Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, Helen Shapiro, Jackie Trent. I hope you remember them then I won’t feel so old! They were all brought together on Radio 4 in 2012 for an episode of the Reunion series to share their experiences as 1960s girl singers. The programme was repeated this morning.
Inevitably it was something of a nostalgia trip. I could remember most of the songs featured and some of the events that shaped individual careers. Interestingly, Petula Clark was the only one still recording and performing. Sandie Shaw is a psychotherapist, Jackie Trent is now dead but at the time was involved in writing and production. Helen Shapiro spoke about a complete turn-around in her life. She said: ‘In 1987 I became a believer in Jesus and that changed everything.’ I don’t know the whole story but since she was raised in the Jewish faith it would be worth hearing. She now records Gospel songs and is involved in a range of Christian work.
I suppose it was the simplicity of her words that grabbed me and yet they encapsulate one of the great truths of the Christian faith. ‘In 1987 I became a believer in Jesus and that changed everything.’ That doesn’t mean that a particular conversion experience is necessary but it does highlight the dynamic of faith in Jesus. It involves change in the life of the individual.
Wesley’s hymn ‘Love divine all loves excelling’ is often sung at weddings but it’s not about romantic love. It concerns the love that all followers of Jesus are called to practice and which is only possible through the grace of God. The last verse is a powerful plea:
‘Finish then thy new creation:
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see thy great salvation,
Perfectly restored in thee,
Change from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise.’
I once made reference to that in a sermon and how it is God’s great purpose for our lives that we should be changed according to the pattern of Jesus’ life, a process that will only be complete when ‘in heaven we take our place.‘ A lady said to me afterwards: ‘I’ve been singing that hymn for over 70 years and didn’t know what it meant.’ I’m sure she is not alone in that. How many hymns have we cheerfully sung whose meaning escapes us? But Wesley’s point is one we need to grasp. Faith in Jesus means being open to the changes God wants to make in us in order to bring glory to His Son.
In his book Prayer: A Biblical Perspective Eric Alexander comments on Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Christians that they will know ‘(God’s) incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.’ (Ephesians 1: 19-21)
Eric writes:
‘Do you see now why the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus lies at the heart of the Christian revelation? It is here above everywhere that we see God’s demonstration of his incomparable power. It is here too that we see what has happened to us who have believed: the same divine energy which brought Christ from the grave has been at work in us when we were ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ to make us alive in Christ. Beloved, we have not just been convinced of gospel truth, won over by gospel love, and drawn to repentance and faith by gospel grace. We have been resurrected by gospel power to become new creatures in Christ Jesus.’ (Italics mine.)
Bob Dylan has a song ‘I Feel A Change Comin’ On’. In these days of Covid-19 many people are having feelings that way. At so many different levels life has changed and will never be the same again. But how far, how deeply will people be changed for the better? Faith in Jesus offers a completely new orientation to life. You cannot experience anything more radical than the resurrection power that changes ‘from glory into glory/Till in heaven we take our place.‘ Pray for a new people for a new world.
