The Old Rugged Cross, Sermon from 11/26/17

Below please find both the video of last Sunday's sermon and the manuscript.  The sermon last Sunday covered the hymn that nearly all love dearly, "The Old Rugged Cross".  Though so many of us hold a great fondness to this hymn, it is not without its own theological difficulties.

Please take a moment to read or to listen to the sermon. May it in some small way be a blessing to you.  And may you in kind "be a blessing to someone today".

In Christ,
Roy

The Old Rugged Cross – Sermon 11/26/17

Today will be our last Sunday of looking at hymns before we start into the Advent Season next Sunday.  The hymn for today is probably the most widely known of all Christian Hymns and has consistently ranked as one of Americans all-time favorite hymns... and of course, as you've all just heard, today we will elaborate upon the history and meaning of “The Old Rugged Cross”.  

This wonderful old hymn has been a favorite of recording artists through the years, sung by artists such as Johnny & June Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Alan Jackson, Ernest Tubb, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, The Statler Brothers and many, many more.  It was also a favorite hymn of the famous Iowan Evangelist Billy Sunday and his worship team. It was always a portion of George Beverly Shea’s repertoire during the Billy Graham evangelistic campaigns, and it was reportedly one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's favorite hymns.

“The Old Rugged Cross” has been utilized in multiple motion pictures, including Pennies from Heaven (1978) and Gridlock (2007).  And it even appears in an episode of the popular and long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who.

  The hymn was written by Reverend George Bennard (Benn-ARD) who though not born in Iowa, did grow up in Iowa.  His was a financially poor upbringing but one that spawned a timeless influence on nearly all American Christians.

Bennard was born in Youngstown, Ohio, he was the son of George and Margaret Bennard, and he was of Scottish descent. The couple had five other children, and after George's birth, they moved their family to Albia, Iowa, where George Senior ran a tavern. When the Albia tavern burned, George Senior turned to mining coal and the family moved to Lucas, IA,  There George Senior was killed in 1889 in a mining accident at the all too early age of 49 which left young George at just 16 to support his mother and siblings. He did so by following in his father's footprints and going to work in the mines. In 1890 George moved his family to Illinois, and it was there that he met his first wife Ariminda.

In 1895, George attended a meeting of the Salvation Army in Canton, IA. According to an Iowa newspaper’s 2010 account, “Bennard had heard about Salvation Army meetings and decided to walk the five miles into town to see what those meetings were all about.”  During the services, Bennard responded to the speaker’s invitation and committed his life to Jesus Christ right then and there.

George entered into Christian ministry with the Salvation Army, becoming a minister at the tender age of 24. He and his wife, Ariminda, became officers in 1898 and he served as such for nearly a decade. Also in the year 1898, he was conducting revival meetings throughout the Midwest, later transferring to New York, where he resigned from the Salvation Army in 1910 to go out on his own as an evangelist ordained within the Methodist Episcopal denomination. It was around this time that he began composing hymns.  George and Ariminda settled in Albion, Michigan, and there he opened his own hymn publishing company. 

The story of how this old favorite hymn came to be written goes as such: 
In late 1912 or early 1913, George had been conducting revival services traveling throughout the Midwest, but he had returned to Michigan and was living with his wife in an apartment in the home of a professor across from Albion College.

While at a revival meeting in Michigan, he was heckled incessantly by several youths. George was deeply troubled by the youths blatant disregard for the gospel.  Caught in introspection and contemplating this disrespectful and irreverent behavior, Bennard turned to Scripture to reflect on the work of Christ on the cross. He became convinced that the cross was the centerpiece of the gospel and not just a religious symbol.

He later recalled, "I seemed to have a vision ...  I saw the Christ and the cross inseparable. I began to write ‘The Old Rugged Cross.’ I composed the melody first. The words that I first wrote were imperfect. The words of the finished hymn were put into my heart in answer to my own need.”

The melody had come to George easily, and the first verse was completed by Bennard during a series of meetings in Albion, Michigan. But, it was several months later, before the remaining three verses were completed while George was in Pokagon, Michigan, where he was leading meetings at the local Methodist Episcopal Church.

