1.
Please
pray with me. May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock
and our Redeemer. Amen. Today on this 4th Sunday in Lent
we are looking at 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.
St. Paul reminds us that God has reconciled the world to himself in
Christ (vv. 18, 19a, 21). He begs you to
believe this (vv. 14–17, 20b), and He has sent pastors to be his ambassadors
(vv. 19b, 20). The message is entitled, “God Has a Message to Send.” Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Being
an ambassador is, at the same time, one of the most thankless and one of the
most prestigious jobs a nation can offer. Men and women as illustrious as Benjamin
Franklin, George Bush, and Shirley Temple Black have served the United States
as ambassadors to other countries or to the United Nations. Flag-lined Embassy
Row in Washington DC, the address of countless ambassadors from all over the
world, is a breathtaking drive of elegance in the swankiest part of town. A
diplomatic credential or license plate gets an ambassador into places and
events almost reminiscent of Cinderella’s ball. On the other hand, an
ambassador has no authority to make foreign policy. He’s permitted to speak
nothing apart from the official line given to him by his head of state, but
that official line he does indeed speak faithfully. That means, of course, that
he’s often the front line to face the wrath of an irate foreign president or
prime minister when his government back home takes an unpopular position.
3.
Today
St. Paul tells us that God has reconciled the whole world to himself in the
death of Christ, and he wants all the world to know his policy of not counting
their trespasses against them. To that end, he’s made us ambassadors (2 Cor
5:19–20). It can be a thankless job. We speak his words, not ours. Not everyone
we tell about Christ will eagerly receive his message. Some may even become
offended or angry. But speak we do, and there is no more glorious calling!
There’s no higher honor God could give us than to be his ambassadors of
reconciliation, God making his appeal through us, God using us to bring new
souls to the joy of eternity with Christ.
As our text today tells us, we have a whole new view, for God reconciles
us to Himself and makes us reconcilers.
4.
Our
old, fleshly creation takes a fleshly view of people and of God. Our sinful flesh views people as competitors
who are either in our way or useful stepping-stones to be used to achieve our
happiness. While driving the car, we
compete for position. At work we compete
for promotion and income by trying to make ourselves look good, even at the
expense of others. On the computer and
television, we value people primarily for how well they satisfy our need for
sexual fantasy or fulfillment. As a
culture, we selfishly demand and believe that we are entitled to a greater
share of the earth’s resources than any other nation.
5.
We
also view Jesus in a fleshly, sinful way.
As the great cultural icon of Christmas, Jesus is cute and loving, but
never judges or demands righteousness. Nor does the cultural Jesus claim for
himself that he alone is the way, the truth, and the life—the only way to the
Father and salvation! When we view Jesus
as a great moral leader, we ask, “What would Jesus do?” but, of course, we
can’t do what Jesus did. None of us can raise a dead loved one to life or live
a sinless, perfect life and die on the cross as the propitiation of all the
sins of the world.
6.
Even
the baptized believers of the new creation sometimes lose perspective. Our ears itch for pastors, teachers, and
bureaucrats who will massage God’s clear Word into a more comfortable, socially
acceptable message that conforms to the culture rather than the other way
around. Our sinful hearts long to hear
that God has changed his mind—that women pastors and committed
homosexual partners are okay with God now. Muslims and Jews are praying to God the
Father, even though they deny God the Son.
That our friends and neighbors are good folks; surely God will accept
them as long as they’re sincere. We want
to reconcile our differences—it’s inclusive! it’s politically correct!—but such
views are a deception. Eternal differences don’t go away just because we close
our eyes to them.
7.
Our
new creation receives a godly view, God’s way of seeing him and people. 2 Corinthians 5:16-18 says, “16From now on, therefore, we regard no one
according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the
flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this
is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation.” We view Jesus Christ as he reveals himself to
us in the Scriptures: God’s only-begotten Son and the world’s only Savior. Only in Christ are we forgiven, reconciled,
and made a new creation (vv 17, 19)! Because
he is God (Col 2:9), his Word is nonnegotiable, and his gifts of Word and
Sacrament alone are able to make us “in Christ,” the new creation reconciled to
God and given new life in him (v 17). Jesus’
work of salvation on the cross is available to anyone (vv 17, 19).
8.
We
view every single human being as valuable to God! God was in Christ reconciling the whole
world to himself (v 19). 2
Corinthians 5:19-21 says, “19…in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin
who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
People are no longer obstacles, competitors, or merely the means to
satisfy my needs. People are dearly beloved by God and, therefore, loved by the
redeemed, new creation people in whom he dwells (v 17; cf. Jn 14:23; 17:23). God gives gifts to his Church, placing his
true, saving, nonnegotiable Word in you so that you may bring the Good News of
God’s reconciling work in Christ to every individual you meet!
9.
God’s
view is him doing all this reconciling, yet doing it now through us (v 18). God says, “I
reconciled you to myself” (see v 18).
“I reconciled you on the cross for
the whole world” (see v 19). “I reconciled you in Baptism” (see Mt
28:19; Titus 3:4–7; explanation of the Third Article). “I made
my only-begotten Son to become sin (see v 21; Is 53:6; Gal 3:13) that I might re-create you in my
righteousness—not of your own works.”
“Now I have placed my life-giving
Word in you, so that you might appeal to others on my behalf, so that together
with the whole communion of saints we may all share in the joy of the new
creation on that day I make all things new!” (see v 20; Rev 21:4).
10.
The
whole communion of saints, gathered together as far as the eye can see. Believers
from every nation under heaven, once enemies of God and each other, now joined
forever. No sin separating, all one in the reconciling work of Christ and the
word of reconciliation we share. What a beautiful view! Amen.
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