Like bargaining with God and negotiating the daily disciplines of faith. “I’m going to pray every day, get to worship more often, and read the Gospel of John in the evening, now God here’s your part of the bargain.” Like resigning oneself to a distant and past relationship with God that has lost any passion for newness. “Yes, it all seemed so much more important when the kids were young. But now, I’m interested in other things.” Like engaging in religion, faith and life itself as a huge exercise in proving that you are right and everyone else must be wrong. But that’s not the kind of reconciliation mentioned by Paul. That’s not the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to us.
      You are an ambassador for Christ. God making God’s appeal through you. Frankly whether you like it or not. And it’s more than friendship. More than a bargaining. More than coming to some conclusion. More than being right. More than counting conversions. More than winning souls. This ministry of reconciliation. It is a ministry to one another, a ministry to those you love, a ministry where you work, where you go to school, where you live. And a ministry to the world. To restore harmony. To bring about oneness. To make otherwise. To take the initiative to challenge the status quo. To institute change. To question the way of the world. To give new life. To offer a vision of the kingdom. To overwhelm with the sense of God’s grace. To lean into the heart of God. To give witness to God’s spark of transformation. To celebrate God’s new creation. To become the righteousness of God.
      Sunday after Sunday, some of us have the chance to stand up here and look out. You have heard me joke that I see everything. On some Sunday mornings when you stand up here before the church and look out, you can see the weight of the world and the complexity of life and the strain of the journey. You can see the collective wear and tear in the faces of the people of God. You ought to stop and look around on a Sunday and then remember that you are an ambassador for Christ entrusted with this ministry of reconciliation. In my travel last weekend I was able to hear a bit more about life in other congregations and in other presbyteries, in our denomination right now. It makes me all the more thankful for our life together here, because there is a whole lot of meanness in the church right now. Take a wider look around the church, you ambassador for Christ entrusted with this ministry of reconciliation. This weekend marks the forth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. All anniversaries are not to be celebrated. Take a look at the nation and the world and remember you are an ambassador for Christ entrusted with this ministry of reconciliation.
      God has been telling us again and again and again.

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