Outlive Your Life_ You Were Made to Make a Difference - Max Lucado [14]
What an opportunity for someone to destroy Christianity in its infancy! But no one defied Peter. No Pharisee objected. No soldier protested. No one spoke, because no one had the body. The word was out that the Word was out.
People began to realize their mistake. The gravity of their crime settled over them like a funeral dirge. God came into their world, and they killed him. This was the thrust of Peter’s sermon: “You killed God.” “God proved . . . to you . . . All of you know this . . . You took him and had evil men put him to death.” You. You. You. On three occasions Peter pointed a verbal, if not physical, finger at the crowd.
The question of the hour changed. “Whatever could this mean?” (a question of the head) became “What shall we do?” (a question of the heart). “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (v. 37).
They leaned in to hear Peter’s reply. So much was at stake. What if he said, “It’s too late”? Or “You had your chance”? Or “You should have listened the first time”?
Peter, surely with outstretched arms and tear-filled eyes, gave this invitation:
Turn back to God! Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven. Then you will be given the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children. It is for everyone our Lord God will choose, no matter where they live. (vv. 38–39 CEV)
Peter would eventually speak about poverty. The church would soon address the issues of widows, disease, and bigotry. But not yet. The first order of the church’s first sermon was this: pardon for all our sins. Peter delivered the bread.
Would you allow me to do the same? Before we turn the next page in the story of Acts, would you consider the offer of Jesus? “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again” (John 6:35 NLT).
The grain-to-bread process is a demanding one. The seed must be planted before it can grow. When the grain is ripe, it must be cut down and ground into flour. Before it can become bread, it must pass through the oven. Bread is the end result of planting, harvesting, and heating.
Jesus endured an identical process. He was born into this world. He was cut down, bruised, and beaten on the threshing floor of Calvary. He passed through the fire of God’s wrath, for our sake. He “suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18 MSG).
Bread of Life? Jesus lived up to the title. But an unopened loaf does a person no good. Have you received the bread? Have you received God’s forgiveness?
We cherish pardon, don’t we? I was thinking about pardon a few afternoons ago on a south Texas country road with hills and curves and turns and bends. I know it well. I now know the highway patrolman who oversees it.
And he now knows me. He looked at my driver’s license. “Why is your name familiar to me? Aren’t you a minister here in San Antonio?”
“Yes, sir.”
“On your way to a funeral?”
“No.”
“An emergency?”
“No.”
“You were going awfully fast.”
“I know.”
“Tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you a second chance.”
I sighed. “Thank you. And thanks for giving me a sermon illustration on pardon.”
God has posted his traffic signs everywhere we look. In the universe, in Scripture, even within our own hearts. Yet we persist in disregarding his directions. But God does not give us what we deserve. He has drenched his world in grace. It has no end. It knows no limits. It empowers this life and enables us to live the next. God offers second chances, like a soup kitchen offers meals to everyone