Reconciliation

“For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:10-11)  In my work on shame and the atonement, I came to understand Paul’s talk about boasting in a new light.  It is a necessary transference from trying to claim honor for ourselves to placing the spotlight where it really belongs: upon our humble Lord who embraces our shame in order to redeem us.  We only bury ourselves deeper in our fears and anxieties when we seek to claim a false and aggrandized self.  True freedom and release are found in embracing Christ’s work.  How can we not sing the praises of the one who destroys his enemies by turning them into brothers and sisters?  Enabled by his loving grace, are we willing to follow Jesus in this path of reconciliation?  That is a good Lenten question for me.  How about you?