Reconciliation Part 2 Sermon Recap | October 18, 2015 | Pastor Kent Munsey

Introduction We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation. Because

Christ reconciled us to God, we are called to seek reconciliation with those around us.

Main Scripture

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge

thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for

themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to

the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have

passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 [NKJV]

The love of Christ compels us because He reconciles us to God and inspires us to love others. Jesus reveals the righteousness of grace. He sets an even higher standard for us by revealing true righteousness in human form, then

offers Himself for us, defeats death, resurrects and rules heaven in His glorified form. And He uses that power to invite us into relationship with God. To “reconcile” means to restore to favorable or friendly relations with one another after a presumed wrong or a feeling of enmity (a feeling of opposition). We all have been given the ministry of reconciliation! It is impossible to be at peace with God if we are not at peace with others. God is at peace with those who choose to be at peace with Him. How to be reconciled to God: through faith by grace through Jesus Christ. Sin creates enmity and separation. Reconciliation is needed. The law requires our attempts at righteousness; Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. He did not just die for us but AS us. All things have become new - “we no longer regard anyone according to the flesh” - this does away with externally based judgments or our own righteousness. We no longer know Jesus as human but as the Son of God in His glorified form. We have peace with God through Jesus. Why? Because He loves you--not just when we go to Church or do the

right thing. Because we have peace with God, we are now responsible for creating peace all around us in our human relationships--the ministry of reconciliation. Being in relationship with others is the most spiritual thing we can do. In the Old Testament, you could not seek atonement for sin if that sin involved someone else, without first seeking reconciliation with the person. In the New Testament, Jesus affirms this value.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your

gift.” - Matthew 5:23-24 [NKJV]

God values reconciliation more than worship or offerings. The burden is on us to seek reconciliation with those we've hurt or offended or who have hurt us.

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with

you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he

refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen

and a tax collector. “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will

be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them

by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of

them.” - Matthew 18:15-20 [NKJV]

God exists in unity, agreement and harmony. Because He reconciled Himself to us, He calls us to be reconcilers. We must be willing to confront our brothers and sisters before we seek reconciliation with God. A brother is someone you have social interaction with; we are not called to speak out against the sins of strangers. This is about sin that has caused conflict. Go to them privately and give them the opportunity to make it right.

Most Christians who leave the church do so because of a conflict with 3 or less people. Whether you've been hurt or you've hurt someone else, God puts the burden on you to be a reconciler.

Peace up. Peace down. Peace all around. “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.” -- Our relationships are eternal! Unforgiveness binds people and creates obstacle to reconciliation with God. Where there is reconciliation, that's where God is. When you become a reconciler, you become most like Jesus. Matthew 18 is not a “3-strikes” policy. How did Jesus treat heathens and tax collectors? He loved them even more! When our brother does not hear our grievance after coming to him in the three ways Jesus outlines (first alone, then with a few others, then through the church), we should then release them of expectation and treat them as someone who doesn't understand how loved they are by God, who doesn't know about forgiveness--that we are all sinners in need of grace. “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven

times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

- Matthew 18:21-22 [NKJV] Peter asks how many times we should forgive those who sin against us. Jesus says “seventy times seven,” the Hebraic equation for infinity. We want to reconcile the places we think God will accept, but God wants to reconcile ALL of us. When we release those who have hurt us and reconcile the sins we think are unforgivable, we allow room for a supernatural peace that we can only experience through full surrender to Him.

Peace up. Peace down. Peace all around.