Second Chances

There is a scene from the movie City Slickers, where one of the characters, Phil, is having a bit of a meltdown.  He's lost his wife, his job, his family- really, his manhood.  The other characters try to buoy his spirits, but nothing is working.  Finally, Mitch, Phil's friend since childhood, reminds him of a phrase they used often while playing baseball and a ball got hit to some place they couldn't retrieve it from.  "Do over."  Basically, that one didn't count, so do it again.  Forget it, and move on.

I use the terminology of chances- we all get a first chance, and if we're fortunate, a second, third, etc.

God had chances.  His first chance was Adam.  Things were going good, so He made Eve.  Things were still going well, so God left them alone in the Garden with one warning- don't eat from that tree.  Others are fine, but not that tree.  Of course, we know they ate from the tree, with a little prompting from the Serpent, and the First Chance started down the tubes.

God set out to save it with the Law.  He told Man how to gain redemption- and man, was it hard.  It seemed impossible.  Yet, Man took God's difficult Law and made it harder. 

God made Man with free will.  Man made bad choices.  God made the Law to rescue Man from bad choices.  Man made the Law God.

And so, God's First Chance ended.

You'd think He'd give up- all the heart-ache Man caused Him.  But He didn't.  See, Man was good, somewhere.  And the Law was good, as God intended before Man perverted it and it's intent.

God needed a do-over.

But, rather than forget all that had gone before, He built on what was Good.  He would marry the Law and the Man into One- the Christ, the Messiah.  Man would need not keep all the Law so rigorously, because the Man-Law would fulfill all the obligation.  The Man-Law must be fully Man- but He must also be fully God. 

So, God gave His Son.

Jesus is the Second Chance for mankind.  The Do-Over.  Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded.  He honored God down to His last, painfully uttered words that speak volumes:  "It is finished."

You and I- all of us who have accepted this sacrifice Jesus made for us- have entered into the Second Chance.  The new life, the second Adam.  Had Jesus just died, our sins would be covered.  But because He lives, because the story didn't end on Friday, but just began on Sunday, we are forgiven and able to be more alive than ever.  We are free, free to begin again.

Now, if we have accepted Christ, we can begin.  But each day, each trial we endure, is a chance to re-embrace that Second Chance.  Lost a job?  Lost a loved one?  Contracted an illness?  Experienced failure?  All reasons to go back to Christ.

Just like when things are good is an excellent time to embrace the Second Chance.

Maybe things have been tough on you lately.  Maybe life has kicked you in the rear- or the teeth- and you just want to give up, to quit. 

Go ahead.

Die to that old way.  Die to those trials.  Give them to God, get counseling, talk to the problem maker, have a good cry, open up to the friend.  End the first chance, and embrace the opportunity to start over.

Live your Second Chance as only you can.

As only Christ makes possible.

Someone Has to be the Blind Guy.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

---Isaiah 61: 1-3

Several years ago, I was really into John Eldredge of Wild at Heart book fame. In one of his books, he uses this passage often, and kinda as a theme for the book. He poses that this passage, which Jesus quotes for His first public message, is a rallying cry for us to be rescuers of people, to be God's agents going out and helping people discover true life.

I ate that up.

And, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea. We are called to imitate Christ, we are told by Jesus that we have authority to do all sorts of crazy spiritual superheroics. And as long as we recognize that it is not we who do the deep down, soul rescuing (only God can do that), I think this is a good mindset to have. Christians who have changed the world no doubt live by this idea- whether they realize it or not. William Wilberforce who fought to end slavery is a perfect historical example, but we need not look any further than the Christians who today are digging water wells in Africa ( www.bloodwatermission.com ), or working in poor areas of America taking care of the sick, or leading movements to bring attention to the sex slave trade ( www.redthreadmovement.org ) or child soldiers ( www.invisiblechildren.com ). And why stop there- there are student missionaries in our colleges, neighbors who share Christ out of their pores, and quite possibly you yourself live this out.

I know I try to. It's not easy, and sometimes, it gets to be almost too much for anyone. Sometimes we falter, we fail, and we get trapped. Sometimes we just burn out.

The other day, I looked this passage up, largely because I was finding myself drawn to the "beauty for ashes" part. As I read it, I noticed something for the first time in a long time.

Someone has to be the blind guy.

I spent so much time focusing on this as a mantra for living the "on-fire for Jesus" lifestyle, that I neglected to realize that this passage is hope for the poor, the blind, the brokenhearted, and the prisoners. Someone is coming to rescue them. Then it dawned on me.

