Jesus I My Cross Have Taken

By Bryan McKaig
Guest Blogger

The first time I heard the hymn “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” was at a Reformed University Fellowship service on the campus the University of Tennessee. I had been attending these week night meetings for several months, coming back every week for the unvarnished and practical Bible teaching and stripped-down, simple worship music. In a large college auditorium class room, I stood in front of a squeaky, wooden, fold-down seat and sang as I read these lyrics from an overhead transparency projector:

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee. Destitute, despised, forsaken, thou from hence my all shalt be.

As the song went on, led by a young woman with an acoustic guitar and a fuzzy headed college guy with an upright bass, I began to be overwhelmed by the unyielding joy found in the lyrics. The song absolutely slayed me. It still does.

What moved me to tears about the hymn that night in college was the absolutely thorough way in which it expresses it’s central theme: that to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Without directly quoting Paul’s famous line from Philippians 1:21, this song spends six glorious verses joyfully embracing Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him. 

Fast forward from sometime in 2002 to March, 2018. At Providence, we’re in the middle of a four-week deep dive into Jesus’ final day before his crucifixion. It’s Sunday, March 11, and Anthony Burton is preaching on Luke 23:26-31. Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry Jesus’ cross for him, presumably because Jesus was too badly injured from his previous beatings to haul a large wooden beam very far. And as a crowd follows them down a Jerusalem road, weeping for him, Jesus tells them that they really should be weeping for themselves, because there’s a worse day coming to the Jews of Jerusalem in a few decades.

All of this brought to mind one of Jesus' most shocking teachings: that if you want to be Jesus’ disciple, you have to deny yourself, take up your own cross daily, and follow him. 

Every week, as we plan our services at Providence, we consider what songs would best prepare people to receive what God has for us in the scripture we’ll be studying. We choose songs that we think will help tie together the themes from God’s word with the realities of our lives, and help us take his word into ourselves with the help of his Spirit. And in light of this part of Jesus’ story, this incredible hymn was one of the first things that entered my mind. We sang it Sunday, and revisited a couple of verses at the end of the service. I heard people singing loudly, which is always the sound I hope to hear in a worship service. A few folks asked me about the song afterward, and I heard through others that it really got some folks thinking. Still others said they wanted to understand the song better, becuase some parts had been a little tough to follow.

So I want to take a minute and walk you through these lyrics. There are a few things to keep in mind:

1. These words are old. Henry F. Lyte published them in 1824, and they sound like it. There are words like “thee” and “thou,” which people didn’t normally use, even back then. The rest of the language is pretty standard poetic stuff for the 19th century. Just for reference: thee/thou = you,  thy = your. And did you know that “thou," “thee," and “thy” were actually the more personal, intimate words to use. You would call a superior “you,” but your family member would be “thou.” Point is, old words can be confusing.

2. Old words are worth the work, in this case. You might ask why we should bother preserving old songs like this in worship. Aren’t there plenty of great worship songs being written today that you don’t need a degree to understand? Well, yes, there are. And no, that doesn’t mean we don’t need to dig into the old stuff. There’s a connection to the past in older music that can remind us that we are one with all the followers of Christ throughout history. They sang this song in church two hundred years ago! There are also sometimes old songs that just express something that nobody has quite managed to match since. I think this is one of those songs.

3. There’s a strong stream in early 21st century American culture that doesn’t like thinking, that encourages us to only process short sound bytes of information, in quick bursts. That influence can make it hard to focus on complex thoughts, like the ones in some old hymns, or even the ones in the Bible. It’s more valuable than ever to practice using the minds God gave us as a means of loving and worshiping him, when binge watching yet another season of some nostalgic 90’s show or soaking up sensational news headlines can be so appealing to our information-saturated brains.

That being said, here are a few key verses of this song, broken down and elaborated.

The first verse is a simple statement of commitment: 

Jesus, I my cross have taken

All to leave and follow thee

Destitute, despised, forsaken

Thou from hence my all shalt be.
 
Even through the syntax sounds like something Yoda might say to Luke, it’s really quite simple: 

• Jesus, I’ve taken my cross, I’m leaving everything, I’m following you. Even if I end up poor, friendless, and alone, from now on, you will be everything to me.

Verse 3 has one of my favorite lines in the hymn:

Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me

while thy love is left to me

Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me

were that joy unmixed with thee.

Did you get that? No? Here’s what it means:  

• Sadness cannot hurt me while I have your love. Happiness cannot attract me if you’re not involved. 

