We started the week of Sola Gratia, grace alone, with the song “Amazing Grace” by John Newton, the former slave trader turned preacher in the 1700s. “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.” People still love that song and sing it in times of distress as we acknowledge our helplessness and need for a God to come to us.
I would like to end this week of reflections with a modern day hymn by Casting Crowns. Who Am I”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rT8Re1EIQc
Lyrics
“Who am I, that the lord of all the earth, Would care to know my name, Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the bright and morning star, Would choose to light the way, For my ever wandering heart?
Not because of who I am, But because of what you’ve done, Not because of what I’ve done, But because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading, Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean, A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I’m calling
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling
And you’ve told me who I am, I am yours.
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin, Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea, Would call out through the rain, And calm the storm in me?
Not because of who I am, But because of what you’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done, But because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading, Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean, A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I’m calling
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling, And you’ve told me who I am
I am yours
Not because of who I am, But because of what you’ve done
Not because of what I’ve done, But because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading, Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean, A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I’m calling
Lord, you catch me when I’m falling, And you’ve told me who I am
I am yours, I am yours, I am yours
Whom shall I fear, whom shall I fear? ‘Cause I am yours, I am yours”
The song writer Mark Hall was driving through Alabama one day and suddenly realized, had an “aha” moment. He, a sinful human could talk to the God of the universe because of God’s grace! We believe in a God who invites us into relationship with him through faith, and not because of who we are. It is a gift and not because of our works. Praise to him. May you live in that awareness today that your heavenly cell phone is always charged! Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 