Earlier this summer I went with a group to visit Olney in Buckinghamshire, home of John Newton and William Cowper. Those two names have lasting associations with hymnody, Newton’s ‘Amazing Grace’ being one of the best-known hymn texts of all time.
Hymns are evocative. People who never go near a church are likely to know a handful of well-known words. We wheel them out at times of introspection, crisis or celebration. They turn up, almost unnoticeably, in sports stadia, concert halls and we may whistle or hum tunes without knowing where they are from.
What about those who sing hymns fervently and would live earnest pious lives, on the face of it at least. We sing ‘Amazing Grace’ but do we believe in the amazing grace of God? I ask because I was reminded recently of the continual struggle in many of us to live as though grace is for all. A true story of a former murderer attracts attention, victims are prayed for but who hears the story of the change in the killer’s life that has made him deeply regretful of his past.
Do we look the converted bad (wo)man in the eye with love or do we assume that bad is for ever while pouring all our love on the originally wronged party? Grace, what grace?
When John Newton wrote his hymn, he was not reflecting on minor errors of judgement but on crimes against his fellow people. If we can sing his words and believe they were real for him and apply to us, why not to all people of faith. Is grace for all – or have we barely advanced from the harsh days when the Jesus struggled with unforgiving graceless pharisees?
A Prayer
God of amazing grace, give me the gift of honest appraisal to look in the mirror and there to see who I really am. Give me the gift of clear eyes to look through the window and see the truth of those outside and not just my perception of reality. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and let us live as if forgiveness is real. Amen.