When: Friday, January 04, 2008 12:00 AM to Saturday, January 05, 2008 12:00 AM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada).
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Words of Jesus
And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Luke 23:42-43
You strayed from the way and did not return because you were ashamed. It would be more logical if you were ashamed not to return.
— St. Jose Escriva’
Abba, Father, Lord God, this day when I once again struggled to find or make the time to spend with You, I am blessed by the commentary and podcast by Chuck Colson titled Reflections for New Year’s Day. From the words that David spoke to You in 1 Chronicles to their impact and inspiration on John Newton to write the hymn Amazing Grace, and his counseling of the young William Wilberforce and encouragement to stay the course which ended in the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. This Act paved the way for the complete abolition of slavery in the British Empire; Wilberforce died just three days after hearing of the passage of the Act through Parliament. I am reminded just how insignificant the things are that I let affect me and how I must continue the fight so that there is more of Jesus and less of me in what I think, see and do. So I ask that in sharing this commentary and including the lyrics to Amazing Grace that You will use this posting to touch, humble and inspire someone else as You have done with me. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
‘Amazing Grace’
At the end of December 1772, an Anglican priest in the poor parish of Olney worked by candlelight on his New Year’s Day sermon. He would preach on the text of 1 Chronicles 17, verses 16 and 17. That passage was David’s response to God after Nathan informed him that his descendants would be enthroned forever as kings of Israel. David, the once poor shepherd boy, the man who would have repented of adultery and murder, responded to the news by saying, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me thus far?”
That pastor was John Newton, and those words struck a deep chord in his heart.
In those last days of 1772, Newton found himself running out of empty pages in his journal, a bound book of 300 pages holding 16 years worth of entries. As he came to finish that journal and start another, his mind was drawn to the pages of his past: the story of his life from his days as an unregenerate slave-trader to becoming a child of God.
Newton would have remembered when his rebellious spirit got him thrown off numerous ships, publicly flogged, and ousted from His Majesty’s Navy. He would have remembered the shipwrecks and the mutinies—and then the transformation of his heart by the power of the Gospel. As Newton considered those days gone by, he would have asked as David did, “Who am I, O Lord . . . that you have brought me this far?”
As was his habit, Newton set to work composing a hymn to illustrate his New Year’s Day sermon. In that hymn, he would tell his poor congregation of lace-makers and low-paid artisans about the dangers and snares he had faced. He would reflect on the amazing grace that had saved a wretch like him.
Those now-famous words of “Amazing Grace,” first sung in the small parish of Olney on New Year’s Day, 1773, lingered in obscurity for many years. Even as Newton counseled the young William Wilberforce and encouraged him to stay the course in the long battle against the slave trade, the words to “Amazing Grace” were little sung in England. But the Olney hymnal, later published by Newton, caught on in the Americas.
The words of “Amazing Grace” would surface again some 80 years later in a book that would change the course of this nation, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In it, the slave, Tom, at his lowest point, sings the words of “Amazing Grace.” Two verses hardly sung today were sung by Tom: “And when this mortal life shall fail/And flesh and sense shall cease,/ I shall possess within the veil,/ A life of joy and peace.” These words of the ultimate hope in God, even in the face of deep injustice, forever entwined the words of “Amazing Grace” with the plight of the slaves.
But it all began in that dark little study in the waning days of a year gone by, when one man took the time to reflect on God’s goodness to him.
This New Year’s Day we would all do well to pay tribute to Newton by imitating his gratitude to God and his heart for the lost. We would do well also to set aside some time to reflect on what God has done in our lives—how He has delivered us from slavery to sin. And we would do well to consider how we, in this new year of 2008, can sing God’s praise with our lips and with our lives.
"Amazing Grace" original lyrics by John Newton, Olney Hymns (London: W. Oliver, 1779)
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d 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 reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, 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 call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. 10 By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.
1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).
Pope Benedict XVI Encyclical Letter
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