RuthAnn and I saw the musical “Amazing Grace” yesterday at the Opera House in Macon. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but it superseded anything I had imagined. Wonderfully staged, powerful cast and incredible music. But what really made it stand out was the theme.
The musical is based on the life of John Newton, writer of the hymn Amazing Grace. If you are a historian you would not recognize much of the known facts reflecting his life, except for one point, John Newton lived a majority of his young life in rebellion against God and humanity too. As a sea-faring man involved in England’s slave trade, he lived in a world where human lives were reduced to monetary value. Violence, degradation and sometimes death was the lot of any ‘slave’ captured. And like many who worked to promote it, Newton became lost in the immorality of it. The musical showed this wonderfully, if not factually. Newton’s life without God was self-centered and careless of even those who loved him. Adrift he was not availed to the grace which was being offered to him.
Of course, for me the theme was one of my own life. No, I have not been involved in human trafficking, but I have been involved in the enslavement of people who purchased drugs that I promoted and led them to. In the musical Newton has a moment of ‘faith’. Tied to the mast during a hurricane, God’s mercy and love opens his heart, he surrenders in a dramatic way and according to this plot all things in his life are changed from that moment. In his factual history, it did not happen that way. Newton is converted while still ‘slaving’ but does not denounce its terrors for several years, even after becoming an Anglican minister. It was the fact that I knew this while watching the performance that allowed me to enjoy it even more. Let me explain.
I had a lot of baggage attached to me when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Years of alcohol and drug abuse had corrupted me to the core. In 2012 when I went forward in commitment at the Gladstone, Oregon camp meeting, that baggage was still in tow. I knew I wanted to believe the promise, “But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) In fact I hung on to that verse for dear life, claiming its promise over and over.
Over the next 5 years and even to this very day, I dropped one bag after another as the Holy Spirit filled me. Some were easier than others. My foul language left me almost immediately but the anger which caused me to spew those words from my mouth stayed with me for years. It was only after the death of my wife, Dianne, that prayer, mine, and others removed it from my life. In 2010 I had quit partying and drinking but the nasty rock and roll music full of sex and violence stayed around a lot longer. I guess my point is, being saved is not just a moment as portrayed in movies, plays and even musicals. For most of us it is a day to day even moment to moment struggle, as the Holy Spirit peels away the layers of filth. And for me knowing that was true for John Newton blessed me even more as I watched this inspiring production.
Today as I sit and write this, I am assured that, the Amazing Grace that we sung as the performance closed is available to me and to you. The Apostle Paul says it like this, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) God’s amazing grace!
Newton did become one of England’s most powerful abolitionists writing the pamphlet, “Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade” in 1788. He allied himself with William Wilberforce, the Parliamentary abolitionist and lived to see the “Slave Trade Act 1807” which abolished slavery in the United Kingdom. His song Amazing Grace became an anthem of that movement and lives on today to cheer the heart of every converted sinner. It helps each of us know it is only by His grace we are saved. Here is the first verse of that hymn:
Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
T’was blind but now I see.
To that I say Amen. May today you experience God’s Grace!
Blessings John
2/12/18
