A few years ago, a group of ministers gathered outside the city hall in Boise, Idaho with cheque books in hand ready to write cheques to the city on behalf of people with unpaid parking tickets. To take advantage of the offer, people simply had to acknowledge their guilt by showing up and asking for the payment. The money was raised from local businesses and was made available on a first-come-first-served basis. The Reverend Montie Ralstin explained: ‘We wanted to help people understand, in a practical way, that even though we’ve all made mistakes, God’s grace and forgiveness is received, just by asking.’
It was an unusual but, I suspect, very effective way of communicating that great Biblical teaching that God’s forgiveness is always there for those who honestly ask for it.