Reconciled Ministers of Reconciliation

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.

This fall, we're studying the book of Second

Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt

and practical book calling us back to the life

of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often

pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering,

hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel

of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after

a cross. comfort comes after being crushed, that

the way up is the way down, that the way to glory

is through suffering, that his strength is made

perfect in our weakness. We'd love to meet you

and we hope you'll consider coming and joining

with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. in the

heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find us

online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook,

Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this

sermon. God bless. Lord, thank you for the wonder

that is this passage, but even more what it speaks

of. God, you and Christ, we're reconciling world

to yourself, not counting our sins against us.

You're the great lover who pursues the runaway.

Our estrangement that our sin has created distance

Distance is no obstacle to your love. Great reconciler.

God, I pray that our hearts would be warm towards

yours this morning. God, bless now the preaching

of your word. Bless the words of my mouth and

the meditations of all of our hearts. May they

be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and

our Redeemer. Amen. All right. There are some

events in our lives that radically change us,

that define who we are, and they define what

we are about. They make such a shift that in

some ways we are new people. Of course, this

doesn't happen a lot, going from one way of being

in the world into a new way of being in the world.

But you can think of some of those. Marriage.

in a very real way, you come in two people, the

Bible says, and you leave one. We change names

and things like that, but according to the Bible,

there's actually a more radical change that's

taking place. Coming in singular, going out,

coming in plural, going out singular, it's a

redefining kind of thing. I mentioned last week,

the young man who has mentors and parents and

teachers encouraging him to wake up a little

earlier. to apply for certain jobs and all of

a sudden so -and -so comes into his life and

he has all of the energy he ever needed to get

all that stuff done. Think of having a child.

Your time and your money and all that seemed

to be yours. To do it as you pleased. Moments

later, a birth later, no more. In 1492, that

famous year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue,

there were two prominent Irish families, the

Ormans and the Kildares. They were both earls

of rulers and they were in the middle of this

feud. Fitzgerald had besieged, Fitzgerald was

the Earl of Kildare and he had besieged Butler,

the Earl of Ormand. And Butler actually took

refuge in that famous church in Dublin, St. Patrick's

Cathedral, which is the main cathedral in the

Church of Ireland. And what they did is they

actually bolted themselves in for fear of the

Earl of Kildare. Well, as this siege went on,

the Earl of Kildare came to this conclusion that

this is a foolish feud. Two families worshiping

the same God, worshiping in the same church,

in St. Patrick's itself, and they're literally

trying to kill each other. So he called out,

there's actually an inscription there at St.

Patrick's to this day, undertook on his honor

that he should receive no villainy. Spelt V I

L L A N I E it's old. So he's saying I'm not

gonna do this on my honor I'm not going to come

after you not gonna Go after villainy of course

Ormond what happens when somebody's out to get

you and they say I'm not gonna go I'm not gonna

harm you Like yeah, right. I'll think so. So

he's not so sure and he's afraid of this treachery

and so So he doesn't respond he's inside st.

Patrick's and kill there the story goes he seizes

his spear and he actually cuts in the door a

window inside this door Into the great Cathedral

of st. Patrick's. Well, I should say it's the

chapter house. So it wasn't like the main door

there and He thrusts his hand through rust his

hand through this hole that he he cuts open and

it's grasped on the other side by the Earl of

Ormond. It's this great sort of picture of this

reconciliation that's coming to realize how foolish

sin is. It's actually where we get the phrase,

chancing one's arm, this gesture of will it be

received. At that moment though, in that act,

of moving out towards, these families were entirely

changed. Just in that moment, that act of reconciliation,

lives were changed. Let me tell you of another

story that radically changed somebody. One of

the great New Testament scholars of the mid 20th

century was a scholar named R .V. G. Tasker.

He said this, man's greatest need is to know

man's greatest need. Man's greatest need is to

know man's greatest need. Tasker was a professor

of New Testament at the University of London,

and he was on the committee that translated one

of the great New Testament or the Bibles. He

was over the New Testament part of the 20th century,

the New English Bible. He was one of the great

recognized authorities in the mid century in

England of the New Testament. He wrote one of

the more well -known commentaries on the Gospel

of John. Anyway, he would later come to say that

even while he was doing this, he had no regard

for Christ. Very sort of interested in Christ

in a worldly way, but little regard for Christ

as his savior. He was actually an Anglican minister.

