Second Chances

Stretching forgiveness

So I saw this preview by good old sister Kim West about this idea of shining light on the justice system, specifically towards people whom she believed were qualified for a second chance in the world and it really got me to thinking.... 

It made me think about this true sense of unforgiveness and lack of compassion I have for people incarcerated when I’m no different than them. My second chance looks a little more freeing than theirs, but when all hell broke loose in my life and I responded like a fool, I wasn’t worth any grace, yet because I’m loved by a God whose grace is sufficient, He still loved me, so how am I any different? The truth is that even as believers, sometimes God frees us of our sin, yet we still live incarcerated in our mind. So in knowing this, I was clearly facing a level of conviction that I felt justified by at a point in my life.

Okay let me go deeper because transparency is everything. So in 2012, tragedy struck my family in a personal way. I had a cousin who had a history of mental illness that I wasn’t fully aware of. One day a situation escalated quickly in an unforeseen way where this cousin had grabbed a knife, potentially threatening to harm their self, and when my uncle stepped in to deescalate the situation, my uncle was killed by that knife, and my cousin now lives in a mental institution for the crime they committed. For many years, even briefly discussing this matter was off limits for me, because the grief, and restraint it placed on my family impacted me in such a deep way. It wasn't until a few months ago that I began feeling conviction for the level of anger, judgement, and unforgiveness that has rested in my heart towards my cousin.

In Kim’s documentary, she shares about how many of these people that she’s gotten to know have been impacted by severe trauma and abuse that has influenced their actions. Her movement initially grew mainstream attention when she aided in the process of working with Alice Johnson who was recently pardoned after serving 22 years for a low level drug offense. As her work continued she shared stories like a young woman who faced a history of sexual abuse since she was 5 and ultimately ended up murdering her step grandfather who committed these acts against her. She shared stories about people who in a sense reciprocated the actions they were immersed in and around as a child, and were being imprisoned at early ages, healing, and growing, and still having to serve life sentences. Trauma and abuse do not justify continuing the cycle of sin, but they do qualify for grace and forgiveness.

So I wanted to dissect this notion of forgiveness and second chances to prayerfully help someone else who is struggling in this area as well, because make no mistake God is still revealing the work that needs to be done in me with this... 

There's a saying that is often quoted, "God leaves the 99 for the 1", but I feel the scripture itself creates a personal imagery. "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?"- Luke 15:4 NLT When I initially read this verse, my mind started asking questions about the ninety-nine. What's their story? What sin do they carry? Just because they are moving collectively in the same direction, does that provide them an exemption of their wrong doing that is more forgivable or glorified than the one who goes astray?

It makes me think about the ninety-nine people who show up for church each Sunday concealing their sins and mistakes behind their "Sunday's best" attire. In proverbs it says whoever conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Even though ten were out at the club last night, another ten were gossiping, another ten were using drugs, another ten were involved in sexual sin, and the list goes on, as a collective 99, they are no holier, than the one. So when the "one" enters the room fully exposing their sin, why is their a discrepancy or judgement in our hearts, when we are in need of the same grace, that others can't always see, but God clearly sees.

The imagery shifts me to think about the fact that the Bible says let he who is without sin cast the first stone, or the fact that God is not a respecter of persons, or in other interpretations it says He shows no favoritism. Or that the Bible says, as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, and keep your opinions to yourself, for who are you to judge?-Romans 14:1-23 It is evident that these stories of sin, conviction, grace, judgement, and even forgiveness are a timeless masterpiece of God's signature on the world.

As God had planted the seed of this post in my heart, I came across the story of Moses. except this time, I was reading it from a different lens. Moses was not only a shepherd and known for the Ten Commandments, he was a stone cold killer, a straight up murderer. Yet and still, God still spoke to Moses from a burning bush requesting that he go speak to Pharaoh about letting God's people go. free

But he wasn't alone:

Rahab was a prostitute 

David was a man after God's heart and was still a murderer and adulterer

Zacchaeus was a tax collector who was greedy and dishonest

Peter denied Christ

Noah was a drunk

and alllllllll were given second chances because of repentance and forgiveness

Consider This...

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Mark 2:16-17

The whole point is we’re all sinners in need of grace, no sin is greater than another. There’s nothing new under the sun, because sin has been dwelling among our land since the creation of man. So, I believe in knowing this, that we are charged with a greater task, not to shine the light on others exposing their sins, but being the light, exposing our own, and walking in the light of righteousness through forgiveness and grace. God is the God of restoration and reconciliation, and what better example of His strength, than in the exposure of our weakness.

My challenge for us: prayerfully consider reaching out to someone you know is burdened by the weight of shame from their sin, or someone you have judged, and or had trouble forgiving because -of their wrong. Be the love and light of Christ that people need because that’s ultimately why we’re here. 

Write a letter, an email, make a phone call and intentionally listen and ask how you can pray for them. Get to know their stories, their hearts, and introduce them to God in a new way! 

But check yourself first, check your heart first. I remember a point when I was praying about flaws in my husband's heart, and God paused me in the middle of the prayer and said no baby girl that’s you. Approach God with your needs of repentance, so that you can be fully used by him, and not your own voices of your flesh, to share the love of Christ in a pure and sincere way.