New Converts and Culpability

Not only is it Trinity Sunday this weekend but it is also Healing and Reconciliation Sunday. Both are concepts hard to grasp or unsettling for lots of people. They require a response of some sort from us as we recognize how we interact with their reality.

Reading Acts 2:22-42 this year it stood out to me that the crowds listening to Peter’s speech have such an emotional response. When he tells them that they were the ones who crucified and killed Jesus, the Messiah sent by God, they are “cut to the heart”. Even with Peter’s side comment that this was all pre-ordained by God, so they were just fulfilling the long-term plan, they are clearly upset. They ask what they can do and Peter says to repent and be baptized in Jesus’ name so that their sins can be forgiven and they can receive the Holy Spirit.

There seems a pretty clear and trinitarian approach offered here - 1) admit that you hurt God, the Creator, who gave you life; 2) be baptized in the name of Jesus for forgiveness of the sin you’ve repented and turned from; and then 3) receive the Holy Spirit’s blessing. I like the words of how this is a promise not just for them but their children and “all who are far away” who God calls. There are many whose children and others they love are far away from God.

I have to admit that I got a bit stuck on this over the past week. Would I have had the same response? If I’d been in that crowd, would I have admitted my culpability in the horror of what happened to Jesus? Would I acknowledge that, though I wouldn’t actively petition for His death (I hope) that there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have countered the voices yelling “Crucify Him!” or maybe even felt pressure to join in? Would I have confessed doing things that contributed to the need for this sacrifice in order to heal things between me and my Maker? Would I have felt cut to the heart and do I today when I realize wrongs I’ve done?

All of this points to the need for reconciliation and how Jesus bridged that gap between us and God. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 outlines how this works and how we are a new creation after we choose to follow Christ. Reconciliation can seem so big and is often thought of in relation to healing our relationship with First Nations Peoples. It can be that big. It can also be as small as apologizing to someone you’re estranged from to restore that relationship.

I read these words, recognizing that only by grace am I worthy after all the careless things I’ve said and done. Where some dislike the idea of substitutionary atonement, without the idea that Jesus’ death made and makes a difference for us, and without Christ’s example and reminder that we aren’t God and need humility, we are missing something important. While our need to reconcile is ongoing, our need to continually sacrifice to be made right with God was a one and done through Jesus. We can hold on to that and be grateful that the weight no longer rests on us. We are embraced by the One who makes all things new.

Am I regularly reconciling with others as Jesus wants me to? To be honest, it’s one of the hardest things for me in the Christian walk. The vulnerability, the fear of how the other will respond, my own ineptitude at times to not realize I’ve hurt someone, the investment of energy and emotion and time - all of these make me slow to actively reconcile. The chasm between me and others can seem to grow wider the longer the situation isn’t sorted out. The need for healing of both sides can seem more entrenched and difficult the longer we keep stepping over our issues or pretending they’re not there.

No, this isn’t easy. The healing of relationships with Indigenous People can seem absolutely overwhelming. How do we continue this vital work to try in some small way to address the immense harms done? Courageous and much-needed listening, commitments and advocacy has begun but a hundreds year old problem will not go away quickly. Whole generations are impacted and the unraveling of that amount of trauma is almost beyond comprehension.

And yet the Trinity enters the picture bringing hope - the Creator reminds us that we are all in the image of God, Jesus comes to fill the void and to forgive the sins we repent of and to bring healing, and the Spirit flows through us like gentle, running water to wash away at least some of the pain and sorrow and to renew and revitalize, restore and reveal what is to be.

How can we become more aligned with God to be reconcilers in small and big ways? How can we fulfill this essential call as followers of Jesus? We pray humbly for the Spirit’s help and leading. May the well that never runs dry replenish and heal us so that we can bring that depth of healing to others and live in peace. May we embrace the new creations that we become by God’s grace.