St Elisabeth’s
Reddish Preached by The Revd Ian M Delinger on Sunday, April 8, 2007.
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If that didn’t rouse Jesus out of His tomb, I don’t know what will! Happy Easter! I have bopped my head to this, waved my arms, snapped my fingers to the beat and also imagined myself at a swanky Easter evening cocktail party at the top of some glass skyscraper in central London. THAT is a version of Amazing Grace that is worthy of its lyrics. Bill Carter and the Presbybop Quartet clearly understand that this song is about experiencing the joy of knowing that we have received grace from God! This week, for those of you who journeyed through Holy Week other than Palm Sunday and today, we have been exploring the amazing grace that we receive from God through different version of the tune. • We started
with Palm Sunday, and the confusion of the Triumphal Entry, Last Supper,
Trial and Crucifixion all wrapped into one. I’m sure that some of you don’t need a sermon (or 5) about realizing the Grace of God. But I think many of us do. We trap ourselves in self-loathing, counting ourselves unworthy of that grace and love so freely given. We are slaves to sin and death. But it’s Easter, and it is precisely now that we are reminded that Jesus Christ died on the Cross so that we are no longer slaves to sin, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead so that we are no longer slaves to death! Our slavery has been abolished…by the giver of grace Himself, God! The words to Amazing Grace were written as part of a sermon by John Newton, a slave trader who knew William Wilberforce back at the end of the 18th Century. Many assume his lyrics to be his testimony about his slave trading past. The lyrics vividly and briefly sum up the doctrine of Divine Grace. They are based on I Chronicles 17:16, where King David marvels at God’s choosing him and his lineage. Both of those instances, King David’s being chosen by God, and Newton’s conversion and ceasing of his slave trading, are monumental, joyous, happy occasions! Why the funeral dirge of droning bagpipes? Why the melancholy church choir? Why the somber and sober black gospel soloist? You may not know this, but the tune is American. The association with bagpipes is relatively modern; for over a century, the tune was nearly forgotten here in Britain until the folk revival of the 60s, and musicians traveled back and forth across the pond. It was little known outside church congregations or folk festivals until a 1969 film Alice’s Restaurant. Today is Easter Day, and this summary of the doctrine of Divine Grace is no more appropriate than to be listened to, sung, recited, chanted, whatever…TODAY!! Christ’s Death and Resurrection achieved for us a grace that we cannot begin to fathom. And what I hoped to achieve over the course of the week is that we don’t need to fathom the grace. We just need to accept it, live our lives knowing that grace. Today we gather together
to celebrate the Resurrection. Today we share in the Eucharist together.
As we do that, we share in Christ with one another. It’s a day to
celebrate and rejoice!! Christ gave Himself for us out of the love that
God the Father has for His children. The grace comes at our Baptism and
we receive it, know it, experience it when we “feed on Christ by
faith with thanksgiving” in the Eucharist. So, celebrate today!! Eat that chocolate. Drink that wine. Eat that big piece of beef or lamb. But do more than just eat chocolate to celebrate the Resurrection! REJOICE!! Shout! Sing! Dance! Hug someone! Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! (Make them respond until they do it emphatically) When you come up here for the Eucharist this morning, remember Amazing Grace…that’s what this is all about! It’s yours. It’s free. So, when you leave here, share it with everyone you know and everyone you meet. It’s the most fantastic thing you’ll ever get, but you have to know it and experience it and believe it! Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! Happy Easter!
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