A Reconciling Community

Forgiven to Forgive

2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Matthew 18:23-30; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32; Romans 12:18

Introduction

Well, as we have seen so far in this series on Community, we are called to be many things as followers of Christ — a peculiar people, a holy nation, A hopeful people, a serving body, a Christ-centered, unified body, and today, we’re looking at another vital identity: Perhaps THE MOST vital identity we have as Christians, or at least SHOULD have. We are called to be a reconciling community. A community of Peacemakers.

Now I want to warn you. This morning’s message could be a little tough. And I would ask that you pray for me this morning as I deliver this message, as I have prayed for you this week to receive this message.

When I say this message could be tough, I mean this. If you are here this morning and you are mad at someone. Maybe it just happened on your way to church this morning, or maybe it is a strained relationship that has been going on for some time. It may even be one where you are upset with someone and they are not even aware of it. Something we who preach God’s Word are more than familiar with. We are usually the last to hear and we often hear it from someone OTHER than the person who is upset with us.!

Maybe you are here this morning and you are having less than charitable thoughts about someone who does not agree with your doctrine, or your politics, or your brand of “common sense” and when you think of that person, or group of people, peace is not at the forefront of your heart.

In any case, if any of those scenarios describes where you are this morning, then this message will probably be a little tough. So if I notice any squirming, I need you to know that I understand, that I sympathize with you because I have some of those same feelings. My prayer this morning, for all of us, is that when we are done, we won’t just leave experiencing guilt over the way we are feeling towards others, but that we will feel compelled and inspired to make it right and thereby live out the peace-making mission that God has assigned to each of us. Amen?

You know I I think it takes no unusual amount of perception, to realize and agree that we live in a fractured world. A world where relationships break, hearts are wounded, and bitterness tries to take root like weeds in the garden of our souls.

We live in a world torn by division—nation against nation, neighbor against neighbor, and even heart against heart. But the Christian community is called to be different.

If I had to choose one verse in the Bible to summarize peacemaking, it would be Romans 12:18. I didn’t get that on the slide but I really want us to hear this. This is like a one verse peace-making manual. In Romans 12:18, Paul says,

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

First of all, I want you to notice the context. If you read this verse in context, Paul is addressing believers facing persecution, evil, and a very hostile environment. And so he begins with the phrase "if it is possible" .

I think Paul is a realist. Paul is an experienced peacemaker. He knows himself that he's been the cause of conflict and also that he's worked towards peace in the church. And so it's very clear as he starts, that he knows peacemaking is not always possible. He says, "If it is possible" That implies that we are called to be peacemakers but peacemakers aren't always peace achievers.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, the ones we are trying to make peace with just won’t have it. And here is a caution about that situation. Sometimes, we use the excuse that because the OTHER person made peace impossible, we can then hold onto the right to be at odds with them. Be careful.

Secondly, Paul the apostle says "as far as it depends on you"

In other words, Jesus brand of peacemaking is always proactive. We are called to take the initiative. He puts the onus on us "so far as it depends on you." This is one of the central components of biblical peacemaking or Jesus centered peacemaking. This is one of our responsibilities as apprentices of Jesus and as image bearers.

In the final clause, Paul commands us to "live at peace with everyone" Now have a look just to make sure I am getting this right. Who are we to make peace with? “Everyone” Is anyone left out of everyone? Oh oh. That means, Jesus brand of peacemaking is comprehensive, peacemaking without borders.

This verse pushes us beyond our comfort zone. It takes us outside the walls of the church to embrace everyone. This fits with Jesus teaching on love of neighbor and love of enemy. Basically we're to make peace with our friends, our neighbors, our family, with illegal immigrants, with Muslims, with atheists, with gays, with republicans and oh yes, even with democrats! No boundaries. No limits.

I know! It’s enough to make you wanna give up on being a Christian at all doesn’t it?! . Told you this would make you uncomfortable. Living at peace with everyone. This is Jesus comprehensive peace mission and this is our calling.

And in 2 Corinthians 5:18–19 , Paul reminds us,“18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

You see, we are not merely forgiven individuals—we are ambassadors of reconciliation. A reconciling, peacemaking community is not a secondary theme of our faith. It is the very heart of the Gospel.

So how did we get to this place. How has the world become so divided and why is reconciliation so vital?

I. The Origin of Separation: Eden’s Fracture

Well, to find out, we have to go back to the very beginning—Genesis 3.

When Adam and Eve sinned, two devastating separations occurred simultaneously:

Separation from God — the bible tells us that Adam and Eve hid from His presence, ashamed and afraid.

