Transformed and Entrusted
It is such a special thing to receive a gift. Sometimes it is not easy to receive; we feel singled out and a little vulnerable. It is a beautiful thing to give. Sometimes it is not easy to give; if we are feeling depleted, we may feel we don’t have it in us to work or to give.
The truth is, the Christian life is about receiving and giving. In Christ’s accomplishment for us, we receive what was impossible for us to procure for ourselves. He has taken us, injured creatures, and made us new creatures, reconciled to God. We, who typify limitations, flaws, and estrangement, are brought to union with the God who is holy. That is the gift we receive, but there is more if we take the New Testament teaching of St. Paul seriously: we are placed in ministry. Each of us is now enabled give We now carry the good news of Christ’s reconciling work. Look at one of Sunday’s passages:
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
This is the fulfillment of what was established in the ancient story of the patriarchs. The covenant with Abraham we see in Genesis was that he be blessed to be a blessing. God set him apart, but not just for him. The whole world was to be blessed through the people which God was birthing through Abraham and Sarah. And so, it has come to pass through Christ Jesus. You have been blessed, and you are a blessing to others. You have received and you give. Not only are you a new creation. You carry that possibility of new creation in the life you live, and to the people, you meet. No job is only about status, it is also about work. A worker has a position to hold and a job to do.
Give thanks today that you have a position created for you, and a job to do. What reconciling work is before you now in the day you have been given. I should call you Reconciled new creature; I should call you Ambassador for Christ. It is biblical, right there in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Congratulations on your transformation and best wishes in the work entrusted to you.