And he went on to talk to his friend about how

his sermons themselves had no real regard for

Christ as Savior. He didn't believe his greatest

need was to know his greatest need early on in

his ministry. He didn't believe himself to be

in need of a new creation, a new heart, the forgiveness

of sins, all that stuff. He didn't believe he

was alienated from God. How passe all that was.

He didn't believe he was doomed apart from Christ's

reconciling work. He didn't believe he was estranged

from God because of his sin. And then one night

he actually went sort of out of interest to the

Christian Union, which was kind of like a inner

varsity or RUF there at the University of London,

because there was a famous preacher that was

going to give the message that night. It was

the preacher Martin Lloyd Jones. Some of you

know that name. He was a great preacher in London

in really a while in the mid century. Anyway,

he went to hear Martin Lloyd -Jones, and he said

that his life that night was, quote, revolutionized

by the address. Revolutionized. He was changed.

Literally, as though it was sort of an overnight

thing. That moment, hearing that message, changed

his life. He came to see himself as a sinner,

as distant from God, in need of grace. as someone

actually ruined by sin, made new and part of

the new creation, said his greatest need was

to know his greatest need. And here's something

interesting. Well, much of the faculty there

at the University of London were his buddies

and were sort of in the same camp he was in.

And they ostracized him for this. So many of

his academic colleagues became his critics. How

could this educated man buy into such dated ideas?

But it changed him. Overnight it changed him.

It came to define him. Give new purpose to his

life. He was brought near to God by grace that

night. He also actually ended up losing his position

there at the University of London. He was ostracized

academically, proclaiming this sort of new reality

of faith and sin and the cross. Paul knew this

reality, of course, Paul the apostle. He knew

how foolish and oftentimes offensive and sometimes

it was considered uneducated, not something to

boast about, the gospel of Jesus was. Paul knew

how getting the good news of the reconciling

gospel of Christ sometimes puts you outside.

It changes us and yet it sometimes makes people

look askance at you. Paul knew that there was

nothing out of date about sin or God's grace

or Christ's sacrifice. And so he keeps applying

it all the time in his letters, right? Think

about Paul's story. The first time Paul is mentioned

is at the end of chapter seven in the book of

Acts. Chapter seven tells us about how Stephen,

who was a leader in the early church there, he's

being stoned to death because it says he was

full of grace and power, but the leaders there

in the early church didn't want anything of it

because he was preaching this reality of what

God had done in Christ, the need for repentance

and new life and faith. They claimed that he

was blaspheming because he was saying Jesus is

Lord. He was grabbed, you might know this story,

and brought out from out of the city. And he

was there stoned. And there is a religious leader

standing there collecting the garments of those

who are stoning Stephen. And it says there that

that was Paul. That's the first time he's mentioned.

He's a chief. He's a leader. He's a leader against

the way of Jesus seeking their harm. The next

chapter actually right away almost begins again

telling us the story of Paul. There it says,

he approved of his, that's Stephen's execution.

