This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
"Getting to Know the God Who Loves You"
"Getting to Know the God of the Second Chance"
DATE: March 15, 1998
TEXT: Judges 4:4-10; 23-24

Lucille Ball began studying for her acting career at the John Murray-Anderson Drama School. The head teacher after watching her for a period of time went to Lucille and said, "Lucille, I've got to tell you something. You should choose any other profession than acting. Any other!"

In 1959, United Universal Picture's Executive Director released a young man—Clint Eastwood. When he released Clint he said, "Clint, you have a chip on your tooth, your Adam's Apple sticks out too far and you talk too slow." And he was gone.

In 1962 four fearful, knee-shaking young musicians auditioned for the first time with Decker Recording. After they played, the executives were clearly not impressed. They said to these four British young men called The Beatles, "We don't like your sound. And by the way, groups with guitars are on the way out!"

And in 1954, Jim Denny, the Executive Director of the Grand Ol' Opry, after one performance by Elvis, fired him on the spot. He said, "You ain't goin' nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin' truck."

All four of these entertainers, as we know the rest of the story, went on to be very successful in their careers. They endured the failure. And through their failure got a second chance.

If you were to talk to any parent who has raised children into adulthood, any couple who's been married for fifty years or more, any successful entertainer, you would hear in their conversation at least one word over and over again. The word, HOPE. "I hope we make it."

HOPE—without it we die. With it we cannot only survive any challenge but we can even thrive. As we continue our series, "Getting to Know the God Who Loves You." We're going to focus on "The God of the Second Chance." How God can give us hope. How God can give us that second opportunity in the midst of defeat to survive and thrive.

But first let's pray together. Dear God. Your servant Paul once said, "If we have hope only in this life, we are most to be pitied." Without you there is only the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." But with you there is life. With you for every good Friday, there is the possibility of an Easter. Thank you for your gift of hope through Jesus Christ. AMEN

The people of Israel had all but lost hope. The oppressors, the Philistines, had pushed them down, abused them, defeated them. They cried out to God. In response, God sent them a super-hero, Samson. By all the accounts we read Samson was an extremely muscular, tough, rugged, strong, courageous man.

I know what you're all thinking, "Much like you, Pastor Stan."

Did you know that after the age 30, the average American loses a half-pound of muscle every year? At that rate, I'm due to be out of muscle by next week! Samson I'm not.

But Samson was extremely strong. With his own bare hands he tore the gates off the enemy city. With the jawbone of a donkey, he killed a thousand enemy soldiers. With his brute strength, he popped open ropes as if they were threads. Superman; Batman; Ninja Turtles; Power Rangers all rolled together into one!

But more importantly, God gave Samson a dream. God put in Samson's heart the desire to use his strength to help others. To set his people free. To give them a brand new beginning.

Unfortunately, Samson got side-tracked. Just as Samson's physical muscles were strong, his moral fiber was weak. He had a weakness for the ladies. And the beautiful Delilah seduced him. And as he seduced him, she drew from him the secret of his strength.

Years before, before Samson was even born, his mother was told by God never to tell the secret of his strength—that his hair not be cut. And yet, in that moment of weakness, Samson revealed the secret to Delilah. And while he was sleeping on her lap, she shaved his head.

When Samson awoke, the enemies attacked. They bound him. He was powerless; he could not fight. They gouged out his eyes and threw him into the humiliation of a slave.

Yet, at the bottom of the pit, at the end of his rope, when he had no hope, God came to this young man Samson. Samson cried out to the Lord, and the Lord gave him a second chance.

Eventually, Samson leaned against the palace pillars, and with the strength that only God could give, he pushed those pillars apart to collapse the palace and defeat his enemy. Though he died, through that experience God enabled Samson to fulfill his dream—to begin the process of redeeming his people, to give them a new hope and a new beginning.

As we listen to this story we might ask, "Why did God put this in the Bible?" It's a story of discouragement and defeat. It's a story of hope gone awry. It's a story of physical strength and moral weakness. But we see in this story, most importantly, the love and the grace of God. Even in Samson's defeat, even in his failure, God brought through him a new beginning.

We probably cannot relate to Samson's enormous strength. Although a few who sculpt their body every day might think of themselves as Samson—people like Arnold or Claude, the guys I work out with at the gym—most of us can't relate to that. The fact is, like Samson, each and every one of us has been given a dream.

God created you for a purpose. God brought you into this world to make this world a better place. God has given you dreams about your family, about your future, about your career. About the way that you can love others.

I would imagine that if you and I sat and visited for awhile, you could tell me stories of your dreams. "Maybe I could do this…" Or, ",Perhaps I could do that…" But so often, like Samson, as we journey through this life, people shave our head; circumstances shave our head; our own failure shaves our head and our dreams are dashed. We lose our hope and we think there is no tomorrow. But God in his goodness today, and throughout your life gives you a second chance.

I'd like to share with you three specific ways that God gives you a second chance.

First, God breaks our bonds. A number of years ago, Reader's Digest ran two stories side by side. The first was titled, The Church That Would Not Die. It told about a church that had gone defunct. Built in 1794, it once boost 500 worshippers per Sunday. When citizens of the community learned that a nearby factory intended to buy the property, raze the building, and pave the land with asphalt, they intervened. They raised funds, cleared the cemetery grounds, overhauled the structure, and saved the building as a historical landmark.

