Baby Step Twelve: Second Chances

June 11, 2016

Read Acts 4:32-37 and Psalm 15

Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement,” is first made known in scripture when he sells his field and brings all the proceeds to the apostles to encourage the spread of the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection. As the Acts of the Apostles continues to unfold, Barnabas becomes the disciple of second chances.

Paul comes to Jerusalem to seek the blessing of the Apostles. Only Barnabas is willing to listen to Paul’s story, take him before the Apostles, and vouch for him. Paul a “second chance” to carry the Good News beyond the Jewish community. Barnabas and Mark go with Paul on his next missionary journey. Part way into the trip, Mark turns around and goes home.




Paul considers Mark as undependable. It is Barnabas, who gives Mark a “second chance.” Rather than go with Paul, Barnabas goes on a missionary journey with Mark. Paul subsequently asks for Mark to be warmly received because he has been useful in ministry.

I think of the many “second chances” my parents, my husband, my children, my friends have given me. We all fall short.  We take a wrong turn and end up somewhere we didn’t plan to go.

We tell a little lie that doesn’t stay so small. We hurt our friends and blame others for actions we have willingly and knowingly taken. We fail to keep our word because it seems too costly. We take bribes, just to get a little bit ahead of our neighbor. We cut a corner here or there.

Oh, that we could all be a Barnabas. Son of encouragement. Giver of second chances.

Prayer: We thank you for the second chances we received today and yesterday. We are thankful for Barnabas, who reminds us we serve a God of second chances. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Do We? A Psalm

January 12, 2013
Psalm 98, 99, 100, 104
Isaiah 66:1-2, 22-23; 61:1-9
Revelation 3:14-22
Galatians 3:23-29; 4:4-7
John 9:1-12, 35-38

God created order from chaos. God maintains that peace. There are, however, those who would choose chaos. Those who seek to disrupt the perfection of God’s creative work.

Do we disrupt the goodness of God’s creative work by trying to limit the meaning of "church" as the place where we gather to worship? Do we get too proud of the buildings we fabricate and maintain? God is less concerned with where we worship, than that we be respectful and contrite in spirit. That we seek to create order from chaos. That we become a part of the perfection of God's creative work.

Do we blind ourselves by not attending to all the nudges given to us by the Holy Spirit to see those who need encouragement and steadfast love? Do we live spiritually blinded by our confusion with other races, classes, and genders? That blindness is blindness to the presence of God’s Son.

Do we forget Christ is the essence of the law and has already satisfied the law’s demands? Do we get so legalistic that we forget Christ’s commandment to love one another? Do we get so caught up in our own lives, our own pain that our faith becomes lukewarm? Do we get not only blind, but deaf?  Jesus is knocking at the door. He cannot enter unless we hear his voice, open the door and see.

Set a feast, a spread of time, love, steadfastness. O sing to the Lord a new song. Praise God, for He is righteous. Praise the Son, for he has taken away the sin of the world. Praise the Holy Spirit, for our God-breathed life and the God-breathed Word.  Praise the three-in-one, the triune God, for power and mystery, for order and peace, for steadfast love and holiness, for righteousness and forgiveness, for the ability to see and hear.

Amen, and Amen.

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Be Strong and Courageous

Sat Jan 5

am: 2, 110 pm: 29, 98

am: Joshua 1:1-9 pm: Isa 66:18-23

am: Heb 11:32-12:2 pm: Rom 15:7-13

John 15:1-6

John Wesley in his sermon "The Scripture Way of Salvation" (#43) Reminds us that wen we receive Christ, we receive him in all his offices:

• Prophet - differing from the earlier prophets of the Hebrews in being revealer in both word and deed, the Incarnate Word
• Priest - mediator who enters the holy of holies, intercedes for us, and becomes for us sin
• King - ruler, the King of the Jews from birth to crucifixion in earthly form, and according to the Revelation will come again as King of Kings and Lord of Lord

In the Creation, God's Voice calls order out of chaos. His power over the cosmos gives encouragement and hope for peace.

Each time I leave our room, I am reminded by the words on the door. Placed there on vinyl strips by my grandchildren who have the same words over their front door. "I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Under the words are two lions: the ones that lie in my den. Each lion carries one statement. The first is "write" - I am now doing that every day - one lion at bay. The other carries a number 135. A long ways from the 215-222 where my weight balances from month to month. Yesterday, we put the "Lose It" app on my phone. Oops, missed my calorie goal yesterday. Today I face the lion again.

Not only God speaking to Joshua and Daniel in the lion's den, but "so great a cloud of witnesses" set forth by Paul to remind us that others have fought the lions and won. "Let us run with perseverance the race set before us."

Encouragement. Hope. Hope that brings joy and peace in the present and expectation of the fully realized kingdom of God in the future.

Prayer is the gymnasium of the soul.

Lord, I write everyday, help me learn to eat only enough to sustain. Help me tame the lion of food for comfort. And please, could we talk about the gym with the heated pool we pay for every month another day?

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers - Daniel in the Lion's Den

Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

Recorded by Alan Lomax on May 5, 1960 on St. Simons Island, GA
as part of his Southern Journeys recordings of native folk music.
Backing singers include: Joe Armstrong, Jerome Davis, John Davis, Peter Davis, Henry Morrison, Willis Proctor, and Ben Ramsay.