“Second Chances”
By Brian Flanagan, Fiat Ventures
Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
The First Reading this week is from the book of Jonah. It seems pretty straightforward – God asks Jonah to go and plead with the city of Nineveh to repent, and they listen. What a loyal guy! Despite the hardship and the risk of rejection, Jonah gets right up and does God’s will. Or so it seems. But if you know anything about the backstory, that’s not exactly what happened.
What we read about this week is the second time that God asks Jonah to do this. The first time, Jonah told God that he wasn’t available because he needed to pick up his dry cleaning, and he skipped town. You know the rest of the story – he’s on a boat, the storm picks up, he admits to the crew that he’s running away from God, and just in case he’s bad luck, they throw him overboard. Then he’s swallowed by the fish, and spit up on the shore. Wow, knowing that, the guy from the First Reading this week doesn’t sound as impressive.
But the beauty of the Christian Life is that when we blow it and run in the other direction when God asks us to do something; he’s always ready to give us a second chance. And the fact that we blew it the first time doesn’t stop God from doing something amazing through us. That second chance might be a do-over, or it might look different depending on the circumstances, but God is always willing to give us new opportunities to follow him and be his hands and feet in the world. We probably would have been better off if we had responded right away, but often when we do God’s will with a repentant heart, we have a greater appreciation for what he’s asking us to do.
When Jonah set out after God spoke to him the second time, he wasn’t just delivering a message – but he was able to tell the people from personal experience that our God is a God of second chances. God had shown him mercy and gave him another shot, and he wanted the people to know they had another shot too.
You’d think this is the part of the blog where I’d say, “What is God asking you to do in your life right now? Who are the people of Nineveh you need to go to?” But I’m not going to ask you that. Instead, I’ll ask you this, “What’s something God asked you to do recently where you blew it? Something where you made some excuse or justified to yourself why you didn’t/couldn’t/shouldn’t/wouldn’t do it.” Now take a moment and repent, just like the Ninevites did. Pray…
“Lord I know I blew it and I ask your forgiveness – show me where to go from here. Is it too late? Is there another way you want me to do it? Is there something else you’re calling me to do? Whatever it is, I’ll take that second chance I keep hearing about, so show me where to go.” And then when God let’s you know what it is you’re being called to do, be like Jonah the second time – jump up and do God’s will – and expect to see amazing things from our God of second chances.
