Friday, February 19th2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
"[W]e 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.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything."
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Our Identity in Christ Rev. Winston D. Persaud, PhD
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This text of Scripture continues to be one to which I return intentionally on a regular basis, as I go about my vocation as a teacher of the church who, as an ordained pastor, has served full time in a parish. In the rhythms of life in both the congregation and the seminary classroom—as in our any other walks of life—the call and challenge is unavoidable: to be centred in Jesus Christ by faith in him and, consequently, to act in the world in a manner that says, “I belong to Jesus Christ.” I keep thinking about how far Jesus went to make us right with God and the privilege to be ambassadors in Jesus’ Name. St. Paul writes, “[W]e 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” (5:20b-21).
To belong to Christ is not an inoculation from the consequences of sin which are pervasive in the world which are right around and even in us, influencing the way we are. The picture Paul paints of the lived reality of what he and others have experienced on account of their witness to Jesus Christ is sobering: “through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (v. 4b-5).
Inevitably, the question comes up, again and again: what am I to do when my identification with Jesus Christ leads to tough challenges? Precisely, in the face of those life-denying consequences of sin, which have the power to turn us away from living the truth of our identity in Christ—which means being “servants of God”—Paul tells us that he and the others stayed the course. How? “[B]y purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute” (vv. 6-8). Truly, it is by the power of the new life and identity in Christ which we have been given out of the sheer grace of God that we press on. Even when we fall flat on our faces, God does not turn away. Through the Spirit, God keeps calling us back to our life in Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord and Saviour. Jesus does not walk away from us; rather, he looks at us with compassion and understanding and takes us by the hand and leads us forward. Hear this promise again and again: in Christ, we are reconciled to God!
O, God, I give you thanks that for Jesus’ sake, in the power of the Holy Spirit, you accept me and forgive my sins and are always present with me and for me in all circumstances and conditions. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Rev. Winston D. Persaud, PhD Professor of Systematic Theology Director, Center for Global Theologies Holder of The Kent S. Knutson & United Evangelical Lutheran Church Chair in Theology and Mission Wartburg Theological Seminary
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