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

Amazing Grace by John Newton, Verse 4

I looked up the word “shield” on Biblegateway.com and it references “shield” 22 times in the book of Psalms alone and 96 times in the Old Testament.  God has not only promised to be good to us but he has also promised to shield us, to be like a shield between evil and us.  John Newton picks up this idea in his fourth verse.

         We might not identify with the idea of shield as a protective weapon of war.  We might think more of a coat of arms that defines our family identity, hung over a fireplace, and passed through the generations.  King David in Psalm 18 identifies a shield as a rock we can stand on, fortress we can run to, the symbol of a deliverer we see coming to our rescue, and horn of salvation.  All are synonyms for shield.  God is a being in whom I can take refuge, who stands between danger and us. 

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress,

and my deliverer,

my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold.”  Psalm 18:2

What might God be shielding you from today?  How would you like him to stand between others you care about and danger?  These are good seeds for prayer and praise.  Only a risen Savior can shield us today!

“The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;”

Amazing Grace by John Newton, Verse 4, Line 1,2

A popular verse that Deaconesses choose for their ordination is 1 Peter 2:9, 

         “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

           God chose us, not because we are so wonderful but perhaps because we are such hopeless fixer upper projects.  As Simba returns to claim his place in Prideland, Timon looks out at the devastated country side and says, “Talk about your fixer upper.” God took stiff necked and stubborn people like us and turned us into a kingdom of his representatives.

         To take something broken and break it further is no accomplishment.  To take something broken and accuse it of being broken is a cheap victory.  To take something broken and love it back into health and value makes a movie that wins an academy award.  God takes broken sinners like us and works with us according to the grain of our personality and transforms us into works of art without breaking our spirit.  He transforms us with love and we become people of hope and purpose. John Newton had experienced that transformation.

         Think of some of the things you are praying about.  Can you name your “hope” in one word?  Spend a moment fleshing out that one word for your “chosen” person, exploring with the Lord what it might mean and how that hope is secured by God’s word.  My husband is journeying with Parkinson’s disease.  I pray for him “kindness.”  May he be “kind” to the aides trying to help.  May they be “kind” with him as they lift him from falling on the floor.  May friends find “kind” words to encourage him.  Expand that word as God listens.  Blessings.

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

Amazing Grace by John Newton, Verse 4

One of the two verses Newton carved over his fireplace was Deuteronomy 15:15,  “¹⁵ Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today.”  This verse reminded Newton that not only had the Israelites been freed from slavery but so had he.  He was freed from slavery to sin.  He was freed because he was convinced Jesus “had promised good for me.”  This grounded his fight against slavery in England.  But Newton believed Jesus saved him “from” sin to “blessing.”  One of the passages that brings many great comfort is found in Romans 8:35-39:

³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Nothing can separate us from the good God has intended for us.  Perhaps it does not feel so true today as we struggle with the hardships and ugliness of this world but each morning the sun shines and the resurrection assures us that God is working in unseen and unexpected ways to bring about good for us.  We are challenged to trust and persevere.  Let us pray for clarity to see through the trials to the God we cannot be separated from, even by the crosses we carry.  Jesus is risen and is working good for our lives. That’s a promise we can hang on to. Thank you Lord!

OK, I know it is Easter Season for the church and we are celebrating the reality of the resurrection but the resurrection is the culmination of a story that started with the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas.  Actually the story starts in Genesis with the realization that we all fall short of perfection and God’s promise to rescue us.  John Newton tells his story of how he fell short but God met him with grace and Newton also felt grace had allowed him to fail so he would cry out for help.  The song “Christmas Shoes” that I referred to yesterday is still a modern day example of grace.  A young boy goes to the counter to pay for a pair of shoes to gift his mother who is dying of heart disease, possibly on Christmas Eve.  He soooo wanted her to look nice to meet Jesus that night but he did not have enough money.  The man in line helps him.  Grace!

         This second YouTube is a country western version of “Amazing Grace.”  Please enjoy both as you prepare for worship tomorrow.

