Growing in Christlikeness - day 4

Christlikeness through reconciliation 

Introduction 

Today’s topic is reconciliation.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby wrote this on his website:

Reconciliation is at the heart of Christ's call to those who follow him.

“Reconciliation is one of our greatest needs and toughest challenges as human beings. In a world plagued by conflict, division and indifference, the Church has a crucial role to play as a community of reconcilers. Jesus calls every one of us to love God, our neighbours, ourselves and our enemies – a challenging command, with nobody left out.

The word ‘reconcile’ literally means to bring together – or heal – that which was broken. This healing is much more than the absence of conflict. It’s certainly not about suppressing difference. Reconciliation is about seeking to transform relationships that have become damaged or destructive into relationships of trust that bring new life.”

Christ is our model in this. He reconciled us to God through his death and resurrection and according to 2 Corinthians 5:18 and 19 has given us both a ministry and a message of reconciliation.

To dig deeper into this, let’s reflect on a story that is well known to us. The story of the prodigal son. I am sure that you are familiar with it.

Scripture story 

There were two sons. The younger took his inheritance, squandered it and found himself in poverty. He returned to his father to ask for forgiveness and the place of a servant. His father freely and joyfully forgave him and reinstated him as a son. We pick up the story in Luke 15 verse 25

Luke 15:25-31 (NLT) 

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

As quickly as we can we are going to break into groups of four tables. One table group in each of these larger groups will pick a scene from the part of the story that has just been read and form a tableau - that is a still representation of that part of the story. They will then invite others in the larger group to ask their character questions. There is no wrong question but to get you started you might want to ask: ‘how are you feeling?’, ‘what are you thinking?’, ‘was this what you expected to happen?’. This is a helpful way to dig into the motivations and emotions of each character.

….Please now return to your tables and consider the following questions

Corporate reflection: 

• How does this story challenge you as leaders of organisations that encounter challenges in partnering with others?
• Is there a situation related to organisations in your orbit that may call for reconciliation? How can you be an agent of reconciliation?

Alliance story

Let’s look at a story from Ghana about how translation brought reconciliation in one community.

Show video - reconciliation story from GILLBT