They Tell Me the Story of Jesus Is Old

They Tell Me the Story of Jesus Is Old was written in 1900 by Major Daniel Webster Whittle. The tune was written by May Whittle Moody, his daughter. I discovered this hymn when researching the history of the last hymn I highlighted, Moment by Moment, as they are written by the same author. The hymn tune is beautiful, but in attempting to sing the hymn with guitar accompaniment, with my limited abilities on the guitar, I modified the tune significantly and I really like the new tune. A video of my version is embedded below.

Upon finding it, I immediately fell in love with the lyrics of this hymn. There are other hymns that invoke a similar response from me (for example, Tell Me The Old, Old Story), but the first verse of this hymn just blew me away with its accuracy. "They say that the Babe, and the Man of the cross, for the wise of this world will not do." Those words describe the response of today's culture to the message of the cross: "That is old news. We want something new." Remarkable, isn't it, that 115 years ago the culture was saying the same thing.

Of course, this response of the "wise" has been around far more than 115 years: "And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, 'May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.' (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)" (Acts 17:19-21 (NASB)).

Now, the response of the Apostle Paul to this was not to tell them all about the "newness" of the gospel, but to tell them the ancient nature of it. He appealed to their own ancient poets and their own infrastructure to show how old the gospel was. In the midst of a city where the focus was on the "new," Paul preached the "old." Two thousand years later, the gospel is no more "new" than it was then. In the midst of a culture which for at least the last two thousand years (and certainly longer) has been obsessed with the "new," we preach the "old." Why do we do so? Is it not extremely foolish?

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:20-25 (NASB)).

 The gospel is old. It is ancient. It has been present since the beginning of creation because it is embodied in the Word which became flesh, through whom and by whom all things were made. But it is also new. The second verse reminds us that though the sunlight is from the same sun every morning and is ancient, it is also new every morning. Scripture tells us that God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Christ is ancient, and yet the glory of God poured into us through Christ is new every day.

Join with me in this song about the story that can never grow old.

They tell me the story of Jesus is old,
And they ask that we preach something new;
They say that the Babe, and the Man of the cross,
For the wise of this world will not do.

It can never grow old, it can never grow old,
Though a million times over the story is told;
While sin lives unvanquished, and death rules the world,
The story of Jesus can never grow old.

Yet the story is old, as the sunlight is old,
Though it’s new every morn all the same;
As it floods all the world with its gladness and light,
Kindling faraway stars by its flame.

Refrain

For what can we tell to the weary of heart,
If we preach not salvation from sin?
And how can we comfort the souls that depart,
If we tell not how Christ rose again?

 Refrain

So with sorrow we turn from the wise of this world,
To the wanderers far from the fold;
With hearts for the message they’ll join in our song,
That the story can never grow old.

Refrain

(Public Domain)

Moment by Moment

There are times when God reveals to me the precipice on which I walk. This morning was one of those times. Our lives are spent walking on the edge of a cliff, and it is naught but the grace of God that keeps us from falling over that cliff. We continue to run toward the edge imagining that, like the glass platform over the Grand Canyon, we can walk beyond the edge and not fall. Jonathan Edwards captured similar imagery in his famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," which remarkably is mischaracterized by its own title. The sermon is not about the wrath of God, per say, but the grace of God which keeps us from His wrath despite our utterly deserving it. When Scripture says, "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience," Paul is preaching the same sermon that Jonathan Edwards preached and that we as believers need to hear again (Colossians 3:5-6, NASB). We are sinners sustained only by the grace of God, and the moment that we forget our need of him, we start to slip over the cliff.

In 1872, Annie S. Hawks wrote the well-known hymn, I Need Thee Every Hour. While that hymn is beautiful, there is an oft-heard criticism of it, which is at once accurate and unnecessary (because the people who sing the hymn know this truth), that we need him every moment. However, in 1893, a lay preacher from London named Henry Varley made a similar remark to Major Daniel Webster Whittle while at the World's Fair in Chicago, who wrote that year (though he did not publish it until 1896) the hymn, Moment by Moment. His daughter, May Whittle (who would later marry William Revell Moody, the son of Dwight L. Moody), wrote the tune, which has been named simply Whittle. This hymn has an unfamiliar yet simple tune, which you can listen to here.

I love this hymn because it truly conveys the grace of God and the devotion which He has to us. So often I fail to respond by devoting myself completely to Him. But even when I am faithless, He is faithful. There is never a trial that He is not there, there is never a tear that He does not know, and Never a danger that He is not sovereign over. Moment by moment I'm kept in His love and given His life from above.

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;

Living with Jesus, a new life divine;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Moment by moment I'm kept in His love;

Moment by moment I've life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Never a trial that He is not there,

Never a burden that He doth not bear,

Never a sorrow that He doth not share,

Moment by moment, I'm under His care.

