We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5: 1 – 2
Exploring righteousness is an exercise of the Lenten Journey. What exactly is the righteousness of God to which we are called?
Paul gives expression to the work of reconciliation done in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Christ, who existed from the beginning with God, was sent among us, incarnate in sinful, mortal flesh. He who was without sin took on sin that he might know us and meet us eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder.
Surely we acknowledge the gift both of Incarnation and of Resurrection, but in the meantime of Christ’s life among us, he not only taught, but revealed in flesh and blood, a vision of the Kingdom of God and God’s Righteousness. This is the life into which we are called. It is more than an ascent of the mind or even the heart. Rather it is the gestures of heart and mind lived in real time among real people in real places. This is more than a virtual faith.
Paul is known for the lists he writes. In Chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians his list is of the outward signs of righteousness that give witness to Christ alive in the world: Strength in hardship, patience, kindness, truthful speech, holiness of spirit, genuine love. Christians are called to be joyful and generous even in the midst of sorrow and poverty. These are the outward signs of the inward relationship with Christ. This is the righteousness of Christ that the world is hungry to know.
When we know and live the right relationship with Christ, with one another, and with all creation, we live the righteousness of God. When we live the righteousness of God, we are living the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Small gestures of righteousness make a greater difference than grand but empty words. Faith is real in the ways we treat one another and the ways we respond to the ways we are treated.
As we walk this Lenten Journey, may we get real in examining how our lives must look to the world. Is our love visible in kindness and goodness? Does joy mark our lives? Would the world know us as generous? Perhaps we have some work to do!
Dear God, Thank you for the offering of Christ that sets me right again and again. In this Lenten Season, may I find anew your righteousness. Set a mirror before my face that I may know the ways I need to be different, until I see your face looking back at me. Amen.
