"As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain." (2 Corinthians 6:1)
The Apostle Paul's relationship with the church in Corinth was fraught at best. Anger, frustration, hurt feelings, disappointment, and betrayal-- on both sides-- can be sensed in his exchanges with this community. But Paul doesn't simply lash out in anger and chastise the Corinthians in his letters. Although there is certainly heated rhetoric, and he doesn't mince words when it comes to pointing out where and how the Corinthians have fallen short of the mark as members of the Body of Christ, his emphasis is less on their mistakes and more on the common call of all Christians participate in Christ's work of reconciliation-- both within their church community, and in the wider world.
For Paul, reconciliation is a matter of understanding and accepting God's grace and then participating in that grace by sharing it freely with one's neighbors. It's not a matter of who was right and who was wrong-- after all, in the case of sinful humanity vs. God, it was God who was the wronged party, and yet it was God who reached out in grace and offered reconciliation to all the world through God's son, Jesus. And it's not about any measures of worth that the world might try to apply-- popularity, success, wealth, nationality, gender, race, sexuality, legal status, or any other standard we might use to decide who is "in" and who is "out." Our true worth isn't determined by any of that. Our worth comes solely from the fact that God created us and God loves us-- all of us. None of us is more worthy than anyone else, because each one of us is precious to God.
When we forget this, and when we begin measuring our neighbors' worth by some standard other than God's love for them, we are accepting God's grace-- offered freely to us in Christ-- in vain. We are called to offer God's grace to the world as freely as it was offered to us, and yet, so often we fall short. We fall short in our families. We fall short in our churches. We fall short in our communities. Reconciliation is dependent upon free-flowing grace, coming from God and pouring into the world through us-- the Body of Christ.
As you prepare for worship this Sunday, take some time to pray over Paul's plea that we not accept God's grace in vain. In what ways have we failed to share the grace that was freely given to us? What excuses have we used for holding back? Where do we need to extend grace to our neighbors, and where do we need to repent and ask our neighbors to extend grace to us? What work do we need to ask God to do in our hearts so that we might be better agents of God's grace and reconciliation in a hurting world?
Peace,
Amy
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