In this week’s reading (2 Corinthians 5:16-21) we encounter the Church in Corinth. Corinth was a difficult, often wild, and impenitent place. Paul founded the church there and his relationship with the Corinthian Christians was often difficult and bittersweet. Paul loved them, felt responsible for them as a father in the faith, and often wrote to them giving advice, counsel, and correction. In this section of the letter, Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians of the new creation work that God is doing to reconcile all things, to heal division and restore the relationship between us and God, us and our neighbors, and us and creation. The Church is breathed into life by the Spirit precisely for God’s mission of reconciling, healing, and transforming the world. And so, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth, that as Church, our vocation is to be not only the gathered people of God, but also sent by God to be ambassadors of God’s new creation work.