Sermon for Community Thanksgiving Service

God of Second Chances…and third…and fourth

A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted.
 The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. 'Fetch the Bible,' he commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.
'Now find Psalm 23,' he commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through, and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.
The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, havinghim locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed.One man asked, 'Can he do regular dog tricks, too?'
'I haven't tried yet,' the pastor replied.He pointed his finger at the dog..'HEEL!' the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl.
The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, 'Good Heaven's, he's Pentecostal!

Isn't it a blessing that we can gather here as Baptist and Catholic, Methodist and Christian Church, Assmblies and Lutheran, as a united church of Jesus celebrating a common trust in our Lord Jesus Christ this evening. Praise the Lord. What a blessing tonight is

Read Luke 4: 14-30

The year 1991 was a good year. It was the year I graduated from high school. It was also the year a movie called City Slickers
came out. City Slickers was a movie about Mitch, a man who had just turned 40, who was played by Billy Crystal. He and his friends, who were all close to the same age, decide to go from the big city out to the country for this "dude ranch" kind of experience. Each of the men was struggling. They were dealing with typical mid-life issues, and all of them were in some state of personal crisis. Probably the best character in the movie is the head of this ranching operation, a man named Curly played by Jack Palance—a role for which Palance won an Oscar award. At one point in the movie, the assistant ranch hands, in absence of the Curly, get in a drunken, violent confrontation with these tourists. This confrontation sends one of the toursists, Phil, into a place of emotional distress. Phil begins to feel overwhelmed with his struggling marriage, his feelings of powerlessness in dealing with the men they were confronting, and deep-seated issues from way back in his childhood.

Billy Crystal's character, Mitch, and the rest of his friends, are sitting in the tent with Phil while he in a state of emotional collapse. Phil starts talking about how he is nearing 40 and his life is a waste. Mitch reminds him about when they would play games as a child. And sometimes they would be playing ball and the ball would get stuck in the tree. And then everyone would declare that the whole play in the game was a "do over". Mitch explains to Phil that he can have a do-over with his life if he chooses to do that. Phil is not sure that the do-over is practical, but he mulls it over.

The Bible has a lot to say about do-overs. It has a lot to say about do-overs because our God is a God of second chances.

In the Old Testament, in the law of God, in the book of Leviticus, there are a number of festivals that are mentioned. None is as radical as the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee happened about every 50 years. Or at least it was supposed to happen every fifty years. And in that year, people would be forgiven their debts. And if they sold their family land, the family would be given the land back. In that time people would sell themselves into slavery to pay their bills. God commanded that in addition to debt relief these bondservants would be set free. God tells Moses, that in this nation that was being formed to follow him and reflect his name, that his people would know that God was merciful and God was just. Even more than that, they would know that God was one who loved to see his people repent, and to offer them new starts. Do-overs. Because, you see, our God is a God of second chances. He offered second chances then. He offers second chances now. Our God is a God of second chances.

Well, there is not a lot of proof that the Hebrew people ever practiced what God commanded them to do. And we cannot be too hard on them, because I think we would have a hard time doing this as well. As a matter of fact, as we keep studying through our Bible, we see that the people of God had a hard time following God's commands in all sorts of ways. The people would turn away. God would not bless them. They would suffer. They would repent. God would deliver them. Over and over again God would deliver them. For centuries this happened. God would deliver them because our God is a God of second chances..and third chances…and fourth chances….

It got to a point in the Hebrew nation when they came under the thumb of these massive empires. There was opportunity for God's people to be delivered from these oppressors, who sought to overrun them. God sent prophets to warn them. The people did not listen. It is from the past that Isaiah prophecies hope to the people of Israel after they are taken captive by the Babylonians and Assyrians. And Isaiah speaks the prophecy that was read earlier. Even though you are in captivity, God has a plan to set you free. God has a plan to return you to your land that the Lord promised to your forefathers way back in times of Moses. He has a plan to heal your broken heart. Isaiah 61:2 says that they want to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

The year of the Lord's favor is the year of Jubilee. Even though God's people were unfaithful, God is faithful still. And when he tells them about how he is going to take them back from exile to the Promised Land, he says he is going to make it a Jubilee Year. A year where captives go free. Where people can go back and live in the land that they lost the generation before. God says, even though you have sinned as my people, even though you have betrayed me as a people, I am going to give you a second chance. God does this because our God is a God of second chances.

