I was raised in a strict holiness church. Although it was never verbalized, it was felt that we were almost a three-strikes-you’re-out type of belief system. If you fell once, you were redeemed, as long as it wasn’t a cardinal sin like…well, we won’t name those bad ones. We were very slow to give second chances, and reluctant to give third ones, and almost never would have given a fourth chance to anyone. In that atmosphere, it’s easy to become very judgmental of others. It’s easy to look at others who have had rough lives and think about how much better I am than they are!
Then came my fall. And when I fell, I fell flat. And then came the judgmental attitudes. I would stand on my front porch and watch people drive by who had been friends and they wouldn’t dare look my way — maybe for fear of contaminating themselves.
Then came God’s redemptive grace. One thing I had to learn was how full of grace God really is. It doesn’t matter how many times you have fallen, God isn’t keeping a score book saying, “oops, that’s one too many.” He’s waiting with grace to forgive.
I read in Amos today. An obscure book that many of you would have problems finding. In chapter 2, it seems God is on a roll of calling everyone to judgment. Moab, Judah, Israel — all called into judgment. He says, “You have sinned again and again and I will not let them go unpunished.” On and on he lists the sins of the people of these lands. All judgement, all sending them away, all turning his back on them!
Then in chapter 5 I found it! Finally God’s grace comes through. I knew it had to be there. He says in verse 4 “come back to me and live.” Wow! You mean the ones who have sinned again and again? You mean the ones that you’ve turned your back on? Yep! That’s the ones. Come back to me, and you will live!
God loves us, he puts up with our faults and failures and even our falling. He has grace there abundantly and available for all of us, no matter how many times we have fallen. He issues the call to you, “come to me, and live.”
And that’s how it looks from here, in a nutshell.
