God's People: Unified, Gathered, and Reconciled

Today I want to comment on some Scripture passages which point us toward the  ministry of reconciliation.

Sometimes, even the nicest of people can become irritable. I am reminded of a bad, old, joke about a group of monks who had taken a vow of silence. However, each year on a monk’s birthday he could say one sentence at breakfast time. 

When one monk’s birthday came, he looked at his breakfast and said, “I don’t like oatmeal.”

When the next monk with a birthday got to say his sentence, he looked at the first monk and said, “I like oatmeal.”

Finally, a third monk got to say a sentence on his birthday, and looking at the other two said, “I’m tired of all this bickering over oatmeal!”

I said it was a bad joke. 

Sadly, the state of relationships in our country today is no joke. Divisions exist between people of different cultures, genders, faiths, and generations. Even more sadly, divisions and conflicts are also common between people with common cultures, genders, faiths, and generations. In observing news programs and various social media outlets it seems as if no one agrees with any one about anything.

As might be imagined, God has a different idea. Our God is not a God of dissension and confusion. Let me present just three passages of Scripture to support that assertion.

God Unifies:

Instead of dividing people, God unifies them in a common faith, as we see in Psalm 133:1-3:

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore. 

We all know that bad family relationships are often intractable and end badly (like the way that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery), but we also all know that a harmonious family is one of the most nurturing and supportive relationships known to humanity. 

The Psalmist describes the joy of living in such unified relationships very vividly. We can’t understand the full meaning of these similes today, but they obviously implied a joyous and intensely satisfying experience in the eyes of the author.

Clearly, God wants people to live in unity as the family of humankind, supporting one another, and loving Him, the one who provided us both temporal and eternal life.

God Gathers:

Instead of excluding people, God gathers all people to Himself who seek His face and accept His Sovereignty as we see in Isaiah 56:6-8:

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant--these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. 

The cultures of the Middle East have historically been known to be hospitable cultures. They have welcomed weary travelers from afar off, and offered them food, shelter, and rest. Sojourners would find the sustenance they needed to continue their journey from almost every household in the land. Isaiah, however, refers to a deeper, permanent reception on the part of God.

Our God not only helps sojourners on their way, He actually wants them to stay, and become a part of His kingdom, His household, His family. He receives their worship, hears their prayers, and makes them a part of His people. He accepts them, not as strangers to be fed and then sped away, but as integral members of His gathered flock. He is not only hospitable to them but also allows them to belong.

By its nature, ministry can be an itinerant calling. It is easy to become a “cut flower” without roots in the community where you reside and where you minister. This makes it all the sweeter when a church or a community embraces a pastor and his family and make them a true part of the fellowship and the fabric of local society. While most people can’t imagine how this feels, I can, because I have experienced it, and it is awesome. The thing is, our acceptance and embrace by God is so much more awesome, words are inadequate to describe the wonder of that blessing!

God Reconciles:

Instead of pushing people away, God reconciles them to Himself and to each other as we see in Ephesians 3:13-20:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

Even a cursory observation of human behavior will reveal that people offend one another with their behavior. A cursory review of the Scriptures will reveal that people also offend God with their behavior. Many have also observed that when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments about half of them teach us how to behave towards God and the other half teaches us about how to behave towards each other. I think this fact reveals God’s heart.

It seems obvious that humans in the 21st Century have become more, not less judgmental. They have become more critical and less accepting of one another, and they often reject any attempts at reconciliation. If anyone has ever said, done, wrote, or thought anything that offends another, or if anyone has ever had an attitude, opinion, or political position with which another disagrees, that person is cancelled. Not only is the “they are dead to me!” attitude a prevalent response to conflict or offense, now it seems as if being merely “dead” is not enough. The offending person and anything they love must be utterly and completely destroyed. Sadly, this tendency is not just seen in secular culture, but can be found in churches as well. 

God, however, is a reconciling God. He sent His Uniquely Begotten Son to lay down His life to become a bridge between God and people and also to unite people in His reconciling love for us. Instead of utterly destroying us, God worked to repair the breech between Him and us, and between each other as well. 

When someone repents and confesses their sin, through Christ, God will forgive them as 1 John 1:9 tells us, “When we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If the God of the universe is willing to forgive us, should we not also forgive those who repent and confess their sins against us?

Not only does God reconcile, He has also given His people a ministry of reconciliation. Far from “cancelling” one another, God wants us to enjoy the fruits of a ministry of bringing brothers and sisters together in harmony and peace.

Conclusion:

As fractious as our society and churches are today, I know for a fact that people with ruptured relationships can be reconciled. 

Long ago in a church far away from where I now live, I worked with two church leaders who had developed a strong contention with each other. As their pastor, I was trying to help this congregation revitalize itself, and this situation had become disruptive to that effort, and besides that, I liked both of these men and it saddened me to see them alienated.

I am glad to say that I was able to bring them together, at a neutral site, and gently speak to them about their need to reconcile for the sake of the church and reputation of Christ. The Holy Spirit moved in their hearts, and they repented of their contention and agreed to cooperate for the good of all concerned. To my knowledge, they never became fast friends, but they were amicable, in addition to being important leaders that helped our church move forward.

Would to God that our churches and our nation would seize the vision of reconciliation!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt