Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 3

I recently learnt that the Hymn 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus' was written by a Scottish lady in the mid 1800s, Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane, who died when she was only 38. Only two of her hymns are still sung today - 'There were Ninety and Nine' and this one.

She describes what the cross means to her and the comfort it brings and the hope in the midst of her and our, own unworthiness.

However it is the last few lines of the hymn, the culmination of her thoughts, that is worth looking at.

1 Beneath the cross of Jesus

I fain would take my stand,

the shadow of a mighty Rock

within a weary land;

a home within the wilderness,

a rest upon the way,

from the burning of the noontide heat

and the burden of the day.

2 Upon the cross of Jesus

mine eye at times can see

the very dying form of One

who suffered there for me:

and from my stricken heart with tears

two wonders I confess,

the wonders of redeeming love

and my unworthiness.

3 I take, O cross, thy shadow

for my abiding place:

I ask no other sunshine than

the sunshine of his face;

content to let the world go by,

to know no gain nor loss;

my sinful self my only shame,

my glory all the cross.

Once again we see a hymnwriter as understanding the purpose of the cross in terms of shame and honour [glory].

She realises that there is no shame to be concerned about but the shame of our sinful self. While others might seek the 'sunshine' of the face of the world (in other words the approval and applause and welcome of the world), she is content to let that go by, to not seek the world's glory. She is not motivated by seeking gain and avoiding loss in this world, but is able to rest in the fact that her glory, her honour, rests in the honour of another - Christ of the cross. The Cross is the place where  she can rest from all worthless strivings for status and approval in this world. The shame that the world fears, she is not concerned about, and she has the assurance that the only shame she should be concerned about - her sinful self, is taken care of in the cross. Instead of seeking for worth in this world, she knows that unsurpassed satisfying honour is hers in the midst of her total unworthiness for it. God's redeeming love has brought her all the glory and honour she will ever need.

Understanding the shame context of the cross and the glory it gives us brings rich and joyous hope!

Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 2

At the Secondary School I attended I was part of the 'Sacred Choir' and at almost every Easter we sang the hymn 'O Sacred Head Now Wounded' and I often felt its accompanying mournful tune so helpfully re-inforced the significance and weightiness of Christ's death.

It was written by Bernard of Clairvaux, abbot, and doctor, a Frenchman of the middle ages, born in 1091. It was then translated to German around 1660 by Lutheran hymnwriter Paul Gerhardt and then English around 1850 by James Alexander, son of the first Professor of Princeton Seminary.

But I must admit that my mind glossed over not only one of the words in the first lines - 'shame', but I also failed to appreciate the impact of the meaning of the whole first verse that focuses on the context of shame.

 O sacred Head, now wounded,

with grief and shame weighed down,

now scornfully surrounded

with thorns, thine only crown!

O sacred Head, what glory,

what bliss till now was thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to call thee mine.

Are you like me, and you sing these Easter songs without thinking deeply about the extent of what they mean. Since 'shame' has not been focused on in much of the Christian teaching that fills the pages of our Christian books, commentaries and study bibles, we are apt to also slip over the important meaning bound up in these concepts.

We tend to think in terms of Jesus being weighed down with our guilt, but here the hymnwriter says he was weighed down with 'grief and shame'. We might think of a crown of thorns being physically painful, but the writer says such a crown was about being scorned - shamed, ridiculed, mocked.

But then he contrasts the image of what was humanly seen with what was being eternally accomplished…..the wounds won glory [honour] and the grief and shame became bliss, so that though it all looked and felt horrible and despicable [shameful], we rejoice because it brought us reconciliation with God, by being counted in the Son!

Can you join with me to sing 'though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine'!

Forgotten Honour - Easter Hymns 1

Following on from the last blogpost, I want to take some further looks at how theologians, church leaders, preachers and hymnwriters of the past had the contexts of honour and shame quite prominent, and certainly not neglected, in their thinking and teaching. This is far from being a 'new' concept within the truth of the gospel.

While it may not have had much of a focus in our recent Western Christianity, we only have to take a look at some of the Easter Hymns to see how much this was part of their thinking and critical in their understanding of the gospel.

Lets take a look at one of the most well known Easter hymns - 'The Old Rugged Cross'.

It was written by George Bennard who was born in 1873. He wrote this hymn in 1913.

1 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

the emblem of suffering and shame;

and I love that old cross where the dearest and best

for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain:

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,

till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

and exchange it some day for a crown.

2 O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

has a wondrous attraction for me;

for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above

to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]

3 In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,

a wondrous beauty I see,

for 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

to pardon and sanctify me. [Refrain]

4 To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,

its shame and reproach gladly bear;

then he'll call me some day to my home far away,

where his glory forever I'll share. [Refrain]

First we see that the author had two major concepts he wanted to convey as he wrote about the cross - that of 'suffering and shame'.

Then, in the repeated refrain he wanted to emphasise that the more we cling to or embrace the suffering and shame of the cross, the more we will understand that it brings an eternal gift of the very opposite of shame…..a 'crown'.  

2nd verse he talks about the cross - the thing despised [dishonourable/shamed] by the world is the very thing that is something special and valuable to the Christian, because it was the honour [glory] of heaven and being with the Father which Jesus willingly gave up for us.

3rd verse brings the concept of the shame of the fact that God the Son spilt his blood, something horrible and shameful that becomes something valuable and beautiful, because his life was given to pardon us so that we could look forward to a future crown.

4th verse reminds us that our accepting the cross - the Christ of the Cross - means we share in the shame and reproach of being followers of the one who died a shameful death on a cross, but we gladly bear it because our identity and hope is not bound up in this world, but in the world to come, where instead of earth's shame we will share in Christ's glory [honour].

