2 Corinthians 5:16 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. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 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.
Reconciliation. The Lord is restoring his creation. And he has called us to be a part of that great mission and message.
In Luke 15 Jesus told the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We probably should call it the Parable of the Loving Father because the real hero of the story is the Parent who graciously receives back his wayward child. This story really emphasizes God’s reconciling love for all of humanity.
There was a song written back in the ‘80s about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The chorus of the song focuses on the part of the story where the Father ran to meet his son on the road.
The only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
Said "My son's come home again"
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise
when God ran*
*When God Ran by Benny Hester
This week let’s make the message of reconciliation--hope and salvation in Jesus Christ--a key part of our prayers.
Last Sunday we used prayers from the Mozarabic Sacramentary* (c. 700). Use these prayers this week to focus on the peace and reconciliation that the Lord has given us and called us to share.
O God, by your great love for us you have reconciled earth to heaven through your only-begotten Son; grant that we, who by the darkness of our sins are turned aside from love for each other, may be filled with your Spirit shed abroad in us, and embrace our friends in you and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, you are peace everlasting, whose chosen reward is the gift of peace, and you have taught us that the peace-makers are your children. Pour your peace into our souls, that everything discordant may utterly vanish, and all that make for peace be sweet to us for ever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*2000 Years of Prayer, compiled by Michael Counsell
(Morehouse Publishing, 1999), p. 85.
We have set aside Wednesdays as a Day of Prayer for us to seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance in the decisions before us. Many of us will be spending time in prayer at 12:00 noon on Wednesdays. Would you join us?
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