Balancing... By Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran

 Balancing…

By Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran

Executive Minister

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 people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.    

                                         2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NIV

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 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 NIV

During my college days, I worked a lot of different jobs. One of the more interesting jobs was my two years as a drive-up teller at a local bank. There was no such thing as electronic deposits back then; ATMs were non-existent, so the drive-up teller was a hectic position, especially on weekends. We not only did our usual business of receiving, counting, and verifying the deposits of local businesses but also processed people's paychecks and gave them the cash they wanted for the weekend. Lots of “ins and outs” or, for you financial folks, “debits and credits”! And at the end of every day, we had to reconcile our drawers.

Now, reconciling the drawer consisted of looking at where we started the day with cash in our drawers, adding up all the credits and debits, and comparing that to the cash we had in the drawer when we ended the day. We had to balance… have the exact same number on the tape as we had cash in the drawer!  And, because we were a bank, any money, long or short, belonged to somebody else, so we had to account for it to the penny! I literally spent hours looking for just a few cents! Economically it didn’t make sense (pun not intended but recognized!), but the cost of reconciliation is always high.

Jesus reconciled our debt on the cross. Humanity’s need to be reconciled with the creator was great; the cost of what we sinfully give away is expensive. We cannot earn enough credit on our own in the span of our life to be reconciled…balanced in debits and credits, let alone show a profit in our relationship with God our Creator. That will always be a one-way street! God’s love for us is greater than we can return. So, Christ made up the difference.

Because of this, Christ calls us to show others a shadow of this type of love. Too often, we misuse the Matthew 18 text about pointing out the sin of another in the hope of restoring them to the kingdom to talk down a person, never seeking to restore them. And we forget Jesus’ word that if someone has something against us, we are supposed to go to them to seek reconciliation. In other words, if someone thinks I owe them something that I don’t think I owe them, I’m supposed to go and work out an agreement, even if I know I’m not wrong! 

Usually, there is plenty of fault to go around.

Last Sunday, I was blessed to participate in a reconciliation service between two church congregations that had a nasty split some 13 years ago. The two churches have had a complex relationship since a large number of one congregation left to form a new church over the calling of a new pastor. It took a great deal of humility and courage on the parts of both congregations to agree that despite their differences, they needed one another, not necessarily as one congregation but working together for the greater Kingdom of Christ, however and wherever  Christ will lead. It was a beautiful service, and I look forward to seeing what God will do with this renewed relationship.

One of the seven disciplines that David Fitch argues the church must reclaim in his book Faithful Presence is the ministry of reconciliation. It is a crucial calling of the church that we, as Baptists, have too often ignored. We believe in soul freedom and congregational autonomy but do not necessarily reconcile our differences as a group or even with individuals. How often do we shun a person rather than try to reconcile with them? Yet, often, the most substantial relationships we can ever have are the ones that are forged by overcoming and reconciling our differences.



Is there someone out there who you are angry with? Someone who is angry with you? Perhaps it's time you stepped out on faith to see if God can help you reconcile that difference and, instead of making a new friend, retain an old one.

Prayer



You have called us to be reconcilers, oh God; a ministry of great personal expense. Grant us the courage and wisdom to fulfil this call in our lives, so that we may become one as you are one with the Father and the Spirit. Amen.

By Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran

Executive Minister

American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains

www.abcrm.org