Separation from one another — they began to blame, to fear, and to cover themselves. Remember when God questioned Adam the first words out of his mouth were, “That woman you gave me..., thereby driving a wedge between himself and Eve.

Sin fractured not just our relationship with God but also our relationships with one another. The Garden of Eden was the birthplace of alienation, division, and shame. And from that moment on, the entire story of Scripture has been about God’s mission to restore what was broken—to reconcile us to Himself and to each other once again.

II. God’s Ongoing Mission: Reconciliation

All through the Bible, God is not distant or indifferent to our brokenness. He is on the move. From the calling of Abraham to be a blessing to all nations, to the Law given to teach justice and mercy, to the prophets calling for repentance and right relationships—God has been pursuing reconciliation.

As N.T. Wright often emphasizes, the Gospel is not just about getting individuals into heaven. It’s about God putting the world right again, beginning with our hearts and spreading out into every relationship and system touched by sin. Wright calls this the “new creation project”—and at the heart of this project is reconciliation.

When Adam and Eve sinned, shalom was shattered. But God didn’t abandon the world. He began a mission of reconciliation — to restore peace between Himself and humanity and among humanity itself. And this mission reaches its climactic moment in Jesus Christ:

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things… by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” — Colossians 1:19–20

God reconciled us to Himself through the cross, and now, He entrusts us with that same ministry. Peacemaking is not optional. It’s not peripheral. It’s central to what it means to follow Jesus. Peace-making is not a side project of God — it is His agenda.

So, scripture is clear. As individuals, we are to strive to live at peace with everyone, If it is possible, as far as it depends on us.

And when we take personal responsibility to live each day like that the church becomes this sort of reconciling signpost to the world around us.

2. The Church as a Reconciling Signpost

When we talk about community, it is vitally important to understand that this peacemaking is not the responsibility of Governments, this falls to the church. The Church — the called-out ones — the ecc lay see a. The church is meant to be a living picture of this reconciliation in real time. When the world sees people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, political views, and personalities living in gospel peace with one another, it becomes a prophetic sign of what God is doing.

Peacemaking isn’t just an individual calling — it’s a corporate witness. When churches refuse to divide over non-essentials, when believers choose grace over gossip, when families are restored, when enemies become brothers — we declare to the world around us: “This is what the kingdom of God looks like” “This is what heaven looks like!”

When you think about a signpost, its purpose is to point beyond itself.

1. A Signpost Points Beyond Itself

A signpost is not the destination — it’s a marker that points people to something greater. It says, “This way!” or “Look here!”

In the same way, the Church is not the final hope of the world — Jesus is. But we, as His apprentices, are meant to point others toward the reality of His reconciling kingdom.

When we live as a community of peace, unity, and restored relationships, we are signposts to the watching world that say:

“This is what the kingdom of God looks like. This is where healing is found. This is the future breaking into the present.”

We are not just waiting for heaven folks — we are embodying God’s future reality now. We are called to be what the world should be — not in perfection, but in posture, humility, and grace.

So a signpost points beyond itself, but a good signpost also needs to be clear.

5. A Signpost Needs to Be Clear

And this is the challenge: a signpost that is unclear or misleading will confuse people. If the Church says one thing but lives another, we become a distorted witness. We must continually examine our hearts, our relationships, and our communities to ask:

Are we pointing people to Christ or to ourselves?

Are we displaying reconciliation or fostering division?

Are we helping people see the way home, or are we in the way?

We don’t have to be perfect beloved — but we do have to be authentic. Honest about our wounds. Humble about our need for grace. And bold in our pursuit of unity in the Spirit.

5. God Is Healing Through Peacemakers

One of the false narratives today is that healing comes when we force forgiveness or demand reconciliation. But true peace — lasting, transformative peace — flows from the cross outward. Healing begins not with striving, or trying to force ourselves to forgive, but with receiving. Once we are reconciled to God, we become instruments of reconciliation for others.

I have personally seen God heal marriages, heal friendships, heal churches — and He’s doing it through ordinary believers who have caught a glimpse of His extraordinary grace.

III. The False Narrative: “Only When We Forgive…”

But here's where many well-meaning Christians get stuck. There is a popular but false narrative that goes something like this:

“Only when we forgive will we be forgiven and healed.”

Now that sounds noble. Even biblical. But look closely—it puts the burden of healing and forgiveness on us. It implies that we must initiate reconciliation, that we must climb the ladder of grace by choosing to forgive first.

This thinking can leave many trapped—especially those who’ve been deeply wounded. They try to forgive to earn healing. But forgiveness, when forced, can become another form of pain.

