I remember when my parents first signed papers to buy that house. I had just started college, but I was home for the weekend. We sat in a restaurant, enjoying a meal, when strangers, Bill and his wife Billie, approached our table to inform us that we were their new neighbors. They were an older couple, and they were certainly unique. They gave the air of being better than others in the neighborhood. Their lawn had no weeds. Their cars were meticulously upkept. They had set ways of doing the laundry and vacuuming their carpets. They were especially attentive to the cleanliness of their dogs after letting them outside.
Through the years, my parents, my brother, and I went through several ups and downs in our relationship with Bill and Billie. One time, we arrived home after dark. No sooner had we gotten into the house when Bill was on our front porch ringing our doorbell. He was not happy. Dad went out to greet him.
As it turns out, Bill was extremely displeased with my younger brother's car - a Ford Mustang that Bill felt was too loud. Worst of all, Bill could not stand that the alarm on the car would chirp the horn when my brother set it. It simply could not be tolerated any longer.
My brother joined them on the front porch to try to explain. He never revved the engine and the radio was always turned down in the neighborhood. The only thing left was that pesky alarm. When I peeked through the blind, I saw the redness of Bill's narrow throat spread to his entire face. He shook and he raised his voice. To his credit, my dad remained calm and tried to calm Bill, as well. But it wasn't working. We were doomed to be feuding forever with out across-the-street neighbors.
I don't know why I did it. I jumped up from my perch at the window, and I came outside. Dad wanted me to go back inside. Apparently, none of this did not concern me (After all, I was the good kid, right?). Bill was decidedly upset that I came out to join the ranks against him. He was so flustered.
But in the moment, I saw an opening. Thinking that if Bill could find one member of our family acceptable, the others might come along for the ride. I simply extended my hand to him as I said, "Bill, if I have done anything to offend you, I apologize."
Oddly, he shook my hand, looked at my dad and my brother, and said, "That's good enough." We ended the evening, laughing and smiling with each other. The feud was averted, and the two families would continue to be friends from that time forth.
Through the years, my parents, my brother, and I went through several ups and downs in our relationship with Bill and Billie. One time, we arrived home after dark. No sooner had we gotten into the house when Bill was on our front porch ringing our doorbell. He was not happy. Dad went out to greet him.
As it turns out, Bill was extremely displeased with my younger brother's car - a Ford Mustang that Bill felt was too loud. Worst of all, Bill could not stand that the alarm on the car would chirp the horn when my brother set it. It simply could not be tolerated any longer.
My brother joined them on the front porch to try to explain. He never revved the engine and the radio was always turned down in the neighborhood. The only thing left was that pesky alarm. When I peeked through the blind, I saw the redness of Bill's narrow throat spread to his entire face. He shook and he raised his voice. To his credit, my dad remained calm and tried to calm Bill, as well. But it wasn't working. We were doomed to be feuding forever with out across-the-street neighbors.
I don't know why I did it. I jumped up from my perch at the window, and I came outside. Dad wanted me to go back inside. Apparently, none of this did not concern me (After all, I was the good kid, right?). Bill was decidedly upset that I came out to join the ranks against him. He was so flustered.
But in the moment, I saw an opening. Thinking that if Bill could find one member of our family acceptable, the others might come along for the ride. I simply extended my hand to him as I said, "Bill, if I have done anything to offend you, I apologize."
Oddly, he shook my hand, looked at my dad and my brother, and said, "That's good enough." We ended the evening, laughing and smiling with each other. The feud was averted, and the two families would continue to be friends from that time forth.
Just as I am! Without one plea, | Just as I am! Poor, wretched, blind – |
These are the words of Charlotte Elliot, an invalid lady with something on her mind she felt an impulse to put onto paper. The year was 1834, the place – Brighton, England. Unable to attend a community and family event, Charlotte spent a sleepless night. Oppressed with a sense of helplessness, she wrote the formula of her faith in those six verses and published the song two years later, with a reference to John 6:37.
The truth is many of us don’t understand Charlotte’s song. We sing it, and we’ve memorized it, but it’s possible we’ve never actually heard it or understood it. One man, my friend Bill, seemed to understand.
In 1997, Billie succumbed to bone cancer and died at the age of 81, leaving Bill alone with his thoughts and memories in an empty house.
During roughly the same time period, my parents were quickly dealt a set of circumstances that would be the hardest challenges they ever had to face – the loss of parents. In 1995, in the midst of our move to Joplin, four hours away from home, Dad lost his mother, my grandmother. Though it was long expected, it was not easy.
