One More Chance: The Gospel According to 007
James Bond Meets Christ

Background

Chapter 2 in “You Only Live Twice” and titled “Curtains for Bond?” opens with M, Bond’s boss at MI5, prepared to fire him. M opines to his friend, Sir James Molony, a Nobel Prize neurologist and specialist to the Secret Service, that Bond is “…going slowly to pieces.” Molony, who evaluated Bond, explains the reason behind Bond’s behavior. “He’s a bachelor and a confirmed womanizer. Then he suddenly falls in love…so he marries her and within a few hours she’s shot dead…” (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). There is more: Bond’s most recent assignments ended in disaster.

Sir James Molony sees beyond the latest causes of Bond’s malaise and into his inherent value and suggests, “Give him one more chance.”

The Mission That Saved Bond

Bond is called into M’s office and expects to be fired and is prepared to resign. Enlighted by Molony’s analysis and recommendation, M, instead of firing Bond, challenges him with an almost impossible mission, a mission that revitalizes Bond. Bond says to M, “’But why have you chosen me, sir?’ This was the most extraordinary change in his fortunes that had ever come about! Ten minutes before he had been on the rubbish heap, his career, his life in ruins, and now here he was being set up on a pinnacle.”

One More Chance: The Gospel According to 007

In many ways, we are like James Bond (or would like to be); famous, adored, treasured. And in many ways we also suffer the defeats, failures, and simply bad luck that strip away all the glamor; we, like Bond, are in the rubbish heap of life.

“One more chance.” This is what we need, what we crave. And we have this through the love of God through Christ.

Because I Love You: The Infinite Second Chance

The love of God is an infinite “one more chance”, ours simply through trust and belief. The infinite God of love pours his infinite love upon us. “You who are thirsty, come to the waters and drink. You who have no money come buy and eat. Come buy and eat…without money and cost.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)

We cannot buy God’s love. The feast is prepared and we are invited. We need only to accept the invitation—to regain our life.

When God Rewrites the Ending

We may ask God, “Why have you chosen me, sir?” His response will be, “Because I love you.”