The second story concerned another church, this one on the river Kwai. During the second world war, a group of emaciated, threadbare prisoners called themselves a church—a church whose single requirement for membership was faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. This was God's kingdom, Ernest Gordon wrote, a spiritual fellowship that expressed Christ's love. The physical temple was absent, with most of the fine accouterments we think of as the church, but the fellowship of God's people survived and thrived.

Which is the church? The kingdom of God? The colonial building or the men of the death camp? Which one goes on and thrives in all changes, in even the most dangerous places? Which is the militant people of God, spiritually warring against all of Satan's strongholds? Which is, simultaneously and forever, the church devoted to God's purpose and at rest in God's love?

Our God is in the bond-breaking business. What we cannot defeat ourselves, our failures, our weakness—God can! God breaks our bonds. God has the power that we don't have to break our bonds. We cry out, "Lord, help." And he's there.

Secondly, God heals our hurts.

Have you ever had your head shaved? I don't mean like Charles Barkley. But, have you ever had a dream and then someone came and popped your bubble? Have you had some circumstance defeat you? It was as if the power had been drained out of your body. You couldn't see to the future? You felt hopeless, discouraged? Maybe depressed?

And as someone did that to you, the hurt came. And hurt lingers for a long time. It can turn into bitterness. And that bitterness can paralyze us from moving forward with out life.

In Restoring Your Spiritual Passion, Gordon MacDonald writes:

One memory that burns deep within is that of a plane flight on which I was headed toward a meeting that would determine a major decision in my ministry. I knew I was in desperate need of a spiritual passion that would provide wisdom and submission to God's purposes. But the passion was missing because I was steeped in resentment toward a colleague.

For days I had tried everything to rid myself of vindictive thoughts toward that person. But, try as I might, I would even wake in the night, thinking of ways to subtly get back at him. I wanted to embarrass him for what he had done. My resentment was beginning to dominate me, and on that plane trip I came to a realization of how bad things really were…

As the plane entered the landing pattern, I found myself crying silently to God for power both to forgive and to experience liberation from my poisoned spirit. Suddenly it was as if an invisible knife cut a hole in my chest, and I literally felt a think substance oozing from within. Moments later I felt as if I'd been flushed out. I'd lost negative spiritual weight, the kind I needed to lose; I was free. I fairly bounced off that plane and soon entered a meeting that did in fact change the entire direction of my life.

Jesus Christ comes to move through the corridors of your heart to heal your hurt. Spiritual passion cannot coexist with resentments. He'll give you the strength to forgive and to let go, to bring balm and salve to those areas of pain. Jesus heals the hurts.

Finally, Jesus Christ focuses our future.

When Florence Chadwick looked before her all she saw was a wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming for over 16 hours. Florence Chadwick had already broken the world record by being the first woman to swim the English Channel back and forth. Now she was facing the challenge of swimming from Catalina Island to the California coast.

On that 4th day of July 1952, as Florence swam, the sea felt like an ice bath. The fog was so think she could hardly see her support boat. Sharks moved toward her and only the riffle fire kept them away. The fierce cold sea tried to hold her back. But she swam on hour after hour. Millions of people watched her on national television.

Her mother and her trainer from the support boat tried to encourage her. They said, "Florence, you're almost there!" But all she could see was the fog. They said, "Florence don't give up!" She had never given up before. But in that moment of pain with a fog bank all around her she said, "Life me into the boat."

When she finally climbed into the boat, she realized that she was only a half-mile from shore!

Hours later, as she was still thawing out from the cold, she told a reporter, "I don't mean to make excuses for myself, but if I think I could have made it."

It wasn't the cold water that defeated her. It wasn't the fatigue that defeated her. It was the fog. She had lost sight of her goal.

Two months later Florence tried it again. This time with faith firmly fixed in her heart. This time with a clear picture of the goal. Even though the fog this second time was just as dense, she saw in her mind the picture of the shore beyond the fog. She knew it was there. She swam hard and she made it.

Florence was the first woman to ever swim the Catalina Channel. She defeated the men's record by 2 hours.

Friends, sometimes when we get discouraged, it's like we're in a fog. We can't see beyond the fog. But Jesus Christ comes to give us a picture of the future. A vision of what we cannot see in the midst of our pain.

He did it for Samson. He does it for us. He shows us that even death is not the end. Even if we face death, God has an eternal future that is beautiful and wonderful.

Perhaps you feel in a fog right now. God comes to you to give you a positive picture of the future. What may seem like an end, is not an end but an opportunity for a new beginning.

God heals our hurts. He breaks our bondages. He focuses our future and he gives us a second change. There is yet another reason God gave us this story of Samson. It's not just for us.

You see, all around us there are people who need a second chance. People in you neighborhood. Friends at work. Sons and daughters in our homes. They may feel their parents have given up on them. Their friends have given up on them. Their children have given up on them. Their churches have given up on them. And some of them may have even given up on themselves. So what can we do?

We can tell them this good news. We can tell them that our God is a God of a second chance. That our God forgives and heals. He breaks the bonds. He can focus our future into a bright tomorrow.

Let's do that. Let's tell them! Let's tell them the story of Jesus and the God of the second chance.

AMEN