Grace

John Newton, author of Amazing Grace

Today I'd like to talk about a priceless gift that costs us nothing, but demands everything. We are often told that nothing is for nothing and that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I recently found this out to my cost. Radiohead released their latest album, In Rainbows in a rather unusual way. They allowed people to pay what they like to download the tracks. You could even get the songs for free! “Great” I thought. The trouble is that I liked the album so much that now I’ve began to invest in their back catalogue, which has cost me a few pounds. Ah well!

So, what is this priceless gift that costs us nothing, but demands everything? It is God’s free grace. Some people think that being a Christian is a matter of keeping the rules to earn a place in heaven. But nothing could be further from the truth. We cannot win God’s favour by our works because he demands perfection and that is quite beyond us. At the heart of the Christian gospel is grace – God’s lavish, underserved favour.

You may have seen the William Wilberforce biopic, Amazing Grace starring Iowan Gruffudd. The film features John Newton’s hymn of than name. Newton was a rough and ready slave trader who lived in sin and degradation for many years. But his life was transformed. He became a preacher and a leading opponent of the evils of slavery. What was it that changed his life? His famous hymn explains all,

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.

What wonderful free grace! But grace is also priceless because it cost God dearly to be gracious to us. In the cross of Jesus Christ, God took upon himself the weight of human sin and suffering that we may experience forgiveness and hope. There is a song called Grace tucked almost at the end of U2’s All that you can’t leave behind. The track expresses the thought beautifully,

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

This priceless gift costs us nothing but demands everything,

Love so amazing, so divine
demands my soul, my life my all.

An edited version of Morning Thought from BBC Radio Wiltshire's Breakfast Programme. Note: I've also posted Monday's talk, which has been backdated to that day.

Amazing Grace film review

We went to see the Wilberforce biopic Amazing Grace this afternoon. It is a well acted and gripping portrayal of Wilberforce's parliamentary battle against the slave trade. Welsh actor, Ioan Gruffudd played the lead role with sensitivity and pathos. In his hands, Wilberforce comes to life as a real human being with joy, compassion and righteous persistence. His battle with ill health for which he was treated with laudanum, allows us to see the private vulnerability of Wilberforce the public figure.

John Newton is played as a somewhat frazzled, monkish figure by the great Albert Finney. Newton has one of the best lines in the film, "Two things I know: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great saviour". Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Prime Minsister William Pitt the Younger, Wilberforce's friend and political ally in the campaign against slavery. Much of the film revolves around the friendship between these two very different political figures. Barbara Spooner, played by Romola Garai supplies the films romantic interest. After an awkward first encounter, Wilberforce falls in love and then marries the beautiful and principled Barbara.

The movie made it clear that it was Wilberforce's evangelical conversion that drove him to campaign against slavery. His other reforming interests, such as animal welfare and education were also highlighted.

Some reviewers have complained that Wilberforce's role in the battle against slavery is given prominence at the expense of other important figures such as Thomas Clarkson. But this is a Wilber biopic, not a docu-drama on the abolition of slavery as a whole. The film shows that Wiberforce was certainly not a lone abolitionist. Others worked with him to gather information and to disseminate the gruesome facts of the slave trade. But Wilberforce undoubtedly led the abolitionist cause where it mattered, in Parliament. The parliamentary set-pieces are well done, with a good mixture of fine oratory, quick wit and typical House of Commons rowdiness.

The film drives the narrative forward by a series of flaskbacks, as Wilberforce tells the story of the fight against slavery to his beloved Barbara. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether we are in the "past" or "present" of the film's story. I know that flashback are de rigeur in Hollywood and they sometimes work well. But what's wrong with linear story telling?

The thing that shines through is Wilberforce's dogged, determined and ultimately successful battle against the evils of the slave trade. This is what made watching Amazing Grace such an inspiring experience. My wife and I enjoyed the film as did our children. It was refreshing to see evangelical Christianity portrayed so positively. Newton's hymn Amazing Grace is the musical motif that holds the film together and emphasises that it was grace that made William Wilberforce the great man that he was.