Refrain

Never a heartache, and never a groan,

Never a teardrop and never a moan;

Never a danger but there on the throne,

Moment by moment He thinks of His own.

Refrain

Never a weakness that He doth not feel,

Never a sickness that He cannot heal;

Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus my Savior abides with me still.

Refrain

(Public Domain)

Via Bethlehem We Journey

Via Bethlehem We Journey is a hymn written by Margaret E. Barber and set to the hymn tune Converse, named for its composer, Charles C. Converse. Converse is best known as the tune for What a Friend We Have In Jesus. It is unknown when Barber wrote the words to this hymn, but it was during her time serving in China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This hymn is one of my favorites. It captures so many different moments of the walk with Christ. There is a central message to the eight verses: We must live as Christ lived, even enduring the pain and suffering of his life, dying with him to this world on His Cross so that we may be raised with Him in His resurrection, but it is all worth it because there's coming a day when when we will be enthroned in the City of God with Christ forever.

Via Bethlehem we journey,

We whose hearts on God are set;

Babe-like souls of Jesus learning,

While our cheeks with tears are wet;

For the manger and the stable

Are not pleasing to our eyes,

But our feet must follow Jesus,

If our hands would grasp the prize.

Via Nazareth! The pathway

Narrows still as on we go,

Years of toil none understanding,

Yet God teaches us to know

That the servant is not greater

Than the Lord who through long years

Hid Himself from this world's glory,

Follow Him! Count not the tears.

Via Galilee, we see Him!

Stones are hurled, and curses hissed

By the men who gather round Him,

Has He not the pathway missed?

No! Unharmed, the Savior passes,

And this rough bit of the way

We must travel, since like Jesus,

Nothing can our purpose stay.

Via too, the awful anguish

Of the hours beneath the trees,

Where the hosts of Satan linger,

Awful hours of anguish these!

Yet we fail not, for God's angels

Minister to us, and say,

"Look, beloved, at the glory,

Conflict is but for a day!"

Then the Cross! for via Calvary

Every royal soul must go;

Here we draw the veil, for Jesus

Only can the pathway show;

"If we suffer with Him," listen,

Just a little, little while,

And the mem'ry will have faded

In the glory of His smile!

Then the grave, with dear ones weeping,

Knowing that all life has fled;

Fellow-pilgrims, art thou numbered

With the men the world calls dead?

Thence we rise, and live with Jesus,

Throned above the world's mad strife,

Gladly forfeiting forever,

All that worldlings count as life.

On we press! and yonder gleaming,

nearing every day, we see

The great walls of that fair city,

God has built for such as we;

And we catch the tender music

Of the choirs that sing of One

Who once died to have us with Him

In His kingdom, on the throne.

Just a few more miles, beloved!

And our feet shall ache no more;

No more sin, and no more sorrow,

Hush thee, Jesus went before;

And I hear Him sweetly whispering,

"Faint not, fear not, still press on,

For it may be ere tomorrow,

The long journey will be done."

(Public Domain)

Christian! Seek Not Yet Repose

Christian! Seek Not Yet Repose was written by Charlotte Elliott in 1836. Ms. Elliott was an invalid from approximately 1829 to her death in 1871. She wrote approximately 150 hymns. The hymn is sung to the tune Vigilate, composed by William H. Monk in 1868. The hymn could also easily be named Watch and Pray, based on Matthew 26:41.

I love this hymn because it challenges me. So often I fail to pray consistently because I am "too busy" or because I "don't feel worthy" to come before God. Adam Ford addresses the first objection quite well in his webcomic. The second objection is both true and false at the same time. I am not worthy to entreat the God of the universe. But I have been made worthy because the Father sees the worth of the Son, not my own worth.

The first three verses remind us that we are in the midst of a battle for our souls and the souls of those around us. We are opposed by the demons that serve Satan, and Satan himself "ambushed lies," meaning that he is lying in wait to ambush the unsuspecting.  These verses therefore remind us to gird on the heavenly armor of God, which will protect us and prepare us to do battle against our foes. The fourth verse calls us to look to those who have gone before and won the victory. The saints of past years provide an example which we can follow. The fifth verse reminds us that the ultimate source of all strength and power is God Himself. If we are not listening to His Word, we will fail when it comes time to do His Word. The final verse of the hymn issues a challenge to each and every believer. "Watch, as if on that alone hung the issue of the day." Do you pray that way? Do you pray as if everything depended on you bending the knee before the Creator and communing with Him? I know that I rarely do.

But that last verse is also critical because of what we are to pray for: "that help may be sent down." It is not by our own strength that we resist the temptations of the evil one, but by the power of God poured in and through us. But we have to be connected by prayer and a right relationship with Him in order for that power to come down. Seek not yet repose! Eternal rest is ours, but not yet. We are in the midst of foes, so we watch and we pray and we look forward to the day that Christ comes in glory and brings all of us rest.

