2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2 · The Ministry of Reconciliation
A New Point of View
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Sermon
by Steven E. Albertin
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In 2000, Mel Gibson appeared in the comedy, What Women Want. The film was fairly successful at the box office because it built on a fantasy that I think all of us have indulged in at one time or another. He plays an executive who works at an advertising agency in Chicago. His life dramatically changes when he is jolted by electricity and develops the ability to read women's minds. It leads to some absolutely hilarious and humorous situations. Sure enough, it transforms him into a great lover who knows exactly what to do and when to do it to please a woman. Likewise his ability to read women's minds enables him to advance his career by developing ads for products that women want. But his ability to read the minds of women also has a down side. He is horrified to find out that many of the women in his office pretend to like him but really don't.

The whole premise of the film is based on the assumption that what others think of us is important. Despite the playground mantra ("Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."), words do have great power. It indeed does matter what the other kids on the playground think of us. We like to think that growing up and becoming mature means that we have become self-confident, that we know who we are, that we have become a "self-differentiated adult" immune to criticism of others. But that is simply not true. Unless we move to a deserted island or to the middle of the desert and live life in utter solitude, we can never escape the opinions and evaluations of others.

If you have ever held a job (and it is hard for me to imagine any of us making it through life without having some kind of job), your performance is always graded, evaluated, praised, criticized, rewarded, and penalized. Who of us has never been told by our spouse or our children, "That looks ugly!" and we run to put on a different shirt? We cannot escape the human point of view.

Likewise, we can never escape forming opinions and making evaluations of others. We are constantly judging others on the basis of gender, race, economic status, age, appearance ... and whether they are a Colts' fan or not. The political frenzy, as we get ready to elect a new president each four years, reminds us that at the heart of our democratic process is the assumption that what the electorate thinks of you matters.

At the heart of the way we humans evaluate one another is "keeping score." And at the heart of such scorekeeping is our need to score points for ourselves. We want to score points on the job because that is the way to a pay raise or a promotion or the growing success of our business. We decide to change our shirt because we not only want the approval of our spouse and children but also the neighbors and coworkers who will see us in that shirt. Their opinion matters. We choose to associate with people who are like us because they are safe. Safety counts. We hang around with people who are rich and famous because they make us look good. The Indiana Pacers lose fan support not just because they are losing ball games, but because their players are hanging out with the wrong kinds of people, in some cases, criminals. It doesn't look good and looking good matters to management and the fans.

According to the human point of view such score keeping inevitably makes winners and losers. That is the down side of it all. Some are more beautiful and popular than others. Some are smarter, faster, taller, and stronger than others. Some come in first and others go home. None of us wants to lose or come in second or be left behind because someone else was better. We all want to know that we matter, that we count, that we are loved, that we are right. There is no escaping that need. It is what makes us human.

So we build our empires. We plan our careers. We plot against the competition. We make our case for being right. We draw our lines in the sand. We divide the world into those who are for us and those who are against us. That brings to mind the old office joke: "What's the difference between God and Mr. Z? God never acts like he thinks he is Z."1

That raises the most important question of all: the God question. What does God think of us? Some of us just avoid the question all together. We just "brush God off." Even though we might show up in church every once in a while, even though we say we believe in God (as most Americans do), we live most of our lives as functional atheists, as if God doesn't exist or as if God's opinion of us doesn't matter. We live with this huge disconnect between Sunday morning and the rest of the week.

However, if your life is anything like mine, you know that we are kidding ourselves. If that is the case, then why do we work such long hours? Why do we complain that we are always under pressure? Why do we say there are not enough hours in the day? Why are we always worried about tomorrow? Why does our lifestyle always have to keep up with the Joneses in Zionsville or Carmel? Because the truth of the matter is that the "human point of view" has become the most important thing in our lives. "The human point of view," what others think of us, has become our god. The problem is that those humans can never give us what only God can give us. The pressure never relents. The hunger is never satisfied. There are never enough pats on the back or smiles of approval to silence the fear that that we will never be good enough.

Do we honestly think that God is going to let us "brush him off" and let us leave him behind in the walls of this sanctuary while we go off living our lives as if he didn't exist? Of course not! The truth of the matter is that God is there with us seven days a week. There is no place in this universe where we can hide from God's scrutiny. Talk about pressure! Talk about measuring up! Talk about scoring points! It's tough enough to measure up to the "human point of view." Measuring up to God's "point of view" is impossible.

This dilemma lies behind Paul's words to the Corinthians in today's lesson. The people in the Corinthian congregation were splintered and divided because all they seemed to care about was living according to the "human point of view." All they wanted to do was score points. All they could do is pass judgment on one another. All they could do is divide their congregation into those who were on their side or not on their side, into those who were winners and losers. Some spiritual gifts were better than others. Some were fans of one preacher instead of another. Some had more money than others. Some were smarter than others. Some were more eloquent than others. The scorekeeping went on and on hopelessly dividing the congregation into a bunch of warring factions. It had made their lives miserable. But their plight was not just self-inflicted. They were also suffering God's own judgment for being so faithless. They were not only failing according to a "human point of view," they were failing according to "God's point of view." They were in big trouble.

But all is not lost because at the heart of today's lesson is Paul's appeal to regard one another according to a new point of view. He reminds them that it is possible to live their lives differently because of what God has already done for them and to them in Christ. They don't have to be always keeping score, counting up trespasses, measuring accomplishments, both theirs and others, as they shamelessly pursue their own success. They no longer need to tear up their congregation with one backroom deal, one secret meeting, one slanderous conversation after another. All of that is no longer necessary. They no longer have to build themselves up at the expense of others because they are a new creation!