So 'shame' and 'honour' are the themes of this hymn. 

When the hymnwriter thought of the cross and wanted to explain it, he wrote about it in honour-shame contexts. The whole hymn is about how we who know Christ can join him in 'despising the shame' because of the 'joy set before him'. We don't need to fear the shame, because the shame won honour. Jesus' shameful death gained our eternal honour - not honour of ourselves, but honour assigned and gifted to us because of Christ. We can rest his honour and be welcomed back into relationship with our heavenly Father. It is thus this honour and not the world's that we should seek.

As we sing this hymn again this Easter, join with me in remembering, that Jesus death for our sin, means he bore our sin's shame and reproach so that we can be given his honour and welcome from the Father, thus we can be willing to bear any temporary shame on this earth for being followers of Christ, because our hope of life and honour lies beyond this earth where 'his glory forever I'll share'.

Forgotten Honour - James Meikle, and Facing Death with the Hope of Heaven

James Meikle - have you ever heard of him?

I certainly had not - and maybe that shows my ignorance, as I discovered that he was a Puritan writer/pastor who lived in the 1700's. I recently read a short piece of his writing on Challies.com in relation to that topic we all wonder about, but rarely discuss - death.

Although death - both physical and eternal - is to be feared by those who are not 'in Christ', it can still cause 'wondering' and even anxiety in the heart of a Christian. 

We know that eternally we are with Christ, but what about how that transpires in our consciousness once our heart stops beating? 

Here is the piece I recently read in which this 18th Century Pastor addresses those questions which are present in every generation (and then I want to make a further observation):

Why so much complaint of death? It is true, death is the fruit of sin, for by sin, death came into the world. But it is also true, that death is the finisher of sin to the godly—for by death sin shall be cast out forever. Sin, conveyed to us in our conception, is so interwoven with the human frame, that the tie must be dissolved between the soul and body, before a full and final separation can take place between the soul and sin. Who then, would fear the furnace, which is only to consume the dross, that the gold may come forth without alloy? What candidate for heaven would be averse to lay down mortality—in order to take up immortality; to put off this corruptible body—in order to put on incorruption? to have his body sown in dishonor—in order to be raised in honor and glory; and to have the soul dislodged from his body—that sin might be dislodged from his soul?

Why, then, should I be displeased at such a glorious exchange? To lay down frail flesh, feeble nature, all my lusts and passions, all my occasions and temptations to sin, all my infirmities and imperfections—and to be clothed with perfect beauty and eternal glory—should rather transport than perplex me. Why tremble at the ghastly gloom, that shall beam into a boundless noon; or startle at the dark step that shall usher me into eternal day? If my separation for a few years from my friends, issues in uninterrupted communion with God, is not the change most happy? If my distant views, and dim glances of the land afar off, and the King in his beauty, pass away—that the nearest approaches, most steady views, and brightest visions, may eternally take place—am not I a gainer to the highest degree?

Then, Lord, take away the sting of death, and at your appointed time, through faith, I shall fly into death's arms, not dismayed at his cold embrace—but burning with a heavenly desire to be forever with the Lord—which is far better than all the happiness of crowns and thrones below!

His words are so filled with hope and comfort!

But I want to alert you to something else profoundly instructive in what he says…in relation to the matter of honour.

What seems unique or 'new' in our generation is 'normal' in past generations

There are many who when we mention the matters of honour and shame are concerned that this is a 'new' theology and is in danger of diluting or damaging or even destroying what they believe is the 'true' need of man - that of forgiveness for guilt.

As I continue to research honour and shame, as concepts both in culture and in Scripture, I am amazed at how much we seem to have been a unique generation in that we are the only ones to not have our doctrine and life permeated with honour and shame. The more I read from preachers and writers of history, the more I see honour and shame as 'given' realities that fill the thinking and practice of their sermons and how they frame and explain the Christian life. The last half of the 20th Century seems to have been one where the prominence of honour in both the human psyche and God's Word was 'forgotten' in our gospel understanding.

Just look with me for a moment at what this Pastor Meikle says. He frames the whole experience of death in the context of what he calls the 'glorious exchange' - and that does not mean 'wonderful exchange', though it is that. It means the exchange of glory [honour], which he mentions in the first paragraph as 'body sown in dishonour - in order to be raised in honour and glory'. He makes the challenge that what we leave behind in our earthly death is surpassed by greater things. Honours of 'crowns and thrones below' pale into insignificance in the light of 'eternal glory'.

Heaven's Hope

Here he does not bring the news of a new body as comfort and hope and assurance to his readers, but he brings the promise of new honour and glory (essentially two words describing the one concept), as the means by which his hearers would be encouraged. He highlights that the resurrection is not just about new bodies, but about new glory - new honour - and a higher glory and honour that surpasses all the glories and honour we can spend our lives seeking for on earth. In the 'glory exchange' we let go of what appears to bring happiness on this earth, in order to gain something far greater and to the 'highest degree'.

We often think of victory over death for the Christian as being only a release from our sin-ridden and pain-filled bodies and our sin-infected world of temptation and ruin. But here this Puritan pastor is focusing on the fact that eternal life for the Christian is all about being ushered into a happiness of glory [honour] of the greatest and highest degree more than any honour received or hoped for on earth can ever give.

We may not know exactly what we will feel or experience on the other side of death, but above all, the recognition, acceptance, significance, worth, value, welcome, approval, love and dignity every human being seeks, will be fulfilled and known 'in Christ' to the 'highest degree', and that will be a level of happiness and peace that will not disappoint!

Heaven will be where the hope of true honour is fulfilled and we are bathed in happiness to the highest degree!