Sunday, September 20, 2020

 

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.

 

This familiar Christian hymn was composed by John Newton in the mid 1700’s. John was a notorious slave trader and he lived a life of immorality. In his own words he, “made it a study to seduce and tempt others to a life of debauchery”.    Early in John’s life his mother taught him Scripture, but she died when he was only seven.   His father, a merchant navy captain, took John with him, traveling the seas which led to the sinful practices in his life that were far away from God.

 

On one of the journey’s a huge storm had raged for 11 days.   The ship was battered, and one


side was almost completely destroyed. John, so exhausted from the storm, had to strap himself to the helm to keep safe.   Fighting the raging storm for eleven hours and fearing for his life John had much time to think about.  He realized his life was a wreck that was going down like the ship in the storm.   Recalling a Scripture, he learned from his mother it brought a change in his heart:

 

But since you refuse to listen when I call

and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, 

I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; 

Then they will call to me, but I will not answer.

 

John felt he was beyond hope and being saved.

 

As I prepared for this homily the first reading really stood out to me:

 

Seek the LORD while he may be found,

Call him while he is near.  

Let the scoundrel forsake his way, 

and the wicked his thoughts: 

let him turn to the LORD for mercy;

To our God, who is generous and forgiving.

 

The Prophet Isaiah prophesy was directed the lost sheep of Israel who were far from God to come back into a relationship with Him.   God’s response was one of mercy rather than vengeance for their misdeeds. 

 

I think all of us here are seeking the Lord, but we all know people who are not.   Many of them are our own family, friends, and co-workers.    How can we help them to seek the Lord?   How has God placed others in our lives to invite them to work in God’s vineyard? This may be hard for some of the people we know. They may be bitter from a past hurt and have turned away from God.    We may have a strained relationship with some of them due to disagreement that has gone unresolved.   They have traveled down the path of sin and destruction and their lives seem beyond hope of ever returning to a relationship with God.  Our thoughts may be like the first workers in the vineyard who answered the call and toiled the longest.    We’ve been close to God all our lives and receive our eternal reward for working hard in the vineyard. Why should someone who has been away from God for years living in sin receive the same reward when they’ve put little effort into it?   This seems unjust in our human way of thinking. 

 

But as we heard in Isaiah:

 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 

Nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

 

God generously offers his grace of mercy and forgiveness to those who seek him.  

When we call out to God it brings him great joy, especially for those who have been far away from him. He wants to be in relationship with us. This is amazing grace. This can be very hard for us to understand, but its’ Gods way.    

 

How can we be instruments of God’s love and mercy helping others to seek him out?   First, we can continue to seek the Lord ourselves and live following his ways.  Second, we can invite others to be in relationship with God.   One good way to start is to pray for those who don’t have that relationship.   For some people that may be the only thing we can do, but it’s the most important thing.   We may not be in a good relationship with them and can’t be the one has a direct influence on them.  But we can pray to God to place others in their lives who can do so.

  

If we do have relationship with them the best thing, we can do is be their friend, spending time with them, and getting to know them. This may be a challenge if their life is contrary to God’s ways. But if we seek out common interests that are appropriate, we can do this. It may be as simple as setting up a time to talk about a common interest as a sport, hobby, or their work. By spending time with them it shows that you care about them. A starting point to introduce God may be to offer a prayer for them if they are struggling with an issue in their life.  This may lead to an opportunity where eventually you can share your relationship with God and invite them to be in relationship as well. They may not have had anyone who has ever done so. We can be God’s instruments of mercy and forgiveness to invite others to work in the vineyard.

 

Returning to John Newton’s battle at sea, it seemed he was beyond saving.  But as the storm raged on, John’s thoughts turned to Christ transforming his life.  John turned to studying the Bible, prayer, and reading Christian literature. He tried to be a good example as a disciple of Christ for the sailors and slaves on ship.   He left slave-trading and later felt a call to ministry where he ministered for over 42 years preaching the Gospel of Christ in England.   He composed many hymns to support his ministry, one them being, “Amazing Grace”, which was a personal account of his own transformation. 

 

As we continue to seek the Lord and receive the Eucharist, lets pray for the grace help others to seek him as well.   Regardless of when we turn to the Lord or the sins we’ve committed, God will be generous in his mercy and forgiveness if we turn to him in sincerity with a contrite heart.  God’s grace is abundantly offered to all who seek the Lord.