[Desmond Tutu]

My friends, that is what God has accomplished in Jesus Christ, and it is this in which we are given a share—this ministry of reconciliation. The church must be the forgiving fellowship of the forgiven; it must be the reconciling koinonia of the reconciled. In this way it is the first fruits of the kingdom and becomes a verbum visible, a kind of audiovisual aid for the sake of the world. It shows what human society should be as God intended it to be.

Some might think that reconciliation is a soft or easy option. But look at what it cost God. True reconciliation does not mean crying, “‘Peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” No, true reconciliation occurs when we confront people with the demands of the gospel of Jesus Christ for justice and peace and compassion and caring. It means taking sides on behalf of the weak and the downtrodden, the voiceless ones. We cannot be neutral in situations of injustice and oppression and exploitation.

Be careful if you say that you want reconciliation and that you are a minister of reconciliation. Be sure you know what you are about because reconciliation involves suffering and even death. Reconciliation cannot happen apart from the cross. A Christian who does not suffer for the sake of the kingdom cannot be a Christian. These are the words of Jesus, “Unless you take up your cross and follow me you cannot be my disciple.” He says this quite categorically. A church that does not suffer for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s cannot be the church of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we cannot sit about wringing our hands in helplessness. We are not impotent. We can work mightily for justice, peace, and reconciliation. After all, we are the instruments of God’s peace. Let us go out in the power of the Holy Spirit to work for God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s love and reconciliation. If we are true to our vocation to be Christ’s ambassadors, then we shall help to bring to pass that wonderful vision contained in Revelation:

After this I saw a vast throng, which no one could count, from every nation, of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white and had palms in their hands, and they shouted together: “Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood round the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, crying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour, power and might, be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.”
—Revelation 7:9-12

—from “Allies with God,” (adapted from an address given to the Synod in Port Elizabeth, 1981), from The Book of Jesus © Calvin Miller (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996)