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Amazing Grace 37 don street], unless someone holds his hand.” 9 For Newton, the Christian life could only be explained by God’s sustaining grace. Grace saved his wretched soul. Grace sought him out. Grace removed his spiritual blind- ness and opened his spiritual eyes. Grace taught him to fear God. Grace relieved his fears. Grace led him to hope. The life and ministry of Newton can all fit under the banner of grace—God’s abundant, all-sufficient, infi- nite, sovereign, unceasing, and amazing grace. Fittingly, we begin this study with Newton’s most famous and most often recited words, a New Year’s Day hymn inspired by 1 Chronicles 17, a chapter that speaks of King David’s past, present, and future. Newton aptly titled the hymn “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” but today it is more widely remembered by its first two words: “Amazing Grace.” The language and biblical theology of 1 Chronicles 17 drench Newton’s hymn. 10 But it’s more than instructive. Reflecting his personal practice on New Year’s, the hymn itself provides a doxological moment in time to stop to thank God for his past mercies, his present mercies, and his future mercies. The brief hymn summarizes grace as one of the essential themes in the Christian life, from beginning to end. It originally appeared in published form like this: 1 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. 2 ’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! 3 Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. 9 Eclectic, 272. 10 Marylynn Rouse makes this perceptive connection in her resources at www.johnnewton.org. Setting the text of “Amazing Grace” alongside 1 Chronicles 17 will show just how deeply Newton’s hymn soaked up the rich biblical theology of this chapter of Scripture. Direct lines of contact are made by the terms house/home, word, and forever. Also notice the corresponding tenses of the hymn echoed in 1 Chronicles 17: past (v. 7, “I took you from the pasture”), present (v. 16, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”), and future (v. 26, “O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant”).
38 NE W TON ON T HE CHR IS T I A N L IF E 4 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. 5 Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess, within the vail, A life of joy and peace. 6 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who call’d me here below, Will be for ever mine. 11
Although this book will mostly focus on Newton’s letters, hymns like “Amazing Grace” are a fitting big-picture introduction into his under- standing of the Christian life. The entire Christian life is here: from salva- tion (“sav’d a wretch like me”), through trials (“many dangers, toils, and snares”), struggles with doubts and need for divine promises (“his word my hope secures”), protection in spiritual battle (“he will my shield and por- tion be”), and aging and facing death (“when this flesh and heart shall fail”), to hopes for re-creation (“earth shall soon dissolve like snow”), anticipation for the beatific vision (“A life of joy and peace”), and on into eternity (“But God, who call’d me here below, / will be for ever mine”). From the beginning to the end of this autobiographical hymn, we are introduced to the unwav- ering grace of God throughout the Christian’s immortal, eternal existence. Newton communicates this vision of the Christian life in catchy language very easily read and sung. Most of the words he uses (about 85 percent of the hymn) are one syllable, and that reveals much about Newton’s commit- ment to clarity and simplicity, traits that spill over into all his pastoral work and explain his enduring place as a spiritual luminary so many centuries after his death. Of course, nothing from the pen of Newton endures like this hymn. Amazon.com currently sells the song in 12,700 different versions. It has been recorded in every genre, including jazz, country, folk, classical, R&B, hip-hop—even heavy metal! The popularity of the hymn is obvious at 11 W, 3:353. Amazing Grace 39 sporting events and political rallies, among other settings. It endures as one of few religious songs that can be sung impromptu in public because many people (if not most people) can recite at least the first verse by heart. The hymn is, first, brilliant biography (of David) and, second, brilliant autobiography (of Newton). Newton is the wretch, a term he often used to allude to his own sin and to a period of captivity he endured before his conversion. But most brilliantly of all, the hymn functions as a collective autobiography for every Christian. “Amazing Grace” is perceptive biblical theology, embraced by one man deeply moved by his own redemption, ar- ticulated for corporate worship. Amazing Theology In a song reaching such heights of cultural popularity, it’s easy to miss the radical claims of the lyrics. “Amazing Grace” is profoundly theological, and Reformed theology gleams like a diamond in the first two verses. The hymn is rooted in the sovereign initiative of God. It is a song about spiritually dead and spiritually blind sinners finding new life, or, rather, being found by God. We were lost, and grace found us. We were blind, and grace gave us sight. We were wretched, and grace initiated its saving work on us. To find grace so amazing, human boasting must be silenced, and that is essentially what the hymn accomplishes. Human boasting is excluded (Rom. 3:27). According to records, the hymn was unveiled and first sung by Newton’s congregation in Olney on January 1, 1773. Newton had spent weeks getting it ready to kick off the New Year. On hand that Friday morning was his friend the poet William Cowper (1731–1800). But just a few hours after singing the new hymn, Cowper, who was depression- prone, was suddenly seized with a sense of despair about his relation- ship with God. That afternoon Cowper penned a famous hymn of his own: “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” And later that night, overcome by nightmares and hallucinations, and believing God was now calling him to sacrifice himself in the same way he called Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, he rose from his bed, found a knife, and slashed himself. 12
again attend church, and the suicide attempt would be catalogued as one episode of many in his long bout with despair. 12 Aitken, 218. Yüklə 2,91 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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