That's the first, just the beginning of the next

chapter. And then it mentions that he was ravaging

the church and entering house after house. He

dragged off men and women and committed them

to prison. You know that story. Maybe you also

know that that is how Paul's life was defined

in that moment. How he could harm the church

of Christ. How much he disdained this idea that

God himself would come down and die on a cross

and that he would offer this lavish forgiveness

to sinners. How much he disdained that and yet

it all changed. Acts 9, the next chapter, the

very beginning of Acts 9, it tells us that he

was breathing threats and murder against the

disciples of the Lord. I imagine just somebody

that's so angry that, you know, that vein starts

to bulge. Can't stand this idea of Christ and

his followers. And so he asks the leaders there

if he can go to Damascus. and find those who

devoted themselves to the way of Jesus and bind

them and bring them back to Jerusalem and put

them on trial and have the same sentence that

Stephen got. And there on the road, there on

the road in a moment, Jesus meets him and his

life is utterly changed. Walking one way and

all of a sudden he is a new man. Jesus blinds

him. He actually says, why are you persecuting

me? There's such a union between Christ and his

church there in that passage. He says, why are

you persecuting me? When he persecutes the church,

Jesus blinds him. He tells him to go to the very

people that he hates to receive his sight. But

in that moment, he comes to see his sin and he

has reconciliation. with God in Christ. The very,

the very thing that he most hated, the very thing

that he would say he's farthest from, he's brought

near to. He's given peace and new life. Utterly

changed. We're in this second half of Second

Corinthians chapter five, and some, some believe

that this is the the most comprehensive statement

about the work of Christ in Paul's writing. It's

certainly, like I said earlier, this is one of

those passages that I hope you know well. The

great statement of Christ's death in Paul's writing.

But Paul is saying in part that Christ's work

changed him, radically changed him. And he's

also saying the same thing can happen to you.

As the Ormans and the Kildares, they were changed

in a moment of reconciliation and their lives

and their families' lives and their community

life was changed, you can be too. As Tasker was

changed in a moment by hearing and seeing his

need for Christ utterly changed, you can be too.

As Paul went from being so estranged from God

and at enmity with so many others, and yet changed,

you can be too. Receiving the new creation, the

reconciling work of God. Paul's ministry was

different, different than the other people there

among the Corinthians. We're gonna talk about

this a little bit. He says, because I am different.

He's a different being, new creation. And therefore

the ministry is different. Paul, we can say this,

okay. Paul was a reconciler because he had been

reconciled. First, he was Paul the reconciler.

If you open up your Bibles with me to the second

Corinthians chapter five, verse 11, it starts

this way. Therefore, knowing the fear of the

Lord, we persuade others. We persuade others.

Okay, Paul was this chief Pharisee, right? He

was a Jewish religious leader. He had been taught

by Gamaliel. He was one of the great teachers

of his day. So he had the highest credentials.

If there was anyone, he gets into this later,

if there's anyone who could take pride in his

Jewishness and in his being so learned, being

part of the very people of God, take pride and

then look down on others. It was Paul. And yet

what he says here is that he persuades others

for the Lord. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we

persuade others. Okay, two things stand out here.

Who did he persuade? Well, we know all kinds

of people, right? But particularly Paul is known

as the apostle to the Gentiles. Which is to say,

Paul's ministry was centered on those who were

his enemies. Those who he would have at one time

disdained, looked down his nose at. His ministry

was to those who he had formerly considered outside

of the pale of God's kindness and grace. Paul

spent his life after that moment of encountering

Jesus, going from Philippi to Ephesus to Athens

to Corinth, preaching the good news of the forgiveness

of sins to the very people that he once thought

were outside of God's grace. So when he says,

persuade others, saying that he is the reconciler.

Paul is acting in this ministry of reconciliation

as the reconciler. But he also says that he was

doing this knowing the fear of the Lord, which

in the Bible you have to understand fear is not

just so much cower, you know, cowering, but fear

is being in awe of. It's the grandeur of God.

Paul was in awe of a God who had met him when

he was breathing out hatred for that very God.

Paul himself, what we should say is this fear

of God, he was in awe first of the grace of God.

