The Task of Reconciliation

From Bread for the Journey, by Henri Nouwen

What is our task in this world as children of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus?
Our task is reconciliation.
Wherever we go we see divisions among people - in families, communities, cities, countries, and continents.
All these divisions are tragic reflections of our separation from God.
The truth that all people belong together as members of one family under God is seldom visible.
Our sacred task is to reveal that truth in the reality of everyday life.

Why is that our task?
Because God sent Christ to reconcile us with God and to give us the task of reconciling people with one another.
As people reconcile with God through Christ we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).
So whatever we do the main question is, Does it lead to reconciliation among people?

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To the degree that we accept that through Christ we ourselves have been reconciled with God we can be messengers of reconciliation for others.
Essential to the work of reconciliation is a nonjudgmental presence.
We are not sent to the world to judge, to condemn, to evaluate, to classify, or to label. When we walk around as if we have to make up our mind about people and tell them what is wrong with them and how they should change, we will only create more division.
Jesus says it clearly: "Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge; ... do not condemn; ... forgive" (Luke 6:36-37).

In a world that constantly asks us to make up our minds about other people, a nonjudgmental presence seems nearly impossible.
But it is one of the most beautiful fruits of a deep spiritual life and will be easily recognized by those who long for reconciliation.

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When we are free from the need to judge or condemn, we can become safe places for people to meet in vulnerability and take down the walls that separate them.
Being deeply rooted in the love of God, we cannot help but invite people to love one another.
When people realise that we have no hidden agendas or unspoken intentions, that we are not trying to gain any profit for ourselves, and that our only desire is for peace and reconciliation, they may find the inner freedom and courage to leave their guns at the door and enter into conversation with their enemies.

Many this happens even without our planning.
Our ministry of reconciliation most often takes place when we ourselves are least aware of it.
Our simple, nonjudgmental presence does it.

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Reconciliation is much more than a one-time event by which a conflict is resolved and peace established.
A ministry of reconciliation goes far beyond problem solving, mediation, and peace agreements.
There is not a moment in our lives without the need for reconciliation.
When we dare to look at the myriad hostile feelings and thoughts in our hearts and minds, we will immediately recognize the many little and big wars in which we take part.
Our enemy can be a parent, a child, a "friendly" neighbor, people with different lifestyles, people who do not think as we think, speak as we speak, or act as we act.
They all can become "them."
Right there is where reconciliation is needed.

Reconciliation touches the most hidden parts of our souls.
God gave reconciliation to us as a ministry that never ends.

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One of the hardest things in life is to let go of old hurts.

We often say, or at least think: "What you did to me and my family, my ancestors, or my friends I cannot forget or forgive. ... One day you will have to pay for it."

Sometimes our memories are decades, even centuries, old and keep asking for revenge.

Holding people's faults against them often creates an impenetrable wall.

But listen to Paul: "For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God's work" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

Indeed, we cannot let go of old hurts, but God can.

Paul says: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone's fault against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

It is God's work, but we are God's ministers, because the God who reconciled the world to God entrusted to us "the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

This message calls us to let go of old hurts in the Name of God.

It is the message our world most needs to hear.

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