Do you remember Rodney King?  He was that big strong fellow, chased and arrested and then beaten by the police in Los Angeles several years ago.  At the time of his arrest he was quoted as saying, "Can't we all just get along?" Good question!  Can't we all just get along in our great nation?  Can't we all just get along in our wonderful church?  Sadly for Mr. King, he's had trouble getting along with himself, because since that time he's been arrested and convicted several times for doing some pretty foolish stuff.

          Getting along with others has been a sticky thing for people since Adam and Eve.  Adam knew he had done wrong and yet blamed Eve.  Eve knew she had done wrong and yet blamed the serpent.  And the serpent just slithered away, leaving us pointing the fingers of blame at each other ever since.  Recently I heard it again, "Why can't people just get along in the church?" Maybe you'd like to add your own version to that: "Why can't people just get along at my work, or in my home or in our schools or in the world?" Yes, why indeed!

          In my Weekly E-mail Message last week I asked if people remembered the "good old days"?  Remember when we sat on the porch with our neighbors and ate Mom's gooey caramel rolls without feeling guilty?  Remember when you could buy a new car for $2,000, people trusted each other, and gay meant having lots of fun?  But do you also remember the flies, Smallpox, polio, people blowing smoke in your face, and fearing the H-Bomb?  Do you and I remember only the good things, and then forget the reality of the dangers we lived with and how hard life was back then?

          We tend to romanticize the past and forget what it was really like.  As I read Paul Maier's translation of Eusebius, history of the first three centuries of the Church, I was struck by the troubles the early Christians had getting started, troubles from outside, yes, but more from the inside.  There were false teachers, and immorality of some leaders and struggles for control.  There was pettiness and jealousy then as today, and there was death in the arena by lions or fire besides!  The "good old days" in the early church were actually very bad.  Early believers had so much to overcome from enemies within and without!  Those days in the early Church were so difficult it's a miracle it survived.  We may wonder about church struggles today, but people in the church have always struggled to get along.

          But a bad history is no excuse not to do better.  It's no reason to ignore problems.  We have many ways to tackle problems:  We can confront them head on, or we can discuss them, or we can ignore them.  We can even deny they exist.  The church has become a master at looking reality in the face and simply denying it!  And we in the church, believers urged to be like Christ, don't act anything like it.  Our behavior can be just as bad as unbelievers.

          But take heart, the Bible is filled with many examples of bad behavior!  Through St. Paul, God told the Corinthians, "For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?" (1 Cor. 3:3)  And He told the Galatians, "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." (Gal. 5:15)  And again He told the Philippians, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." (Phil. 2:3)  Bad behavior is part of our history, just not a good part.

          Because we're basically self-centered people, because we're by nature proud and jealous, because we act like we're the center of the universe, we don't get along so well.  And that's why God has given us the "Ministry of Reconciliation."  St. Paul says in today's text, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

          The Ministry of Reconciliation is God's gift to help us to get along.  To reconcile means to make friendly again, to settle a quarrel or win someone over to being friends again.  We've been given this ministry to show God's heart to the world.  We who have been forgiven and loved must now show forgiveness and show love.  We who have been rescued must now rescue others.  Being reconciled is the will of God.  It's not an option; it's required.  It's never easy, but then nothing really good ever is.

          It all started with God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.  God took the initiative, not us.  So often people say, "Why should I forgive them - he sinned against me!  When he apologizes and asks forgiveness, then I'll be reconciled."  Fortunately that's not God's way with us.  He was sinned against, and still went out seeking the sinner.  He came to seek and save all the lost, not just the repentant ones.  "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world!" (John 3:17)  It all started with God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ.

          God wants to remove the barriers of sin between us.  He wants to remove hostility, bitterness and fear, and replace them with love, gentleness and self-control.  "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), but Christ has already paid them.  He drank the poisonous cup of suffering brewed by our sins, and it cost Him His life.  And so by His stripes we are healed, by His death we have life, by His resurrection we have hope, and by His love we can love each other.

          The Disciples often quarreled.  Jesus urged them to get along and said they must be reconciled before worshipping Him.  In the Gospel He said, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."  Jesus wants us to get along, with Him first and also with each other.

          You may be wondering why we're having a service of reconciliation today.  You may be wondering what's brewing and what I'm going to reveal.  Actually, there is nothing to reveal.  Yes, Epiphany has been asked by District to try to be reconciled with Mt. Zion congregation.  Though I'm not sure of our part in this, we're in contact with them.  And yes, we've had a recent issue amongst ourselves, but all churches have those.  The reason I'm speaking of getting along is not a specific situation, but because getting along affects every part of life.

          Getting along is at the heart of being God's people.  Getting along with people is important, but getting along with God is imperative.  We can't be at odds with our Creator without feeling His displeasure, and I think we're starting to feel it.  Americans have become experts at dishonoring God.  We're so free in our speech;  we think nothing of publicly blaspheming God and defying His Commandments.  We talk a good talk about getting along, but don't think this applies to God.

          And I'm not sure we get along with each other so well.  We've taught our children not to trust strangers, and made playground teasing into a felony.  We write laws of four thousand pages on spending money, but can't write four words, "In God We Trust", in public places.  Confrontation has been replaced by dodgeball.  We've demonized the honesty of a frontier fistfight, and replaced it with triviality of a lawsuit.  We've made Christian outreach into a competitive sport, and made sport of the Ten Commandments.  We've sterilized life with endless consumer warnings and made aborting life legal.  We get along with people outwardly, but inwardly we'd like to blast them.

          Can't we all just get along?  We can certainly do better.  God has given us the Ministry of Reconciliation, to get along with Him and with each other.  That doesn't mean that we have to like each other.  It does mean we forgive each other, and try to love because He has loved us.

          God loves us Americans, though I'm not sure why.  He must be revulsed by us at times, yet still He loves us and forgives us and helps win others over with a friendly attitude.  It's not always easy.  Some folks don't want to be forgiven, and want to keep fighting, but yet we must try.  Life's too short for petty struggles.  If we're going to make it a fight, be sure it's for a good enough reason.

          Some years back an elderly gent was riding a bus home from work when a huge woman loaded with packages sat next to him and nearly squashed him.  He could hardly breathe, but bore it with patience and good humor.  When he told his family this, they said, "Why in the world didn't you tell her to let you out of the seat so you could have stood in the aisle?"  "Nah," he said, "we had such a short time to travel together, it wouldn't have been worth it."

          That's how it is with God's people.  Sometimes we feel like we're living in Noah's Ark.  Things get pretty stinky and cramped and disorganized, but it certainly beats being outside drowning in the flood!  We have such a short time together, so let's be agents of reconciliation as we live in peace and clothe ourselves with "...compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another...  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."  God grant this to us and to all His people for Jesus' sake, amen!

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.