A Life Unlived, A Life Realized

"For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this message of reconciliation...."
- 2 Cor. 5:19 NLT

He was nervous, trembling, pacing, and praying. He wasn't waiting for news of the outcome of a major surgery of a loved one, he was waiting to enter the pulpit and preach his first sermon in 15 years. Hundreds of things were shooting through his mind. Did he still have it? Was he prepared enough? Would God speak his grace and life through him? Would the hearers respond? Would he in some way honor God in the message? Who in the world wants to hear from a guy in his 50's who hasn't preached in 15 years?! And on and on his mind went....

It was by some miracle he found himself in this place. He had spent a good part of his life wandering, messing up, and surviving the consequences of him messing up. Most of the trouble he had lived through was frankly due to alcohol. It caused trouble in his relationships, all of his relationships. It caused trouble with the law as well. He new from firsthand experience what it was like to sober up in a jail cell. He lost jobs, friends, and the trust of many. In his mind he had been a disappointment to his God, himself, and a myriad of others. Who in the world would want to hear anything from a guy like that?! Especially anything spiritual!!

But here he was, getting ready to preach. Preach the glorious good news of Jesus Christ. Preach the wonders of the Word of God. To preach life, redemption, and grace. He was well acquainted with those things too. He knew what it was like to helplessly struggle with addiction and failure. He knew what it felt to be shunned and shamed. He was well acquainted with guilt. But from the garbage heap of his poor choices he had experienced the power of God's forgiveness. He knew personally of the power of the Holy Spirit to enable him to be an overcomer. He knew of a God who never gives up on His children....no matter how far away from Him they stray. He knew that what God had done in his life, God would do in the life of another.

He was aware too that every saint in that congregation was also a sinner saved by grace. And because of that they needed hope to carry on just for another day. An assurance of God's love overcame him,... God's love for him, God's love for those who would be listening to the sermon. And then a calm settled in...and he was ready....ready to be used however God chose to use him that day...he left his office and took his seat on the platform.

All the faces were new, he still didn't have a good handle on putting names to those faces. He scanned the congregation to find a reassuring look....he found one...in the eyes of his wife. She met him when he was just a burned out ex-preacher who believed he would never realize his call, that he would continue to live a life of existence, of survival, of just getting by. He was still struggling to stay sober, to keep sober....still had bouts with relapse. She saw the fighter in him, she believed in him, she encouraged him, and trusted God to show him His possibilities for his life. They connected immediately....she got him....he got her. She understood him....he understood her. They went through some rough tests in their relationship but by Gods' grace weathered them all. (Neither of them knew it then, but all the testing was preparation for the special ministry of helping addicts recover and find Christ that God would eventually lead them in.) She gave him that reassuring look that only he recognized and immediately in his heart, he praised God for her. He loved her so!

The song worship ended and now it was time to worship in the preaching. He quietly got up, went to the pulpit and said, "Please turn your Bibles to John, chapter 3, verse 16....". He was now in the reality of the life God had always intended him to live....an amazing journey of grace, forgiveness, renewing, and restoration culminating in that one moment....and his journey was just beginning!

Afterward: This fictional short tale testifies to a God who utterly forgives and completely restores those who have fallen in their walk with Him along the way. I can testify that there is no fall so far that God's grace can't reach and renew. He isn't done with us until He calls us home to be with Him. The dreaming isn't over until the breathing stops! Many in our churches hurt, they have fallen. They need a hand of understanding, of reconciliation, of love. May we be the church that is always faithful to that ministry and calling.