Sunday's Hymn: Poetry of the Cross

Every day this week I’ll be posting a poem of the cross, starting today and running through next Saturday. Since it’s Sunday, I’ve chosen a hymn as my first poem. These words are attributed to Ber­nard of Clair­vaux, who lived a very long time ago, from 1091-1153. The poem was translated from Latin to English by James W. Alexander.

 

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

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.

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

My Shepherd, now receive me; my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

 

Would you believe that one of the the loveliest renditions of this beautiful hymn on YouTube is done by the Fayette Middle School World Percussion Ensemble? (If you want to hear the words sung, I suggest this choir anthem at Ashland Grace Brethren Church done only a couple of weeks ago.)

 

 

You are welcome to join me in my celebration of Poetry of the Cross if you wish. Just post a cross-centered poem any day of this week (or every day of this week) and send me the link to your poem. I’ll link back to your poem in the next Poetry of the Cross post.

 

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• The Sunday Next Before Easter at Magic Statistics
• Fairest Lord Jesus at The Happy Wonderer
• Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power at Hiraeth
  
• Ride On! Ride on in Majesty at Seasoning of the Heart
• All the Way My Saviour Leads Me at Whatever Things…
• Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross at Field Stone Cottage
• Lord’s Day 11, 2008 at The Thirsty Theologian
  

Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.

Saturday's Old Photo

Oldest daughter was a doer and oldest son a thinker. As a toddler, she was always in motion, flitting here and there, but I could sit him in the sandbox and he’d play happily for an hour or two, digging and pouring, never moving from the spot I’d plopped him in.

In this photo oldest son is seven and he is taking apart his “very own chainsaw”, which was scavenged from the dump. 

His school journal from this time has many pages concerning dump trips and “his very own chainsaw”. Unfortunately, I cannot find his little journal, so I am reproducing a sample from memory:

Yesterday I went to the dump with my dad. It was fun. It was really really fun. I got my own chainsaw. It is my very own chainsaw. I love my chain saw. It is really really fun.

You get the idea.

He managed to take his chainsaw apart on the basement floor, clean it up and put it all back together again. You’ll notice that he is looking, sort of, at the camera as the picture was snapped, but his eyes are a little unfocused. That’s because his brain gears are still stuck in chainsaw mode. He is looking at the camera, but thinking about his chainsaw.

See how he is holding his left hand up under his chin? He still sometimes does that when he’s deep in thought. 

Watching him work is his little sister, who was his persistent shadow. Back then, he wanted to be left in peace to work on his projects, so he considered her annoying. Now his pesky little sister is his very good friend.

The basement was a mess then and it still is. It’s just messy with different stuff.

Chuck Colson's The Faith Blog Tour

Today’s the day the blog tour for Chuck Colson’s book The Faith comes here. The question I asked Mr. Colson was this one:

On page 117 you write this: “True faith means putting the cause of Christ and the needs of others ahead of self and doing the gospel.” Can you explain what you mean by the phrase “doing the gospel”? What is included in doing the gospel?

Here’s how he answered:

Having reread the sentence you refer to, I can understand why you would have questions about it.  What I meant to say is that true faith means putting the cause of Christ and the needs of others ahead of self.  Period.  It also means doing the gospel.  It is not putting the case of Christ and the needs of others ahead of doing the gospel.  That’s very confusing.  Thank you for raising it.  I will definitely have that edited in the 4th printing.

I wasn’t intending to point out the awkwardness of the sentence I quoted. I really just wanted to know what is meant by “doing the gospel.” It’s a phrase I hear and read frequently, but I’ve never been 100% sure how it is defined.

However, even though Mr. Colson didn’t answer my intended question directly, I think I can, from his answer, put together a pretty good explanation of what he means by “doing the gospel” in this sentence. He seems to be saying that making the cause of Christ and the needs of others primary in importance is in some way “doing the gospel.”

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I’m not very fond of the phrase “doing the gospel.”  I think it conveys a view of the gospel that is, at the very least, focused on things that are not at the center of the gospel. It gives the idea that the gospel is a set of ethical teachings or commandments—in this case, the two great commandments—and that is an idea that quite misses the mark, actually, when it comes to conveying what is the good news we call the gospel.

The gospel is the historical truth of what Christ did for sinners in accordance with God’s saving plan. It is news—good news. People can preach and teach the gospel; they can believe, receive, and confess the gospel; they can advance the cause of the gospel.

But can they “do the gospel”? If by that someone means that the gospel—the good news—proclaimed and confessed, transforms lives, so that those whose lives are changed by the truth of the gospel live in a way that puts the cause of Christ and the needs of others ahead of their own selfish interests, then I’m prepared to give a pass to the use of the phrase. I’d argue that the phrase itself, however, used without careful definition, is much more likely to lead to a distorted view of the gospel than it is to enlighten us about the gospel or advance the cause of the gospel.

Having read all of The Faith, I will say that I do believe that Charles Colson, personally, has this more fully orbed view of the gospel that I outlined in the paragraph above. But I wonder if statements like the one I quoted and the phrase “doing the gospel” might not cause some readers to understand the gospel as merely duty or religiousity, and not something propositional that rightly taught, understood, and believed, changes people from the inside and works outward from there.

What say you all? 

Below is the schedule for The Faith’s blog tour so you can keep up with the rests of the interview questions and answers:

• March 5 - Acton Institute PowerBlog
• March 5 - The Dawn Treader
• March 6 - Reasoned Audacity
• March 7 - Challies.com 
• March 10 - Adrian Warnock
• March 11 - Tall Skinny Kiwi
• March 12 - Mark D. Roberts
• March 13 - Rebecca Writes
• March 14 - Jolly Blogger