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'.