Mulligans
November 7, 2015
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come.”
One of my favorite parts of golf is called a mulligan. I like playing with people who believe in mulligans. A mulligan is when after you hit a really bad shot, and your playing partner says, “Hey, hit a mulligan. Get a do-over.” I love that. When you play with serious golfers, golfers I call ‘Pharisee golfers,’ they would never give you a mulligan because they play by law rather than grace. I think that is fine if you are in a tournament, but a lot of golfers like me would give up golf if every now and then someone didn’t give us a mulligan, a do-over. The good news is that our God is in the do-over business. He specializes in grace. Our scripture reminds us today that God gives us one-of-a-kind, once and for all, do-over through Jesus Christ. When we accept Christ we become a new creation. All of our previous mistakes, our horrible decisions, our stupid choices, our sins are gone and forgotten forever, and we are made new. Sometimes when we sin, we try hard to do the right thing, to do it over ourselves. Because we are sinners, we end up doing the same things again, but with Jesus we get a permanent do-over. He replaces the old with the brand new. A do-over from Jesus is permanent. No matter what you have done, no matter how bad it was, no matter how much guilt or regret you feel, you can begin again and have a fresh start. Remember, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation, the old is gone. The new has come. I think that is good news.
One of my favorite parts of golf is called a mulligan. I like playing with people who believe in mulligans. A mulligan is when after you hit a really bad shot, and your playing partner says, “Hey, hit a mulligan. Get a do-over.” I love that. When you play with serious golfers, golfers I call ‘Pharisee golfers,’ they would never give you a mulligan because they play by law rather than grace. I think that is fine if you are in a tournament, but a lot of golfers like me would give up golf if every now and then someone didn’t give us a mulligan, a do-over. The good news is that our God is in the do-over business. He specializes in grace. Our scripture reminds us today that God gives us one-of-a-kind, once and for all, do-over through Jesus Christ. When we accept Christ we become a new creation. All of our previous mistakes, our horrible decisions, our stupid choices, our sins are gone and forgotten forever, and we are made new. Sometimes when we sin, we try hard to do the right thing, to do it over ourselves. Because we are sinners, we end up doing the same things again, but with Jesus we get a permanent do-over. He replaces the old with the brand new. A do-over from Jesus is permanent. No matter what you have done, no matter how bad it was, no matter how much guilt or regret you feel, you can begin again and have a fresh start. Remember, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation, the old is gone. The new has come. I think that is good news.