August 24, 2008
Rev. Kip Gilts

           Last Sunday afternoon I was drinking coffee in Bryant Park in the heart of New York City with my daughter, Chelsea.  We had a wonderful time walking all over the city seeing sights that I have seen on television and in the movies.  Friday morning, Tammy was watching one of those morning news shows that was hosting a mini-concert.  She said, “Hey, did you go to Bryant Park?”  I walked into the living room and there it was – Kid Rock was singing in my Sunday afternoon coffee shop.  Can you guess what I said? “I’ve been there!”  In fact, I’ve said that a lot this week, especially if they show Yankee Stadium.  Do you know why?  “I’ve been there!”

I think that is the point of the scriptures we read and the songs we sing.  They are most effective in our lives when we can read them or sing them and say, “I’ve been there!”  The most popular song in our hymnal is one that was written in 1779 by a man who had lived a hard life.  The song was originally entitled, Faith’s Review and Expectation, because that is what it was – a review of the man’s faith and a declaration of what he expected.  It begins by referring to where he was when God found him:

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.

John Newton had lived a hard life.  His mother died just before his seventh birthday.  He was placed in a boarding school for the next four years and then at the age of 11 went to work with his dad, who happened to be the commander of a merchant ship.  At 18 he was pressed into naval service, but found the conditions so deplorable, plus Newton had a huge lump of bitterness in his soul, he deserted.  The year was 1743 and the court martials were severe.  He was whipped 96 times, reduced to the rank of a common crew member, and forced to go back to sea.  He was in such a wretched place that he requested to be placed into service on slave ship going to Sierre Leone, Africa.  There he was a servant of a slave trader and abused mercilessly.  So when he started, “Faith’s Review and Expectation” he started where God found him – a wretch.

1700 years earlier God’s amazing grace found another man, whose writings would be even more significant than John Newton’s.  His name was Saul of Tarsus.  He too was a servant, but he was a servant of his own zeal.  He was convinced that the church was the enemy of God and God’s people.  The church incensed him so that his reaction was described as that of a wild beast.  In Acts 8:3 we read, “Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women.”  This is the same word used in Psalm 80 of wild boars that destroy a vineyard.  He was a wretch in a different place, but I’m sure he could have easily confessed as he heard John Newton’s Faith Review and Expectation, “I’ve been there!”  Listen to a bit of Saul’s story found in Acts 9:1-19.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

¹Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” ⁵He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” ⁷The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; ¹⁶I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus.
 

This is the word of God for the people of God.

       In this passage Luke described for his readers amazing grace and how it impacts so many lives.  I hope as you heard this story you found yourself saying, “I’ve been there!”


 

I’ve been there before grace seemed so amazing.

Saul was not looking for grace.  Chapter nine begins no different than did chapter eight or chapter seven when he was introduced as the young man who held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death.  He was a wretch, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.  The language Luke used is once again picturesque.  It is as though he was describing a wild beast pawing at the ground and snorting out of control with rage and aggression.  But then God said, “Enough!”  As Saul was nearing Damascus, the blinding light knocked him off his feet.  The voice confronted his misdirected zeal, “Saul, why do you persecute me?”  He was placed in a situation where he simply had to deal with God’s grace.  But this was not the first time he had seen it.  I am certain he had seen it in Stephen’s face as he spoke with his dying breath, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  I am confident that he had witnessed it in others that had been arrested.  The truth is he had experienced God’s grace long before it seemed amazing.  I’ve been there!

John Newton was rescued from his life of servitude by a friend of his father.  However, on his way back to England, the ship hit a storm and was filling fast with water.  For the first time in a long time Newton started to pray.  The day was March 10, 1748.  In the midst of the storm, he asked Christ to save his soul.  His motivation was his fear of death, but his decision was the start of life:

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

God had found him.  It was not he who found God, but God as with Saul, took the initiative.  Grace taught his hardened heart to fear and grace relieved those fears.

C.S. Lewis compared this grace of God to a master chess player countering every avoidance with God’s persistence until finally God smiles and says, “Checkmate.”  I’ve been there!  It was only long after I said, “Yes” to Christ that I realize how long and in how many ways he had been pursuing me with his grace.  But that is only the beginning.

I’ve been there when grace appeared so amazing.

