Jesus was once asked (by a rather exasperated Peter, I always feel) “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”  (Matt 18:21) I always get the feeling Peter thought he was doing rather well to suggest as many as seven times! There is no background to the story, but I’m sure we don’t need it: we’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when someone keeps on making the same mistakes and our frustration and kindness are seeping away; we all know how hard it is to actually forgive someone.

Jesus’s answer was doubtless not what Peter was expecting (or hoping for!): ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.‘ (Matt 18:22) He then went on to tell a parable which illustrated important principles of forgiveness, the key point of which is the more you have experienced forgiveness, reckless mercy and undeserved grace yourself, the less likely you are to withhold forgiveness from anyone else.

Rend Collective’s song Second Chance captures something of the truths of that parable. As it looks at the second chances God gives us, perfectly wrapped up in Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross (where even though we were still sinners, Christ died for us), we see that God’s forgiveness changes everything and means we can never quite write anyone off. The God of second chances offers us all the chance ‘to rewind to innocence’, giving us the hope that life can be crafted even from our mistakes and that the ugliness of sin can never compare to the beauty of redeeming grace.

‘My future hangs on this:
You make preciousness from dust.
Please don’t stop creating me.
Your blood offers the chance
To rewind to innocence:
Reborn, perfect as a child.

Oh, Your cross, it changes everything:
There my world begins again with You.
Oh, Your cross, it’s where my hope restarts;
A second chance is Heaven’s heart/

When sin and ugliness
Collide with redemption’s kiss
Beauty awakens by romance.
Always inside this mess
I have found forgiveness,
Mercy as infinite as You.

Countless second chances
We’ve been given at the cross.
Countless second chances
We’ve been given at the cross.

Fragments of brokenness
Salvaged by the art of grace,
You craft life from our mistakes.
Black skies of my regrets
Outshone by this kindness
New life dawns over my soul.’ (‘Second Chance’, Rend Collective Experiment)

When I was a teenager and learning to cook, I would read recipes with a fair amount of bemusement. My favourite was the recipe for meringues, which said cryptically ‘whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks that just tip over when you lift the whisk.’ I would look at the liquid in the bowl and start whisking (by hand, in those days!), wondering what on earth a ‘soft peak’ was in this context and how long it could possibly take to create one! I would whisk for a few minutes and then ask my mother if it was ready. She would laugh, tell me to keep going, and then suddenly, magically (it seemed), the soft liquid would change colour and the soft peaks would start to form.

Cooking used to frustrate me because it was never quite as precise as I wanted it to be. Recipes were helpful in giving me the right amount of ingredients and the right amount of time to cook something in the oven, but they were also full of phrases which meant nothing to me until I had actually done them. ‘Lightly brown the onions’, ‘stir the sauce until it thickens’ and so on were phrases which did not mean very much to me until I had actually lived through the experience.

Our chilli-growing experience has reminded me of these first fumbling attempts at cooking. We planted the seeds as instructed in a pot that came with some soil and then waited. We waited a lot longer than the instructions said before we saw the first seedling appear. Then we watched as the seedlings grew. And grew. And we wondered how tall they would grow and how long it would take until they stopped just looking like a plant with leaves and actually sprouted chillies!

Then flowers appeared and Daddy Plant stopped growing, concentrating all his energies on blossoming. Mummy Plant became taller, still growing. And then chillies started appearing… tentatively at first, then almost more than we could count!

We still had more questions. How long before the chillies can be eaten? ‘When they start to turn red,’ we were told. I was puzzled. I’ve eaten green chillies. Why couldn’t I just eat one of these green chillies? However, we decided to wait, assuming that those with more experience of these things would be right.

Today, the miracle has occurred! The very first chilli (a loopy-loop one on Daddy Plant) to appear is starting to turn red!

This whole experience reminds me of Galatians 4:4: ‘But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.’ God know the right time for everything. His timing is perfect. We look at life from our vantage point and often disagree. Many of the psalmists  and prophets ask the plaintive question ‘How long?’ (see Job 19:2, Ps 13:1-2, Ps 35:17, Ps 79:5, Ps 94:3, Jeremiah 12:4) God often seems deaf to that question, but still continues to work out His plans and purposes according to a timescale which, with hindsight, we see is perfect. If you’re in that waiting period, wondering ‘how long?’, look at the red chilli and know God keeps His promises.

When I was a child, one of my favourite toys was a kaleidoscope (a cylinder with mirrors containing loose, coloured objects such as beads or pebbles or pieces of glass.)