They are part of a new world, a new way life, marked not by the scorekeeping of the "human point of view" or even the scorekeeping of God's own judgment. God in his grace and mercy has decided to end it all and make a new world, a new creation.

At the heart of that new creation is Christ and what God has done in Christ. Paul describes that marvelous action of God as "reconciliation." Where there previously had been division and conflict, there now is unity and peace. Where previously there had been competitors and enemies, there now are companions and friends. And, the amazing thing about this new creation is that God so loved the world, even those who were his enemies, that God decided to take it all upon himself to end the conflict. God paid the price. God reconciled himself to us.

How did that happen? Paul puts it so clearly at the end of today's lesson: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Luther calls it the "froehlicher wechsel," "the happy exchange" or what a dear teacher of mine once called, "the sweet swap." This is the strange, utterly odd and amazingly gracious thing that God did at the cross for those conflicted and faithless Corinthians ... and for us who are hopelessly unable to escape from our obsession with keeping score.

In this season of Lent as we make our trek to Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter, we are reminded of Christ's sole mission and purpose. At the heart of Christ's mission was the bold declaration, "The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe this good news!" What was it about the kingdom that would cause us to repent, to so change our lives that we would be an utterly new creation, no longer regarding the world from a "human point of view"? Watch Jesus. See how he treats others. Listen to what he says. And soon it becomes very clear that he is not viewing this world according to a "human point of view." He is not even viewing it according to God's point of view as reflected in Moses and the prophets. Instead of judging sinners, he is the friend of sinners. He eats and drinks with outcasts. He embraces those who seem to be utter failures and losers. He takes upon himself everything that is wrong and sick with this world. He bears it all. He "who knew no sin" ... was "made to be sin." By whom? By God, himself! Why? "For our sake" (v. 21), because God loves us that much.

On the cross Christ suffers for us the fate we deserve. And in exchange for that fate, God gives us his righteousness, "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (v. 21). We who were last are now first. We who were poor now are rich. We who were dirty now are clean. We who were dead are now alive. We who were lost now are found. We who were sinners now are forgiven. We who once were enemies of God now are friends. And God who was once our enemy because of our sin is now our "Father," our daddy, our papa. What a "happy exchange!" What a "sweet swap!"

It is the beginning of a whole new world, of what can only be called a "new creation." "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see everything has become new" (v. 17). That means that we no longer look at the world from a "human point of view" but from the way God looks at it ... in Christ! The pages of the New Testament are filled with examples of what that new creation looks like. A man born blind, who was thought of as nothing more than a beggar, an outcast, a sinner condemned to live his life off the generosity of others, Jesus sees in a totally different way. He sees him the way God sees him. Jesus loves him. Jesus gives him his sight. And as that blind man opens his eyes and looks at Jesus, for the first time he can "see" God for who God really is (John 9).

A son demands his inheritance, leaves his father, and wastes it all in a life of decadence. From a "human point of view" he deserved to be on the street begging for crumbs. He deserves to eat pig food. In desperation he decides to return home hoping that his father might be willing to accept him as a slave. From a "human point of view" that is all he could hope for. But his father does not look at him from a "human point of view." No, he looks at him from God's point of view ... in Christ ... and welcomes him home with a new robe on his back, a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, and a fatted calf for dinner (Luke 15).

From the cross Jesus looks down at his enemies who had brutally abused him and ridiculed him. A crown of sharp thorns had cut into his brow. His back had been filleted by a vicious beating. His hands had been pierced by nails. According to a "human point of view" those who had inflicted this suffering and pain on him were deserving only of his disdain. But Jesus did not look at them like that. Instead he looked at them through the eyes of the kingdom of God. He could only see people crushed by the weight of their own hatred. This was no time for revenge. This was time for reconciliation. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

An auctioneer holds up an old violin, battered and scarred. He looks at it wondering why anyone would ever think that it was worth his while. But he holds it up anyway and cries, "Who will start the bidding? How about a dollar? Anyone a dollar? How about two dollars? Only two dollars? Two dollars? Will anyone make it three? Three dollars anyone? ... Three dollars once, three dollars twice. Going for three...."

Suddenly he is interrupted by a voice from the back of the room. A gray-haired man comes forward and picks up the bow of the old violin and wipes off the dust. He tightens the strings and then plays a melody so pure and so sweet on that old violin that it sounds as sweet as a song the angels of heaven might sing.

When the gray-haired man finishes playing, the auctioneer continues with a voice that is quiet and low. He says again, "Who will start the bidding for the old violin?" He holds it up high with the bow and cries, "A thousand dollars? Do I hear a thousand dollars? Who will make it two? I hear two thousand dollars. Who will make it three? Do I hear three thousand dollars? Three thousand once. Three thousand twice. Going and going and ... gone!"

The people cheer! The crowd is exuberant! But some of them ask, "We do not quite understand — what changed its worth?"

Swift came the reply, "The touch of the master's hand."
And many a man with a life out of tune,
And battered and torn with sin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.

A mess of pottage, a life of shame,
A game and he travels on.

He's going once, and going twice,
He's going and almost gone.
But the Master comes and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that's wrought

By the touch of the Master's hand.2

With this new point of view, we live our lives no longer keeping score, no longer counting their trespasses against them, no longer dividing the world into losers and winners. We like Christ on the cross, welcome the world, forgive our enemies, turn the other cheek, and welcome home the prodigals.

And when the folks gather around the water cooler in the office and ask, "What's the difference between God and Mr. Z?" some will say "It's hard to tell the difference." Amen.


1. Frederick Niedner, New Proclamation, Year C, 2003-2004 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), p. 173.

2. Myra B. Welch, "The Touch of The Master's Hand," For All The Saints (Delhi, New York: American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 1995), pp. 893-894.

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays in Lent and Easter: But!, by Steven E. Albertin