Whilst researching a little Congregational history, I came across one of the popular preachers in London during the 19th Century, his name was Joseph Parker. He was a preacher in London at the same time as Charles Spurgeon and it was reported that they had a relationship of ‘ups and downs’. One popular story that I came across was of an occasion when Joseph Parker remarked about the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon’s orphanage. The news of this reached Charles Spurgeon, who thought the remark was about the state of the orphanages themselves and responded with an apparently blistering rebuttal of Joseph Parker. Such was the time that the newspapers printed the story of the rebuttal, resulting in it being the talk of the town.
The following Sunday, eager to keep ahead of the gossip, people flocked to hear Joseph Parker’s response to the attack. And it is reported that this was his response “I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead.” The response was so well received that the collection for the orphanage was indeed a generous one. Later that week it is said that Charles Spurgeon went to visit Joseph Parker and said “You know Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved; you have given me what I needed.”
The period between Easter and Pentecost is a time of waiting and reflection. As I reflect on the events of Good Friday and my own relationship with God, I am truly amazed by his grace. That Christ, in agony, could look upon those who were scoffing and dividing his clothes among themselves and could say, ‘… Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing… ' (Luke 23:24 NIV), amazes me. In our Churches Together service here in Ebbw Vale on this Good Friday we sang ‘Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?’, we were reminded that our sins were certainly there. When we didn’t deserve it, God gave His only Son. That is the power of grace, as Paul reminds us in Romans 5:8 ’…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (NIV)
Let us be even more thankful for God’s graceful response to our sin than Charles Spurgeon was to Joseph Parker’s grace to him, as we can all say “you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved; you have given me what I needed.”
Let us pray:
Lord God, we thank you that today we can stand forgiven at the foot of Your cross, not because of anything that we have done to deserve it, but because of Your amazing grace to us. We pray that our hearts will be changed by the knowledge of that grace today. Amen
Craig James
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