As you look through one end of a kaleidoscope, light entering the other end creates a colourful pattern due to the reflection from the mirrors.  When you turn the end of the kaleidoscope, the beads or pebbles are shaken into new patterns. The word itself is from the Greek words kalos (beautiful), eidos (form, shape, that which is seen) and skopeo (to look at or examine.) I could be entertained for hours by the variety of the patterns I could observe:

As we have been studying 1 John, we have discussed the question of perspective, meditating particularly on 1 John 3:2: ‘now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.‘ Now, we only see part of the picture (1 Cor 13:12). Our vision is limited and the patterns we see look sometimes as confusing as the pattern seen in a kaleidoscope. But though we only see things from our own perspective, although our vision is limited, God is making a picture from our lives which will be more beautiful than any mosaic we can ever imagine.

The second part of Yan’s sermon on the gift of godly wisdom looked at how we actually acquire such wisdom! Our growth in wisdom is largely determined by our attitude to it. Prov 4:6-8 shows us that we should love, exalt and embrace wisdom; we have to make it a priority in our lives. The better we know Jesus, the more wisdom we will have, for in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:3)

To get godly wisdom, we need to:

1. grow in the fear of God (see Prov 9:10)
2. be heavenly-minded (Col 3:1, Rom 12:2)
3. be whole-hearted (seeking earnestly for wisdom and valuing it as more precious than rubies or gold – see Prov 2:4, Prov 3:13)
4. be a student of God’s word (Prov 2:1-2)
5. be prayerful (asking for wisdom in faith, not doubting God’s heart to give this precious gift to us, as David prayed for Solomon. (1 Chron 22:12) God wants to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. (Eph 1:17)
6. be motivated by an awareness of the transitory nature of life (see Js 4:14, Ps 90:12), making the most of the time God gives us (Eph 5:15)
7. be obedient to what God says, putting into practice what we hear. Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, God’s people are given many promises, but these are often conditional on keeping God’s commandments. Obedience is important; we have to do more than hear the word, but put it into practice.

Yan Hadley spoke on the gift of godly wisdom last night, reminding us that this affects the decisions we make, the directions we take, the dilemmas we face and the destiny God shapes for us. Every Christian and every church needs godly wisdom not just to survive, but to thrive. The importance of wisdom is highlighted in Proverbs 4:5, but we need to be careful not to rely simply on our own wisdom but to have God’s wisdom to discern not only between what is good and bad, but between what is good and what is the best.

God’s wisdom has been in evidence even ‘before the world began’ (Prov 8:22-23) and Jesus shows us by His own life the importance of growing in wisdom (see Luke 2:40, 47, 52). Confucius said we learn wisdom by reflection, imitation and experience, but as Christians we know that godly wisdom comes from heaven (James 3:17) and is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, impartial, sincere and full of mercy. This wisdom cannot be attained through academic study alone, but is given generously by God to all who ask (James 1:5).

Godly wisdom is needed so that we respond spiritually to difficult circumstances. These will always abound (see John 16:33), but we need to respond spiritually rather than in the flesh when trials occur, being as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. (Matt 10:16) God has promised perfect peace to us even in difficult times, but we need to fix our minds on Him. (Is 26:3) If our minds are set on the Spirit, we will know life and peace (Rom 8:6) and will have serenity, courage and wisdom to deal with all of life’s circumstances. Stephen responded to opposition and persecution with wisdom (Acts 6:10); this can be our experience too.

Godly wisdom helps us to avoid the pitfalls of deception and temptation. Whilst outward trials and opposition are obvious, some temptations and pitfalls are more insidious and less easy to discern. We need wisdom to save us from the ways of wicked men (Prov 2:12) and to avoid temptation (eg Prov 2:16).

Godly wisdom also helps us to be about God’s will. We need to actually do God’s will, not just know it – obedience is required as Matt 7:21-23 makes clear. Col 1:9 reminds us that God wants us to be filled  with ‘the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives‘ and Proverbs 3:6 reminds us that if we acknowledge God in all our ways, He has promised to direct our paths. We need continually to make wise choices, as our choices decide our destinies.

Godly wisdom is also required for us to be effective in helping other people. As we have freely received from God, so we can freely give to others, being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. (James 1:19) We can be like Joshua, who was filled with the spirit of wisdom as he took over the leadership of the people from Moses. (Deut 34:9)

One of the things Garry mentioned this morning was the power of songs to capture spiritual truths about who God is and what He has done. Below are some songs which do this (click on the song title to listen to the song.)

‘Wonderful’, Phil Wickham

‘You are wonderful

And what else can my soul sing?

All Your hands have made

Everything You’ve done,

O my God, You’re wonderful.’

‘Magnificent’, Matt Redman

‘You show Your majesty

In every star that shines

And every time we breathe.

Your glory, God, revealed,

From distant galaxies

To here beneath our skin.’

‘At The Cross (Love Ran Red)’, Chris Tomlin

‘There’s a place where sin and shame are powerless.
Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness.
Where all the love I’ve ever found.
Comes like a flood,
Comes flowing down.’