Two years later, in February, they received a call telling my mother that my granddad had been rushed to the hospital. He died the next morning of massive heart and lung arrests. Just two months later, his wife and my mother’s only surviving parent died, as well, suffering from many ailments, including a broken heart.
Sharing a similar loss, my parents and the skinny old man who lived across the street became closer than ever, adopting each other as a sort of surrogate family. Bill started attending worship services and Bible classes with them, all the while listening to what the speakers and the songs and the prayers had to say. Yet, Bill had never obeyed the Gospel. With his life turned around, the old Bill seemed to have been left behind and Bill appeared to have adopted a new life of believing and accepting God’s Word but had yet to obey God’s entire plan for his own salvation: he still had never been born again to walk in the newness of life.
After a while, I received a phone call from my parents. Dad was uncharacteristically serious on the other end of the line. He had information to tell me concerning Bill. He told me that after the sermon that Sunday morning, the church stood and began singing Just As I Am.
Bill suddenly stopped singing, looked pensive, and said aloud, “Just as I am….Hmm.” He put down his songbook, stepped into the aisle, and decisively walked to the front of the auditorium, where he expressed a desire to have the old, sinful self washed away and become a child of God. Following a statement of belief in Christ as God’s Son, Bill was immersed in baptism. At the age of 74, Bill died that day…but was reborn. I wrote a poem to Bill, to commemorate the history of our relationship. It is the poem he displayed in a frame in his living room, and it is the poem selected by his new wife - a long-time member of the Lord’s church - to be printed on the back of his funeral program when he died. It said:
The truth is many of us don’t understand Charlotte’s song. We sing it, and we’ve memorized it, but it’s possible we’ve never actually heard it or understood it. One man, my friend Bill, seemed to understand.
In 1997, Billie succumbed to bone cancer and died at the age of 81, leaving Bill alone with his thoughts and memories in an empty house.
During roughly the same time period, my parents were quickly dealt a set of circumstances that would be the hardest challenges they ever had to face – the loss of parents. In 1995, in the midst of our move to Joplin, four hours away from home, Dad lost his mother, my grandmother. Though it was long expected, it was not easy.
Two years later, in February, they received a call telling my mother that my granddad had been rushed to the hospital. He died the next morning of massive heart and lung arrests. Just two months later, his wife and my mother’s only surviving parent died, as well, suffering from many ailments, including a broken heart.
Sharing a similar loss, my parents and the skinny old man who lived across the street became closer than ever, adopting each other as a sort of surrogate family. Bill started attending worship services and Bible classes with them, all the while listening to what the speakers and the songs and the prayers had to say. Yet, Bill had never obeyed the Gospel. With his life turned around, the old Bill seemed to have been left behind and Bill appeared to have adopted a new life of believing and accepting God’s Word but had yet to obey God’s entire plan for his own salvation: he still had never been born again to walk in the newness of life.
After a while, I received a phone call from my parents. Dad was uncharacteristically serious on the other end of the line. He had information to tell me concerning Bill. He told me that after the sermon that Sunday morning, the church stood and began singing Just As I Am.
Bill suddenly stopped singing, looked pensive, and said aloud, “Just as I am….Hmm.” He put down his songbook, stepped into the aisle, and decisively walked to the front of the auditorium, where he expressed a desire to have the old, sinful self washed away and become a child of God. Following a statement of belief in Christ as God’s Son, Bill was immersed in baptism. At the age of 74, Bill died that day…but was reborn. I wrote a poem to Bill, to commemorate the history of our relationship. It is the poem he displayed in a frame in his living room, and it is the poem selected by his new wife - a long-time member of the Lord’s church - to be printed on the back of his funeral program when he died. It said:
| Once, you were a stranger Someone I did not know; We both existed on the earth Not friend, and yet not foe. Once, you were my acquaintance; I barely knew you at all; As neighbors, we waved and said, “Hello,” But rarely would we call. At one time, we counted each other as friends, With handshakes and great conversation; You there and me here, still separately living, Sharing little more than creation. | I found in you a man of great thought, Some wisdom I had uncovered. An adopted grandfather, you became, Love and respect discovered. A part of the family, with a special place, Filling in for missing others, But the greatest transition was still to come, The moment that we became brothers. How I long for a time, when we will stand In line for Heaven’s reward, The three of us holding each other by hand, My brother, myself, and the Lord. |
That song, Just As I Am, is often sung to encourage individuals to respond to the invitation of Christ. The idea behind singing the song after hearing a message preached is that someone in the audience will think about the verses, be pricked in the heart, and make the decision to live his or her life apart from worldly ways.
