RECONCILATION; THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD IN ANY LANGIAGE

FROM THE WAR CRY

Moscow Central Corps Pulpit Cloth

Central to The Salvation Army's crest is the Cross of Christ. It is the symbol of God's conciliatory act, offering His grace and glory to His wayward children.

Reconciliation has been called the most beautiful word in any language. The Greek verb "katalasso" (reconciliation) does not come from the language of worship or law but rather from that of diplomacy and social relationships. In the ordinary Christian life it is often up to us to initiate and seek reconciliation. However, the Easter story is one in which the initiative was purely God’s. It's not we who reconcile ourselves with God but God who reconciles the world to Himself. Thus reconciliation is a one-sided act of peace from God to His estranged creation; God alone is the agent of reconciliation.

In our individual preparation for Easter, and as we take this time to journey through Lent, I want to take you to Moscow, in the spring of 1992. It is Easter Sunday morning and we conducted our service in a rented thousand seat auditorium; our “hall” for the last several months. It was the first Easter service conducted in a Moscow, Russia Salvation Army hall in 70 years, the last one having been celebrated by my grandfather, Adjutant Otto Ljungholm.

Near the front of the hall, in the shadow of a twelve-foot cross sat a girl of twelve or thirteen. By this time she had been coming to the corps regularly along with others from a nearby orphanage. As I brought the Easter message I was gripped by what seemed like secretive, searching glances of this young girl. Her eyes darted from the cross, to me and then to a poorly dressed woman seated some distance away.

As the invitation was given to ‘come to Christ and be reconciled with your loving Heavenly Father’ the young girl stepped forward, with scores of others into the aisle and moved slowly towards the crudely constructed cross. At the same moment, the shabbily dressed woman also stood up and with determined strides approached the many already standing and kneeling at the foot of the cross. Both the woman and child moved through the crowd and, paused for a moment, just inches apart, and somewhat awkwardly, faced each other and exchanged words.

As others continued to respond to God’s invitation these two strangers, continued their private dialogue, becoming more and more animated. Then it happened! As a thousand people watched, the woman wrapped her arms around the young girl and then lifted her up, there, right in front of the cross!! In that moment, the two were reconciled under the cross of Christ…

I later learned that the woman was a loving mother who had been unable to provide proper care for her three-year old child and had been forced to give her up to the care of others. Now, some ten years later, they stood under the cross of Christ at a Salvation Army hall in Moscow, holding each other and vowing never to separate again.

After the service, the teenage girl said to me, with tears streaming down her face: ‘A stranger hugged me, but it was my Mother.’ This is the central message of the cross. A loving parent, God, calls to us, His estranged children to come. At the cross of Christ our relationship with God is restored.

A loving stranger with nail-pierced hands, scars on His back and brow, longs to embrace us today. Pierced for our transgressions, He wants to draw you and me to His cross. A loving stranger who escaped from death’s dungeon, wants to walk with you and me into eternity.

This Easter, may we come to the cross afresh and know what it is to be truly reconciled to our Father God. May we allow God to make Calvary very real to us again and may we see victory in Christ for each one of us.

Share the reconciliation story near and far, beginning at home...

Dr. Sven Ljungholm

Govan Citadel Corps

UK