“It’s Not Too Late to Say I’m Sorry”

Many times in life we have more questions than we have answers. Is it worth the risk? Has he truly changed? He has burned us before and taken advantage of us. How do we know he will not do it again? How do we know that he is truly sorry? What about all those in the community that know what he did? What he did has caused tension and awkwardness for this community and his family. So the question is: Is it too late to for him to say I’m sorry and can we have a fresh start.

We live in a cultural climate that thrives on conflict, division, and detachment. We like disguise retaliation as justice and restitution. Even in entertainment we like the bad guys dead or punished harshly and the good guys rewarded. If the villain just apologizes, admits their guilt, and tries to make restitution then we feel slighted. Many times we carry this attitude over into our relationships as well.  If someone we care about says or posts something we don’t agree with or is offensive we quickly delete and unfollow them from our lives. So when we mess up is there a relevant way to say I’m sorry. Is there steps we can do to reestablish what has been lost? Can we move from estrangement to true reconciliation?  We are reminded of a little fellow Jesus me who had a large negative influence on his community. Most of us know him as the wee little man who climbed up into a tree. Jesus tells this man to come down from the tree and that Jesus desired to share at his house.  Like a TMZ special this infuriated the people as to why would Jesus eat with a guy no one really liked.  And in this tension Zacchaeus has something important to say: “I’m sorry.” Zacchaeus honesty admits his mistakes and wrong doings. We on the other hand like to hide our mistakes and rather not admit we disappointed God and others. We can learn a lot from this exchange between Jesus and Zacchaeus. We can learn certain principles that if we apply them to our own life we will uncover that it is not too late to say I’m sorry. They might not change our world but they can change the relationships in your world.

Serve, Love and live:

Tommy 

It's Not Too Late

It is not too late. For many of us that simple statement is hard to believe. Many of us have bought into the lie that it is too late. The longer we believe that it is too late the truer it becomes. I have heard it from couples who are headed for a divorce: “We want to save our marriage but it’s just too late.” Grown sisters as their Mom is placed in Hospice care, coordinate their visits so they don’t have to run into each other: It’s just too late to make amends.  I hear it from the addict who says the addiction to heroin is too powerful, its too late spoken from a 19 year old. A fourteen year old kid comes home, locks himself in his room to play video games. His parents try to follow him on Facebook and Twitter but he blocks him. It’s too late.  I hear it in the husband that comes home, plops down in the lazy boy, turn on the flat screen, his wife comes home but neither acknowledges the other. They both want something different. A commercial comes on, both want to go to the bedroom, hold hands and pray for their children… but there is that awkwardness, he had missed his chance.. it’s just too late.. 

We find ourselves saying that a lot; “it’s just too late.” The children are too old, the marriage is too cold, the friend is too angry, and the dead are too painful, the addiction is too powerful, the reputation is too shot. It’s just too late. That is a lie that many of us believe. It is a lie that is told to us whenever we want to try something different We live in a culture where individualism is valued, we find that times of struggle often seem lonely and hopeless. But we were never meant to live life on our own--and it's not too late to ask for help. We think about making a change then we are told it’s just too late.

Over the next few weeks we will be discovering the truth that it is not too late to make changes in our life. We will uncover how if we have the courage to ask for help it will change the trajectory of the rest of our life.

We will begin with Jesus’ encounter with a crippled man who felt the exact same way. He had been in the same situation in life for 38 years. That is a long time for things to never change. But that one minute beside the pool of Bethzatha, Jesus healed him and changed his life forever. We too can learn from this man’s story. Join us for this exciting sermon series as we debunk the lie that it’s too late for change in our life. Because the truth is it’s not too late to ask for help.

Peace, Love and Happiness

Tommy