Amazing Grace & Amusing Grace

AMAZING GRACE

I taught ESL (English as a Second Language) to foreign students for seven years. By teaching English, I became more aware of word formation in the English language. English, like other languages, attaches various prefixes and suffixes to words to form new words.

One common prefix is a- (or, if the word starts with a vowel, an-). The a- (or an-) prefix means “no, not, without.” Ahistorical means not related to or concerned with history. Asexual means without sexual organs or without sexual union. Amorphous means having no definite form (morphos). An atheist is someone who believes there is no God (theos). An agnostic is someone who has no knowledge (gnosis) about the existence or non-existence of God. An anarchist is someone who believes there should be no ruler (archos). An anomian is someone who believes that God’s law (nomos) does not need to be obeyed.

At a Sabbath meeting one time, we were singing the well-known old hymn Amazing Grace. As we sang, I saw the word amaze as a combination of the negative prefix a- and the word maze. I thought to myself:

Yes, life without the Lord is like a maze. People often don’t know which way to go, which turn to take. They continually encounter one dead end after another. God’s saving grace takes us out of the confusing maze of life without God, and sets us on the straight and narrow path that leads to life.

After pondering these thoughts, I became curious about the origin of the English word amaze. So when I got home, I opened up my trusty Webster’s 9th New Collegiate Dictionary that I used in graduate school. According to my dictionary, the word amaze was in fact formed by attaching the prefix a- to the Old English word masian, which meant “to confuse.”

So God’s saving grace is indeed “a-mazing.” It delivers us from the maze of confusion and uncertainty. We will still experience some confusion and uncertainty about some things, but at least we can know that life will not lead to a permanent dead end. Even if some of our decisions lead us to temporary dead ends, the final end of our life will not be a dead end. It will be a living beginning, eternal life with no more confusion.

If you have encountered one dead end after another, and you feel like your life is a maze of confusion, turn to the Lord. Let Him “a-maze” you (or, to word it another way, “de-maze” you) with His amazing grace. Let the Lord take you out of Satan’s maze and set your feet on the solid path that leads to eternal life. It is an adventure that you will not regret!

AMUSING GRACE

The modern definition of amuse is “to entertain in a light, playful, or pleasant manner” (Webster’s). Ephesians 4:11f says that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the perfecting (i.e., the maturing) of the saints, so the saints can do the work of the ministry. Some Christians seem to think that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the amusement of the saints, so the saints will not have to do any ministry work. The saints can just come to church once or twice a week and be entertained and amused.

I look at that word amuse and I see the negating prefix a- attached to the word muse. To muse means to think deeply, to meditate, as in Psalm 143:5, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands.”

And according to Webster’s, the word amuse was, indeed, formed by attaching the prefix a- to muse. The modern definition of amuse is “to entertain,” but the original definition, according to Webster’s, was “to divert the attention of so as to deceive.” That original definition is a good description of what the preaching of an amusing grace does.

Some churches preach God’s amazing grace. Others preach an amusing grace, a grace that “a-muses” the people in the pews, a grace that does not expect people to muse and think deeply about God and His Word. When they read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:17, they may as well read only the first two words, “Think not.” God forbid that they read the rest of the passage and find out what Jesus actually said, because that would make them think that Jesus expects His disciples to obey the commandments of God.

The message of amusing grace does exactly what the original definition of amuse said. It diverts people’s attention away from the truth so as to deceive them. And multitudes of people are deceived by the preaching of an amusing grace, as evidenced by the words of Yeshua (Jesus) in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity [Greek anomos, ‘lawlessness’].”

Don’t let Satan’s message of amusing grace divert your attention from God’s amazing grace.

| DB

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Image: Psalm 1 by Daniel Botkin from his Psurrealistic Psalms art gallery. See all the Psalm he has painted at his art website: DanielBotkin.com.