Bill understood the message – that even though you didn’t ask, Christ’s blood was shed for you, and you have but to contact it, through baptism, to be forgiven of every single sin in your life; that no matter how big your problems and your enemies or your physical afflictions, Jesus Christ’s blood will still welcome you, forgive you, and clean up your life; that there is no excuse for not responding; and that I can approach the throne of God just as I am, but that I become something greater when I put off my old self and I am crucified with Him, that my body of sin might be done away with, that I should no longer be a slave to sin (Romans 6:6), remembering that my gift from God is eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord (Romans 6:23).
Bill understood the message – that even though you didn’t ask, Christ’s blood was shed for you, and you have but to contact it, through baptism, to be forgiven of every single sin in your life; that no matter how big your problems and your enemies or your physical afflictions, Jesus Christ’s blood will still welcome you, forgive you, and clean up your life; that there is no excuse for not responding; and that I can approach the throne of God just as I am, but that I become something greater when I put off my old self and I am crucified with Him, that my body of sin might be done away with, that I should no longer be a slave to sin (Romans 6:6), remembering that my gift from God is eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord (Romans 6:23).
Just as I am! Thy love unknown
Has broken ev’ry barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
The last verse of Charlotte Elliot’s beautiful hymn states that Christ, and Christ alone, has loved humankind and has broken down every barrier. The sooner an individual finds that path to Christ, the sooner the individual, too, can come to the Lamb of God and enjoy the benefits of being in His kingdom! The quicker one discovers that the path is unobstructed, and the faster one figures out that however unworthy you are Christ will still wrap His arms around you and welcome you home as a child of God, the sooner you will find yourself relieved of burdens.
It all began with an apology. Bill would never have come to know Jesus, had he not first known my family…and he would never have been as close to us as he came to be without first there being an apology and a handshake.
The word forgive/forgiven/forgiveness appears some 56 times in the New Testament (and 67 times in the Old). We won’t go through every verse here, but we could see it plainly laid out for us in Matthew alone.
Jesus talks about praying for forgiveness and forgiving others in His model prayer in Matthew 6. He heals people who are paralyzed, lame, blind, deaf, etc., and forgives them along the way. In Matthew 18, he tells Peter to forgive 70x7 times. Then in Matthew 26, while initiating the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says of the cup, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” He goes on to die as a sacrifice for all of mankind, but for forgiveness to occur, there must be an apology.
I suppose there can be forgiveness without an apology, but that’s more for the forgiver’s peace of mind, isn’t it? Real forgiveness comes with an apology. In the quest for salvation and the freedom from sins, that apology is admission of guilt, followed by repentance and obedience to Christ.
None of us knew that my apology and handshake with Bill, years earlier, would result in a new citizen in the church-kingdom. My advice to you is to look out for how you react when someone approaches you in anger. They may not be doing it to bully you; they may simply be looking for you to apologize for something you have done. Perhaps it is not only forgiveness that we seek, but that we seek opportunities to show others how to find forgiveness, as well.
It all began with an apology. Bill would never have come to know Jesus, had he not first known my family…and he would never have been as close to us as he came to be without first there being an apology and a handshake.
The word forgive/forgiven/forgiveness appears some 56 times in the New Testament (and 67 times in the Old). We won’t go through every verse here, but we could see it plainly laid out for us in Matthew alone.
Jesus talks about praying for forgiveness and forgiving others in His model prayer in Matthew 6. He heals people who are paralyzed, lame, blind, deaf, etc., and forgives them along the way. In Matthew 18, he tells Peter to forgive 70x7 times. Then in Matthew 26, while initiating the Lord’s Supper, Jesus says of the cup, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” He goes on to die as a sacrifice for all of mankind, but for forgiveness to occur, there must be an apology.
I suppose there can be forgiveness without an apology, but that’s more for the forgiver’s peace of mind, isn’t it? Real forgiveness comes with an apology. In the quest for salvation and the freedom from sins, that apology is admission of guilt, followed by repentance and obedience to Christ.
None of us knew that my apology and handshake with Bill, years earlier, would result in a new citizen in the church-kingdom. My advice to you is to look out for how you react when someone approaches you in anger. They may not be doing it to bully you; they may simply be looking for you to apologize for something you have done. Perhaps it is not only forgiveness that we seek, but that we seek opportunities to show others how to find forgiveness, as well.