After completing the hymn, he performed the song in its entirety for the sponsoring pastor, the Reverend Leroy Bostwick and the Reverend's wife Ruby, in the living room of the Parsonage. The Bostwicks were moved to tears and George incorporated the song into the revival services on June 7, 1913.

At first, Bennard sang his hymn with a simple guitar accompaniment, but then a five-voice choir performed the hymn with an organ and violin accompaniment. The first occasion where it was heard outside of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pokagon was at the Chicago Evangelistic Institute. There it was introduced before a large convention and soon it became extremely popular throughout the country.

Noted evangelist Billy Sunday, an Iowa native, popularized the hymn with his nationally broadcast radio show. By 1939, more than 15 million copies of the hymn had been sold and numerous recordings made.

Billy Sunday's song leader Homer Rodeheaver had a publishing company and Bennard sold his song to him for $500.  Later the copyright was renewed for an additional $5,000.

Bennard eventually composed about 350 hymns, such as "Speak, My Lord," "Oh, Make Me Clean" and "Have Thy Way, Lord" but none was nearly as successful as "The Old Rugged Cross."

Bennard, who played guitar but not the piano, was known as a persuasive speaker and sharp dresser, yet humble and sincere. He was a short man at only about five foot tall.  He didn't drive a car and during the 40's and 50's he had the same personal driver for many years.  His driver drove him on all his travels which included trips as far as Canada, California, and Florida. George was a modest man with a sense of humor, the following quote is attributed to him; “I’ve been introduced as the author of ‘The Old Gray Mare,’ ‘The Old Oaken Bucket’, and even the ‘Rock of Ages’, and once introduced as George Bernard Shaw, the English philosopher.”

Bennard and his first wife, Araminda, later moved their home from Michigan to California,  it is believed they did so for health reasons.  Ariminda passed away in California in 1941 and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery. 

After Araminta's death, George returned to Michigan and in July 1944 he married his second wife, Hannah Dahlstrom, who was his accompanist. The couple eventually retired to Ashton, Michigan.

Bennard died of asthma in Reed City, Michigan, on October 10th, 1958, at the age of 85.  His services there were attended by over 400 people, including 25 area ministers. As could be expected, the rites included an organ rendition of "The Old Rugged Cross."  George's body was then transported to Inglewood, California, where he was buried beside his first wife Ariminda in the Inglewood Park Cemetery. 

Michigan’s “Old Rugged Cross” roots are memorialized today in several locations:
* While Bennard was still living, a twelve-foot-high wooden cross was erected in Rambardt Park in Reed City, Michigan, bearing the words of the “Old Rugged Cross” and stating that Reed City was the home of the hymn's author Reverend George Bennard.  After his death, the cross was replaced with another one from a local museum.

* Also in Reed City, the Old Rugged Cross Historical Museum was opened in 1990. Outside the building is the large cross that I just mentioned, which was dedicated before Bennard’s death. The museum contains memorabilia, music, and relics from George's life and music. 

* In Albion, across from Albion College, there is a decades-old 'Michigan Historic Marker' that marks the site where the first verse and chorus of the hymn were written. The house in which he did the work later became a fraternity house and was unfortunately demolished sometime in the 1960s.

* In 2000, another marker was erected in Pokagon. On one side it summarizes the story of the hymn’s writing. On the other, the story of the old Methodist Episcopal Church building is told. In 1998, the Old Rugged Cross Foundation Inc. was formed to restore the original church building in Pokagon. It had been in use as a barn for many years and had fallen into disrepair.

Bennard's hymn was immediately popular and remains a perennial favorite. Though the hymn is so widely loved, it has not been immune from criticism. There have been many criticisms of it from a musical standpoint, however, this is an area I will eschew, for far be it for me to critique anyone's musical abilities.  Some contemporary Christians view it as culturally irrelevant for today's world. Others see its apparent emphasis on the cross as misguided and incorrect theology. The composer Frank C. Huston, wrote the lesser-known hymn “The Christ of the Cross”. Huston’s third verse contains an apparent critique of Bennard's far more popular hymn:
Let others who will praise the cross of the Christ,
The Christ of the cross is my theme;
For though we must cherish the old rugged cross,
‘Tis only the Christ can redeem.

