2 Corinthians 5:17-18 “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Completeness or shards?  Pieces or whole?

My kids like to eat graham crackers.  I like graham crackers because they are easy to break into pieces and I can give them just a part of one instead of a whole big one.  Sometimes my little boy gets upset with me for breaking it into pieces.  He wants it whole.

I wonder how often we break things because it is easier or more convenient when working to leave it whole would have been better.  I think we all know easier is not necessarily better.

I remember once I was drying a glass bowl and it slipped from my hands, crashed to the floor and broke into several pieces.  There was nothing I could do but throw the broken pieces away and clean up the mess.  The bowl was not any good broken down.

Our lives are like this too.  We get battered and chipped and broken down, we batter, chip and break down others along the way.  These verses in Paul’s letter bring healing and hope to us all.  Through Christ we are made new.  God takes what was battered, chipped and broken and lovingly makes a new creation through his reconciliation given in Christ.

As I strive to embrace this promise of being a new creation in Christ and believing that the old has passed away, I am called to bring the reconciliation that I have received into the world.  Our world is most definitely battered, chipped and broken.

Lord,

You created me again, anew.  The old is gone and I am new in you.  Help my doubt fade and my faith grow.  Give me what I need to be an agent of reconciliation in my home, my church and in your world.  I ask this through Christ who reconciled us all.  Amen.