This narrative makes forgiveness a transaction. It says, “You go first.” But the Gospel doesn’t work like that. Listen carefully because I know it sounds like I am contradicting myself here but I’m not.

Yes, as much as it depends on us we must make peace. And that means that we must be the one to pursue reconciliation. It often starts with us. But, if we try to “Go first” without first realizing that we ourselves have been forgiven, we will end up offering a false forgiveness that will not accomplish the goal of true peacekeeping.

So here is the true narrative that will help.

IV. The True Narrative: “We Forgive Because We’ve Been Forgiven”

“Only when we know we have been forgiven will we find healing and become able to forgive others.”

We don’t forgive to get forgiven. We forgive because we’ve been forgiven. This is the rhythm of grace.

Let’s look at Paul’s words:

Colossians 3:13 —

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. here’s the key...Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:32 —

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, again, here is the key... just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Notice the order: God’s forgiveness comes first. It creates the capacity in us to forgive.

V. Jesus’ Parable: Matthew 18:23–35

Jesus drives this point home in Matthew 18. He tells a story of a servant who owed a king an impossible debt—millions in today’s terms. The king, in mercy, cancels the debt entirely.

But that same servant turns around and demands a small debt from another servant. When the debtor begs for time, the forgiven man has him thrown in prison.

The king hears about this and says:

“Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (v. 33)

Here’s the lesson: the servant didn’t truly receive the forgiveness he was given. It never reached his heart. And because of that, he could not extend it to others.

That describes many of us. We try to forgive without first embracing the staggering mercy of God toward us. But until we know we are deeply, fully forgiven, we’ll keep others in emotional prison.

VI. We All Need Forgiveness

Let’s be honest: we all need forgiveness. Every one of us has fallen short—not just of God’s standard, but of our own. We’ve hurt people. We've ignored people. We’ve said things we shouldn't have said and failed to say what needed to be heard.

But the good news is this:

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.” (1 John 1:9)

And as forgiven people, we become forgiving people. We don’t forgive from fear or obligation—we forgive because grace has flooded our hearts.

This is the kind of people God is forming—reconcilers, peacemakers, and grace-bringers.

VII. Living as a Reconciling Community

So, once we have received the forgiveness that is ours through Christ, what does it look like to live this out?

It means we:

Stop keeping relational scorecards.

We live in a score-keeping world. People remember who hurt them, who didn’t show up, who failed to apologize, who said the wrong thing. But a reconciling community chooses a different way — God’s way:

“Love keeps no record of wrongs.” — 1 Corinthians 13:5

We stop measuring our relationships by how well others perform for us. Instead, we start seeing people through the lens of grace. That doesn't mean we ignore injustice or never confront sin — it means we confront it with a redemptive heart, not a vindictive spirit.

In a reconciling community, the ledger has been wiped clean, because we’ve remembered how Jesus wiped ours clean first.

Step toward the people we’re avoiding.

Reconciliation requires courage. Many of us avoid hard conversations. We ghost the people who offend us. We let silence grow like a wall.

But a reconciling community chooses to step toward the tension, not away from it. Why? Because God stepped toward us.

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8

That’s our model: God didn’t wait for us to come to Him. He came to us.

So we pick up the phone. We invite them to coffee. We initiate the conversation. Not because it’s easy, but because reconciliation is worth it. And because the Spirit of the Reconciler lives in us.

Seek understanding instead of revenge.

In the world’s system, when someone hurts you, you hurt them back. Or you cut them off. But in the kingdom of God, we seek understanding. We listen. We ask questions. We try to see the situation through their eyes.

This doesn’t mean we excuse sin, but it means we refuse to dehumanize others. It’s the way of Jesus — who looked down from the cross and said,

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” — Luke 23:34

Understanding doesn’t erase pain, but it softens the heart. It opens the door to peace.

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Extend grace before it’s requested.

Most people are waiting for an apology. Waiting for someone to admit they were wrong. But a reconciling community doesn’t wait to be asked for grace — it offers it first.

This is exactly what God did in Christ:

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” — 2 Corinthians 5:19

The grace of God met us before we even knew how to ask for it. And now we extend that same grace to others — not because they’ve earned it, but because we’ve received it. This is powerful. In a world driven by merit, we become communities of mercy. And that changes everything.

And finally, we...

Offer peace even when it’s undeserved.

Jesus said:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” — Matthew 5:9

Notice He didn’t say "peacekeepers." He said peacemakers — people who actively bring peace into places where it doesn’t exist. This is important. You might want to write this down.

Peace Keeping is not the same as Peace MAKING.