Paul himself knew that God saves sinners because

he knew that he himself had been a sinner saved

by God. Paul is a reconciler because he persuades

others who he had once been at odds with. who

he had once hated. So right here at the beginning,

when he says he's persuades others, you have

to go, okay, he's talking about reconciliation,

but he's also a reconciler because he desires

reconciliation specifically with the Corinthian

church. This is something we've been seeing actually

the first four chapters. Part of the intent of

this book of second Corinthians is that Paul

is still over in Troas. Remember he's waiting

for word from Titus and he's wondering how they've

received his former admonitions. And now there's

these new teachers that have come in and Paul

sort of estranged from this from this church,

which he loves. We've been talking about this

for a little while, but they've been led astray

specifically by those who were eloquent, by those

who had the letters of recommendation, by those

who hadn't gone through the afflictions of Christ

like Paul has. And in that world, to receive

all these afflictions like Paul had and to not

have the letters of recommendation, you would

have not been the ones that anyone would boast

of. He'd be the one that was pushed aside. So

sort of estranged from the people. And so in

verse 12, he acknowledges that the church there

in Corinth is inclined to boast about these other

leaders and not about him. That's what's going

on with the boasting stuff there. He's also acknowledging

that as far as appearance goes, he's not much

to boast about. Verse 13, he says that he makes

himself beside himself for God, which interestingly

the message, Eugene Peterson's translation says,

I acted a little crazy, but he says not with

them. And why? Because what he desires is to

be reconciled with them. He knows that if he's

just going crazy, he's feeling this estrangement

between him and them. He goes to God and goes,

ah, this is driving me nuts. But he knows if

he goes to them, they're not going to receive

that very well. And so he's trying to kind of

win them back. What I'm trying to say here is

that in this talk about boasting, in this talk

about being crazy and all beside himself, he's

trying to move towards them in reconciliation.

OK. Think about this. What is radical about the

Ormans and the Kildares? is that we are so disinclined

to move towards others when they are moving away

from us. Or we should say we're disinclined to

get close to those who have their swords drawn,

right? Isn't this just how we function? I mean,

if somebody is kind of moving away, we're like,

well, I don't know that it's worth it to move

towards you. If you've got your swords up, I

don't know that I can move towards you. Or if

you're so bent on this other teacher, I don't

know, just go along with them. That's kind of

our human inclination, right? It's hard to pursue.

It's hard to reconcile with others when they

have their walls up and when they have their

swords drawn. But that's what Paul is doing right

here. He is living out this ministry of reconciliation

with this church that is estranged from him.

So we see Paul as a reconciler in his ministry

through who he persuades, right? Others specifically

the Gentiles who he was once at odds with But

also what we see is that he's living this ministry

of reconciliation as the reconciler and how he

persuades right here in this text He's seeking

to actually bring close those who are far off

from him relationally We also see Paul as a reconciler

in his ministry Because of what his ministry

has concluded so we see it in the who? Right?

The Gentiles who see it in the how, even in his

writing right here, he's seeking to bring that

which is far off this Corinthian church near

to him, but also in the what that he has concluded

by his ministry. And that's this. Christ has

died for all. Well, for the love of Christ controls

us because we've concluded this. that one has

died for all, therefore all have died, and he

died for all that those who live might no longer

live for themselves, but for him who for their

sake died and was raised. So here's a question

I have. How do you press into the life, into

life with another when you think that other person

is too far gone? You know what I mean by that?

Like, if you think there's no hope of having

a real relationship with this person, are you

going to put any effort into that? No, you're

not. Okay. How do you go to another who you're

at odds with when you really think the relationship

is utterly dead? There is zero hope of that relationship.

You're not going to go after that person. I think

if we really come to the point where we think

there is no hope in a relationship, we'll just

divorce the relationship, right? Utterly cut

ties, sever all ties with that person. But Paul

says here that he has this ministry of reconciliation

because he's concluded that there's nobody that's

beyond the pale. There's not one relationship

that you have in this life that doesn't have

the possibility of being mended and made lovely.

Not one. So the love of Christ controls him.

And the love of Christ shows, what does the love

of Christ show? Nobody is outside the possibility

of God's love utterly changing them. No one.

No sin is so great that Christ cannot conquer

that, that Christ's righteousness cannot cover

that. There's no sin that pushes you so far away

from the Lord that what Christ did on the cross

cannot bring you close. Think about this. Think

again about the book of Acts. So Paul might be

thinking back on his life. And as he does this,

he thinks about how radical God's grace is and

how variant it is in terms of who he calls to

himself. So you think back on Acts and there

at that first Pentecost, 3 ,000 people give their

lives to Christ. And those were devout Jews.

