Ministry of Reconciliation

Many of you may remember my post from awhile ago titled, "A Message of Love." It was all about how I was given a message from Colonel's mom to pass on to him. The message was, "I love you." Given such an incredible message to share, I couldn't wait to find him. I ended up passing on that message and I feel like so many doors were opened in my relationship with Colonel. Well this past Wednesday, another incredible event took place.

I saw Colonel on Tuesday night after coming home from FCA. Luke, Chris and I stood out by the dumpster and visited with him for a little bit. I shared with him that his mom had called me a couple of days ago to just ask how he was doing. I then asked him if he wanted to talk to her. He immediately responded yes. It was sort of too late to call at that time, so we planned to meet the following evening at 8:30 pm, sharp.

I walked out of my apartment at 8:29, and there was Colonel, leaning on his can-filled buggy, waiting for me. He complained that I was a minute late, but I explained that his watch was actually two minutes fast. We quickly got through that dispute and he asked, "Can I call my mom?" I grabbed my cell phone and dialed her number and it rang a few times before the answering machine picked up. I hung up and kept trying over and over for the next fifteen minutes until his mom finally answered the phone.

I then passed off the phone to Colonel and he got to talk to his mom for about 25 minutes, the first time they had talked in nearly 2 years. You could see the joy on his face! He asked her all about his sisters, and nieces, and cousins. He found out a lot about how everything back home had developed in the last 30 years and how he had kind of missed out on all of it. He got to tell his mom all about Huntington, WV and about the "scrap metal business that he runs". And with each exchange of words, you could see how welcomed he felt by his mom.

Afterward, Bobby (one of his partners) asked if he, too, could use my phone. He preceded in calling his uncle and talking to him for the first time in nearly two years as well. I have no idea how he remembered the phone number. But in both conversations you could see how delighted they were to get in touch with their family. Especially in Colonel's eyes, you could see how he went from a feeling of anxiousness and fear (not knowing how he would be accepted, or even if he would be accepted) to a feeling of love, knowing that he was accepted by his mom.

In the last blog post about this topic, I talked about how it reminded me of how God, also, has given us a message of love. He has given us the Gospel to take to all the nations. Well this night reminded me even more of it...

Before my eyes, I witnessed two men who were being reconciled to their family. They had left under harsh circumstances and hadn't talked to their families in many years (Colonel hasn't seen his mom in over 30 years). They were once extremely close, yet now they have been separated from their family. But we were given the opportunity to reconcile them.

The same is also true with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Paul writes of how we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. He writes in verse 16 that we are to "regard no one from a wordly point of view," but rather we are to see everyone as Christ sees them. I think often of how we are so moved by seeing the reconciliation of families, but rarely are we moved when we see a sinner reconciled to Christ. We are moved by the fact that Colonel has been reconciled to his mom, but in reality, it doesn't matter unless he also becomes reconciled to Christ (which is a daily prayer from his mom).

I share this post for three reasons:

1) I wanted to update you on what has happened in that story. It truly has been incredible to witness. And please understand that it is nothing by my own doing, but rather, it is God at work. So give Him all the glory!

2) I want you to pray for him. Pray for his reconciliation to the true Father. Join his mother in praying for him daily.

3) I want you to think about how you can reconcile others to God. You have been given the ministry of reconciliation. And when I saw how welcoming Colonel's mom was, I couldn't help but think about how much greater the welcome from God will be (just read the story of the prodigal son).

Maybe it is you who needs to be reconciled to God. Maybe you are the one who has left God and are now digging in the "trash" of this world. If so, please get in touch with me. I would love to talk more with you about how to get things right with God. Or even if you don't need my words, please just let me know how I can pray for you. God is waiting patiently for you to come home, ready to welcome you with open arms.

I want to leave you with the final verse of the 2 Corinthians passage to just meditate on for a little while. It truly is incredible:

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."