This morning, as I was drinking my cup of coffee I came across an article by The Advocate about a 37 year old named Andrew Hundley. A couple of years ago, he earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Baton Rouge Community College and last week, at LSU’s graduation, Andrew graduated with honors as he received a Bachelors in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice. But his story does not end there. Now a resident of New Orleans, he plans to continue his education at Loyola University at New Orleans as he works towards getting a Master’s degree in Criminology and Justice.
On top of that, he helped found, and is now the executive director, of the Louisiana Parole Project which is a non-profit that helps juvenile lifers and long-serving prisoners through the parole process and, if granted, their re-entry into society. To this date, 43 of 53 juveniles that he and his team have worked with have been granted freedom and have received helped as they re-enter society. It get’s better…none of the clients whom he has worked with have returned to prison, most are now employed, have stable housing and doors are being opened for them to continue into higher education.
Andrew says this about the Louisiana Parole Project: The clients that we serve are able to achieve great things if given the opportunity.
As I was reading his story I was absolutely amazed at how much he has accomplished and his passion for helping the least, the last, the lost and the lonely. The work that he does is not easy and very few choose to do it. And I for one, am very thankful for the work that he is doing.
Unfortunately, many of the comments on this article were pretty negative. Despite all of the good work Andrew has done and continues to do, people argue that he doesn’t deserve this opportunity. Someone even commented on a friends Facebook post that celebrating Andrew’s accomplishments is an act of horrible media coverage. I even read another post about how Andrew did not deserve to go to college in the first place.
This is where Andrew’s story gets interesting. Andrew was convicted of second degree murder in 1997 for killing a 14 year old. This girls body was found burned and badly beaten behind a grocery store in a small town called Mowata, LA. At the time, Andrew was 15 and was convicted as an adult despite his age. This meant that he was sentenced to mandatory life without parole.
At the age of 15, he had lost everything. He would be in prison for the rest of his life and would miss out on so much. He would not experience high school football games, prom and homecoming, high school graduation, the journey of being an 18 year going off to college, graduating from college, buying his first house or car, trying new restaurants, starting a family, going to church or anything else.
At the age of 15 he lost everything. From that point forward his life would be lived behind bars.
Now, here is where some of you might get upset and stop reading, but I want to encourage you to read until the end.
You see, I absolutely believe that there are consequences to all of our actions. In fact, I will admit that it is within our human nature that if someone hurts us, we want them to experience that hurt and pain in return. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
We see it all through scripture. When God picks Abel’s offering Cain is hurt and angry. And with that anger, he ends up killing his brother Abel. When Joseph’s brothers become jealous of him and their fathers preference of him, they are hurt. And in that hurt they sell him off to be a slave. When Jacob steals Esau’s blessing, Esau is hurt. So Jacob decides to run away because he is afraid his brother is going to kill him. Even in the New Testament we see Judas take away his own life because he turned Jesus in to the authorities and the guilt from that was killing him. From the very beginning of the bible, we have this desire within us that tells us that if you do something wrong, you deserve to not only feel the pain you inflicted in return, but that you must feel that pain permanently until the end of your life.
Andrew says this about his journey: I recognize that all the good that I could do would not undo what I did years ago. But I will say that if I’m given a second chance, I will spend every day trying to give back to this world, even though I can never replace what I stole from it.
His words make me cry…
“IF I am given a second chance…”
Can you hear the guilt and shame he must carry as you read those words? Imagine it, despite his perseverance, difference making, and all the transformative work he has done, he journey’s through life wondering if people will give him a second chance.
This is such a horrible place to live in. You make a mistake (for him, a mistake that cost someone their life and forced an entire family to live with the grief of losing a child) and you feel as if you will never be forgiven. You know that what you did was wrong and if you could go back and change it, you would. But there is nothing you can do except to do your best to prove to people that you have in fact changed. You can speak over and over again about how horrific your actions were, you can tangibly show people that you have changed and have been transformed, you can ask for forgiveness a million times and still you go to bed wondering if you will forever be who you used to be or if you can be defined by who you are and what you have done today.
It’s kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. Which one are you?
Now don’t get me wrong. What he did was wrong. He should have had to deal with the consequences of his actions. We all deserve to deal with the consequences of our actions as well. Please do not assume that I am somehow assuming that what he did was okay. But hear me out for a second…
Moses murdered someone then ran away in order to not deal with the consequences.
David was an adulterer who had an innocent man killed in order to get away with sleeping with a married woman and getting her pregnant.
Noah was a drunk who took out his wrath on his children.
Peter had a temper and cut off a guards ear.
Paul spent a large part of his life killing people simply because they believed in Jesus.
There are biblical heroes who were prostitutes, liars, deceivers, adulterers, drunks, filled with unhealthy tempers and so much more. Over and over again, people whom we celebrate as God’s chosen have a past and a history. Yet somehow we look past their mistakes because we believe and read that God has either changed their hearts or has used their past to make an impact in the world around them. We do not define our biblical heroes based on what they did in the past, but rather by what God did through them despite their past.
This is very powerful. And I want you to hear this twice.
Our biblical heroes are not defined by what they did in their past, but rather by what God did through them despite their past.
And the same goes for you. Whatever you are going through, or whatever you have done, I want you to know that God does not define you by your past, but rather by what he will do through you if you only give your life to Him.
Romans 5 says this: For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Hear this: despite what you carry from your past, you have been reconciled to God, you have been forgiven. God offered you this forgiveness before you had your life together or earned perfect attendance at church or before you even picked up a bible or prayed. God paid for your sins so that you would not be defined by them. And all you have to do is invite God into your life.
Let’s be honest, you carry a past just like everyone else, including our biblical heroes. But you do not have to let them or others define you based on your past. God is offering you a new identity in him. And I don’t want you to miss this next part. Paul reminds us that God forgave us while we were his enemies. Imagine how much more God would do for us now that we have been reconciled! God loves you too much to just forgive you and let you live in that regret and pain the rest of your life. God wants you to live a life of freedom from your past, a life of power over your past and a life of reconciliation despite your past.
I don’t know if this will ever get to Andrew, but if it ever does, I want him, and you, to know one thing. The god we worship is a God of second chances. When God looks at you, God doesn’t see your past, God sees who God has called you to be. So give your past over to God, invite God’s forgiveness and reconciliation into your life and live in the freedom that is being offered to you.
I want to invite you to say this prayer with me:
God, you know my heart and you know the guilt and shame that I carry from my past. Help me come to see that my past has been forgiven and that I have been reconciled to You. Let me trust your power which empowers me to overcome the shame and guilt of my past. And in finding that freedom, I invite you to use me for the furthering of your Kingdom in whatever way you will. Amen.
As always, feel free to email me or set up a meeting with me. I would love to talk more with you about this.
Together on the journey,
Pastor Fernie