Sometimes, I'm the blind guy.

Sometimes, I need to be rescued, need to be given sight. I'm not always the crusading rescuer, I am often the captive in need of salvation. Be that from the ambassador of Christ that is my friend, or from the presence of Christ Himself, speaking hope to me.

I don't always have it together. Sometimes I can't see clearly, or I'm caught in a trap of my own design. If I am too prideful to admit it, I will not accept help when it comes.

I just need to admit I am the ashes, and that the only way beauty can arise from me is if Christ does His work in me. In order to be the rescuer, I must first be rescued.

Brokenness is a thing we must all know, so that we are made better. We who have been blind and can now see can better rescue the blind (I'm speaking metaphorically here). And the same is true for those former captives and poor.

If we want to be the kind of Christ follower that is revolutionary, it starts with realizing we need His rescue- not just once, but often.

I Will Not Give To God That Which Cost Me Nothing

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
- 2 Samuel 24:24

David has screwed up. Big time. He took a census, mainly to be able to boast in how awesome his army was. This ticked God off, because David (and because the people follow the king- Israel as well) was trusting in himself, and not God. So,God gives David a choice- 3 years of famine, 3 months of pursuit by enemies, or 3 days of plague. David goes with plague. So for three days, 70,000 people die, but God relents at the threshing floor of Araunah. David goes to build an altar of remembrance there, and Araunah wants to give it to him: no charge. This elicits David's response above. And it points us to true worship, thousands of years later.

Jesus was tough to follow. Not just because He spoke in thinly veiled parables and seemed to prefer going on foot everywhere. He was (and is) hard to follow because He expects so much from us.

Wait. Jesus expects things from us? How does that jive with the modern idea that Jesus is all about grace and forgiveness and taking care of us?

The truth is, it doesn't. And it does. Jesus does offer grace, forgiveness and provision. And He requires nothing of us to receive His salvation- His rescue from our failures and mistakes and sins. But if you take His name, if you claim to KNOW Him, there better be some evidence.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
-Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus says doing things in His name doesn't mean you know Him. Just because one attends church, wears a cross or ichthus, obeys the 'rules,' prays and reads the Bible doesn't mean they know Him. For a lot of people, we become fearful and concerned that we don't really know Him, that we are just faking it- with the best of intentions. I've been there.

I've had those times of doubting my relationship with God. Not that He was holding up His end, but that I was being genuine in mine. I've had times in my life when my consistency with prayer and time in the Bible was like clockwork. But looking back, my relationship with Jesus was at best distant. I was doing things that seemed right because that's what everyone said I was supposed to do to have a 'strong relationship with God.' The problem is, prayer and Bible study- just like "prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles" can be done without a relationship with God. The Bible tells us that the name of Jesus is powerful, and we see that people without God in their lives can do miraculous things. And they can do things that seem holy, but are in fact...well, selfish.

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

- Isaiah 29:13

All the way back to the Old Testament, people were faking it. Maybe that's not entirely accurate, maybe it was more that they were fooling themselves. They were doing what man said we had to do, not what The LORD said to do. The Pharisees came about because of this type of thinking, and they were the biggest opposition to Jesus. Why? Because He spoke of knowing and listening to the Words of the Father- they wanted to just keep reading and re-interpreting to maintain their control, their way of living.

They didn't want to give anything to God that cost them something.

So, what does it mean for us? Can we be secure in our relationship with Jesus? Or will we be the people Jesus says He never knew?

I believe we can answer that. Starting with the Matthew passage above- what Jesus tells us is that those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The only way for us know the will of the Father is to listen for it- and the best way to listen and respond to someone is to be in a relationship with them. The will of the Father, when we look at the whole of Scripture, is that we desire and pursue knowing Him. Not knowing about Him, but knowing Him like you know friends and family. The Isaiah passage is God summing that idea up into bringing your heart near to Him. And you don't do that by giving Him lip service and going through the motions. So, how do our hearts draw near to Him?

The answer is: How do you draw your heart near to a loved one? You want to be with them. You make time for them- real, genuine time, not just to check it off. You give them your attention, your affection, and you desire- deeply- them returning theirs. If you love them enough, you will sacrifice your own will and desires and schedules to be with them.

And so we come back to David. He wouldn't give to God anything that cost him nothing. David, we hear, is a man after God's heart. If we want God, it is going to cost us. It'll cost us our precious sins and selfishness. It may cost our comfort and security. It may cost us earthly relationships and success. It will most definitely cost us our lives. We may not die physically, but we must relinquish all that we hold dear to Him. We must be willing to walk away from attitudes, actions, hobbies, interests, and ideologies. See, He demands it all. And He has the right to demand our all.

