2nd Chance
May 16th, 2008 — Anu OluwadareI was listening to Max Lucado teaching on Mark 16:1-7, He was speaking about a message that Jesus sent to his disciples after he arose from the dead, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee”, what do you notice? The message was for his disciples general and Peter in particular. Here was Peter that had flopped and really messed up big time, but Jesus gave him a message specifically that just because he messed up once does not mean he’s a failure. That is the way of the world, not many second chances exist in the world today. Just ask the Undergraduate who didn’t make First Class in his final exam or the man who got kicked out of the team for losing.
Not many second chances. Nowadays it’s more like, “It’s now or never.” “Around here we don’t tolerate incompetence.” “Not much room at the top.”! Jesus has a simple answer to our masochistic mania. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world?” he would say. “Then don’t live with the dogs.” That makes sense doesn’t it? Why let a bunch of other failures tell you how much of a failure you are?
over the years I have repeatedly beat myself over the head because I thought I could not get another chance, Experiences in school, life, work and relationships have left me feeling wrung out and washed out, Peter felt the same too, but that message Jesus sent to him was enough to turn his life around, It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his shorts on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.
It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.