A lexicon of faith Reconciliation


A


s a child of the 1960s, I remember piling into our fam- ily station wagon on summer Sundays and heading to worship at an old barn. The barn stood in the shadow


of a large shopping mall in one of Chicago’s emerging sub- urbs. Worship inside a barn seemed edgy for the day. Hay bales made for pews. Melted crayon on the window glass gave a faux cathedral feel. The gutbucket trio of bass players, with their shoes atop metal washbasins, strummed rope stretched from broom handles. Maybe it wasn’t so edgy, given that our Lord was born in a


barn. But to my eyes, worship there was a mysterious combi- nation of loose experiences that didn’t always jive with what I took to be the stiffness of the Bible. For me, one of the great mysteries wafting around that barn every Sunday was a phrase worshipers spoke when passing the cup of communion wine. “This is the cup of reconciliation,” each would say to the next person. I hadn’t the foggiest idea what that word reconcilia- tion meant since third-graders don’t learn all that many six- syllable words. But it sounded holy. Come to think of it, I can’t remember my parents ever using


the word reconciliation when talking to us about relation- ships, though maybe it would have come in handy for a few of those long station wagon rides. With mom distracted by back seat clashes, and probably coming closer to more head-on collisions than we ever real- ized, the tough words and tearful cries became predictable. “He hit me first.” “Yeah, but he hit me harder.” Backseat skirmishes between sib-


By Peter W. Marty First in a series


Nothing will be quite right until estrangement on both sides has been mended


first move to create a new situa- tion for us who dwell in sin. “All this [newness of life] is from God, who reconciled us to him- self through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconcil- iation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them …” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Katallasso is the Greek word


behind our New Testament translation of reconciliation. Allasso implies an exchange, as in friendship for enmity; and the preposition kata indicates a coming down, as from a higher place to a lower one. Thus, Jesus came down from heaven that we might know love, breathe love and be reconciled to God. Getting our lives in sync with others whom we find diffi-


Getting our lives in sync with others whom we find difficult can be incredibly hard work. But for those who believe in Christ, his example becomes the power and impetus for reconciling with enemies.


lings who are 9 and 7 are never settled easily. That’s because most of the interactions during such conflict, whether offensive or defensive in nature, are really calculated preparations for the next battle. The same behavior holds true among nations. As long as one party sees its need to be right as more important than its desire to be in relationship with the other party, there is little hope for reconciliation. Though forgiveness doesn’t require a response from the


person forgiven, reconciliation is always a two-way street. Both parties must decide that something is quite wrong, and that nothing will be quite right until the estrangement has been mended. While both parties must make a move to rec- oncile, one side typically initiates. That side breaks the silence or ignores the impasse.The apostle Paul said God makes the


cult can be incredibly hard work. But for those who believe in Christ, his example becomes the power and impetus for recon- ciling with enemies. For those outside the Christian way, the weariness of yet more conflict some- times proves enough to tip the scales. In Ken Burns’ television documen-


tary on the Civil War, the narrator describes a 1913 scene from the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettys- burg. Elderly men, who 50 years ear- lier served as Union and Confederate soldiers on the battlefield, gathered to


re-enact Pickett’s charge. The two armies of veterans took up their respective positions, started marching toward each other, and suddenly turned their walk into a run. This time, instead of fighting each other, they dropped their weapons, embraced one another and openly wept. The contrast of this blessed scene with the carnage of


the one 50 years earlier indicates that reconciliation isn’t a luxury in our world. It is a neces- sity. Paul says we have been given a ministry of reconciliation. This ministry is one long but worth- while commitment to heal a bro- ken world. 


Author bio: Marty is a speaker, author and ELCA pastor who writes monthly for The Lutheran.


January 2015 3


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