Peacekeeping can often turn into Peace Faking because we avoid conflict in order to keep things peaceful. We sort of tiptoe around the issue in order not to stir things up. We think sweeping it under the carpet is a good way to keep things peaceful. And it can work for a minute, But that is not peace making. Peace making lasts. Peace making is often full of conflict to be sure, but we are called to enter into it as much as it depends on us. We often talk about waging war on those we oppose, but God has called us to wage peace on those we oppose and those who oppose us. That is a much different thing isn’t it?

True peacemaking is not dependent on whether the other person deserves it. If it were, none of us would have peace with God.

Because Jesus made peace with us when we didn’t deserve it, we now become people who extend peace — even when it costs us something, even when the other party doesn't reciprocate.

This must be said clearly: Peacemaking is not passive. It’s not being a doormat. It’s one of the most radical acts of strength and faith a Christian can demonstrate.

It takes strength to forgive. It takes strength to listen without reacting. It takes strength to keep loving in the face of disappointment.

But this is the strength of the cross. Jesus didn’t win by overpowering His enemies; He overcame them by laying down His life. And that same power — the power that raised Him from the grave — now lives in us.

It Doesn’t Mean Agreeing on Everything

As we saw last week, we’re not called to uniformity, but unity. The early Church was diverse — Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, men and women, rich and poor — yet Paul urged them again and again to be “of one mind” in Christ (Philippians 2:2).

Being a reconciling community means we prioritize relationship over being right. It doesn’t mean we abandon truth, but it means we speak the truth in love and remember that people are more important than winning arguments.

The Cross Made Peace When We Didn’t Deserve It

This is the anchor of it all:

Jesus made peace for us not when we were lovable, but when we were rebels. Not when we were right, but when we were wrong. That’s the Gospel.

And now that peace — His peace — lives in us by the Holy Spirit. So we no longer live from a place of needing to be justified, avenged, or validated by others. We live from a place of being fully loved and forgiven. And that transforms how we treat people.

We Are Peacemakers Because Our King Is the Prince of Peace

In the end, our identity is shaped by His. We don’t muster up reconciliation from our own willpower. We receive it from Jesus — and then release it to others.

We are reconcilers because we have been reconciled. We are peacemakers because peace has been made for us.

We don’t do this alone. We do it as a Spirit-filled community — bearing one another’s burdens, choosing mercy over retaliation, and pointing the world to a better way.

So, Church…

Let’s be that kind of community — one that shocks the world with grace, one that reflects the heart of our Savior, and one that shines as a beacon of reconciliation in a deeply divided time.

The world needs more than sound doctrine. It needs sound lives — lived in the power of God’s reconciling love.

Let’s live it. Let’s lead it. Let’s be the signpost of His peace.

Closing Thought

So when we think about our community here at LFB as a signpost of peace and reconciliation , the question for us, as a local church and as the global Church, is simple yet profound:

What kind of signpost are we?

Are we a sign that says, “Turn back, you’re not welcome,” or a sign that says, “This way to mercy, this way to healing, this way to peace”?

When the Church lives out its calling as a reconciling signpost — across races, generations, ideologies, and wounds — it becomes a preview of the kingdom. Not a utopia, but a community of grace. Not perfect, but filled with peacemakers. Not without conflict, but committed to the hard and holy work of reconciliation.

And in that witness, the world sees Jesus. Remember Jesus words...

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” — John 13:35

I hope we can be that kind of Church — clear, bold, humble, and reconciling — for the glory of God and the good of the community in which we serve and live and work and play.

Peacemaking isn’t just something God did once in Jesus — it’s something He is doing right now through the Spirit-filled Church. And if you’re a follower of Christ, you are called into this mission.

Let’s not settle for merely attending church. Let’s be the Church — the reconciling, peacemaking, bridge-building body of Christ in a world desperately searching for peace.

So let me ask you this morning beloved.

Have you received the forgiveness of God in a way that melts your pride and opens your heart?

Is there someone you need to forgive—not because you feel like it, but because you’ve been forgiven?

Is there a relationship where God is nudging you to make peace?

You are not called to do this alone. The Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, lives in you—and He empowers you to be a minister of reconciliation in a world that so desperately needs peace. Amen? Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Father God, Thank You for not giving up on us when we turned from You in the garden. Thank You for pursuing us with relentless grace through Jesus Christ. Thank You for forgiving us when we could never repay You.

Lord, we confess we often struggle to forgive. We confess we hold on to hurts. But today, we remember—we have been forgiven. Fully. Freely. and Forever.

Let that truth sink deep into our hearts. Make us peacemakers. Build us into a reconciling community. Help us to love like You, to forgive like You, and to live like people who are truly free.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.