Tuesday March 31, 2020

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 (NLT)

During the last week and a half or so, I have been able to read one chapter per night from a book called “The King’d Messenger”by Carolyn Clare Givens as a bedtime story for the young families of the congregation of my church. It is a fictional tale that is set in a faraway Kingdom where the King has several messengers who’s whole purpose is to serve the King, and the main character is a young messenger named, “Smuggins”.

Yesterday’s chapter was titled “The King’s Ambassador”, and in this chapter, Smuggins and the rest of the messengers were tasked to go throughout the Kingdom, including to people who had rebelled against the King, and to tell them that the King will forgive them if they only stop their rebellion. The messengers were scared to do this, but they gained confidence that if people were upset, they wouldn’t be upset at them; they would be upset at the King because they were relaying the words of the King. They were the King’s Ambassadors.

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Like Smuggins, we are all messengers for our King, and we have been tasked to spread a message of reconciliation and love, just as Smuggins was tasked to tell others of the King’s offer of forgiveness. But what does that look like from inside of our doors as we are stuck inside?

I think it means something like calling those we love to check in on them and to see if they are doing okay, and then asking what we can pray for.

I think it means remaining faithful to God’s hope in the face of fear and confusion.

I think it means taking advantage of this time to have intentional conversations with those closest to us about the faith that pushes us onward; about the God who forgives us and calls us back to grace.

– Jon Bauman