“Zaccheus was a wee little man.”

Luke 19:1-10

I love the Christmas movie, “Christmas Shoes.”  A young boy knows his mother is about to die of heart disease and collects soda cans to buy a pair of red shoes on Christmas Eve so she will look “pretty if she meets Jesus tonight.”  He gets to the store and the cashier tells him that he is short.  He doesn’t have enough money.  The guy behind helps him out and a famous song is born.

         Many of us have come up “short.”  It could be a financial situation.  We needed $17,000 to buy a run down house in Los Angeles but could only gather $15,000.  Four years later the house was selling for $100,000.  It could be we don’t get enough points on a test to get the grade we want.  True confessions…I missed one too many questions on a driver’s test once and walked home humbled.  More seriously, perhaps the “other” whom we think is “the one” dates us but we come up short and the proposal doesn’t come.  Heartbreak.

         Jesus in Luke 19 is walking into Jericho with his usual crowd.  Zaccheaus, the chief tax collector, agent of the IRS, wants to see this famous person but is too short of stature and probably despised by most.  He climbs a tree to catch a glance.  As Jesus walks by, Jesus stops and tells Zaccheaus to come down for Jesus is going to dine with him.  Many are outraged that Jesus would associate with “a sinner.”  Zaccheaus is overwhelmed with gratitude.  Jesus summarizes by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” The grace that comes with Easter is not just a prayer of thanks at a meal, or getting more goodies for our comfortable life.  Zacchaeus had wealth.  Jesus reinstated him as “a son of Abraham.”  He is no longer outcaste but belonging.  He is no longer “lost” but found.  Grace not only saves us “from” the wayward way we are living but also saves us to family and future.  “Tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will bring me home.”

         Let us thank God that he not only has our past but also he is walking with us into the future.  He lives!

“Tis grace has brought me safe thus far”

(Verse 3, line 3, Amazing Grace by John Newton)

John Newton wrote the famous hymn “Amazing Grace” 250 years ago and it is still afavorite for serious occasions like funerals.  Newton shares his testimony and how he encountered the risen Christ we celebrate during the Easter season.  The word “me” takes the song to a different level. Grace was a very personal experience for Newton.  He is not attempting to express his theology.  “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” fits more into that genre.  The hymn “Were You There” is a deeply touching hymn about the crucifixion and resurrection, focusing on the historical event. “Holy, Holy, Holy” leads us into worship.  The word “me” in the third verse of Newton’s hymn reminds us of the many times Jesus was criticized for associating with “sinners,” people who were tax collector and prostitutes, sinners like “me.” 

         It reminds me of Jesus’ story of the two men who went to the temple to pray.  One was a Pharisee who raised his voice in praise.   “I thank you that I am not like other people –robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”  Meanwhile standing at a distance, head lowered in shame, palms beating his breast, a tax collector prayed.  “God have mercy on me a sinner.”  Jesus said the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified. (Luke 18:9-14)  One of the great truths of Easter is that all can experience grace personally, even a sinner like “me.”

         How is God’s grace experienced in the “me” of your life today?  Let’s try to write one sentence expressing how “grace has brought me safe thus far.”

“Twas grace that brought me safe thus far”

(Verse 3, line 3, Amazing Grace by John Newton)

         Yesterday we were thankful to God because Easter means Jesus is alive and walks with us through “dangers, toils, and snares.”  God does not just sit up in heaven seeing if we live life right, taking notes, and expecting us to become our better selves by ourselves.  He walks with us.  For many the problem of the crisis is indeed huge but living with the guilt of mistakes afterwards is a horrible burden.  I liken it to a little voice that sits on our shoulder and loves to remind us of our failures and our shortcomings.

