Matthew F. Leighty
Executive Director

When I talk with pastors and church workers, I often hear the same thing. As they sit with people near the end of life, the biggest regrets are usually about broken relationships. It's not about careers or money. It's about the relationships they couldn't mend.

If you’ve lived long enough, you know this feeling. A relationship that earlier brought joy becomes a source of pain. Words are exchanged — or maybe they aren’t — and the silence feels worse. One person reaches out. The other pulls away. And somewhere in the middle, the truth of what actually happened gets lost because both sides remember it differently.

I’ve watched this play out recently with someone close to me, and it reminded me that few things in life ache quite like a broken relationship that can’t seem to find its way back together.

The good news — the best news — is that the most important relationship that was ever broken has already been restored. And it wasn’t restored by us. St. Paul writes, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19a).

Sin broke us away from God. Completely. Not a small crack. Not a minor disagreement. Sin created a chasm between us and our Creator that we could never cross on our own. But God didn’t wait for us to find our way back. He came to us. Through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Father reached across that chasm. He reconciled us. He closed the gap. He welcomed us home, not because we earned it, but because Christ earned it for us.

As the beloved hymn by Charlotte Elliott reminds us: “Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come” (“Just as I Am, without One Plea” LSB #570).

We come with nothing. No defense. No excuse. No way to make it right on our own. And God receives us anyway. That is what reconciliation looks like when God is the one doing it.

Because God has reconciled us to Himself, we are also called to pursue reconciliation with one another. But this is where things get harder, isn’t it? Family relationships strained for years. Friendships that ended painfully. Words spoken — or left unspoken — that created distance we don’t know how to close.

St. Paul understood this tension when he wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). Notice that he says, “if possible” and “so far as it depends on you.” Paul knew that reconciliation between people isn’t always achievable.

I think of two family members I had watched over the years, both strong-willed, both quick to speak. Their relationship had seasons of closeness and seasons of conflict, and there was always a constant tension that never fully went away. But they kept showing up. They kept coming back to the table. And over time, something softened. It wasn’t a dramatic moment of resolution. It was more like grace working slowly, quietly, imperfectly, the way it often does. Sometimes reconciliation doesn’t look the way we expect it to. Sometimes it’s simply two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other.

But what happens when reconciliation isn’t possible? What if the other person isn’t willing, too much has been broken, or they’re no longer here? Do we have to carry that burden by ourselves?

No. And this is where Scripture speaks such comfort: “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

Our hope isn’t based on whether every relationship gets fixed in this life. Our hope is in the One who has already made all things right with Himself. The brokenness we see, including the relationships we couldn’t repair, isn’t the end. Resurrection is the final word.

That is exactly what we celebrate this month. Easter is the proof that God’s reconciling work is complete. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. Christ is risen. The One who bore our sin, carried our brokenness, and bridged the chasm between us and the Father has conquered even death itself. Whatever remains unresolved in this life, Easter declares that the God who finished our salvation is not finished with us yet.

In this month’s Broadcaster, you’ll find more on this theme of reconciliation, how God reconciles us to Himself, and what it looks like to pursue peace with others, even when it feels impossible. I pray these pages encourage you this Easter season and remind you that the God who bridged the greatest chasm of all is more than able to carry you through whatever broken places you’re navigating today.