We Represent (2 Corinthians 5: 16-21) 3/10/13

          In the classic 1939 film by MGM called “The Wizard of Oz,” a teenage girl named Dorothy is plucked from a Kansas farm by a tornado and finds herself in a strange land called Oz. She is an immediate hit with the locals, for her house has landed on, and ended, the wicked witch. She is welcomed by a group of munchkins who serenade her, saying that they represent the Lollipop Guild. They are called upon to officially endorse Dorothy as their new heroine.

          “We represent” or “I represent” is a common phrase in Hip Hop and other musical genres. It is a stock phrase for comedians. They say they represent a particular ethnic group or sub-culture. They speak for someone else.

           We elect people to Congress and then we call them our representatives. They “represent” us in government. They speak for us, advocate for us, stand up for us. At least, that’s the theory.

           In 2^nd Corinthians, the apostle Paul is talking to the church he helped start in Corinth. He is speaking to a troubled group and he is telling them about what it means to be a Christian. He tells them a story about newness, re-formation, reconciliation and representation. Paul is telling the Corinthian church that something fundamental has changed and he calls upon them to give the proper response to that change.

          Paul was the ultimate Pharisee. Although he was raised in Tarsus, a Greco-Roman city in the Diaspora where he would have been exposed to many cultures and customs, he also studied under the great teacher Gamaliel, probably in Jerusalem. He was at the head of his class. He was by far the most vocal and famous Jewish persecutor of Christians. He went looking for believers and wanted to stamp out this new belief.

          One day on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians, Paul had a date with destiny. He was confronted by Jesus himself. His sight left him as he was blinded by the very truth that had eluded him. When his eyes reopened as a believer, he wasn’t the same man. His vision had improved. Now he could see the truth of the gospel. Paul was never the same. He was a changed man. The rest of his life was a testimony to the truth he saw and the task he undertook. His zeal remained. He went after the evangelization of the Gentiles with the same fervor with which he had previously gone after the persecution of Christians.  Paul was a new creation.

          Paul’s letters to the Corinthians show that zeal. In this passage, he has several things to say to the young and troubled church in Corinth and to us as well as we continue to act as God’s church  here on earth until he returns. In these verses, we can begin to see as Paul saw, to find the work that he found, to claim the newness and the righteousness that God has promised us.

          Paul starts out by saying “From now on.” He signals us that something has changed. From now on—something will be different. Paul says from now on we will not regard anyone according to the flesh. In other words, we will not judge based on appearance. We will have to look deeper. We will have to inquire. We will have to find out the belief system of those with whom we would engage. Jew and Greek is not important. Male and female is not important. Are you Christian? If you are, says Paul, then you are my brother. Forget gender. Forget color. Forget nationality. We are either brothers in Christ or we are separated by that chasm between belief and non-belief. Christian or not is the dividing line.

          Paul says “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” This is a continuation of the theme introduced by Jesus to Nicodemus in John’s gospel. The great leader of the Sanhedrin comes to Jesus, He is more than curious. He thinks Jesus has come from God and he doesn’t really know what to do with this information. Jesus tells him that he must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus acts about as confused as the members of the church in Corinth. Born again? New creation? What does it all mean?

          Paul answers. He says “we once regarded Christ according to the flesh.” But no more. Is Christ a new creation? I suppose people could argue about that since he was God, became man, died and was resurrected. That does sound a lot like a new creation, but I don’t think so. I think the essence of Jesus never changed. For me that is part of his glory. The Son of Man took it all, did it all, bore it all without so much as a demerit. That gives you and me Hope, don’t you think.

          I think that what Paul is saying is that we were wrong to ever regard Christ as just flesh, as just a man. He was so much more. He was also the Son of God. His life, death and resurrection were all part of the divine plan of redemption.  The Cross changed nothing for Jesus, but everything for us. It gave us a path, the path of reconciliation.

          “The new has come,” says Paul. In Christ, God reconciled us to himself. We were separated. We couldn’t get to God. No matter how hard we tried, we could not keep our selfishness from building a wall between ourselves and our Creator. That problem was solved by Christ. He was fully man and therefore he could set an example that was real and worth following. He could feel all the pain, experience all the temptation, feel all the desires we feel. He was fully God and therefore when he chose to go to that Cross, the sacrifice he was willing to take on could save not only this man, but every man, woman and child of all time.

Paul says that “for our sake he [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin.” And Jesus never shrank from the task to which he had been called. For that reason and that reason alone, we are reconciled to God. We can become his children. We believe and we are reconciled because the debt has been paid. And Paul reminds the Corinthian church that it can take no credit. The new has come and the sin debt has all been paid in advance. Paul says that “all this is from God.” It is the world’s greatest lottery payoff and you don’t even need to buy a ticket. In fact, you can’t. All the tickets are free, a gift from your heavenly father through Christ. Reconciliation is God’s great umbrella of Christ covering all who believe in the greatest act of love ever known.

          And now that we are God’s new creation, now that we are reconciled to him, we have a ministry and a message. We have the ministry and message of reconciliation. When Jesus walked among us for those three years of ministry, he concentrated on the disciples, readying them for ministry. His last words to them were to go and teach and make new disciples. Paul reiterates this here. He says that Christ “gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” and that further, he entrusted its message to us. Paul doesn’t say that the message was entrusted to him or even to the apostles, but to us.  The context of the passage would seem to say that “us” is not just the apostles, but all who would believe. For once we believe, we, too, take up the Cross. We too are entrusted with the Good News and we are charged to carry it for Christ as his ambassadors.

           Ambassador is one of those great words. It comes from the Greek presbeutej (presbeutes). William Barclay tells us that it was used in conjunction with the Latin word legatus. A legatus presbeutes was the man who administered an imperial province on behalf of the Emperor. In other words, he represented the Emperor. He had a direct commission from the highest authority. The same principle applies today in large part. The United States has ambassadors all over the world. They speak for the United States and it current administration in whatever country they are assigned. They have a direct commission from the President.

          Paul claimed such a status for himself, the apostles and for everyone who called him or herself a Christian. Paul says that we are ambassadors for Christ, that “God makes his appeal though us.” We are charged with a commission. To those with whom we come in contact, we are given the ministry of witnessing to them about how through Jesus Christ, God has reconciled himself to us. As Paul puts it, in him (Christ), we become the righteousness of God.

The church is called to the glorious task of representing God until he comes again. Paul saw this as his one glory. His task was the same as ours; to be ambassadors for Christ, to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone we meet. We proclaim that message of reconciliation because it saves our lives and because it will save the lives of all who believe. We are truly the King’s men. We stand in his place and we represent.

So remember this lesson from the great apostle. He gives us the three “R’s” of the Christian life. All of them are Christ sponsored and initiated, but that still leaves us with a glorious task as the body of believers that is the Church. We must carry the torch until he comes again. Here are those three “R’s:”

In Christ, we are re-formed as new creations.

In Christ, we are reconciled to God as righteous.

In Christ, we represent his saving power and proclaim the Good News of salvation.

This is our act of love, that we can represent, that we can be God’s ambassadors. Pass it forward.

 Amen and amen.