The peace treaty
Commentary
In our nation, we are proud to say that nobody has any right to tell us what to do. No foreign power is superior to us; no outside body dares criticize us. We will take under advisement comments from our allies, but as the world superpower we are the ones who will advise others, not the other way around.
This is also true in our personal lives. One of our chief values is self-reliance, the ability to take care of ourselves rather than asking for help. No matter what mistakes we may make, no matter how chaotic our lives may be, no matter how tense we are, "nobody tells us how to live."
Not even God.
Sometimes, it seems we would rather be wretched, stressed out, self-centered, even mean, than turn over our lives, our political decisions, our spending habits, our recreational activities, or our relationships to God's guidance. What we don't recognize is that in saying so, we establish a hostile relationship with our maker.
It is this state of affairs that Paul is pointing to in this passage. He tells us that he and the other apostles are "ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through [them]." They are like ambassadors opening negotiations between hostile nations.
The way Paul states the message from God is nothing short of astonishing: "We entreat you ... be reconciled to God ... We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way."
Christ entreats us? God begs us?
It is as though the president of the United States were to call you into the Oval Office and say, "I am appointing you as ambassador to North Korea, and I have a difficult mission for you there. I want you to beg for peace. What we want here is to overcome the years of animosity and suspicion. So make no demands, no threats; issue no ultimatums. Do whatever you have to do to get the message across. Whatever violence you may face, whatever their attitudes are, I want you to be conciliatory. Probably you will be followed and harassed; you may even be jailed ‚--û we can't know how this will go. Make no effort to find bugs in the embassy, put no scramblers on the line; everything should be completely open and above board. You understand? At any and all costs, we want peace."
How would you respond? An ambassadorship is a sign of trust, and such an appointment is one of the highest honors any country can bestow upon a citizen. Yet here is the president of the United States saying that your safety as ambassador cannot be guaranteed ‚--û that in fact we can count on a hostile reception. You will be ambassador of the most powerful nation on earth, yet you are asked to go, hat in hand, to our sworn enemy and petition for reconciliation! Is this any way for a superpower to act?
But this is exactly what Paul claims: that he comes as an ambassador, carrying a petition for peace from the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe, to the creatures who are in rebellion against God's authority. I can say without hesitation that this is as ridiculous a situation as the idea of the president sending an ambassador to beg for peace with North Korea. In fact, more ridiculous, because we may actually have some cause to fear North Korea (they might have a nuclear bomb ready to use, for example), but God has no reason to fear us, no matter what we do, or what threats we could make.
So here is the unbelievable, prodigal nature of God: Hat in hand, God's ambassador approaches us, telling us that God has surrendered. Although our lives are nothing of what we had hoped and expected, lacking any great accomplishments to show for our time spent here, and although we have refused to take seriously the claim God has on our lives, God does not want to be our enemy, but our friend! God does not despise us; God loves us. God does not enforce our separation; God wants us to be at one with him.
To accomplish this, God sends as ambassador this traveling evangelist, carrying a new treaty ‚--û simpler than the first one, with all its codicils and quid pro quos ‚--û to effect peace between God and us.
Can we see the Ancient One, sitting sadly on the celestial throne, waiting for our reply? Watching through the night, waiting for word from the long-overdue ambassador, who may be a new victim, dead at our hands, our hands that push away the very ones we love and need most in our darkest hours?
God is waiting for an answer to a simple message addressed to you and me: "Please be reconciled to God." "Please accept this gift I offer you, a gift of life, an end to war. A gift of love, obstacle-free, with nothing to hinder or trip the one who runs forward to accept freedom and peace." Nothing to make us wait. Insisting, in fact, that we must not wait.
"Now," the ambassador says. "Now is the time. There is no DO NOT OPEN UNTIL EASTER tag on this gift. Please open it. Open it now! I want you to have it now! Don't wait for forty days. I don't need to wait until your house is in order. I don't want to wait until you think you've 'got it.' I am willing to suffer anything, any hardship. I will do anything to make you understand that you are loved, cared for, wanted. In fact, I already have. I have endured prison, beatings, riots, sleepless nights, hunger. I have done this because my Master asked me to, because it is so important to God that you hear this plea."
How shall we answer this petition of peace? How does your heart answer in this moment? Can we trust this offer? Or is it too much to hope for? Do you wish to carefully read the fine print?
Oh, yes, there is some fine print; this treaty is not cheap or easy. It is a tough treaty, paid for in blood. We have reason to hesitate, to consider the cost, to look inside ourselves. In a world with so little hope, we may find it hard to believe.
And still the ambassador stands at the door and waits for our reply. Will you accept the hope offered, the peace being held out? Or will you shake your head and walk away, certain that it is too good to be true?
What will you answer? The Creator of the universe waits for a reply.
