Bring Back Together

Genesis 32:22 - 33:11; 50:15-21

Matthew 25: 31-40

Luke 10: 25-37

The Old Testament stories today both tell us how long-term sibling rivalries end up in reconciliation.

The word re-conciliation, includes the Latin word “conciliare”, or, to bring together, and “re-“, or again. So reconciliation means “to bring back together, or to bring together again. To come together after a separation.

These aren’t the only two stories of sibling rivalry with Biblical connections, but they don’t all end up in reconciliation.

We heard about how Jacob and Esau reconcile, and then how Joseph and his brothers reconcile.

But what about the two brothers in the parable of the prodigal son? The son who came home after squandering his inheritance is reconciled with his father, but where the parable ends, the older, obedient son sounds like he is estranged with his brother and potentially his father as well.

And what about Isaac and Ishmael, two half-brothers and sons of Abraham? Each of them founded a great nation and peoples – and they are still rivals today. There are many examples of Muslims and Jews, Muslims and Christians who practice and reflect reconciliation and peace, but there is still much enmity and rivalry as well.

We don’t have to agree in order to reconcile.

We can still see the world differently.

Reconciliation is not about winning or losing.

It is about stepping across the invisible boundary lines we create, the lines that separate us from our less known or less understood brothers or sisters. The lines that separate us from our enemies, even.

What are the boundary lines you have set?

What types of people are “over your line”?

And what happens when you think of them as you think of your own sister or brother?

It doesn’t mean you have to like them or agree with them.

And you don’t have to fix them or change them.

Reconciliation is the act of accepting that in God, we are all family, and that God deeply desires for us all to come back together.

God wants this so much, in fact, that God came to earth to live among us and to show us how it’s done.

But more than that –

God accepted rejection and death on a cross in order to bring us back together – to save us all – to cause us to see ourselves as equal with one another, with all people – to redeem us from the laws that we used to separate ourselves from one another.

The purpose of God’s laws was to make our lives together better; not to give us a basis to draw boundary lines between one another, to separate us from one another, to create and maintain rivalries between us. We took the laws and misused them in that way, manipulated them for our own win/lose, for our own competitiveness, to justify ourselves as superior to “the other”.

So God came down – and took on all of our sin AND all of our suffering – for all time – by suffering and dying on the cross, and then by conquering death, so that death would no longer have the last word for us. So that we could cross that boundary line, too, without fear.

The Confession of 1967 is all about reconciliation. In its opening words, we hear this: “In Jesus Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.” And later, this: “The church disperses to serve God wherever its members are, at work or play, in private or in the life of society….Their daily action in the world is the church in mission to the world. The quality of their relation with other persons is the measure of the church’s fidelity.”

The quality of our relations with other persons is THE measure of the church’s fidelity, its faithfulness. If we are looking for success measures for the church, this confession gives us one – that faithfulness of the church, of its members, is measured by the quality of our relations with other persons.

The good news of salvation is the good news of reconciliation. In Christ, God reconciles us to God’s self. God forgives us, redeems us, and brings us back together, back in right relationship with God and with one another. The kingdom of god is where we all come back together again – and it is not way off in some distant future – it is here and now if we choose to be part of it.

It was impossible to watch the Michigan / Michigan State game yesterday and not think about sibling rivalry – especially since the sports commentators continue to bring up the unfortunate statement that U of M player Mike Hart made eight years ago, calling MSU “our little brother”.  Surely that has helped to keep the fires of competition and rivalry going between these two teams, although they would burn brightly even if that had never been said. Because football is about rivalry. It’s about win / lose. It is pure competition. There is no place for reconciliation. I saw Stan Iobst post on Facebook about the headache he was getting, having rival family members in his house watching the game together.

The line of scrimmage is a lot like the boundary lines we draw, to separate ourselves from others. We work hard in football, in rivalry, to defend those lines, or to advance ourselves beyond them and push the “others” further and further back.

What boundaries, what bright lines do we draw, in order to say “I will not cross this line” – or else “you shall not pass this line”.

Perhaps when it comes to caring for the poor, as Jesus calls us to do, a line we draw might be “they first need to do their part and work for it, to deserve whatever help they might get”.

Perhaps when is about violence, a line we draw might be “it’s acceptable in the case of self-defense”.

Perhaps when it’s about politics, a line we draw might be “it’s important to vote, but don’t talk in the pulpit about issues that have political implications or connections”.

What does reconciliation look like with respect to these sorts of lines?

Reconciliation does not require agreement, or consensus, or even making amends. It does require mutual respect, and compassion, and acceptance of the person as beloved of God, as worthy of redemption, every bit as much as we are worthy. And we are worthy of redemption – God has made it so.

Christ stepped over every line, and abolished them through the cross. Christ removed the conditions for us, so we do not have to worry or fear any of those distinctions anymore.

Again – sisters and brothers – do you agree on everything? Do you have to, in order to love one another?

Did Joseph have to decide his brothers were justified in their behavior? No.

Did Jacob have any ability to pay back to Esau what he had lost by Jacob stealing his birthright, the blessing that Isaac intended for Esau? No.

Did the Good Samaritan expect he would get any sort of payback for his money, his time, his kindness given to the man he found beaten on the side of the road? No.

Revenge means I will pay you back for whatever harm you have done to me, real or perceived, deserved or undeserved.

Reconciliation means I will meet you right where you are, and invite you to go forward with me together.  Reconciliation means we will reflect for others the face of God, so they can see how much God loves them, through our life, our words, our deeds. Let us go and do likewise, as Jesus told the lawyer through the parable. Let us go forth and be God’s reconcilers, showing mercy, trusting in the grace of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.