The Gospel of Grace
It is said that every saint has a history and that every sinner has a future. Who would have thought that John Newton could go from the lucrative exploitation of human beings, to being a passionate preacher of the Gospels?
During an unusually stormy passage to the West Indies in the 1750's, British slave trader Captain John Newton came face to face with the wretched evil of his participation in slavery. For the first time, he recognised his personal need for God's redemptive love and forgiveness. Through this experience he came to faith in Jesus Christ and turned his back on the slave trade. In a profound expression of his gratitude for God's grace he wrote the enduring words of the well-known hymn, "Amazing Grace". Leaving the lucrative profits of slave trading behind, John Newton later became a respected and influential clergyman in the Church of England.
It is said that every saint has a history and that every sinner has a future. Who would have thought that John Newton could go from the lucrative exploitation of human beings, to being a passionate preacher of the Gospels? Or who would have expected centuries earlier that a debauched and self-indulgent young African man named Augustine would become the Bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential and formative thinkers in the Christian church? Every saint, even ordinary followers of Christ such as you and me, have an unsightly history. But thanks be to God for grace that is so truly amazing Yesterday as I was driving home from the office, I saw a forlorn-looking man standing at the side of the road. He was hitch-hiking. I stopped to offer him a ride. As he clambered unsteadily into the passager seat, it was apparent that he had been drinking. During our forty-five minute ride together a story of failure, pain and futility emerged. His wife was schizophrenic and confined in a state mental hospital. He was chronically unemployed. Their only daughter, five years -old, had been taken away from them by state authorities and put up for adoption. His sister told him to move out of her house and he had neither money or a place to go nor anything to do from one day to the next. The hitchhiker seemed to have nothing to live for.
When I dropped him off near his destination I wondered what kind of future, if any, there was for a man like him. Yet, I know that God's grace extends beyond my limited ability to even imagine a solution. Amazing grace indeed, that great men of God like Newton and Augustine have sinful pasts, and despondent men like the hitchhiker have a hope and a future.
Several years ago a college classmate of mine, who went on to become a respected professor of theology, was caught in an adulterous relationship. Consequently, he was justly censured by the college administration and immediately dismissed from his teaching post. During the ensuring weeks and months he found himself isolated, cut off and harshly judged by all who had been his colleagues and friends. He ha become a disgrace in the community, far beyond the sin into which he had fallen. It was as if people went out of their way to heap condemnation on him. Increasingly, his life began falling apart as he was subjected to the ungracious and unforgiving responses of those around him. There was no doubt that he had done wrong and that his misconduct had to be confronted and dealt with.
Tragically however, the process was anything but redemptive. The community of faith, the very people who themselves the beneficiaries and witnesses of God's amazing grace, acted like dispensers of judgment. Their ongoing response was not only devoid of love, but held out no reflection of God's forgiveness and healing.
The professor had fallen and there was no mercy, no way back. Grace was finished when the community that was founded on God's grace, acted in judgment without mercy. There is a tragic tendency to limit God's grace to a point in time, when a person moves from the darkness of sin to the light of faith. But the truth is that each of us is dependent on God's grace every day, and each of us is called daily to live a life that is an instrument of God's grace and mercy in the world.
We recognize that within the redemptive and reconciling grace of God, the need for justice is satisfied and mercy is extended to all. When a person turns to Jesus Christ, he inevitably finds love and mercy, not hostility and judgment. It is only because of God's amazing grace that everyone who turns to Jesus Christ finds forgiveness and can leave their past behind. It is only because of God's amazing grace that everyone in misery, failure and sin can find a hope and a future in Jesus Christ. We who follow Jesus Christ are called by him, not only to proclaim God's grace, but to demonstrate His amazing grace by how we deal with sinners and how we deal with our brothers and sisters of faith, even when they fall.
Printed with permission of Prison Fellowship International
It is said that every saint has a history and that every sinner has a future. Who would have thought that John Newton could go from the lucrative exploitation of human beings, to being a passionate preacher of the Gospels? Or who would have expected centuries earlier that a debauched and self-indulgent young African man named Augustine would become the Bishop of Hippo and one of the most influential and formative thinkers in the Christian church? Every saint, even ordinary followers of Christ such as you and me, have an unsightly history. But thanks be to God for grace that is so truly amazing Yesterday as I was driving home from the office, I saw a forlorn-looking man standing at the side of the road. He was hitch-hiking. I stopped to offer him a ride. As he clambered unsteadily into the passager seat, it was apparent that he had been drinking. During our forty-five minute ride together a story of failure, pain and futility emerged. His wife was schizophrenic and confined in a state mental hospital. He was chronically unemployed. Their only daughter, five years -old, had been taken away from them by state authorities and put up for adoption. His sister told him to move out of her house and he had neither money or a place to go nor anything to do from one day to the next. The hitchhiker seemed to have nothing to live for.
When I dropped him off near his destination I wondered what kind of future, if any, there was for a man like him. Yet, I know that God's grace extends beyond my limited ability to even imagine a solution. Amazing grace indeed, that great men of God like Newton and Augustine have sinful pasts, and despondent men like the hitchhiker have a hope and a future.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!
Several years ago a college classmate of mine, who went on to become a respected professor of theology, was caught in an adulterous relationship. Consequently, he was justly censured by the college administration and immediately dismissed from his teaching post. During the ensuring weeks and months he found himself isolated, cut off and harshly judged by all who had been his colleagues and friends. He ha become a disgrace in the community, far beyond the sin into which he had fallen. It was as if people went out of their way to heap condemnation on him. Increasingly, his life began falling apart as he was subjected to the ungracious and unforgiving responses of those around him. There was no doubt that he had done wrong and that his misconduct had to be confronted and dealt with.
Tragically however, the process was anything but redemptive. The community of faith, the very people who themselves the beneficiaries and witnesses of God's amazing grace, acted like dispensers of judgment. Their ongoing response was not only devoid of love, but held out no reflection of God's forgiveness and healing.
The professor had fallen and there was no mercy, no way back. Grace was finished when the community that was founded on God's grace, acted in judgment without mercy. There is a tragic tendency to limit God's grace to a point in time, when a person moves from the darkness of sin to the light of faith. But the truth is that each of us is dependent on God's grace every day, and each of us is called daily to live a life that is an instrument of God's grace and mercy in the world.
We recognize that within the redemptive and reconciling grace of God, the need for justice is satisfied and mercy is extended to all. When a person turns to Jesus Christ, he inevitably finds love and mercy, not hostility and judgment. It is only because of God's amazing grace that everyone who turns to Jesus Christ finds forgiveness and can leave their past behind. It is only because of God's amazing grace that everyone in misery, failure and sin can find a hope and a future in Jesus Christ. We who follow Jesus Christ are called by him, not only to proclaim God's grace, but to demonstrate His amazing grace by how we deal with sinners and how we deal with our brothers and sisters of faith, even when they fall.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!
Printed with permission of Prison Fellowship International
Last modified
2006-07-17 03:49 PM