Matthew Costner

It’s amazing how so often when things don’t go the way I planned or thought they should, I feel like a failure. For instance, I really have been bummed out lately that things at the church I was previously at, didn’t turn out differently. I really wanted them to. I prayed for them to. Alyson and I bought a house in a nearby neighborhood so we could plug in more than we had. We did everything we could or knew to do to yet at the end of the day, or year and a half, it was obvious we needed to move on.

I have constantly thought about the things I would have done differently. It was my first pastorate. It was the first time I was in charge of a flock. All the leadership things I had been taught, and believed to be biblical, didn’t work. And so I did what a lot of people have done in a similar situation, I became cynical. Or at least my cynicism began to grow more than it should. Through my cynicism I’ve said things that I shouldn’t have. I’ve thought things in my head that I’m ashamed of. I’ve allowed good things (like church) to interfere and hinder my relationship with Jesus.

On the way to Ugly Mugs (the coffee shop I frequent) this morning, I really began to hear, “I AM the God of second chances.” It was more of a thought process, although I did look in the back seat to make sure no one was playing tricks on me. As I finally sat down with my cup of coffee, and opened up my Holy Scriptures, I began to read in Acts 3.

Here, Peter seems to come down hard on the crowd for their participation in Jesus’ death. If you remember the masses were the ones that called for Jesus to be crucified. And in the midst of the masses were probably really good well meaning people who did nothing to stand up for what was right. I’m sure that at the end of the day, many of the people thought about what they would have done differently given the same situation again on choosing if Jesus should die.

Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 has so much significance to us Christians because even though the people acted out of ignorance for not knowing who Christ is, Peter did. Peter hung out with Jesus daily, broke bread with Him, joked with Him, and personally heard His teaching. Ironically, Peter even swore he’d defend him at all costs. We all know how the story ended; Peter denied knowing Jesus–three times…

In essence Peter let the crowd come between him and his relationship with Jesus. Likewise, we can let things (crowds, church, religious people, denominations, etc.) come between our relationships with Jesus. But here’s what I love – Jesus came back for Peter.  Peter didn’t deserve a second chance. Turning your back (literally) on the Son of God sounds pretty unforgivable. And let’s not forget the Apostle Paul’s second chance, which, in a former life took great pride in persecuting Christians. We’re introduced to him as Saul in Acts 9 as a zealous persecutor of the Christian Church. He definitely didn’t deserve a second chance from God for all the people he murdered.

But for Paul and Peter, God didn’t only give them a second chance He used them to build His Kingdom. Paul became argumentatively the most famous missionary of all times, and Peter is the “original” church planter! How cool is that? The epiphany, if you will, I had this morning was that Christ has a second chance for anyone who needs it, including you and me. We don’t have to be biblical characters to receive second chances. We only have to look to Jesus, the author of them.

Do you need a second chance? Let today be the start of something new.