Read: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Here is 2 Corinthians 5:20b, times three versions. Circle the words that jump out at you:

One: We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (NIV)

Two: We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (RSV)

Now, three. This one makes my heart leap, then ache:

We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God, he’s already a friend with you. (Msg)

Reconcile: In Christ, we are restored to right relationship with God. God is the reconciler, we are the beneficiaries.

Is there anything more intertwined with hope than this idea of reconciliation? We hope for relationships to be reconciled. We hope our statement reconciles with the bank! Sometimes we cannot accept something — cannot reconcile it with what is good and just — and hope for change.

Did you happen to circle either of the ‘begging’ words in the verses above? Implore. Beseech. In other places, this same word is translated as urge, beg, encourage, and plead. God’s heart sounds very desperate here – God so desires that we have real hope (not as the world gives) and pleads with us to accept his friendship. We are reconciled because God really, really wants us. He doesn’t begrudge the effort. You are wanted, beloved.

Lord, today we see that you hope. You hope that people will not put you off any longer. We pause to thank you for Jesus, who makes this possible and for the Spirit who pleads with our spirits to accept. We pause to consider how you pursue us and so desire things to be right between us. Please keep calling to those who resist: neighbors, family, ourselves. You have readied the path, help us to walk in it. Amen.
-Nicole Smith

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

“We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20b

God is love, or so we’re told / God seeks us out, like precious gold / A lost little lamb, to God we be / God won’t rest ‘til God finds us, She / And if we make a mess of life / God sees right through our every strife / and though we hide our wounds from God / God finds the effort so very odd / for the only desire of God for we / is to live with God in eternity / and though we may feel quite frail – at odds / we learn, regardless, that we are God’s.

“We entreat you – be reconciled to God!” The days at the start of Lent are short, the nights still long. I find it hard to whip up much enthusiasm for much of anything. And yet, when I open those sleepy little peepers of mine, I spy the light of One divine. “Be reconciled,” shouts Paul. Yes, I’m sure he’s shouting. I’m getting old and hard of hearing. “What’s that you say?” I ask of him. “Be reconciled to God, I said,” says he. In other words, God’s looking for me. God wants me. God expects me to come in for dinner. Of course! The street lights are on. That’s the sign to come home.

I come a-runnin’, or a-hobbling as the case may be. I come running, because I’ve got hope. It ain’t no wish. I’m hoping for a tasty meal. Dinner’s on, the bell’s a-ringin’, and God ain’t ne’er let me down yet. That gives me hope to carry on.

Lord God, I look to you when I cannot see. Show me your Light; illuminate my path. The way looks dark and scary, and my energy reserves are low, so I place myself in your hands. Filled with hope, I can now go. Amen.
-Fr. Keith Axberg

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, ’In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” – 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

I usually love Lent and Ash Wednesday, but I am having a really hard time getting excited about them this year. As I am writing this reflection in late January, Lent feels more like an imposition than a season of spiritual preparation. Eating, for example, is already hard enough for me with food sensitivities, and the thought of having to restrict it even further on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lent (as is the practice of most of my friends) is not making me happy. Giving something up for Lent this year? Yeah, not happening. I’m already suffering enough with other things going on in my life. Taking something else on? Lord, I’m busy enough as it is!

It is probably a good thing that Lent is not about me. It is about growing close to Jesus, and that is a journey. There are going to be days when I make progress on that journey, and there are going to be other times when I feel like I cannot take another step. Today is the day of salvation because today we take that first step on that journey toward God. It might be just one step, or it might be a mile on the journey, and it gives me hope that God gives us credit for making progress on the journey no matter how small that distance is.

Lord, please help me to remember that you meet us where we are, not where we “should” be. Amen.
–Jen McCabe