They were there at Pentecost because Pentecost

was the day when you celebrated the law being

given there on Mount Sinai, right? 50 days after

God's people had been brought out from slavery

in Egypt at Passover. So 50 days after Easter,

there are all these devout Jews there in Jerusalem

and they're hearing this message and they were

devout. They wouldn't believe in this idea that

God would take on flesh and die on a tree. And

yet 3000 of them that day gave their life to

following Jesus. Fast forward Acts chapter eight,

Simon from Samaria, who's known as Simon the

sorcerer. He finds out what What happens when

the Holy Spirit descends on somebody and he's

a sorcerer and he's like, man, if I could get

some of that power, I could also get some money

wanting to use God, like the televangelist before

televangelist. And the Holy Spirit does grab

on him and his life's changed. Repents, receives

the reconciling work of God through Christ. Think

about that same chapter. That's the next little

story. Ethiopian eunuch. Man who is high up in

the court of Candice, Queen of Ethiopia. Somebody

with a great deal of power. And there, seemingly

in an instant, along the road, Philip shares

with him about Christ and his life dramatically

changed. believes and is baptized. Think of Acts

Acts 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10. Cornelius is called a Roman centurion,

a leader in the Roman army. Think of Lydia, fabulously

wealthy, a merchant in purple. Almost everybody

believes, right, that the early church would

have been largely founded by her means. Fabulously

wealthy woman. Gives her life to Jesus. Think

there also, and Philippi. Who else gives their

life to Jesus? A jailer. Y 'all, nobody. I mean,

Paul's saying, you know, we are estranged, and

yet I know that Christ dies for all. There's

nobody that's outside of the pale. You are never

so far away from God that the work of Christ

cannot bring you close. Ever. You can think back

of his own ministry. Think how variant all these

people were. What Paul's ministry had concluded

was that one has died for all, therefore all

have died. And he died, those who live might

no longer live for themselves. But for him who

died, who for their sake died and was raised.

There's no one, no one at all outside the possibility

of the reconciling work of God. Which first you

need to hear you are not I know sometimes it

is we think we are so defined By the ways we've

sinned by the ways that others have sinned against

us that marks us No, you can change it's on offer

for you, but also what you need to hear is that

others can change I mean, Paul is inviting this

community into this life of reconciliation with

himself and with others. And if you can remember

back to 1 Corinthians, you know, this is the

divided church in the New Testament. And your

brother and your sister are never so far gone

that reconciliation is not on the table. Your

greatest, your most heinous sin, your rebellion

against God does not mean you're outside of the

scope of God's reconciling work. Now, here's

an interesting thing is that I think for a lot

of us in our day, we actually have more of an

inflated view of self than a diminished view

of self, right? There's some communities that

say, oh, there's no way God could save me. And

in our world, for the most part, we're like,

well, we're doing all right. So let me share

with you a few statistics I read about a report.

90 % of American business managers rate their

performance as superior. 86 % of employees rate

themselves better than average. Among divorced

couples, 90 % insist the breakup was their spouse's

fault. 89 % can't be above average. It just doesn't

really work that way. We have an unrealistically

high view of ourselves. But on the other hand,

that means that we also have an unrealistically

low view often of our neighbor. There's no way

that God could be at work in them. There's no

way that we could be reconciled to them. But

here's the truth, y 'all. We don't love our neighbors

as ourselves. That's the second, you know, the

commandment there. There's no way that we do

that. None of us remotely lives up to God's calling

on our lives. We don't love God as we ought to.

No way. Not even close. We are committing transgressions

against the Lord sins against the true God all

the time Let's do a couple other statistics 86

% of Americans admit to lying to their parents

75 % of lying to a friend 73 % of lying to a

lover Only 11 % say that lying produced any serious

level of guilt or embarrassment. 74 % say they

will steal if they can get away with it. Who

are we kidding? We have an inflated view of self

and yet sin just pervades. And yet no one is

outside of the pale. of God's redeeming, reconciling

grace, not one of you and not one of your neighbor.

This little paragraph gives us insight into Paul's

ministry of reconciliation, like who he pursued,

how he pursued, what he concluded in these pursuits,

right? That nobody's outside the possibility

of God's grace, which means he can't treat people

like he once did. You can't treat people like

you once did. You can't dismiss somebody as not

having the possibility of change, as having the

possibility of revolutionized transformation.

