THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCES

(This is an abridged version of the sermon preached at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on 4/29/12)

Mark 2:1-12

All of us, at some point in life, have needed a second chance. I’ve come to discover that life is really a series of second chances, renewed opportunities, and new horizons that lie before us, waiting to be realized.

Life is really about second chances – second chances when life seems dark and dim, second chances when trials and tribulations confront us, and second chances when all hope seems to be gone.

In the Gospel text, as found in Mark chapter 2, there is uncovered one of the places where we find the considerable hostility and anger that Jesus faced in the early days of his ministry. There is a certain irony here in that Jesus came to bring peace into the world, and to teach the people of his day, and teach us today, how to better love one another, and show compassion toward our neighbor. The irony here is compounded when we realize that the opposition that Jesus faced throughout his ministry often came from the religious leaders – the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes - of his day.

It was his very acts of compassion of all things that drove Jesus into conflict with the religious establishment. And it is against this backdrop that we find Mark’s account of the forgiveness and healing of a man with a disabling condition.

Here, Jesus was at home in Capernaum. The house was filled with people waiting to see and hear the Lord. In fact, people were packed so tightly that no others could enter the house. But this crowded situation did not deter four clever men who needed to bring their friend to see Jesus.

And so, the men climbed on the roof, opened a hole in the ceiling, and lowered their paralyzed friend down in front of Jesus. When Christ saw the man, he could see something that no one else in the crowd could see. His words to this man were not simply that he was to be healed from his crippling condition, but Jesus said to him, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

You see, Jesus looked beyond the outer appearance of this man - his outward infirmity - and dealt first with his most profound and deepest need. Although this man certainly needed healing for his body, what Jesus was saying is “first things first.” “First, I need to address matters of the heart, and then matters of the body.

Christ would say it another way when he said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all other things will be added to it.” In another place, he would challenge his followers by asking the question, “What does it profit us to gain the world and lose our soul?”

In other words, in order for us to be whole, our spirits must be right first. The point at which wholeness – righteousness - with God comes is the point where we realize that first each of us has sinned and come short of God’s glory, and then that we have been forgiven. And so, Jesus tells the paralytic (first) you are forgiven.

But the religious leaders bristled at the mere thought of Jesus forgiving anybody. “Who does he think he is, going around forgiving people? Only God can do that.”

And the Lord’s reply, “Why do you question me? Which is easier for me to say… “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say “Rise, take up your pallet and walk?”” And so Jesus (to show that he was God) then turned to the paralytic and said, “Rise, take up your pallet and go home.” The man got up, took his mat, and walked away.

Although reflection on this particular text could spur theological debate in a number of areas related to the Christian faith, and the authority that Christ held then - and his authority and power today - it is my sense that Mark places this passage at the beginning of his Gospel to point to the hope and the possibilities that were emblematic of Christ’s ministry.

As demonstrated with this man, the Lord’s ministry was one that offered new life, second chances for those who had been marginalized, and wounded by the ills of society. Jesus said that “I have come to seek and save that which is lost.”

The Good News begins with the fact that as this certain paralyzed man would be offered a renewed relationship with God and a second chance at walking, there are second chances that are before us today.

Growing up, I recall that one of my favorite boyhood activities was throwing rocks. My buddies and I would engage in the game of rock-throwing in order to see who could throw the farthest, and with the most accuracy.

In our youth (as mischievous and naïve as we were), I don’t recall that we were too concerned with what we might hit – cars, windows, or even persons. The simple “joy” of winning in the youthful game of rock- throwing was what was most important to us. In retrospect, I am not proud of my rock-throwing days, and I believe that in the back of my mind, I knew that if I threw stones long enough, I’d eventually find myself in deep trouble.

But still we threw stones. And then one day, my mother caught me. I can remember today, the guilt that I felt – not to mention the fear and trepidation of knowing that now I would be held accountable and face discipline for my actions.

My mother and father sat me down and talked to me about the dangers of rock-throwing. The more they talked (and reminded me that it could have been a policeman who caught me throwing rocks; or that I could have actually hurt somebody) the more I realized that what my parents were really doing, was giving me a second chance, extending me both grace and mercy.

It’s good to know that God is a God of Second Chances!

This is the second chance, the new life that a man named John Newton would experience. John Newton was the captain of a slave ship that transported slaves from Africa to these American shores. It was on one of his journeys across the Atlantic that Newton would encounter the reality of God’s forgiveness and grace.

John Newton’s experience would eventually lead him to write the words to what is perhaps the church’s most familiar song:

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch
Like me….
I once was lost
But now I’m found
Was blind
But now I see.

Through many dangers,
toils and snares
I have already come
‘Twas grace that taught
my heart to fear
And grace shall lead me home…