May 10, was a day John would never forget. As an experienced sea captain he had traveled the waters off the coast of Africa many times.
But something amazing was going to happen to John that day. As he was headed homeward, and attempting to steer the ship through a violent storm, John experienced what he later called his "great deliverance."
When all seemed lost and the ship seemed as if it would surely sink, John called out in desperation. "Lord, have mercy upon us." Here was a young man of 23 with years of sea travel behind him, and very little religious upbringing, calling on God to save him. Later in his cabin he reflected on what he had said and wrote in his journal, that he believed God had addressed him through that storm and that God's Grace had begun to work for him.
See John was not just a seaman, but a slave trader, the year was 1748.
On that day in May a man who had sold men and women as commodities, a man who had been hardened by the most awful things of life, came face to face with God. That day John repented of his many sins, and accept God's grace found in Jesus Christ. That day John began a journey that would eventually have him leave the hideous slave trade and begin a new life.
Several years after that experience John Newton became a pastor and somewhere along the line a writer of hymns. His most famous was called, "Faith's Review and Expectation," later to be renamed "Amazing Grace." Later Newton became a vital part of the abolitionist movement in England, and someone who William Wiberforce would counsel with as he fought for freedom from salary more than 100 years before America's emancipation proclamation.
"Amazing Grace" is a part of the church's history, it has been sung on many a Sunday by many different groups, it was sung during many of our wars, and became the anthem of the civil rights movement. It brought us comfort after 9-11, and whenever there is sorrow, we sing it. Why this song? Because "Amazing Grace" speaks of the truth of God's loving kindness. His grace that takes men and women who are far from him and causes them to convert to a new life in Jesus Christ. Do you know God's "Amazing Grace?"
"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. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun."
• Rich Lammay is the pastor at High Sierra Fellowship.
