Paul proclaims that Jesus, out of his great love, gave up his life (experienced brokenness) so that others might be reconciled to God. Jesus was unwilling to act out of his own self-interest. He was unwilling to hold on to the glory of heaven that he already rightly possessed. He was unwilling to flee from the brokenness of this world. And Jesus’ willingness to be broken leads to our reconciliation with God and others. It’s not just that we are improved, or reformed or rehabilitated. We are re-created. We don’t just turn over a new leaf. We begin a whole new life, in Christ.  

And because we have been reconciled to God, we now are invited to be “ministers of reconciliation” in the lives of others. God calls us to be Carriers of this life-changing message of reconciliation and to carry it to the whole world. Paul describes us as “Christ’s ambassadors.” An ambassador is someone who formally represents the country of which they are a citizen. Paul is reminding us that, in Christ, we have become citizens of a new kingdom and are called to be the formal representatives of this kingdom Jesus has inaugurated. This eternal kingdom. This upside-down kingdom. This unstoppable kingdom that continues to emerge and expand and transform every channel of culture. 

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Beth and Zak talk about Julia Roberts, Rambo, Poison Ivy, allergies, and engaging with kids in quarantine.

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Beth spends some time talking with Christina Padilla wigs, dogs, domestic violence and sitting with grief in the time of COVID-19

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Every one of us is in the process of dying and losing everything. It is a sobering and depressing thought that we would rather ignore, but until we are able to embrace the reality of our jar of clay, we will keep thinking and living as if this life, this world, this body is the treasure. But it isn't! It is just the jar that carries the treasure. And when we embrace the reality of our mortality and the death of Christ that we carry in our bodies, the treasure, that is the life of Christ, can come through. In a sense, our decaying bodies and life can count for so much more when we surrender our lives to Christ. See, God has an interesting relationship with death. He does not avoid death or welcome death or even fear death. God engulfs death. He surrounds it recognizing that in the Kingdom of God, even death will be made subservient to joy and to life.

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