Returning to the initial comment that many love this gospel song, and many love to hate it, this may be the result of the hymn’s emblematic nature. British hymnologist Erik Routley offered his opinion of this hymn in a text published in 1967. In the style he was well known for, he was both candid and cutting. He expressed that it is a hymn of “unspeakable vulgarity,” though allowing that he appreciated its attraction as a “compelling witness for the gospel.... despite its perceived theological and musical shortcomings”.

Undoubtedly, this hymn has had a significant and positive impact throughout its long history.  The one dark side to the hymn is that it is apparently a favorite of the Ku Klux Klan, and has been sung during cross burnings.  

Now, let's look at the hymn for ourselves and delineate verse by verse:

The Old Rugged Cross by George Bennard
Verse 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.

Bennard has in this first verse clearly proclaimed the cross as an emblem. A symbol that we use to focus upon to draw ourselves closer to God. It also proclaims Christ's sacrifice on the cross for all of us here in this world.

The danger of an emblem or symbol in worship is when the symbol stops being a representation in our worship and becomes the thing that we are worshiping. This was and is an element of the criticism of Bennard's hymn.

Verse 2:
Oh, 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.

The symbol of the cross is in fact despised by the world, that is absolutely true.  At this juncture in the hymn, Bennard has not yet elevated the Cross to the point of being worshiped.  His focus in the last two lines is upon the Lamb of God and the fact that He came into this world to bear our sins.

I will point out that it's not only the issue of the cross being despised but the cross being misinterpreted as a fashion item. Today we see people wearing crosses in all manner of unspeakable situations. Sadly, for many the cross is just a shiny piece of jewelry... an adornment, the symbolism... the Sacrifice... the Suffering Savior is entirely forgotten or even worse... never known. 

Verse 3:
In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine
a wondrous beauty I see
for the dear Lamb of God, left His Glory above
to pardon and sanctify me.

Here Bennard is still relating the cross to Christ. Though throughout the hymn he never says Christ, or Jesus, or Savior, he does repeat the title of 'Lamb of God' and thus indicates that he is indeed revering Christ.  He also again focuses upon Christ coming into this world as our Savior “to pardon and sanctify me”. 

Verse 4:
To the 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.

Here we can start to raise an issue with Bennard, it's not to the cross that we are to forever be true... it is to God. Another criticism could be the lack of any mention in the hymn of God the Father or the Holy Spirit. Bennard like many evangelicals is very Christ focused and in this hymn at least has ignored the Trinity entirely.

His reference to “He'll call me some day” is in this context somewhat ambiguous, is it the Cross that will call him or is it, Christ.  Of course where we can clearly raise an issue with Bennard's theology is in the line “where His glory forever I'll share”.  Share isn't the best word to understand our relationship with God in eternity. Clearly, we are not on God's level and thus we are not sharing. A better word would be revere, or observe, or witness, or worship, none of which unfortunately have the right ring to them for the poetry of the verse. I understand as one who has written poetry why Bennard used “share”, but theologically it's not good word usage.

We will be called to worship and revere our God for all eternity, we will share the streets of Heaven with Him but we are not partners in His Glory. The glory is our triune God's alone.

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.

It's in the refrain that Bennard seems to venerate the cross as a devotional object that one may eventually trade in... “exchange it some day for a crown.”  It clearly shows that in Bennard's theological beliefs he felt we would be honored and glorified along with God, even bearing crowns in Heaven. It's honestly not the usage of the Cross as an emblem that I have an issue with in Bennard's hymn, it's the elevation of ourselves to a level equivalent with God the Father.  The line about laying down trophies could also be interpreted to think one's life works has some basis upon one's salvation... which we would question as being in some small way works-oriented as opposed to faith-oriented.

All it all though, the song is as Erik Routley stated, a compelling witness for the gospel.  Undoubtedly, this hymn has brought countless individuals to the feet of the cross and to the grace of God.

It's up to us to then educate those that come to God through this theologically imperfect hymn that the item of reverence is not the cross but the dear Lamb of God that it bore... that the focus of our reverence is upon our all loving and all grace-filled Triune God.

As we learned in the sermon over Horatio Spafford's hymn “It Is Well with My Soul” God can and will use imperfect people, imperfect hymns, imperfect witness, and imperfect sermons... to lead His people back to Him.

Praise be to God!


Let us pray...