Amazing Grace

Who has not heard the song, Amazing Grace? "It may be the most recorded song on the planet," said Jerry Bailey, executive at Broadcast Music, Inc., of Nashville. The song was written by John Newton, a former slave trader, in about 1779. This song is sung at weddings, funerals, parades, in churches and even in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with President Bush attending. Nashville says there is no song written that has surpassed the popularity of this one song. I wonder - if this song had been written in 2019 and song by Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé, would it have a 200 plus year appeal. I doubt it.

Consider the words:

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

It breaks all the rules. It implies we need “saving”. That is offensive. It declares we are “a wretch”. Just try calling someone a wretch. In fact, call yourself a wretch and you will immediately get a lecture on how we should love ourselves, that we are beautiful, and six steps on how to build self-esteem.

“Lost”? Never!  We are just on a journey. Life is just one big lesson where we are on a continual learning quest and no one is lost; such is the collective wisdom of the enlightened of the day. And then the last line is the most offensive of all for the politically correct cultural police. You sing, “was blind, but now I see”; how judgmental, how condescending, how pompous in today’s world of tolerance and acceptance, where we all see - just differently.

Now before you send me texts and emails, decrying my irreverence of the Churches most favourite song, I like it too. In fact, I think it is amazing. (pun intended). And the reason it has held the number one spot over 200 years, may just be because it has a ring of truth to it. Despite all the self-help books, the proliferation of eastern religions telling us there is no such thing as sin, and the obliteration of moral absolutes; deep inside we know that we all can be wretches at times. We cannot make it on our own despite our very best efforts. There is something in us that makes us do the same things over and over again, even when we know it is wrong. There is something in the world that is simply evil and wrong. The Bible calls it sin. The concept of sin is not popular, but it is the unspoken word in the song, Amazing Grace. The writer did not need to say it; he saw it on the slave ships, he saw it in the eyes of the greedy sea merchants plying the slave trade. He experienced it when his mom died when he was seven. He felt it when he received 96 lashes by the whip at the hands of the British Navy. Sin is the unspoken word in our culture, yet its power of destruction and pain is ever-present.

Considering what is happening in the world, I am going to be launching a 9-week sermon series on the insidious and powerful reality of sin in our lives and in the world and what can and what has been done about it.

As the song begins with “amazing grace, how sweet the sound” may it be our refrain, as we dive into this dark world of sin where we can find the answer in the light of Christ. I conclude this blog with my own testimony; I too, found this grace. No matter how dark it is, no matter how enslaved you may feel, there is grace for each of us. If you would like to know more about this amazing grace, email me. I would be happy to connect with you.

Join with us each Sunday live on Facebook at 10:30 am on Jim Reimer’s page.

Jim Reimer, Pastor

April 30, 2020