Saul was led to the main street of Damascus – a street that still exists as the center of commerce for the Syrian city.  There he began to come to grips with the amazing grace of God.  Did you hear the words of Jesus, “Why do you persecute me?”  Jesus identifies so closely with the church that what happens to us, happens to him.  Saul could not eat or drink anything for three days.  Instead he was praying – trying to figure it all out.  Enter Ananias, an almost forgotten hero of the church.  He too was praying, when the Lord told him to go pray for Saul.  The Lord had even set it up by showing Saul that Ananias would pray for him.  The only problem was that while Saul knew nothing about Ananias, Ananias knew quite a bit about Saul.  He was as notorious in Damascus as he was in Jerusalem.  It seemed as though the Lord was asking Ananias to turn himself in to the enemy of the church.  That’s when the Lord reminded Ananias of his amazing grace.  He said in essence, “Here’s the beautiful part – I have chosen him, the guy who was so insistent on stopping the church, to actually establish the church among Jews and Gentiles!”  God does seem to choose some surprising candidates for ministry.  I’ve been there!

John Newton had been there too.  He would later confess that though he experienced God’s grace, he had not yet completely yielded to it.  There is a wonderful question that we ask persons who are confessing their faith in Christ for the first time, “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord in union with the church which Christ opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?”  Newton had confessed Jesus as his Savior, but it would be awhile before he would promise to serve him as his Lord.  He became the captain of a slave ship and was not loved by either his crew or his captives.  It was seven years later before he began to see the inconsistency of his lifestyle with his calling.  He married in 1750 and experienced a call to ministry in 1757.  He applied to the Church of England and they said, “No”.  He inquired among the Presbyterians, the Methodists, and the Independents.  They all denied papers to this man whose life seemed so harsh.  Yet he persisted in his pursuit of ministry and in his life with Christ:

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

The life that begins when recognizing the amazing grace of God can be challenging.  We often discover parts of our lives that are out of line with what Christ desires.  It is common to include a time of confession in a worship service for that very purpose.  Chelsea and I attended Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York last Sunday.  During their time of confession something amazing happened.  Usually I take that opportunity to review with the Lord all the times during the week when I have done something wrong or refused to do something right.  The list is generally longer than the time allotted for such an exercise.  Last Sunday, however, I just breathed, “Only your grace, dear Lord.  I need only your grace.”  Of course, there were wrongs committed and rights omitted, but I trust God knows those better than I do.  I just placed my life in God’s care and confessed, “I need only your grace.”  It was as if I was sitting at the table with Saul in Judas’ house on Straight Street.  Have you ever been there?  I’ve been there.

I’ve been there when grace leads to an amazing future.

God was not done with Saul, when he got him off the heels of the Christians.  He had plans for him – as Jeremiah would say, “Plans for good.”  It started with Ananias saying that one word that had to change Saul’s life.  He said, “Brother – Brother Saul.”  In that instance Saul discovered that Christianity was a community.  It was a truth that would guide Saul for the rest of his life, which would soon know him as Paul.  Look at the first things that he does as he moves into his future lined with amazing grace – he is baptized, he eats (I have every reason to believe that this is around a table with others, because that’s always where Luke writes about people eating), and he stays with the disciples in Damascus.  He is surrounded by community.  That’s why we emphasize the importance of small groups where community is so profoundly experienced.

This was the experience of John Newton.  After seven years of slave trading, he sought ordination as a pastor.  After seven years of denials he was finally ordained and served two churches in his career.  He served one of them for sixteen years and the other for twenty-eight.  Both churches had to expand, because of this man who was as well known for his compassion as he was for his preaching.  He continued Faith’s Review and Expectation:

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.

I’ve been there! On the roads lined with amazing grace there are some extraordinary places.  Last Sunday afternoon Chelsea and I went to the musical, In the Heights, about life in Washington Heights, a northern Manhattan neighborhood.  The main character was speaking of his abuela, who wasn’t really his grandmother, but served that role since he was a baby.  He spoke of how often she would look at the simple things in life that others so often overlook and she would say, “Alabanza”.  He then translated in a way that spoke to my soul, “Alabanza means to raise this thing to God’s face and to sing, quite literally, ‘praise to this’.”   I thought of all the good that God has brought to my life – my wife of 31 years, our two incredible children, this wonderful church, and daily doses of amazing grace.  I’ve been there! Alabanza.

Grace is an amazing thing.  Grace maneuvers us into a checkmate, where we are freed from pride, prejudice and self-centeredness.  Grace welcomes us into community where we belong.  Grace guides us into God’s future.  

Newton was pastoring his first church when he wrote words that would live on for centuries in a song that would soon be known as Amazing Grace.  One of the stanzas we seldom sing was his stanza of assurance:

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil, a life of joy and peace.

No wonder this song has been so popular to so many. So many people whether at life’s beginning or near its end can cry out like an excited tourist, “I’ve been there!”