Verse 4 contains maybe the hardest line in the song to say:
Go then, earthy fame and treasure

come, disaster, scorn, and pain.

In thy service pain is pleasure

with thy favor, loss is gain.

How difficult is that to say? It’s so difficult:

• As far as the good life goes: it can leave me. As far as terrible experiences go: bring ‘em on. When I am serving you, Jesus, whatever hurts reminds me of your pleasure with me, and if you are pleased with me, I’m better off without the good things in life. 

Verse 5 does something that we see a lot in the Psalms; it addresses our own soul. This is a powerful poetic device for prayerful worship link this - you are speaking to your own soul within yourself, reminding yourself to remember what is true: 

Soul, then know thy full salvation

rise o’er sin or fear or care

Joy to find in every station

something still to do or bear

Think what Spirit dwells within thee! 

Think what Father’s smiles are thine!

Think that Jesus died to win thee!

Child of heaven, cans’t thou repine?

Ok, so: “station” means “stage or situation in life.” “Repine” means “mourn or be sad.”  So the verse says: 

• Hey! Self! Get a grip on what your salvation really means! Rise above sin, fear, and worry, as you find joy in whatever situation you find yourself! There’s something in it for you to do, or some burden for you to bear. JUST THINK!!! God’s Spirit is in you! God is your Father, and his smiles are yours! Jesus died for you! Child of heaven, can you really mourn hopelessly?

The last verse takes us into eternity, when all of the suffering will give way to unmitigated joy and unpolluted fulfillment.

Haste thee on from grace to glory

armed by faith and winged by prayer!

Heaven’s eternal days before thee,

God’s own hand shall guide us there!

Soon shall close thy earthly mission,

Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days!

Hope shall change to glad fruition, 

faith to sight, and prayer to praise!

This is the good stuff! We finish the song with our eyes on the true motivation for enduring suffering in this life: There will be fruition. There will be fruit. There will be a brilliant, perfect, worth-it-all result. Here’s a paraphrase of this final verse: 

• Go! Speed on through a life sustained by God’s grace to the presence of his glory! Your weapon is faith, and your wings are prayer, and God has his hand on you, guiding you into his presence. Your mission here will be over soon, and your days as a weary traveler will end. What you hoped for, you will have. What you prayed for, you will see. What you trusted God for, you will praise him for.

What’s the point then? Gain. Being a disciple is all about what you get: and what you get is not your best life now. What you get is God. And that will either seem like the greatest gift in the world to you, or it will seem like nothing. If you see God as the greatest thing you can ever have, then your suffering, what you give up to follow him, the pleasures you don’t take part in - those will seem like nothing, and he will be everything.

Another Psalm 119 Devotional

Psalm 119:105-112 (Nun)

This stanza of Psalm 119 begins with verse 105:

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet

    and a light to my path.

It’s probably the most familiar verse in this, the longest of the Psalms. Songs have been written that quote that verse as the primary line. One in particular came out in the 1980s that was written by Michael W. Smith and performed by Amy Grant. It was sung by a generation of Christians in worship:

Chorus: 

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

Verse 1: 

When I feel afraid, 

And think I've lost my way 

Still, you're there right beside me 

Nothing will I fearAs long as you are near; 

Please be near me to the end.

(Chorus)

Verse 2:

I will not forget 

Your love for me and yet, 

My heart forever is wandering. 

Jesus be my guide, 

And hold me to your side, 

And I will love you to the end.

It’s amazing that a line of a Psalm written 3000 years ago can still resonate so profoundly in our hearts today. It’s because it is SO true. When I read and know God’s word, I am not stumbling in the darkness. I know there is meaning to this path I’m on. I see where I’m going. No matter what the circumstances, God gives me his light and confidence that it’s all in his plan. It’s going to be ok.

This truth was practically made known to me (as it probably was to you) when I was a new believer. When I started developing the discipline of having a quiet time and began memorizing Scripture, the darkness and fog that caused me so much fear and stress lifted regarding my life’s purpose and future. Almost suddenly, there was clarity and light! I remember thinking, “Why didn’t I see this a long time ago?” Because God’s word makes things clear.

I think the psalmist realized the same thing. You can see it in the verses following that most famous verse:

¹⁰⁶I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,

    to keep your righteous rules.

¹⁰⁷I am severely afflicted;

    give me life, O Lord, according to your word!

¹⁰⁸Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,

    and teach me your rules.

¹⁰⁹I hold my life in my hand continually,

    but I do not forget your law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me,

    but I do not stray from your precepts.

