Australian Thoughts at the Weekend 17th and 18th January, 2009.

Australian Thoughts at the Weekend 17th and 18th January, 2009.

ANOTHER CHANCE

It was on the 18th January way back in 1788 that the first landing of “The First Fleet” was made at Botany Bay. The First Fleet under the command of Captain (Governor) Arthur Phillip brought convicts and their guards from England. Botany Bay proved unsuitable for a settlement. Exploration to the north and entry of Port Jackson, discovered but not entered by Captain James Cook in 1788, found an excellent deep harbour and la fresh water supply suitable for a settlement.

On 26th January, 1788, Governor Phillip and the First fleet arrived in Port Jackson, landed and began the first settlement at Sydney Cove. The landing place was between where the two well known landmarks, The Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House stand today.

Australia has been described as the “Land of the Second Chance”. From the time of its first white settlement in 1788, this land has provided a second chance to many. Those early residents, many of them Irish prisoners of England and sundry other residents of the British Isles who had broken the law, found a land that was very different to their homeland. They found that their knowledge and skills had to be adapted to fit with different seasons and climate in this new land. They found that they had little to learn from the Aboriginal residents who knew nothing of agriculture and living in solid structures arranged along streets. In spite of very difficult beginnings, many of the convicts saw opportunities and on concluding their sentences remained here to make most of a second chance.

Since then many have taken hold of opportunities. Less than one hundred years after the beginnings at Sydney Cove, gold was discovered in various locations around the land, and many were attracted to opportunity to strike it rich and find a new beginning. It was a tough life and many perished. Some found the wealth to make a new beginning. It is said some of the Chinese miners who arrived on the fields found it so tough to find payable gold they found it paid better to grow vegetables and sell them to other miners.

Other earlier settlers were Germans seeking refuge from religious persecution and who came seeking freedom to live without their previous concerns. Following the Second World War, Australia encouraged people from the United Kingdom and continental Europe to seek new opportunities in this land. Many took the opportunity to leave that which was familiar to seek a new life for themselves and their children. The numbers of new settlers were boosted soon by refugees seeking escape from Communism which had taken over their cental and eastern European homelands.

In more recent times Australia has been seen as a land of opportunity by refugees from Asia. In the late 1970s people began arriving on our shores from Vietnam. These refugees came crowded in fishing boats and other boats more at home in the coastal waters and rivers of Vietnam. I had a personal encounter with many of these people when I was in charge of The Salvation Army used furniture warehouse which provided the families with basic furniture and other essential household items. I found the Vietnamese people were courteous, appreciative and friendly. We did discuss whether student’s desks were basic and essential items. My manager said they were not. The Vietnamese said they would leave the other items, if they could have the desks. The parents said their children must study. It was the way to take hold of the second chance at life they had been offered. I was not surprised when in 2 or 3 years these refugee children were topping the state in examinations. (I also understood the joke that said “How do you know a Vietnamese broke into your house? Answer: your homework is done!”).

I previously have told the stories of two women who gained a second chance through the forgiveness of their sins.

Firstly there is the story of a young woman who sought God’s pardon.

It was a story told many years ago at a seminar by the (now late) Rev Roger Bush, a Methodist Minister and Sydney radio personality. Roger told us many stories of life as a radio chaplain and broadcaster. I remember one story well.

He told us how late one Sunday night almost at the end of his broadcast a young woman phoned him and spoke to him on air. He said as soon as she began to speak he felt that this would be special, in a spiritual kind of way. The woman told him she was a raised as a Christian and that meant very much to her. However, as the result of action which she regretted she had become pregnant. She decided to have an abortion. She had sought God’s forgiveness many times but did not feel forgiven. Roger told us as the conversation went on, he did not feel comfortable discussing it further on the air. He told her to call back at 3 minutes past midnight when he was finished and he would talk to her off air.

She phoned him as arranged and he made an appointment to see her the next day at his office. After that call the phone rang again, and then again and then again. He spent another hour talking to more than a dozen women, in similar circumstances and making appointments to see them.

When she came to his office, he met a young well dressed and well educated woman. He found, too, that she had a great understanding of the faith of her youth. Roger said to put it our terms she loved the Lord and His church. She had a huge load of guilt and although she prayed and sought pardon, she had no sense of forgiveness. Her sin was overwhelming her. Roger said he scratched his head and prayed for inspiration.

Roger asked her to go into the church next to his office, and wait for him. He put on his robes and prepared some wine and bread. He walked into the church and called her to the Altar. There in a very sacred moment they shared the bread and wine, symbols of the body and blood of Christ. Then the priest of God and the young woman knelt together and thanked God for his forgiveness. They stood and embraced and Roger said he knew by her smile that the burden had lifted.

The second story is related to the first, in that God used it to give me guidance in a situation I faced. I found when I went to one Corps, a lovely old Salvationist lady who lived with her invalid sister. When I visited I found the Salvationist lady a real gem in her Christian faith. She had never married but told wonderful stories of her various involvements in various Corps.

Her sister had married but that had ended in separation but not divorce as she could not afford the cost. She struggled to raise her two boys alone taking in ironing to provide her only income. There was no pension for ‘single parents’ in those days.

She told me she entered into a ‘de facto’ relationship with a man and he provided for her and her boys. By the time I met her, she had buried her friend many years before and the boys were grown men with their own families. However, she was loaded with guilt.

She read the Bible alone and with her sister. They also prayed together and separately. She told me she had asked other Officers and Christian friends about whether God could forgive her but in spite of their Scriptural and experience based answers she felt her deliberate sin had stained her.

I wonder whether her sister’s good life also gave her a reminder of her own and like Isaiah standing before Holy God could only see her sinfulness. As I thought and prayed about her situation I remembered the story Roger Bush had told us.

Now Salvationists, unlike Roger and the young woman don’t participate in communion, so that was not a solution. However, eventually God gave me an answer.

On the Thursday morning, when I next visited them. I told my friend in the presence of her sister, that I had prayed and spoken to the Corps Census Board (church elders) about her situation, and that we all believed God could and had forgiven her. I handed her a copy of The Articles of War and said if she would sign it, we would be happy to accept her as a Soldier of The Salvation Army.

Now, she knew exactly that the Articles of War was the covenant between a would-be Soldier and God and contained a statement of the belief s and commitment to appropriate conduct and involvement in The Salvation Army. Both sisters had tears as I prayed about the forgiveness and commitment that was involved in this step.

I assumed that I would enrol her in her home but she said she would make the effort to come to the Sunday Morning Meeting but did not know if she could stand during the ceremony. We arranged for her to remain seated as the SA Flag was brought by the Corps Sergeant Major and the sacred ceremony proceeded.

She asked me if it would be okay if she said a few words and she stood and gave a wonderful testimony which told that she now believed God had forgiven her and she felt at peace with God, herself and the world.

I thought of the words which we considered in OzThoughts on Friday morning:

8-12 Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, "Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, 'I forgive your sins,' or say, 'Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . ." (he looked now at the paraplegic), "Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home." And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, "We've never seen anything like this!"

Praise God indeed!

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise;
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honours of thy name.

Jesus! The name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
'Tis music in the sinner's ears;
'Tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood avails for me.
Author: Charles Wesley (1707-88)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 64

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