Being Reconciled

            I am a fan of the television show, How I Met Your Mother, and the whole premise of the show is the story of how one of the main characters (Ted Mosbey) tells the story to his future children of how he met their mom.  One of the running themes that runs through out the show is his on again off again relationship with Robin Scherbatsky.  We know from the intro of the show that Scherbatsky is not Ted’s wife, and in the current season, Scherbatsky is engaged to Barney.  The last episode, I was it with the reality that this show has eschalogical tendencies to it.  There is the whole idea of being in the present here and now, and still having future hope.  It is something that we are waiting for, but it is not here yet. 

            As a Christian we have this future hope of God coming in and not only making all things right, but making all things new.  It could be a process of waiting for God to come set up His Kingdom whether here on earth or to take us away to paradise.  This is a cool idea, but there are two things that are troubling if we are waiting for this to happen.  The first one is that we just sit on our hands and pray that God comes quickly to kick out all the bad guys.  Secondly, we develop an escapist theology, and we hope and pray for God to come and take us out of this mess.  It is a feeling that the world isn’t anything more than a hell hole and isn’t worth saving.  But, there is good news, there is another option, and it is not the easiest option, but in the end, it is the best option and something we are commanded to do.  We are called to be priest to a broken and dark world. 

Author and theologian NT Wright gives us a third option in His book Evil and the Justice of God. 

The Church is not to be so focused on being the community of the saved, but the church is a community of those who being redeemed through the cross, are now to be a kingdom and priest to serve God and to reign on the earth

            What NT Wright is not only calling Christians on an individual basis, but the church as a whole is to stop using Christianity as fire insurance.  Our faith is more than just accepting Jesus as our Savior and trolling along in life until we die or He comes back.  What NT Wright is saying is that our salvation is a work in progress.  Before I go on, I am not saying that our salvation and God’s love is based on our works, but our works should be based on what Christ redemptive work on the cross.  The cross takes care of our past and provides hope for a future.  The cross is the power of God in not only providing salvation, but hope to a broken world. 

            Just as Christ is our intercessor before God, Christ has given us that challenge to be that to a broken world.  The Lords prayer tells us Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  God’s kingdom is providing redemption and reconciliation by and through the cross to His creation.  Not only does the power of the cross provide reconciliation with God and us, in which we are to work out in fear and trembling, but it also provides reconciliation with us and others.  As Christians, we are not to sit on the sidelines watching the world go somewhere in a hand basket waiting for God to show up.  Not only is God already in the world, but He is working in us and through us.    We have the power of the resurrected Savior, so why not use it and share it with everyone. 

            To finish up with the How I Met Your Mother theme, God gives us a future hope that He will come again and we are the Bridegroom.  All will be complete and right in the world, when Christ returns.  In the meantime, we are called to live our lives in the here and now.  In essence because we have a future hope, it should change how we live our lives today.