No matter what life throws at us, the psalmist knows that God’s word puts everything in context, gives everything meaning, and is more valuable than anything. 

¹¹¹Your testimonies are my heritage forever,

    for they are the joy of my heart.

¹¹²I incline my heart to perform your statutes

    forever, to the end.

God, give us the same determination to make your word our joy and light.

If it can happen to Solomon...

I’ve been reflecting on worship yesterday (I’m writing this on Monday). It was powerful. Jason, Bryan (McKaig), and Rachel led us with concert-quality music and songs that spanned centuries—from 1700s hymns to original pieces written by Jason this year—with the simplest of instruments and soaring vocal harmonies. Wow, I hate it for those who had to be away! Then Bryan Parris (affectionately called BP around here) did an excellent job making sense of a hard week’s reading from the book of Ecclesiastes. All week last week I was kind of thankful that I was not bringing the message, in part due to the difficulty of the book! Solomon is easy to talk about when we are considering the early part of his reign as king. He’s the wise son of David who was so successful. It was during this first part of his reign is when he apparently wrote Proverbs, those incredibly practical truisms that still make wise those who apply them. But then something happened. I don’t think it happened overnight. I think it happened over many years. Solomon strayed. Something I love about the Bible is its brutal honesty (as contrasted to human-authored books which tend to edit out conflicting or unpleasant character-flaws of our heroes). BP showed us this from 1 Kings 11. I’ll include a few more verses:

¹Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, ²from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. ⁴For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God,as was the heart of David his father. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.⁶So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. ⁷Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. ⁸And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

There’s so much there that deserves comment...but I’m gonna stick to my point. What happened to Solomon?! How did he go from godly, wise king to one who had “turned away his heart,” “not wholly true to the Lord” and doing “evil in the sight of the Lord”? All the work of David to remove the high places, idolatry, and vanquish the pagan nations seems to have been reversed! All of this certainly didn’t happen overnight. Our small group met last night (Sunday) and had some great discussion about what happened to Solomon. Here are some of their thoughts:

Sensuality overcame morality. It is true that when we pursue the flesh we do not walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-17). It is obvious that he gained an appetite for “many foreign women.” Although polygamy was practiced then (although it was not God's desire), sexually desiring others besides our spouse is no strange concept to us—people love (i.e. lust after) others all the time, as Jesus said, committing adultery in their hearts. When sensuality becomes your motivation, morality is cast aside. If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to me.

Material wealth choked out spiritual health. This is a huge danger. We can get our desires set on the wrong things. BP made this point well. Stuff can become a god. Jesus said, you cannot serve both God and mammon. Like the seed that fell among the thorns, “they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Matt. 13, Mark 4, Luke 8). Maybe that’s why he said it’s harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to me.

The will to please God gave way to the will to please people. I don’t know how, but “Solomon clung to [his wives] in love.” I would not have been able to even remember their names! He had about as many wives as we have in average attendance at Providence! Dude! All joking aside, these women had a profound influence on him. He started making compromises. He made allowances for them to be able to worship false gods—even built places for worship near Jerusalem “for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” He didn’t lead. He followed the crowd. If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to me.

Low accountability allowed high vulnerability. As kids we all dream of what it would be like to be a king. Nobody could tell us what to do. Now that I’m old, I realize how dangerous that situation really is. Even David had Nathan who would point out sin in his life. Solomon seems to have no one. We need accountability! It is healthy to have people in a place of spiritual authority in our lives who can lovingly tell us when we blindly begin to compromise. None of us like it our sin is pointed out. If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to me.

Pride replaced humility. A curse of great intellectual ability, accomplishment, power, or wealth is pride. Humans can hardly help to think of themselves as smarter or better than others. Although it’s not as obvious, we can see in Ecclesiastes that Solomon thought himself smarter and better than any in his own time and before him. Oh, if he would have only obeyed his own Proverb (16:18): “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” If it can happen to Solomon, it can happen to me.

There are other possible factors that contributed to Solomon’s fall. Our small group thought of many more. But I like how BP pointed out Solomon’s own self-assessment—given at the end of Ecclesiastes—the regretful, realization of a repentant old king:

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

BP said to “fear God” is to “desire God’s authority” and to “keep his commandments” is essentially to “desire Christ’s character.” Well said. By keeping this focus we can avoid repeating Solomon’s folly. God, help me do this.

The FIRST Commission?

Christians talk a lot about the great commandment and the great commission. But what about the FIRST commission?

