A SECOND CHANCE
There was a debate on the radio this week on this theme which looked at giving people a second chance after they had made an error. The focus was on workplace situations and as is obligatory on Radio 4 a variety of opinions was expressed and no definitive answer supplied. We are all perfectly entitled to our view and personal values: Although, as might be expected, a fair degree of pragmatism came in so that a second chance depended on the seriousness of the mistake and the impact that it had.
This all arose out of the mistake by the England goal-keeper, Robert Green, in letting a ball slip through his hands. The reaction of the press was generally very unkind. He did not get an immediate second chance and sadly his mistake will be remembered for years to come. For some people, and especially some journalists, he will be the subject of vilification and ridicule for a long time. The attitude of Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang, the Christian couple who were put on trial for defending their faith, is in complete contrast. In a BBC Radio Merseyside interview broadcast last Sunday, the couple said they pray for Ericka Tazi, the Muslim who made a complaint against them, and hold no bitterness towards her.
Giving a second a chance involves a measure of forgiveness, understanding or compassion. These are complex reactions and cannot be easily explained. Of course, sometimes a second chance, or a further chance, is given on the basis of “this is your last chance”. So people talk about being in the ‘last chance saloon’. The response to a mistake depends on several factors:
It also depends on the cultural values that are prevailing. In some societies there is a culture of revenge and those societies are often hard and lacking in compassion.
People often speak about ‘forgiving and forgetting’ but that rarely happens no matter the sincerity and desire in those forgiving. Personal hurt and the outcomes of actions are not always quickly healed. Even innocent mistakes can have serious and far reaching consequences that cannot be easily removed. Resentment and bitterness grow so easily in the human heart and they are destructive forces. On the other hand easy forgiveness can also be dangerous. In particular, a casual attitude to wrong-doing erodes any sense of good and uprightness. Giving a second chance is a more difficult thing than we often imagine because forgiveness is a very complex thing.
That is where the Christian message is unique and wonderful. God forgives and gives a second chance – and many more chances beyond that! Take the story of Jonah (a true story). Jonah receives a commission from God and runs away not wanting to obey. God deals with him in an extraordinary way through a storm and a big fish. Then we read in Jonah 3:1, “the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time”. There is something very similar in the life of Peter. He sank so low in failure that he actually denied the Lord on the night before the crucifixion. But on Easter Day the risen Saviour went to see him (Luke 24v34) and later restored him to great usefulness (John 21:15-19 and the rest of the New Testament).
God is the God of forgiveness and repeated new chances. There is no truth greater than this in the world. But we can go further because God genuinely does forgive and will not remember. Read these verses – Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17 – both quoting Jeremiah 31:33 which is God’s new covenant with His people: A covenant with God is utterly binding and He will not break it. Then there are other verses – Isaiah 43:25; Psalm 103:11-12; Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19.
For the Christian who has faith in Jesus alone for his forgiveness there is this absolute certainty of sins forgiven. And though we often fall and fail, yet there is always fresh forgiveness and another chance. Not just one second chance but multiple chances. That is God’s way of mercy and grace.
How can God do that? He is just and He has required payment for our sins and wrong doing at the hands of another. Jesus has died for us – “in our place condemned he stood”. When we recognise our wrong-doing and sinfulness and repent of it before God and then trust in what Jesus did, all our sins are forgiven. As the Apostle Paul puts in Romans 3:24, “(He is) just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
On that final Judgement Day when we stand before God those who have trusted in Jesus will find that there is no condemnation whatsoever. Every single sin has been removed from their record. Oh yes, they will be assessed for their service to Christ and rewarded accordingly, but there is no judgement of sin whatsoever. And what is more, God even over-rules our mistakes and wrong-doing. He makes all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). The Apostle Paul fell out with Barnabus over John Mark. Who was right or wrong I don’t know. But good came out of it and John Mark became a great help to Paul (2 Timothy 4:11; Colossians 4:10). “God uses the things He hates to accomplish the things He loves” (Joni Earickson Tada)
These are concepts and values you cannot find in the world. They may give a person a second chance, but they cannot even begin to respond to a failure as God does to a repentant sinner. He will give you another chance. And that means that we should follow His example in our dealings with others. Of course, on that final Judgement Day there is no second chance for those who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus now.