We got a phone call the other day. A former volunteer from 2006 called and needed a place to stay while he figured out his living situation in New Orleans. We had another reservation, but we were able to work something out with him when he came by.

 

We sat around eating breakfast this late morning sharing “old war stories” of what the area looked like that first Spring Break in 2006. We told gutting stories and remained continually surprised by the amount of physical labor, psychological trauma, and heartache we were able to endure.

 

This is his second “tour” in New Orleans. He has decided that coming to stay is the best option he’s got right now. Not that I’m comparing New Orleans to God, but here he feels safe. He feels free. There is opportunity for deepening his faith and living life to its fullness here.

 

Today’s Gospel (Luke 13-1-9) is about mercy, or our second chance with God and with our neighbors.

 

Just ‘cause people treat you wrong, do you just write them off? Just because you didn’t follow-through with an agreement, should the other simply cut you off? Just because your house got broken into, should you simply move out of the neighborhood? Just because the government didn’t do everything in its power to protect the poor in New Orleans and around the Gulf, does that mean we talk smack about the work they are able to do?

 

This is incredibly complicated, this whole second chance thing. After all, it’s a second chance to get your heart broken or a second chance to have your belongings stolen right in front of you.

 

But this is the crazy reality of God if we are open to God’s presence in our lives. God ALWAYS gives us second chances. Just because we have not “produced good fruit” doesn’t mean that God has given up on us.

 

But just as the gardener pleads for another year to cultivate a good tree, God works with us… or wants to… the question is, are we ready for the change or the insight or the work?

 

As we continue to move through Lent, let us re-commit ourselves to praying, fasting, and alms giving in a way that allows God to enter into the chaos of our lives. 

 

What second chance do you want from God? Live out of that desire. Live out of that gratefulness because what you have asked for has already been given.