An Ambassador for Christ

Reflecting on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Two Days after Sunday (Year C)

Scripture (semicontinuous)

Psalter: Psalm 102:1-17

Old Testament: Jeremiah 29:24-32

Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-20

Scripture (complementary)

Psalter: Psalm 61

Old Testament: 2 Kings 5:19b-27

Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-20

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Prayer

Hear our prayers, God of power, and through the ministry of your Son free us from the grip of the tomb, that we may desire you as the fullness of life and proclaim your saving deeds to all the world. Amen.

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Reflection

Pray also for me, so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak (Ephesians 6:19-20).

Ambassador: A person who acts as a representative on behalf of someone else.

When the President of the United States appoints someone to be an ambassador to another country, that persons speaks and acts on behalf of the current presidential administration. The ambassador promotes the president’s policies not her own. That does not mean that the ambassador might offer the president some council in diplomatic situations, but the ambassador is the mouthpiece for the president. When the ambassador speaks to the leaders of a country she is appointed to it should be as if the president himself is speaking.

Paul makes clear in several letters that he and his traveling companions have been called, appointed as representatives of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles for the purpose of reconciliation. As an ambassador the message Paul brings to the Ephesian Jews and Gentiles together is that through Jesus Christ, God is now making an appeal for peace.

Earlier in the letter, Paul states,

So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us (2:11-14).

The work of reconciliation is Christ’s, but the offer comes through the apostle and the other ambassadors called by God. The Greek term here for reconciliation (katalaggē) is not strictly religious, but political. Richard Hays notes,

The interesting thing about the word “reconciliation” in ordinary Greek usage is that it is not a “religious” term. That is to say, it does not appear in cultic contexts where people speak of seeking to appease God by offering sacrifices, nor does it have anything to do with cleansing guilt or receiving divine pardon for sins. Rather, it is a word drawn from the sphere of politics; it refers to dispute resolution. So one could speak of the diplomatic reconciliation of warring nations or, in the sphere of personal relationships, the reconciliation of an estranged husband and wife. (Paul uses the term that way in 1 Corinthians 7:11.) So the key insight here is that even where Paul uses the verb “reconcile” with God as its subject—a remarkable paradigm shift—he is speaking about overcoming alienation and establishing new and peaceful relationships. We can see this clearly in Romans 5, the other key passage where Paul uses reconciliation terminology: “. . . while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). God has taken the initiative to overcome our hostility and alienation from him and to restore us to peaceful relationship with himself.

The Ephesians have been reconciled to Christ and that also means they must be reconciled to one another as Jews and Gentiles. The Ephesians as well as Paul’s captors are the recipients of his reconciling ministry because Christ has appointed him as their ambassador. The full authority of Jesus Christ stands with the apostle. He and the recipients of his letter are to do more than proclaim the reconciliation that is made possible by Christ; they are to embody in their relationship with one another. As Paul writes in his second letter to the Church at Corinth, “If anyone is in Christ—new creation!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

PRAYER: God of salvation, who sent your Son to seek out and save what is lost, hear our prayers on behalf of those who are lost in our day, receiving our petitions and thanksgivings with your unending compassion; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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