2 Corinthians 6:1–13
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1).
We are God’s co-laborers in the work of reconciliation. Paul is describing his own ministry in 2 Corinthians 6, and yet we have the same calling to work together with God.
In the preceding verses (2 Cor 5:11-21), Paul writes that God has reconciled all people to God’s self through Christ. Our relationship with God has been restored, and God is not counting our trespasses against us. This is grace. And, as new creations in Christ, we are able to respond to God’s grace with faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). We have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18), the ministry of restoring our relationships with each other.
If we deny the restoration of relationships, though, we accept God’s grace in vain (2 Cor 6:1). When we isolate people in prison, when we put our neighbors in cages, we deny them opportunities for healing and reconciliation. Rather than sharing the grace we have received, we put obstacles – physical boundaries – in their way. But our calling is to reject the practices of punishment, and receive this ministry of reconciliation. Our calling is to work together with God in the healing of relationships.
Our invitation, then, is the same as Paul’s invitation to the Corinthians: to open wide our hearts. This work of reconciliation isn’t easy; we will endure afflictions, hardships, and labors (2 Cor 6:5-10). Opening our hearts to our trespassers isn’t easy.; we will require patience, kindness, and genuine love (2 Cor 6:6). But we are reminded that we are empowered and enabled by the grace and power of God who listens to us and helps us (2 Cor 6:2).
This week, how is God inviting us to participate, to work alongside God, in this ministry of reconciliation?
Jed Tate is a Methodist pastor in North Carolina.