Hymn of the Week: November 1, 2022

Hymn of the Week: Take Up Your Cross, the Savior Said
Glory to God: 718

Text Charles William Everest 1833
Music Attr. William Freeman Lewis 1814

Take up your cross, the Savior said,
If you would my disciple be;
take up your cross with willing heart,
And humbly follow after me.

Take up your cross; let not its weight
fill your weak spirit with alarm;
Christ's strength shall bear your spirit up
and brace your heart and nerve your arm.

Take up your cross; heed not the shame,
and let your foolish pride be still;
the Lord for you accepted death
upon a cross, on Calvary's hill.

Take up your cross, then, in Christ's strength,
and calmly every danger brave:
it guides you to abundant life
and leads to victory o'er the grave.

So today’s hymn has as many variants in text and tune as one hymn can have. Enjoy the various versions and the way the texts can be different and evoke different spiritual responses yet the text commends us to a life of discipleship in spite of the variants in tune.

A passage from the synoptic gospels sets the stage for this hymn: "And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it" (KJV, Mark 8:34-35; also in Matthew 16:24-25 and Luke 9:23-24).

Everest, Charles William, M.A., born at East Windsor, Connecticut, May 27, 1814, graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, 1838, and took Holy Orders in 1842. He was rector at Hamden, Connecticut, from 1842 to 1873, and also agent for the Society for the Increase of the Ministry. He died at Waterbury, Connecticut, Jan. 11, 1877 (See Poets of Connecticut, 1843). In 1833 he published Visions of Death, and Other Poems; from this work his popular hymn is taken:— Take up thy cross, the Saviour said. Following Jesus. The original text of this hymn differs very materially from that which is usually found in the hymn-books. The most widely known form of the text is that in Hymns Ancient & Modern, where it appeared in 1861. It was copied by the Compilers from another collection, but by whom the alterations were made is unknown. The

nearest approach to the original is in Horder's Congregational Hymn Book, 1884. Original text in Biggs's English Hymnology, 1873, p. 24.
[Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

This particular text has seen several alterations over the years. It has appeared in countless hymn collections and even in our very own Glory to God, this text is different from other versions.

This is the version that hymnary.org lists as its first and most popular usage. From the Breaking Bread Hymnal Volume 39 #702

Take up your cross, the Savior said,
If you would my disciple be;
Deny yourself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.

Take up your cross, be not ashamed!
Let not disgrace your spirit fill!
For God himself endured to die
Upon a cross, on Calvary's hill.

Take up your cross, which gives you strength,
Which makes your trembling spirit brave:
'Twill guide you to a better home
And lead to vict'ry o'er the grave.

Take up your cross, and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only they who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

While the test bears many differences, the idea of discipleship is the same. Note the scripture that has inspired the various versions of this timeless hymn.

"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it" (KJV, Mark 8:34-35; also in Matthew 16:24-25 and Luke 9:23-24).

The timeless BOURBON tune comes to us from the Shape Note Tune songs of the Appalachian region. There are even two hymn tunes associated with this tune. The first youtube clip is an organ alone playing the hymn tune BOURBON. The second comes from a group entitled Gesualdo Six who gave a concert this past weekend here in Columbus as part of the Early Music Series.