Gen. 1:26-31 (ESV)
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish … birds … livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing…on the earth.” And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over…every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant …and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. …And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

In essence, in the FIRST commission, God says:
Show sanctity for all human life, respect for all human beings, and regard for God’s creation.
Have families with children and manage the earth’s resources and creatures in a way that pleases God.

Specifically, the FIRST commission deals with the following issues (that we will be discussing on Sundays in the next few weeks):
1. Human rights (value and worth, God’s image and blessing, equality between men and women)
2. Sexuality (good sex and bad, birth control, overpopulation)
3. Environmentalism (global warming and response, recycling & pollution, political & economic implications)
4. Animals (wildlife conservation, humane treatment)
5. Work (a result of the curse or a pre-fall blessing? How do we balance work, rest, family, and play?)

No controversies associated with those issues, huh?

I think it’s perfect timing! We’re in a contentious election year and some of these issues are being debated. How are you being informed? Just going with the national media? Just going along with what your parents or friends or teachers say? What about what God says—does that matter? What about his very first words to humankind?

At Providence, we’re not concerned with supporting any political party or candidates. We think it is every citizen’s privilege and obligation to vote in elections. But our calling is much higher. We want to make, be, and unleash disciples. Part of that is helping disciples think biblically.

Christians are all over the map regarding how they respond to these issues, ranging from sticking their heads in the sand (no response at all) to coming out as anti-everything! God wants us to respond and he wants us to do so with grace, gentleness, humility, AND truth. We should seek to be like Christ in both aptitude and attitude.

This Sunday we discussed our and others’ worth in God’s eyes. We humans are the crowning achievement of God’s creation as his image-bearers. As such, every human life is valuable and holy to God. From the road-rager who flips you off after cutting you off to easily-marginalized groups of people.

Our understanding of this affects everything.

If you don’t think every human life is precious and holy, where does that take you? It means you think some people are of more intrinsic worth than others. Some races are not as preferable as others. The very old and feeble can be set aside. The unborn are not deserving of full protection under the law if they are unwanted by their mother. The handicapped are pitiful and cause undue strain on others’ lives. Those who have committed crimes—and are perhaps even unrepentant—deserve less dignity than law-abiding people. Impoverished people are probably poor because of their own decisions and are viewed as unproductive.

Ultimately, when some of these people just get in the way…they really don’t matter. When someone comes along and removes them, we think, “good riddance.” This was Hitler’s line of reasoning. Taking advantage of financial crisis and other opportunities to gain power, Hitler was ultimately successful in committing untold atrocities in much part due to a German church that remained virtually silent as he incrementally showed increasing disregard for human rights and dignity. He legalized abortion and euthanasia of handicapped and infirm. He segregated people based on race and other standards of “worth.” He made criminals of many and then treated prisoners without dignity. We know the way his story ends.

No matter how unpopular, Christians must humbly take an uncompromising stand for the sanctity and dignity of human life. When the people of a society deny the “unalienable rights” of life (as with abortion) they have scorned God’s image indwelling humankind and blasphemed God. It really is a big deal. On the other extreme, it is wrong for individuals to despise themselves. In doing so, they are despising God’s workmanship and disregarding his image in them. You know, Satan—whose primary goal is to take glory away from God—is especially active in helping fallen image-bearers disrespect God’s image. We are all sinners—this is true. By comparison to God and his glorious creation it is easy for us to become discouraged, and all the more as we get to know him as magnificent and holy. While we should practice self-denial, God does not delight in self-loathing. In fact, he is offended by it!

I was totally blown away by Bryan’s new take on an old Isaac Watts hymn (that we sang Sunday--if you weren't there you really missed out!). Read the lyrics again:

Oh Lord our heavenly King thy name is all divine
Thy glories round the earth are spread and o’er the heavens they shine
When to thy works on high, I raise my wondering eyes,
And see the moon complete in light, adorn the darksome skies

When I survey the stars in all their shining forms
Lord what is worthless man akin to dust and worms?

Lord, what is worthless man that thou should love him so?
Next to the angels he is placed as lord of all below
Thine image placed upon him fills his soul with worth
What is man? What is man?

How rich thy bounties are how wondrous are thy ways
Of dust and worms thy power can frame a monument of praise.

When I survey the stars in all their shining forms
Lord what is worthless man akin to dust and worms?

Lord, what is worthless man that thou should love him so?
Next to the angels he is placed as lord of all below
Thine image placed upon him fills his soul with worth
What is man? What is man?