Tim Reardon concludes our series on Reconciliation in response to the text of 2 Corinthians  5:14-6:2, and in light of the cross. He notes also that reconciliation is a difficult topic in light of current events. We cannot tell those in mourning how they are to mourn.

Tim references the 2 Corinthians passage as one that talks about a reconciliation that goes to the cross. A reconciliation that unmasks rather than props up the powers of violence and crucifixion. It lays bare the injustice and evil of the violence that supports them. Why then does the cross point to reconciliation? We see the justness of Christ, the love from which he comes. Christ seeks us out, so that we see the injustice of violence that comes to a head — state violence — and yet more. This violence touches us, runs through our souls, structures who we are and how we live. As we move through the world, we hear the call to division and fear: to be for ourselves and to be against — what? Who are you against? Who is the cause of all your problems?

Paul calls us to pause at the cross — to rethink the world when we see the cross. Here the violence that structures the world is concentrated on Jesus. Here the world centers its violence on God: the creation seeks to destroy its creator. Here the world chooses its own destruction. This is the drama that God enters into.

At the end of the audio|video Tim offers some questions that we discussed in breakout groups. The discussion summaries are not included here, but consider the questions that we focused on:

What does it mean for us to be a people of reconciliation?
How do we live out this calling to be a people of reconciliation?

Watch the video below as Tim talks more about violence and what society considers to be order. And hear about reconciliation as a journey of creation amid chaos.

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