After all, He gave us His all on the Cross.

So I challenge you, whatever it is that holds you back from Him today- give it to Him. Though the cost may seem more than you can bear, the cost of hearing Jesus say He never knew you is far more than you can imagine.

Flag Football Grace

Today I am sore.

It takes great pains to lift my legs when walking. Rising from my chair requires a groan and many wobbles. I have a finger that is a lovely shade of purple.

This is all because, yesterday, I played flag football with our church. This translates into three people over the age of 30 playing with and against nine people under the age of 25. Six years makes a great deal of difference. I learned this among much other vitally important stuff.

For one, I learned that coordination at 31 is not what it was at 21. I learned that when the momentum of the upper body exceeds the terminal velocity of the lower body, one can enter into a "head skid." I learned that after falling on the ground, rolling is an excellent way to prevent your flags from being pulled- but it is not a legal way to gain yards. I learned that one's wife will, on instinct, trip you to prevent you from sacking her teammate. Lastly, I was reminded of what if feels like to be trapped.

I got to quarterback a few times, and each time, a rush came at me. What often happened was the rushers simply pushed the defenders back with them, so anywhere from three to five people were suddenly all in my space, with no way out. Running around it wasn't an option all that often (see the above mentioned age difference), so you often had to through up a hopeful pass or take the sack. Fortunately, we were playing flag football. Mostly. ( See above mentioned wife defensive strategy.)

It's one thing to feel trapped in a friendly flag football game. It's a totally different kind of trapped when you feel attacked- physically, spiritually, or emotionally. For me, the trapped feeling comes in one of two ways most often: from increased stress or from sin. Usually, they eventually tag team me.

I've felt trapped lately. Temptations rise around me like a defensive line going for the sack. The walls close in and I feel trapped, I can't see a way out of them. I can run for a bit, but I grow tired and the assailants don't. I look for a way out, but the added stress makes me question every decision, every way out is shut down by my feeling of oppression. The loss I take is much more deadly than taking a couple yards for a sack.

Praying the other day, I felt it impressed upon me to read Psalm 40. It's the one that starts out talking about waiting patiently for the Lord, then Him hearing the cry. U2 made a song about it:


In the middle of the Psalm, comes a plea. It comes from the depths of the man, of David who is no stranger to heart wrenching failure and oppression.

11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.
13 Be pleased to save me, LORD;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.

So often, it feels our heart fails. We know what is right, we know what is good. We know what hurts God, hurts those we love, hurts ourselves. But we grow weak in the moment. We give a little ground, and the sin takes the field in a stunning blitz we weren't prepared for. Our troubles overtake us, our sins overwhelm us and we can no longer see our salvation. So, in our moment of desperation, we throw up a prayer blindly. We hope it will find it's intended target before we take the sack. We can't see Him out there, we just hope He is 'pleased to save me.'

I don't know how He does it. I don't know why and definitely not when He does it. But He saves us. Not just that first time when we first meet Him, but daily. He does hear us, and though His answer is not always immediate, He does rescue us. HE snatches our plea for rescue from the air and brings it down securely in His possession. Then He helps us.

He calms us if we will listen for Him and wait for Him. He heals us if we are willing to forgive ourselves for getting into the mess in the first place. He restores us if we are willing to shed the sin that has grown painfully into our skin. And make no mistake, ridding our lives of sin will hurt. Maybe it's the mild removal of a splinter kind of hurt, maybe it's an amputation kind of hurt. Either way, removing a sin that has become a part of you would kill you- if you weren't already dead to sin but alive in Christ (Romans 6:11).

My soreness today reminds of a good memory- a great game with good friends. The soreness of sin however reminds us of how quickly we can get lost in the old us. If only we would remember the pain of sin when in the midst of pursuing it again. There is another ache, however, that rises when we perpetually return to our old sins. It is the ache of longing for God. The ache of losing sight of Him, of broken relations with Him. Of a heart that has failed.

Sin leads to death. Death comes from a heart that has failed- both physically and spiritually.

So if your heart is failing, your options for escape have faded away or you've given up on them, lift your eyes to patch of sky that is still visible in your haze. It's there, trust me. Throw your last hope for rescue at it, trusting in a God you've strayed from but who has never left you. It's not logical, it's not good football strategy to toss a blind pass in the vain hope your receiver will snag it.

It's a good thing Jesus isn't like a flag football receiver, isn't it?