THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF AMAZINGGRACE

Amazinggrace,howsweetthesound…

Mikaela Langdon

It’s one of the most popular and recognizable hymns of all time; the text has been set to over 20 melodies and recorded thousands of times. The song “Amazing Grace” is many things to many people. It’s just as likely to be linked to freedom and salvation for some as the rise of Christian nationalism for others. The history of the song, and the man who wrote it, is in many ways as nuanced and complicated as the legacy that lives on. …thatsavedawretchlikeme.

On the surface, it’s an inspiring story: a man involved in the Atlantic slave trade almost died in a horrible storm, resulting in his conversion to Christianity and eventual work in the abolition movement. While this is all true, it’s an oversimplification of John Newton’s life. After all, humans rarely fit into convenient anecdotes. In reality, Newton’s conversion wasn’t immediate. His brush with death occurred during a violent storm at sea in 1748 when he desperately cried out for God to save him. His survival did lead to his conversion to Christianity but he continued to be an active part in the kidnapping and enslavement of African people for six or seven years after that.

Ioncewaslostbutnowamfound…

It wasn’t until 1773 that Newton, who went on to become an ordained curate, wrote “Amazing Grace” with poet William Cowper to illustrate a sermon. Newton didn’t publicly condemn slavery until 1788 in his pamphlet Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade, after which he became an ally in the effort to abolish slavery in Britain. While in some ways his story reads like an epic poem, the song he wrote outgrew him. That is often the way of art, after all.

…WasblindbutnowIsee.

“Amazing Grace” debuted on paper in Newton and Cowper’s Olney Hymns in 1779. While it found minor success in Britain, it was a bigger hit in America, particularly among Christian evangelists. It was an American composer, William Walker, who in 1835 set the song to the melody we most commonly sing today, referred to as the “New Britain” version. Since then, the song has been deeply intertwined with American history. Westward settlers and Civil War soldiers both took comfort in the lyrics that promised hope amidst suffering. The hymn was translated into the Cherokee language by Samuel Worcester and was sung by Cherokee people on the Trail of Tears. It was part of civil rights marches, war protests, and even Woodstock in 1969. It is undeniable that “Amazing Grace” is woven through the fabric of the American story and has been deeply personal to a wide variety of people.

Even before I started attending Children’s Service/Sunday School, I would frequently hear my grandma hum or sing Amazing Grace. At the time, the words did not mean much to me. It was the associated emotions my grandma expressed as she sang that always caught my attention. When I was old enough to attend Children’s Service/Sunday School where we learned the song, it all made sense to me. My grandma had no formal education, property, or worldly fortune, but she led a very full life, rich in spirit – and it was only but for that Amazing Grace she would beautifully sing about.

-Raphael Aryeetey

Right: John Newton, in his later years.

Perhaps the greatest lesson of “Amazing Grace” is in the power of art and legacy. John Newton died in 1807 but over 200 years later, his words are instantly recognizable all over the world. A man complicit in one of the greatest atrocities of human history wrote lyrics that brought comfort to the desperate and oppressed for centuries. There is grace in that fact alone. We are all more than what we’ve done but we are, in many ways, what we leave behind. May we all leave behind love and grace that reverberates generations beyond us.

Whenwe’vebeenheretenthousandyears Bright,shiningasthesun We’venolessdaystosingGod’spraise Thanwhenwefirstbegun

Source: “Amazing Grace” Wikipedia page, references can be found here.

Rev. Skitch Matson

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Throughout the season between Easter and Pentecost, we are focusing on the verses of Amazing Grace to walk through just how God’s grace works in us, how it transforms us, and how it leads us to change the world. It’s foolish. It’s powerful. It’s hopeful. It points to resurrection when others only see death. It has the power to change the hardest of hearts (read John Newton’s bio), and it has the power to transform relationships.

Each and every day we wake up to a world that is in a mess. And each and every day we try our best to make a positive impact on the world, to live out our faith in ways that bring justice, liberation, freedom, Sabbath, and peace, as well as trying to eradicate injustice, bondage, anxiety, loneliness, and shame. Rather than assuming we are the ones to do all of this work, maybe we can rely more on God’s amazing grace to work in us, freeing us to participate in what God is already doing in the world. Freeing us to give that grace to others because we have first received it.

Maybe it starts with listening to a different version of Amazing Grace each week, finding new versions from communities we’re not as familiar with. Say, like the version that is sung in Twi (a language of Ghana), or one of the many live versions from Aretha Franklin, or learning the ASL movements to sign it.

God’s amazing grace is here for you this season and every season. Will you let it transform your own life? I hope so. The messy world hopes so, too.

On the Journey With You, Pastor

Skitch