The God of the Second Chance – June 7, 2026

Old Testament, Acts 3:1-26
June 7, 2026

I was totally sign-focused this week.  I was considering of a lot of different titles for this sermon.  And the one I finally decided on was “God of the Second Chance.”  I wanted it to be an uplifting thought out on the sign.  Maybe it would appeal to somebody driving by who needed an uplifting thought.  Maybe somebody who was hurting.  Or somebody who had messed up.  Or maybe someone who felt like their life was a failure.  And I was hoping that the idea of a “second chance” would be a good thought for them.

So this is what I went with.  “The God of the Second Chance.”  Although I did like some other titles.  For the fun of it, I asked Chat GPT for titles.  And it suggested a couple.  One was “The Ultimate Do-Over.”  Another was “Everyone deserves a Mulligan.”  That’s a good one, if you happen to be in the golfing world.  There was also, “Let’s Try That Again.”  (That would be a good one if there are any Daffy Duck fans driving by!)

But I like “The God of the Second Chance.  And I used “Second Chance” because that’s the familiar catch phrase.  And we like the idea of a “second chance,” don’t we?  It is like a “do-over” – or a “Mulligan!”  (I really like the idea of mulligans!)  However, when I think about it, “Second Chance” falls a little short in this case,  Because we worship the God of many second chances.

This story for today is all about second chances.  I think you’ll agree it was a huge second chance for the man who was lame from birth.  For him, being healed that way was a second chance at life!  Up until now, all he had in life was asking for alms.  Which was essentially begging.  Now he could lead a normal life!

But there was another “second chance” happening that day.  And I hope you caught it!  It was a second chance for the crowd that Peter was speaking to!  I hope you noticed that when he spoke, he was using a lot of the “second person singular” – “you.”   He wasn’t just stating the facts about Jesus and what had happened to him.  He didn’t say, “The crowd called for his crucifixion,” or “The crowd called for a robber to be released instead.”  No.  Over and over, Peter said, “You!”  “You called for his execution!”  “You asked for Barabbas!  And make no mistake!  Many of them were the same people who had been part of all of that – only days before!

So, Peter was stating their part in all of this.  And then after that, he was offering them a second chance.  He was offering them a chance for forgiveness.  Actually, he was saying that God was offering them a second chance.”  But it was Peter who was telling them about it.  And he was pulling no punches!  He was laying out their actual guilt here!

That makes me wonder.  Do we sometimes “soft sell” the guilt part of the Gospel message?  We know there are people in our world who are uncomfortable with the word “sin.”  And we certainly don’t want to make anybody feel uncomfortable!  And there are a lot of people these days who flat out say that there is no such thing as sin!  And that’s because they’ve decided there isn’t!  As though it were up to them to decide that!

Friends, I think that is the original sin.  The tree that Adam and Eve ate from, was called “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  But more and more I’m convince that it was more accurately the tree of “who has the knowledge about” good and evil.  In other words, who makes the decision about what is good and evil.”  That’s the original sin.  It’s us humans deciding what is good and evil – rather than God.  And many people have eaten from the tree!  They don’t want there to be a God who’s telling them what is right or wrong.  They want to be the ones to decide that!  That’s the original sin!  That’s the fall of humankind!

That’s why so often, when it comes to the Assurance of Pardon, I use that passage from John, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (I John 1:8)  That’s one of the most important passages for our modern world today!  When people talk about something that’s questionable, too often you hear them say, “I don’t think it’s wrong.”  Sin is not about what we think is wrong!  It’s about what God thinks is wrong!  But too many people are not interested in knowing what God thinks is wrong.  They want to decide that!  They’ve eaten from that tree!

So here, Peter was laying out these people’s guilt.  “You crucified the Author of life!”  “But!” he said.  “God raised him from the dead.”  Now Peter was offering them Grace.  And Grace is the ultimate second chance!  But Peter is making this very clear.  Without guilt, there is no Grace!  Without “blowing it” that first chance, there is no need for a second chance.  You don’t need a mulligan if you drove the fairway!  But there are many who don’t care about that.  They’ll say, “I don’t need a second chance.”  “Because I don’t think I did anything wrong!”  There’s that “original sin” thing again!

Now, I know this is getting kind of heavy today.  But I think we need to hear this from time to time.   We need to remember, and to understand clearly, where we stand with God.  We need to know that we have a second chance, because we needed a second chance!  And we need to look to his righteousness, not ours.  Because ultimately, it’s not about what we say is right or wrong, it’s about what God says.

As I think about these two stories, these two “second chances,” I wonder who felt that second chance the most.  It’s almost certainly the man who was healed and could now walk.  We don’t hear much from him here.  After this, Peter is brought before the religious council – and not for the last time!  They question him, and low and behold it’s the same Annas and Caiaphas who questioned Jesus!  But this time they don’t bring in the healed man in for questioning – like they did when Jesus healed the man born blind.  But if they did, I can imagine him saying something the same thing the blind man said.  He said, “All I know is once I was blind, now I see.”  This man would have stood before them and said, “All I know is once I was lame –and look at me now.”

The second chance was personal for him.  He was well aware of his life-long problem.  And now it was gone!  It was over!  It was clear to him!  But, if you think about it, that religious council was also being given a second chance that day.  The problem was, they couldn’t get past their past beliefs about Jesus to see the obvious.  But not this man!  He was living the second chance!

So then, what about the people in the crowd that day?  What about their second chance?  Well, we’re told at the beginning of the next chapter that “many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand!  That’s more than on the day of Pentecost!  Many of them took that second chance that day!  And Peter is up to around eight thousand now!  Not bad for a simple fisherman!

And while we’re thinking about second chances, don’t forget about him!  He, of all people, knew about “second chances.”  He denied Jesus, and then he was given that second chance by the sea!  So he could certainly speak all about it!

Well, the good news here, is that we too have a second chance.  We have that second chance when our hearts are hurting, when our souls are in torment, when we don’t think we need God’s Grace, but then discover that we do – but we don’t deserve it!  That’s the time of our second chance!  (Or our third chance.  Or our fourth.  Or whatever it is!)

The God we worship is indeed “the God of the Second Chance.”  I love how he’s described in many places in the Old Testament!  It is said that “God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in Steadfast Love.”  I love that thought!  He is indeed the God of the second chance, the God of Grace, the God of his undeserved favor!

So, the good news in this is that we too can live that second chance!  We too can live in God’s steadfast love!  As one author put it, “The good news is that none of us are defined by our worst moment.  Peter wasn’t.  The lame man wasn’t.  The crowd wasn’t.  And we’re not, either!  We worship the God of the second chance – and the third, and the fourth… and the hundredth.”

We can live that second chance!  We don’t always have to have all the right answers and all the right beliefs – like we feel like we’re supposed to have sometimes.  We can just live the second chance.  We can just say along with this man – and the blind man, “All I know is, once I was lame, now I can walk.  Once I was blind, but now I can see.”

Prayer

Eternal God, we are amazed by your Grace.  We are amazed that you give us that second chance.  We are thankful that you bring us back to you, again and again.  So, help us to live the Grace we’ve been given.  Help us to be the light of your Steadfast Love to the world.  May our lives give you all glory, honor, and praise, now and forever, Amen.