Arthur Stace was a criminal and alcoholic. In the 1940s he became a real Christian. Not one of those pretend ones who show up at church like a saint on Sunday and live like a devil the rest of the week. And not one of those misguided blokes who think being a Christian is all about how much you give to charity and how many good works you can bank with God. No! Arthur Stace was a real Christian humbled by the truth about his own rebelliousness and the poverty of any claim he might have upon the love of God. That’s a real Christian. A man or a woman who recognisesthey have no right to an eternity with God, but live thankfully to God for a saviour who makes a home for the undeserving with God. A real Christian is someone who depends on Jesus Christ when they discover themselves undependable. 

My guess is that this is one of the reasons that Arthur Stace walked the streets of Sydney leaving a one word message for all who had the time to notice and the eyes to see. “Eternity” was his word for a city and it’s my word for this day in which we live. 

My guess is that Stace had plenty of history. The kind which makes men and women nervous about the future. Our dirty little secrets are a powerful intimidation when the future holds in prospect meeting God. That word “Eternity” has a power to make a sinful person uneasy. Is that why Stace wrote it everywhere? To make people uneasy about their poor behaviour before an almighty God? Maybe!   I bet there were times before he became a true Christian when he was really uneasy about the future. Perhaps it was his attempt to address the conscience of a nation that seems to have lost direction, forgotten the responsibilities that come with privilege and the One before whom everyone will give account. It’s not a bad thing to consider your life in the context of eternity and not simply live in the moment. We all know we can live to regret the decisions of a thoughtless moment. “Eternity” offers helpful and accountable wisdom for every moment. It also promises us justice as well. 

On the night “Eternity” lit up the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where do you think the conscience of our nation was? 

Knowing Stace’s history I tend to think the purpose of that one word message, “Eternity”, had more to do with hope than the fear of judgement. You are not focused on what you deserve when you receive what you don’t deserve. When it comes to God, mercy and grace are undeserved and the recipients are focused on the gift and its giver. You don’t live wallowing in what you do deserve when given what you don’t deserve. You live thankfully for grace received. And the failures of the past that issued in all kinds of profanities give way to the words of the message that brought so much hope – “Eternity”.  

The 18^th century believerJohn Newton was,like Arthur Stace, a man with an ugly past who became a real Christian. He didn’t write things on paths and walls and his words have never appeared on the Sydney Harbour Bridge but most Australians have sung them: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…” Not quite so literate, Arthur Stace simply wrote “Eternity”. But both men wrote of what God had done for them through Jesus Christ. The one spoke of being a saved wretch, while the other spoke of his future – “Eternity” for the saved. Both of them could think of nothing better than letting everyone know through song and on pavements that in God’s grace He offers “Eternity”. They could not do anything else because they were real Christians.

You may be reading this and wondering if God’s grace could extend as far as someone like you. You may be nervous about the future and unassured of the eternity before you. If so then try your local church and ask for a real Christian who can tell you more. Remember the real Christians are men and women who recognise they have no right to an eternity with God, but live thankfully to God for a saviour who makes a home for the undeserving with God. A real Christian is someone who depends on Jesus Christ when they discover themselves undependable. 

Arthur Stace’s identity remained unknown until it was finally revealed in a newspaper article in 1956. It is estimated Stace wrote the word over half a million times.