There may be no better song as an anthem for Passion Week than the most famous hymn ever written in the English language - Amazing Grace. The lyrics of this masterpiece of gospel truth were penned by a sparsely educated British sailor-turned-pastor, who elegantly communicates (with mostly 1 syllable words) the profound beauty and power of the grace of Christ.
As western culture moves with exponential speed away from a shared understanding of our human limits, the concept of the need of grace becomes more and more foolish to modern man, if considered at all. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the reality of the sinful nature, and the failed attempts of mankind to “make a better world”, the resistance to the need of a Savior remains. It is in this moment in modernity, when personal freedom is elevated to the pinnacle of virtue (how’s that workin’ for us?), that the lyrics of Amazing Grace and the story of the man behind the song are an oasis in a desert of self absorption and bad theology.
John Newton’s story is a textbook example of the adage “truth is stranger than fiction”. This forum is too brief to outline the whole drama of Newton’s life, but I recommend going deeper with him, especially through the letters he wrote (which were the social media of the the 18th century). In light of the topic here, suffice it to say that through a series of circumstances John Newton found himself occupying the position of captain of an African slave trade ship, where he witnessed and was party to the great evil of the capture, torture and sale of human beings. This wicked era of human history created a hurricane of inhumanity so malevolent that the calamitous winds of that social villainy continue to blow today.
But through the unbounded grace of a Greater Wind -the convicting power of the Holy Spirit - John Newton recognized the absolute corruption of the human heart - especially his own- and the impossibility of cleansing the stain of sin from his soul. No hope could be found in good works, in self awareness, in charity. Here, in this place of his soul’s ruin, Newton discovered that most needful truth, indeed the only rescue for the disastrous shipwreck of sin:
The unmerited grace of Jesus Christ in His death on the cross.
John Newton repented of his sin and placed his trust in the atoning blood of the Son of God. Period. That is amazing grace. There is nothing that can add to it, and nothing that can take away from it.
And out of this conversion came not only a hymn that will likely be sung in heaven, but a providential earthly good as well. John Newton became a mentor to William Wilberforce, the great British abolitionist who fought relentlessly for his entire career in Parliament to end the slave trade in his nation. Newton advised Wilberforce to enter into politics instead of the pastorate when he was a young man deciding on a career path. And in an ironic turn of the wheels of divine superintendence, the words of a redeemed slave trader played a critical role in the eventual abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom.
Though not popular and not pleasant, the bible says two things we need to hear as we approach Good Friday:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
~Jeremiah 17:9
AND
“…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
~Romans 3:23
None of us have captained a slave trade ship. But we have by our very nature rebelled against God and His perfect, beautiful justice and righteousness. The only hope for you and I is the amazing grace of God. We cannot fix ourselves. That’s why this coming Friday is called good. The best.news.ever.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
John Newton
Your friend on the pilgrim road,
Loriann
No comments:
Post a Comment