When we come to Luke 4. Jesus goes to his hometown synagogue. He stands up to read the Scripture. He reads the passage from Isaiah 61:1-2. He rolls up the scroll. He sits down to teach. All eyes were on him. All ears are listening. And what are the first words that come out of his mouth. "Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing".

Well Jesus goes on. We only get highlights of the rest of the sermon. But the people get angry enough that they almost throw him off of a cliff. Literally.

Why? Because this promise of returning from exile in Isaiah was also understood as a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah. The Son of Man. The Son of God.

Jesus, when he grabs the scroll, and says that "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing", what Jesus is saying is that he, in his own person, is the embodiment of this promise. He is the one who binds up the broken hearted. He is the one who sets the captive free. He is the one who brings good news to the poor. He is the Messiah. He is the one who comes to offer the world a second chance. Our God in the flesh, our baby Jesus that we will celebrate next month, comes to offer the world a second chance.

Furthermore, Jesus comes and he says, at the same time, through what he says in this sermon of his, that this is his mission statement. People try to make Jesus about a lot of different agendas. A lot of different political agendas. A lot of different social agendas. A lot of different personal agendas. At times these agendas are in tune with Biblical truth. At times the agendas are in tune with the Spirit's leading. At times they are not. But more than anything. Jesus comes to offer us, each and every one of us, a second chance. A chance to be new Creation. A Chance to be born again. A chance to have a new life. A new hope. A new future. We are given this through choosing to accept the invitation to have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are given a second chance by following Jesus instead of following the ways of the World. We are given hope by our God who has always been, and who will always be a God of second chances.

As we come to Thanksgiving, we remember a group of people coming to America seeking freedom to practice their Christian faith as they felt led to live it by God's Holy Spirit. They came to America for a new start. They had a difficult go of things the first year. They were not sure they were going to survive. But God provided. God provided a new hope and a new life for them in a new place. On Thanksgiving we celebrate more than anything, that these people were able to come to America and have a new start. A new start. More than anything to be thankful for when we celebrate Thanksgiving we need to celebrate the opportunity to have a second chance…and a third chance…and a fourth chance. More than anything on Thanksgiving, we need to remember our God is a God of second chances.

Not all of our relatives came over on the Mayflower. But most of us have a heritage that brought us here from somewhere else, as people seeking a new start, a new hope, and a second chance. And that is why we celebrate Thanksgiving with joy and hope. As Americans we have family that not only came to America from England, but we have parts of our population that came to America from all over Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Some people from many of these different groups are represented here tonight. My relatives, on my mother's side, came to America from Germany. And not under good circumstances. They were poor. And they were hungry. And so they went on the land owned by the king, and poached the elk on his land. This made the Kaiser very mad. And so they ran. They moved. They ran across Germany, somehow found a boat, and came across with thousands of other immigrants in the early to mid 1800s to America for a new start. Soon after, they discovered new faith by all becoming Methodists as they headed west—homesteading in the Oregon Territory. They were criminals probably headed for prison. They became farmers and faithful Christians in a land full of hope and promise. A place where God offered them a second chance—both with their day to day living, and with their hope for eternity. Why. Because in all of our lives, our God is a God of second chances.

As a ministerial alliance, we celebrate our God as a God of second chances. We put together food banks and thanksgiving baskets together. We do this to offer hope and love to be people who have been dealt a little rougher hand than the rest of us. Why? Because if we are about following Jesus we are about offering compassion to the brokenhearted. We are about giving people a little bit of a hand that might otherwise be forgotten. We are about communicating that Jesus offers us love and hope. We are about serving a God who is a God of second chances.