You can't regard what Paul says. We can't regard

anybody according to the flesh anymore. That's

what he's saying. We once regarded Christ according

to the flesh and he rose from the dead. The world

doesn't work as we thought it did. God changes

us. Why is this? Why does Paul have this ministry

of reconciliation? Okay. Paul was a reconciler

because first and foremost, he is one who had

been reconciled. Again, if you think with me,

some of you know, some of you were probably being

attentive. And when I said that Paul was first

mentioned in Acts chapter seven, and then I read

Paul, you were like, why is he misquoting that?

Because Paul's not mentioned there, is he? Who's

mentioned there in chapter seven? Paul. Yeah.

Saul was mentioned there. But that's his old

name. The name that he bared no more. Because

why? Paul was a new creation. The old, even in

his name, was gone. The old, the news come. Paul

was a reconciler because he had been reconciled.

Paul could declare that if anyone is in Christ,

he's a new creation because he himself knew that

He's a new creation. He's totally new. That old

guy's gone. Behold, news come. He can say this,

from now on, therefore, we regard no one according

to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ

according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no

longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He's

a new creation. Old, it's passed away. I think

that's for me. Behold, the news come for me.

And all this is from God. who through Christ

reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry

of reconciliation. See, he's not just saying

it's out there. He's saying it's changed me.

I am new. For our sake. Therefore, we are ambassadors.

Personalized reality. Sorry, I think I'm confused

with where I'm at now. Brothers and sisters,

here through this second paragraph, Paul can

say, it is us. We, we implore you. We have been

reconciled. We are ambassadors, God making his

appeal through us. For our sake, he made him

to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we

might become the righteousness of God. See, there's

something deeply lovely about a true reconciliation,

about a true hope that says nobody is outside

the pale of God's grace. But Paul is saying that

first and foremost because he has received this

reconciliation. He who once knew sin has become

the righteousness of God because Christ who knew

no sin became sin that Paul might become the

righteousness of God. Here's what Paul's saying.

If you want to have energy, if you want to have

a hope beyond what is fleshly possible, that

your relationships, that your lives can actually

change, that the people that you once thought

were so far off and beyond the pale could actually

have new life, that you could have a different

relationship with them. If you want to have this

kind of deep abiding hope, what Paul says is

be reconciled to God. That our greatest need

is to know our greatest need. That we first need

a Savior. That our sin first needs to be dealt

with. That we need to be reconciled. Brothers

and sisters, if you want to have, you want a

new life. You want something that redefines you.

What Paul says is, be reconciled to God. Look

your sin square in the face and then cast it

on the cross. Be done with it. See, that was

once a fleshly way of living. That was the old

man. And in Christ, I have a new hope. a new

life. What Paul is saying to the Second Corinthians

Church is we are, we're far off here, but we

are not beyond the scope of God's grace. In order

to understand this scope of God's grace, we must

know that our sin was taken upon Christ on the

cross and he gives us this very righteousness.

Let me end there, brothers and sisters, with

this word. I say I instead of we, I implore you

on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Let

me pray for us. Lord, I think of these stories

of Tasker, I think of these stories of utter

transformation, but we can hear Paul's own story

in this text. Considering others according to

the flesh, but no longer once living according

to the old man and now according to the new once

an old creation and now a new creation God would

we Know your reconciling work would we know that

sin as strangers? sin creates distant Distance,

but the cross because it deals with sin draws

us near to you and to one another Reconciling

God. Make us, like you did to Paul long ago,

ministers of reconciliation. May we enter into

relationships with one another. May we enter

into evangelistic conversations with hope, knowing

that people can radically change, that we don't

have to be defined by our sin anymore. He who

knew no sin became sin. that it doesn't have

to define us anymore, but that what defines us

is the righteousness of God given to us through

the work of Christ. In His name we pray this.

Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City

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podcast and joining us in person each Sunday

at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch

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Thanks again for listening. God bless.