Wonderful, Marvelous Grace

The story is told that Mayor Laguardia of New York, in the depths of the Great Depression, walked into a courtroom, dismissed the judge, and sat to preside over some cases himself. Mayors had the right to do so in those times.

The case came up of a poor old woman accused of stealing bread for her grandchildren.


Mayor Laguardia found her guilty, sentencing her to a fine of $10 or 10 days in jail. Even as he pronounced the sentence, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill. Then he fined all those in the courtroom 50 cents for living in a city where a woman had to steal to feed her family. The woman left the courtroom, tears in her eyes, with enough money to feed her family for several months. *

Isn't that a beautiful picture of God's love for us? When we stand before him, we are guilty. There is no denying that fact. We have broken his law over and over again. Yet, even as he hands down the censure, he is sending Christ to bear our punishment. We don't have to pay the fine - the fine we could never repay no matter how long we tried.

What emotions swirled inside that woman as she left the courthouse? There must have been overwhelming relief - the burden of feeding her grandchildren had been lifted, at least for a few months. Unbelievable joy. She must have been so frightened when the mayor sentenced her. How would she ever pay the fine? Then to have it paid for her? I imagine she went home, threw a small party for the children and told all of her neighbors.

These are the emotions Haldor Lillenas portrays in his beautiful hymn.

Isn't that a beautiful picture of God's love for us?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9.

Wonderful Grace of Jesus is a celebration of the fact that we, saved by God, stand in his grace. Listen to the pure joy in the first verse.

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

Just how big is this grace? It is greater than all our sin. Sounds small, but when you think of it, the depth of God's love and mercy to us in indescribable. We, alone, are helpless to do anything about a guilty, polluted, sinful state. Yet God saw us, sitting in our rags on the ash heap, chose us, loved us, and saved us. Wonderful, marvelous, matchless.

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All-sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name!

My guess is that Mr. Lillenas had a difficult time coming up with the words to adequately describe the fullness of his heart when he pondered how much the Lord loved him. Have you felt that matchless bursting of your heart?

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15

Does our thanksgiving overflow so that others can see the joy of God's grace in our lives? Do we live our lives, every day grateful for what He did for us? Because of us, will God's grace reach more and more people?

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

*Snopes neither confirms nor denies the validity of this story. I post it here only as an example of grace.

The Story Behind Wonderful Grace of Jesus

The writer of the hymn Wonderful Grace of Jesus, Haldor Lillenas, was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States when he was a small child.
Converted to Christianity at the age of 21, he entered Bible college and later became an elder and a pastor in the Nazarene church. He obtained his musical training through personal and correspondence study. He and his wife, Bertha, worked as evangelists for a time, traveling the country.

Later, he settled down in Illinois and bought himself a used organ for the extravagant sum of $5. They didn't have much money at the time. He composed Wonderful Grace of Jesus on that organ and made - you guessed it - $5 on the sale of the hymn.

In 1924, he founded Lillenas Publishing Company which later became Nazarene Publishing Company. He worked there for 20 years as an editor. Like many other hymn composers, he was prolific. Together, he and his wife wrote over 4000 hymns.
In 1982, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

While the tune may lend itself to being played uptempo, in a bubbly sort of fashion, Lillenas himself cautioned about the hymn begin played too fast. He wanted it to be slower so that everyone could focus on the the wonderful grace of Jesus.

Wonderful Grace of Jesus

This is a much-loved hymn in our church. I'm a little disappointed that the sopranos don't reach for the high note at the end of the refrain, but it's a good arrangement nonetheless. I've included the words below the video because they don't scroll across the song. Enjoy!



Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
Setting my spirit free;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious Name of Jesus.
Praise His Name!

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned,
Saved to the uttermost,
Chains have been torn asunder,
Giving me liberty;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain

Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power,
Making him Gods dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven,
For all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

Refrain