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Key Bible Verse: Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death (Ephesians 2:16). Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 1:18-20

When the Mau Mau war for independence from British colonialism broke out in Kenya in the early 1950s, many Christians stood between the white and black combatants, refusing to fight. They were nicknamed people of the Lamb.

During my time in Kenya as a missionary, I rode my 70 cc. Honda cycle into the hills to meet one of them, Heshbon Mwangi, at his home. His face was creased with a ghastly scar from a knife slash he sustained when nearby villagers tried to kill him. I asked, "Why did you refuse to defend yourself with a gun or a knife?"

Heshbon spoke slowly, "In our traditional religion, when there was hostility we killed a reconciliation goat. After we ate it together, we had to live in peace."

"Jesus is the Lamb of God," he continued. "At the Communion table we eat and drink symbols of his reconciliation sacrifice. If in the past we sought peace by eating the sacrificial goat, how much more is reconciliation secured when we participate in the feast of the Lamb. So I can never do violence to anyone Christ died for."

—David Shenk in Surprises of the Christian Way

My Response: As I tangibly receive God's reconciliation, how should I pass it on to others?

Thought to Apply: No imaginable deed should take a person outside our will to embrace him, because God's will to embrace humanity is inscribed in big letters in the cross of Christ —Miroslav Volf (Croatian-born theologian)

Adapted from Surprises of the Christian Way (Herald, 2000) by permission.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord Jesus, as I take communion, help me to experience the full benefits of your sacrificial death.

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