2 Cor. 5:20b–6:10
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see– we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for the Western Church and services typically focus on our vulnerability and need for repentance. In this passage Paul entreats the Corinthian church to be reconciled with God in order to become “the righteousness of God.” Paul states that there is “no obstacle” put in their way. Even though they are subject to persecution and ridicule, they remain steadfast, patient, loving, and honest. They seem like they have nothing, but they have everything; they are being punished and subject to sorrow, but they are alive and joyful. On Ash Wednesday this passage raises these questions: How does God make the way for reconciliation? Why does our reconciliation make us “the righteousness of God?” What does it mean to refrain from putting obstacles in the way of reconciliation? And finally, what is so counter-intuitive about what the Christians are steadfastly offering and embodying?
Beginning with the call to repentance on Ash Wednesday as a step towards being reconciled–that is put back into right relationship–we might highlight the way that dehumanizing punishment represented by prison and policing stands in the way of accountability and repentance. When the wages of sin are akin to death, even taking accountability and repenting can not lead to reconciliation. God makes the way for reconciliation by God’s faithfulness to offer grace in order to remove the obstacle of death-dealing punishment. In Romans 3:25, Paul says that it is God’s grace that demonstrates God’s righteousness. When we place our faith in that grace and are willing to honestly face the ways in which we are involved in harm in our communities, then we can begin to embody God’s righteousness in the world.
This is only true when it is made real in the world and in our communities, but the work of making it real is an uphill battle. Grace and repentance can be used by those who are strong in a community to revel in the freedom to abuse the weak. We regularly see today how grace and a concern for harsh punishment is invoked for young white male rapists, whereas law and order is invoked for Black women who have defended themselves against abuse. The call to remove the obstacle of incarceration through an emphasis on grace must never be used to remove the need for real repentance (turning away from harming behavior) and accountability (seeking to repair the damage done as much as possible). Grace, appropriately applied, makes way for the things necessary for reconciliation. It does not remove the need for honesty, behavioral change, and accountability.
What then is “God’s righteousness” and how does it relate to the “ill-repute” that Paul speaks of? God’s righteousness is not demonstrated by ignoring our sin, but by a commitment to remain in relationship with us, working for our healing and restoration. In a world where harm is so great, the commitment to remain in relationship on a societal level and work for the healing of both victims and perpetrators of harm (both of which is all of us) seems vulnerable and foolish. We are left open to feeling deep sorrow, to being further harmed or punished, to pouring out our monetary and energetic resources into a fruitless endeavor. Any individual who is not able to experience healing and restoration remains an indictment against God’s faithfulness to reconcile. We must remember then, that even the work of transformative justice, the work of seeking to abolish prisons and build new systems of accountability and reconciliation, is commended in and of itself because it builds our capacity to be people who are able to transform harm. This is what Paul means when he says that “they have commended themselves in every way.” Though the work seems foolish and leaves them vulnerable to harm, the work at the same time makes them more resilient and able to be a reconciling people.
On Ash Wednesday, we must remember that the call to trust in God’s grace and repent of sin is only the beginning of the work. It is a foundation for an entirely different way of achieving justice that stands opposed to any form of justice that relies on punishment and death. If we are to be reconciled with God and become “God’s righteousness,” then we are also called to do the work that “commends ourselves” in the face of great harm. We must work to abolish punitive systems and put in place systems of accountability that allow us to remain relationally connected.
Sarah Lynne Gershon (she/her) is an MDiv/MTS student, DOC pastor, and lives at the Bloomington Catholic Worker.