Everyday, my life with the Anglican Communion Office is a new reminder of the power of the Gospel around the world. The staff of the Anglican Communion Office--or those of us in the country that day--worship together regularly. In the morning we read Morning Prayer from the Church of England Book of Common Worship, and in the middle of the day we share Communion or midday prayer. My favourite service, however, is the Friday afternoon Litany of Reconciliation.
We live in a world ravaged by greed, war, corruption, death. It is a world in dire need of forgiveness and renewal. Read through your Facebook feed or browse a news site, and you face story after story of refugees without shelter, children without food, nations on the brink of war. But reconciliation is much more profound than that. We are always in a process of approaching the cross. Living as a Christian in this world is a strange balance of being made right with and reconciled to God, and yet still living a life affected by a sinful world. Because we are human, we always stumble, always fall away from the Lord. Sometimes, we trip. We get in an argument with our roommate, or gossip about a co-worker. It’s easy. And yet, it always affects our lives, and the lives of those around us. Sometimes we fall flat on our face. We lobby for our own agenda, or support a meaningless war to our own ends. No matter the sin, the death of Christ has the power to redeem us, if we let it. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains “For our sake he made him who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Sin always has an effect in our lives, but when we approach the cross of Jesus Christ, it no longer has power. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the salvation of the world, all our sins, big and small, the ones that we’ve committed and the ones we have yet to commit, were reconciled. My favourite lines from the Litany for Reconciliation are below. Each line of the litany speaks into the modern day, just as much as they spoke into the post WWII era: The hatred which divides nation from nation to possess what is not their own, Father forgive So how do we overcome the sin in our world, the sin that divides us, that causes us to ignore those who most need our love? The same way we overcome arguments between siblings, and misunderstandings between friends. We allow Christ to entered our lives, and surrender to him, because truthfully, we can find no reconciliation unless it is through Him. It is through the reconciliation of Jesus Christ on the cross that we get a glimpse of the world to come, a world free from hate and sin. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
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Me: Amelia BrownAvid runner & baker, following God's call to year of mission and service work in the Episcopal Church & Anglican Communion. Archives
August 2018
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