         King David wrote Psalm 51 after being confronted by his prophet Nathan.  David had an affair one night with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of his faithful soldiers.  He saw, he wanted and he took.  He was the king.  He could do what he wanted and no one would question.  But God saw and sent Nathan with a story about a rich man with large flocks who demanded the pet lamb of his poor neighbor because he wanted to feed a guest.  David immediately knew he was the rich man.  Not only had he taken the wife of Uriah but he also arranged for Uriah to be put in a fighting position that resulted in death.  This was not a shining moment in King David’s life.  He immediately repented and sought forgiveness.

         David’s confession: (Psalm 51:1-5)

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.”

         David’s prayer:  (Psalm 51:10-12)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Grace silences guilt because we are forgiven so when the whispers about the past remind us of our failures, remind the voice of the victory of God over all that would accuse us.  Let us ask Him to help us be our better selves he created us to be.

“Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;”

(Verse 3, Amazing Grace)

Easter is about going through trials by the grace of God and arriving safely on the other side.  Jesus went through death that we might go through death and live with God eternally.  John Newton came to faith as he went through a huge sea storm, convinced he would die and realizing it was only by God’s grace that he lived.  All of us are neither strong enough nor good enough to live forever.   Yes, we might be better than some, perhaps even many others, but we are not super heroes. 

         Let us think back on our lives.  There were those near misses as we drove.  There were the fevers we recovered from.  There were the threatening clouds of financial disaster that never rained.  Bad things happen to good people but it also true that if we remember, a lot of surprisingly good things happened also.  My friends hang in there with me on my grumpy days.  That little three year old threw his arms around my neck and didn’t care that the mirror had just told me I was having a bad hair day.  A friend sent me an animated “I’m thinking of you” card.  All of us have been through much but we have received many blessings also.

         King David wrote that beautiful Psalm 23 that helps us put words to the realization that a risen savior was with us through our days and is not some distant deity judging or waiting for us to become good enough.  Circle the words that speak to you about God’s presence “through”…

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
 

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”

Psalm 23

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

(Verse 3 of Amazing Grace by John Newton)

On New Year’s Day 1773, Newton, a slave ship captain pleading God for his life in the midst of a horrendous sea storm, and who has now turned pastor, chose as his text for the sermon 1 Chronicles 17:16-17.  In the text, the people of Israel had been given instructions for building a Tabernacle that was portable and could travel with them in the wilderness.  When the Promised Land was entered and a kingship established, David built a house of cedar and realized the dissonance between his house and the Tabernacle so decided in his heart to build the Temple.  God spoke to David’s prophet Nathan with a message for David.  God would walk with David, establishing the kingdom of Israel and it would be David’s son, Solomon, who would build the Temple.  David worships before God, amazed that God is not only promising presence with him but also a future for him and his descendants.  David humbly reflects before God and ponders whom he is that “you have brought me thus far?”  John Newton borrows these words for his third verse as he realizes God’s grace is what has brought him safe thus far.

         Today we have all sorts of resources to trace our heritage that has gone before and brought us “thus far.”  We can research our family tree.  DNA can trace our ethnicity and what percent of what heritage we are.  Newton looks at his life and does not credit his social history or his biological history as factors as determining his life now.  He, like David, sees God’s hand as the determining factor in his life.

         Today let’s allow our minds to travel briefly through the years.  Yes, our family is important.  Yes, our ethnicity is important.  Yes, the decisions we have made are important.  But let’s try to identify God’s hand of grace in our lives and thank him.  He is risen and active in our lives!

This week we talked about the second verse of Amazing Grace written by John Newton 250 years ago.  He saw his struggles as grace that led him to call out to God and he saw God’s salvation as grace for the undeserved.  It is all “precious.”  We thought of Elvis Presley singing “Take my hand, precious Lord”.  “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.”

     I looked for another musical version of Amazing Grace and the Internet came up with Diana Ross, another icon of the 60s singing Amazing Grace in Budapest.  Enjoy.

         Tomorrow our psalm will focus on Psalm 116.  The writer focuses on how we respond to the gift of grace that Easter offers us.  This popular worship song puts that psalm to music.  Let us release our hearts to worship this morning.

“What Can I Give Unto the Lord”