We also gather in worship on special occasions, especially occasions like Thanksgiving , Missouri Day, and Good Friday. And we celebrate in worship the God who offers us new hope and new life. We do this in worship together because we are united in believing that our God is a God of second chances.

We are so united in this attitude, as a matter of fact, that as a ministerial alliance, we have put together a new statement of faith and mission statement this year. We did this to be clear to the world that we are all about God-honoring, Bible-believing, faithful Christianity. We also did this because we want to continue to extend an open hand and open arms to other churches in this community who have chosen not to be a part of our ministerial alliance. We want to make it clear that the things that may have divided us in the past do not have to divide us now. That we believe that God offers second chances, even in our fellowship with one another. Because our God is a God of second chances.

And you know what, God does not just offer second chances to people far off, he does not just offer do-overs to people in movies, he does not just offer new starts to people in generations gone by, or through ministerial alliances and food banks. God offers new starts and new hope to people like you and I each and every day.

When Jennifer and I would have a Sunday off from church when we were serving in Colorado Springs, we liked to attend this little Covenant church plant on the north side of town. The motto of the church was, "a good place to start….or start over."

I don't know about you, but there are several days where I feel like I have messed everything up. I got offended with someone. I was short with my wife. I yelled at the dog. I had the opportunity to really show God's love to someone, and I missed it. Or sometimes, I have a confrontation with someone. Or feel like I am pathetic and hopeless. And, I wonder….I wonder….how to keep going. And I go to sleep at night. And I wake up in the morning. And I know that today is a new day, and in this new day God has given me a new start…a do over… a second chance.

God offers you a second chance this Thanksgiving as well. A second chance as you sit with your family to be a better father, a better mother, a more loyal child, a more loving, selfless grandparent. God offers you a second chance this thanksgiving to choose to be the person he has MADE you to be. Our God is a God of second chances.

I am here because God gave me a second chance. I wasn't in the church cradle roll. I did not grow up with an extended family that attended worship just because…My parents split when I was in kindergarten. We grew up with very little income at times, and we barely got by. My mother had an off again on again relationship with the church. My father left church in late grade school, when he was an altar boy and saw this the priest he served under be a belligerent drunk to the people he served. But God's people found us somehow, and in spite of the fact that the church was not perfect, it was a church that offered us love and hope. It pointed me to Jesus, and reminded me weekly that Jesus always offers a second chance

And, as an evangelical Christian pastor, I don't believe that being a member of a church makes you a Christian any more than being in a garage makes you a car. I believe that there is someone here—at least one—who has been a member of a church all your life, but has never been born again. Has never accepted that second chance that Jesus offers. A chance to accept Christ and follow him. Today, I tell you…it is not too late. It is not to late to surrender your life to Jesus. Because being a member of a church is not going to save your soul. Choosing to have a personal relationship with Jesus where he is your Master and Savior will. Will you accept Jesus today. Will you let down your mask, and choose to accept Jesus into your heart today. Will you become a new creation. Will you come to Jesus, and say I have tried to do everything right on my own power, but I need Jesus. I need the second chance he offers. Come to your pastor after the service and accept Jesus today. Trust that even for you, that God comes and offers a second chance. Because our God is a God of second chances.

No where does that God of second chances show his self more than he does through Jesus on the cross. Who suffered and died a brutal death to take the sins of the world upon himself. Who, as we beat him and mocked him and spat upon him cried out "Forgive them father, for they don't know what they are doing." Even as he suffered, Christ is begging the father to give us a second chance. And his prayer is granted, as we can see through the resurrection. The power of death good not hold him. He had to rise again. To show us new hope. To give us a second chance.

And that truth….that hope…that good news. O, my friends, that is something to be thankful for.