When things just don’t add up. When total agreement seems unachievable. When being of one mind is a fleeting fancy. These are the times that try men’s souls.
But Thomas Paine wasn’t looking for reconciliation when he penned those words. Five months after the Declaration of Independence, facing the onslaught of British forces at Baltimore, Paine refused to believe that God would abandon their cause and give them over to those who would enslave them. Two days later, on Christmas Day, George Washington would take his troops back across the Delaware to certain victory. But this was not reconciliation.
Reconciliation tops the news these days as Congress attempts to force vote the passage of healthcare reform in order to avoid gridlock. However, this only results in half of the country being happy (?); political partisanship will still keep unrest stirred up.
The word reconciliation comes from Latin, meaning “to make good again.” For something to be reconciled, it must have first to have gone wrong. True reconciliation doesn’t just require agreement. Even acknowledged forgiveness is not enough. Hurts can’t just be forgiven; they must be healed.
The Bible speaks of man being reconciled to his fellow (Matthew 5:24), spouses being reconciled to each other (I Corinthians 7:11) and all of us being reconciled to God (II Corinthians 5:18).
The concept of Jesus dying on the cross so that God won’t be mad at me just doesn’t make sense. Founded in the Old Testament tradition of the smell of burning animals being a “pleasing aroma” to the LORD, New Testament scholars affirm that people need a new sacrifice — a once-and-for-all sacrifice. Rather than an animal without defect, the subject would be the sinless Son of God.The Jewish sacrifice was designed to turn away God’s anger from the sins committed by Israel. Jesus’ death offered the same God-appeasement to all, not just to the Jews. His body wasn’t burned, but he died nonetheless. And unlike previous sacrifices, this one would get up and walk again.
The parents of multiple children wouldn’t select one of them to take the punishment for all of them. And they certainly wouldn’t put one of them to death so that their anger with the rest of them would be quelled. That’s unthinkable. So why would we want to impose this same image on our Creator?
God is all about perfection. He tells us to be perfect (Matthew 5:48). Jesus doesn’t say that we should try to be perfect; nor does he inform us to wait for perfection after his death — or, better yet, after our death. No, he simply says “Be perfect.” He knows we can’t do it. So why would he say it?
He says it because that makes up the process of the journey, as well as the destination of the journey. Things that go wrong need to be made right. Some things that we have done, or things that have been done to us, seem like they will never be reconciled. That’s what makes parts of the journey so long. Time is not a factor in God’s economy. Physical death is not a hindrance, or an out. Spiritual death is not an option. Eternal torment in hell is but a myth if it provides no opportunity for sincere reconciliation.
God’s fire burns while we refuse to be reconciled. Then his fire begins to warm when we desire to make things right and to do his will. We reach womb temperature when reconciliation has been made complete. Only then can we truly be reborn.
It can seem overwhelming when we consider all of the failures we have experienced in this life. It would take eternity to right all wrongs, restore all unstable relationships. I’m 62, but I have childhood memories that feel like they happened yesterday. I know someday I’ll believe that they REALLY DID happen yesterday 
But God’s forgiveness doesn’t give us a pass. It is merely the first step toward reconciliation. Even when we are ready to be reconciled with others, they may not be of the same mind. This calls for patience. God has ever been patient with us. Even though he disciplines us, his sun still shines on us. His trees fill up with green. His flowers burst forth in colorful splendor. He loves us that much.
And that’s what he wants from us. Be reconciled to one another. Only then can you be reconciled to God.
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