Scripture
18But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him], 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God]. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
Observation
Our mission and message must match: Christ has reconciled us to Himself through His sacrifice in our place and now we, as His ambassadors, are to “plead” with others on Christ’s behalf. Notice we aren’t told to argue, insult, condemn, cajole, manipulate, or guilt people to be reconciled to God. No, ware to plead with the world on Christ’s behalf. Guzik explains the importance of the Biblical idea of ambassador: “There is so much to the idea of being ambassadors! An ambassador does not speak to please his audience, but the King who sent him. An ambassador does not speak on his own authority; his own opinions or demands mean little. He simply says what he has been commissioned to say. But an ambassador is more than a messenger; he is also a representative, and the honor and reputation of his country are in his hands.” The mandate of the mission and message of reconciliation is to tell everyone we know about the price God paid through the sacrifice of His Son to build a bridge from our sin to His righteousness.
Application
Back in 1967 Dennis E Hensley wrote a short story for the Michigan Baptist Bulletin entitled “To Sacrifice A Son”. This is the story we have been given to share with all who will listen as ambassadors of reconciliation:
“There was once a bridge that spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross it. A switchman sat in a shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance. Then he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with MANY people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength. Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
“Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, “Run! Run!” But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.. The man almost left his lever to snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever in time if he saved his son. Either many people on the train or his own son – must die. He took but a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died. Now, if you comprehend the emotions that went through this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of Our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?” The story is made even more powerful when we realize Christ didn’t die from an accident, He chose to lay His perfect life down, His body becoming the bridge of our salvation.
Prayer
You haven’t just called us to share a fictional story but actual History. This actually happened and it happened for each one of us. We have the privilege to sharing this story with anyone and everyone on that train who don’t realize the toll paid for this bridge. Forgive us for where we have kept this to ourselves. Forgive us for where we have argued with people instead of pleading with them, for where we have burnt bridges instead of building them.
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