Christian! Seek not yet repose,

Hear thy guardian angel say;

Thou art in the midst of foes;

"Watch and pray."

Principalities and powers,

Mustering their unseen array,

Wait for thy unguarded hours;

"Watch and pray."

Gird thy heavenly armor on,

Wear it ever night and day;

Ambushed lies the evil one;

"Watch and pray."

Hear the victors who o'ercame;

Still they mark each warrior's way;

All with one clear voice exclaim,

"Watch and pray."

Hear, above all, hear thy Lord,

Him thou lovest to obey;

Hide within thy heart His Word,

"Watch and pray."

Watch, as if on that alone

Hung the issue of the day;

Pray that help may be sent down;

"Watch and pray."

(Public Domain)

Be Still My Soul

Be Still My Soul is a hymn written in 1752 by Katharina A. von Schlegel as Stille, meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen.  It was translated from German to English in 1855 by Jane L. Borthwick. It is sung to the tune Finlandia, composed by Jean Sibelius in 1899.  Finlandia is also used for the hymns We Rest on Thee, written by Edith G. Cherry in 1895, and A Christian Home, written by Barbara B. Hart in 1916.

This hymn apparently was a favorite of Eric Liddell. If you haven't seen the movie Chariots of Fire, I encourage you to watch it. Liddell became famous in the 1924 Olympic games because he refused to run on the Sabbath. Instead of running the 100 meters, he ran in the 400 meters on a different day and won gold. The next year, he went to China as a missionary (where he had spent several years of his childhood with his parents, who were also missionaries). He would be placed in an internment camp by the Japanese during WWII and die of an inoperable brain tumor in 1943. Before his death, he was respected and loved by those in the camp because of his efforts to encourage and serve them.

I love this hymn because it speaks to me in pain, reminds me of the hope I have in Christ, and calls me to worship Him. I appreciate the way each verse reminds me of something different. The first verse reminds me that God is faithful and has promised a joyful end. Some days the grief and pain of loss and isolation threaten to overwhelm me, but God has promised a joyful end. Christ is my best, my heavenly friend. The second verse reminds me that God is sovereign. Some days it is difficult to believe that as I see so much evil in the world. The third verse reminds me that Christ has conquered death, and that those I love who have died in Christ are not lost but found. The fourth verse reminds me that there is coming a day, and it is coming quickly, when Christ shall wipe every tear from our eyes and fill us with inexpressible joy in His presence. And the fifth verse reminds me that I am not to sit and wait for that day. Being still does not mean being idle. Being still means being patient, trusting Him, and praising him day after day, always looking to His coming, but always serving Him faithfully and worshiping Him here until He comes again.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

(Public Domain)

I am not Charlie Hebdo, either.

Today in Paris people marched in solidarity with the victims of the shootings at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo. Many people have placed as a profile picture or status on facebook “Je suis Charlie Hebdo.” And then there are some voices saying explicitly, “I am not Charlie Hebdo.” David Brooks makes several good points about why he thinks that the solidarity expressed with the victims is in many ways hypocritical by Americans, particularly those in academia.

However, I say, “I am not Charlie Hebdo” for a different reason. I am not Charlie Hebdo because I do not support the profaning of the sacred. I am not Charlie Hebdo because I believe that creating material for the sake of offending others with no other purpose is immature and wrong. I think that Christians must ask ourselves, “How would we feel if those cartoons were of Jesus?” In 1987, Andres Serrano took a photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine and called it “art.” It was, understandably and, I think, rightly, objected to by many Christians. How can we then support the profaning of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam?

I want to be clear. I think that Islam is a false religion. I think that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, is the one and only way to be reconciled to God the Father. I think that people should make reasoned arguments against views they disagree with. I think that Muhammad can and should be criticized for many of his acts during his life and for the acts that his words and deeds inspire others to. I do not think we should shrink back from these criticisms because they might offend someone. But I don’t think we should go out seeking to offend. It’s unproductive. I also want to be clear that I do not believe that the actions of the editors of Charlie Hebdo warranted a death sentence, nor that there is or was any justification for reacting violently to offensive content published in a magazine.

As I said, the question I have to ask myself is this: “What if Charlie Hebdo had published pornographic cartoons of Jesus of Nazareth rather than Muhammad?” Because my answer to that question is that I would not support them, I must say “I am not Charlie Hebdo.”

This does not change the fact that what happened in Paris is a tragedy. I mourn for those who lost their lives. I hope that those who died knew Christ as their savior. I pray for their friends and family. But I do not stand in solidarity with the choices of Charlie Hebdo.