The Great Swan

July 24, 2007 6:47 am admin Blogs

In the early 5th century, Eraclius became the next pastor of the church in Hippo after Saint Augustine. When Eraclius stood in Augustine’s pulpit he said he felt like a cricket compared to a swan.

I’ve been thinking about Saint Augustine because there is this rock and roll group named Band of Horses and they have a song called “Saint Augustine.” I can’t

really tell what it is about by reading the lyrics. But it’s a stellar song.

There are times in one’s life when you must dig your heels in. Like a football linebacker you must put your helmet on, put your head down, and dig in and push forward. Saint Augustine did that and left a legacy on the face of Christianity that will never be erased. It began with his conversion into the gospel of Jesus Christ and he was continually fuelled by that resolve.

Here is what he wrote, “During all those years [of rebellion], where was my free will? What was the hidden, secret place from which is was…How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose!…You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outline all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves…O Lord my God, my light, my wealth, and my salvation…The soul of men shall hope under the shadow of Thy wings; they shall be made drunk with the fullness of Thy house; and of the torrents of Thy pleasures Thou wilt give them to drink; for in Thee is the fountain of life and in Thy light shall we see the light. Give me a man in love, he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of eternal country. Give me that sort of man, he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he just does not know what I am talking about…”

May God grant salvations like that in our hearts and in the hearts of the people we are befriending in this city. Any may God grant us the tenacity to follow through with commitments to the gospel which are becoming to the name by which Jesus calls us, saints. For the glory of Christ…

- Pastor Duane