Second Chances
March 7, 2010
Luke 13: 6-9


Third Sunday of Lent

Most of us have been glued to the television for the last couple of weeks watching the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; and if you have been one of those who have done so, you may have witnessed some of the races in which the competitors tried to leave the gate too early and the officials had to declare a false start. When this happened there was a restart of that race declared and the competitors got a second chance, a chance to start again as if the mistake had not happen.

As I thought about this and the scripture for this morning, I remembered the many times God had given me a chance to start again, to redo or begin again something on which I had made a bad start the first, and maybe even the second, time.

How many times do we try to produce fruit for God and really blundering, make a mess of it? How many times do we say or do something that hurts another person? It is a good thing that God is ready and willing to forgive, and let us start again.

The communion we shared this morning is all about starting again. It is the second chance we have to live a better life than we have up to this point. It is an opportunity to have our past sins removed and get a fresh start free from the guilt and burden of our false starts.

The Psalmist speaks of God’s steadfast love and the joy we receive when we trust in the Lord and rely on God to renew and protect our souls.

Today, by the blood of Jesus Christ we have been given a fresh start. We have been forgiven, and are set on a new and better path. But with forgiveness and redemption comes an expectation that we will live a better life, and part of that means that we understand the forgiveness we have received, accept that we have been forgiven, and stand ready to forgive others.

We need to remember that we ask God to forgive us as we forgive those who have hurt or sinned against us. It is only in doing so that we show our understanding of God’s forgiveness of the things we have done. Many will say that it is not possible to forgive the hurt they have experienced, but we all need to understand the difference between forgetting the past and forgive the pain we have felt. Remembering the past will help us to learn about ourselves and others; but it is only in forgiving that we can move on and live as God would have us live.

During the next several days, until we meet again, I would call upon you to think about those who you need to forgive; and be prepared to forgive as you have been forgiven.