DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR DAVE FEBRUARY 1, 2023

The Ministry of Reconciliation

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we no longer know him in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. – 2 Corinthians 5:16-19

Today is February 1. Since 1976, February has been designated Black History Month. It started out in 1926 as a week to celebrate the many contributions of Black Americans to our society, but 50 years later, President Gerald Ford officially expanded it to an entire month.

I got my start preaching in the Black church. I was in high school, and I had just completed the basic course in lay speaker training. The African American UMC in my hometown, Mt. Carmel, needed a substitute preacher one Sunday, so they called me. I knew the pianist there, Ms. Evelyn Lawrence. She was a third-grade teacher. She made me feel so welcome. I remember I was very nervous when I got up to preach. But then someone in the congregation exclaimed “Amen!” I was so surprised I lost my place in my sermon for a moment! They also would say, “Help him, Lord!” and Lord knows I needed the help! But apparently, it wasn’t too much of a disaster, because they invited me back. My first three preaching assignments were there at Mt.

Carmel. I credit the encouragement I received by the good folks at that church for helping to clarify God’s call for me to the preaching ministry.

Here at Signal Crest this month, we will observe Black History Month by singing some hymns and spirituals composed by African Americans. During the Sunday school hour this month, Drew Barton will also be leading a discussion of the book White Fragility, which can help us think and act better about being white in America these days and being about the “ministry of reconciliation” that Paul talks about here in his second letter to the Corinthians.

The reconciliation which we are called to proclaim and to practice is not just between us and God, but between us and each other. Let us all together recommit ourselves to this ministry of reconciliation in Christ.