Reprinted from "Ambassadors Of Hope," by Sandra Hefter Herrmann, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 1995, 0-7880-0478-6.
This is also true in our personal lives. One of our chief values is self-reliance, the ability to take care of ourselves rather than asking for help. No matter what mistakes we may make, no matter how chaotic our lives may be, no matter how tense we are, "nobody tells us how to live."
Not even God.
Sometimes, it seems we would rather be wretched, stressed out, self-centered, even mean, than turn over our lives, our political decisions, our spending habits, our recreational activities, or our relationships to God's guidance. What we don't recognize is that in saying so, we establish a hostile relationship with our maker.
It is this state of affairs that Paul is pointing to in this passage. He tells us that he and the other apostles are "ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through [them]." They are like ambassadors opening negotiations between hostile nations.
The way Paul states the message from God is nothing short of astonishing: "We entreat you ... be reconciled to God ... We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way."
Christ entreats us? God begs us?
It is as though the president of the United States were to call you into the Oval Office and say, "I am appointing you as ambassador to North Korea, and I have a difficult mission for you there. I want you to beg for peace. What we want here is to overcome the years of animosity and suspicion. So make no demands, no threats; issue no ultimatums. Do whatever you have to do to get the message across. Whatever violence you may face, whatever their attitudes are, I want you to be conciliatory. Probably you will be followed and harassed; you may even be jailed ‚--û we can't know how this will go. Make no effort to find bugs in the embassy, put no scramblers on the line; everything should be completely open and above board. You understand? At any and all costs, we want peace."
How would you respond? An ambassadorship is a sign of trust, and such an appointment is one of the highest honors any country can bestow upon a citizen. Yet here is the president of the United States saying that your safety as ambassador cannot be guaranteed ‚--û that in fact we can count on a hostile reception. You will be ambassador of the most powerful nation on earth, yet you are asked to go, hat in hand, to our sworn enemy and petition for reconciliation! Is this any way for a superpower to act?
But this is exactly what Paul claims: that he comes as an ambassador, carrying a petition for peace from the Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe, to the creatures who are in rebellion against God's authority. I can say without hesitation that this is as ridiculous a situation as the idea of the president sending an ambassador to beg for peace with North Korea. In fact, more ridiculous, because we may actually have some cause to fear North Korea (they might have a nuclear bomb ready to use, for example), but God has no reason to fear us, no matter what we do, or what threats we could make.
So here is the unbelievable, prodigal nature of God: Hat in hand, God's ambassador approaches us, telling us that God has surrendered. Although our lives are nothing of what we had hoped and expected, lacking any great accomplishments to show for our time spent here, and although we have refused to take seriously the claim God has on our lives, God does not want to be our enemy, but our friend! God does not despise us; God loves us. God does not enforce our separation; God wants us to be at one with him.
To accomplish this, God sends as ambassador this traveling evangelist, carrying a new treaty ‚--û simpler than the first one, with all its codicils and quid pro quos ‚--û to effect peace between God and us.
Can we see the Ancient One, sitting sadly on the celestial throne, waiting for our reply? Watching through the night, waiting for word from the long-overdue ambassador, who may be a new victim, dead at our hands, our hands that push away the very ones we love and need most in our darkest hours?
God is waiting for an answer to a simple message addressed to you and me: "Please be reconciled to God." "Please accept this gift I offer you, a gift of life, an end to war. A gift of love, obstacle-free, with nothing to hinder or trip the one who runs forward to accept freedom and peace." Nothing to make us wait. Insisting, in fact, that we must not wait.
"Now," the ambassador says. "Now is the time. There is no DO NOT OPEN UNTIL EASTER tag on this gift. Please open it. Open it now! I want you to have it now! Don't wait for forty days. I don't need to wait until your house is in order. I don't want to wait until you think you've 'got it.' I am willing to suffer anything, any hardship. I will do anything to make you understand that you are loved, cared for, wanted. In fact, I already have. I have endured prison, beatings, riots, sleepless nights, hunger. I have done this because my Master asked me to, because it is so important to God that you hear this plea."
How shall we answer this petition of peace? How does your heart answer in this moment? Can we trust this offer? Or is it too much to hope for? Do you wish to carefully read the fine print?
Oh, yes, there is some fine print; this treaty is not cheap or easy. It is a tough treaty, paid for in blood. We have reason to hesitate, to consider the cost, to look inside ourselves. In a world with so little hope, we may find it hard to believe.
And still the ambassador stands at the door and waits for our reply. Will you accept the hope offered, the peace being held out? Or will you shake your head and walk away, certain that it is too good to be true?
What will you answer? The Creator of the universe waits for a reply.
Reprinted from "Ambassadors Of Hope," by Sandra Hefter Herrmann, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 1995, 0-7880-0478-6.
