Was he thinking of the root word ‘found’ when he sat down to
write a poem one day in 1739? Perhaps he
was even thinking of this six-letter word in more than one sense, if one
considers the context of the premiere of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” that
Charles Wesley (shown here) composed for Easter. He wrote thousands of hymns in
his lifetime, ranging across various facets of his faith. This one is a little
window, perhaps, into what he felt inside soon after his conversion.
Wesley and his brother John were not novices to the Christian
faith in the 1730’s, for they had grown up with a father who was an Anglican clergyman
and they had initiated the Methodist movement while still in college in the
1720’s in England – wisps of a faith waiting to blossom. In 1738, the Wesley
brothers evidently had a revolutionary experience at an Aldersgate Street church
in London, whereupon they committed themselves deeply to ministry for Christ’s
church. Charles Wesley was 32 years old and wrote with a new energy from that
point on, a new depth that was apparent to those who knew of his experience from
the year before. It was in the light of this event that Charles wrote this hymn’s
words, with maybe some extra inspiration from a site that was about to be used
for the first time as a church. A deserted foundry was the site, and Wesley’s “Christ
the Lord Is Risen Today” was the hymn for that occasion. Could there have been
a more appropriate foundation for a foundry service than this hymn? Charles
wrote words that he must have felt were rooted in deep truths. And, this building
had once molded and produced metal casts like iron, used to ensure the structural
integrity of things, like churches. And, Christ concluded his sermon on the
mount with an admonition about what foundations mean for us here on earth,
using an analogy that we can easily understand. Did these any of these thoughts
cross Wesley’s mind as he pondered his salvation and wrote a poem that survives
nearly 300 years later? (We can ask him later!)
Nothing is more foundational in Christianity than Easter. Is
it ironic that a foundation for my life began with a death? Or, that my destiny
to ascend to heaven is rooted in something that happened here on earth? That’s what
Charles Wesley’s words say, in effect. Though
Wesley apparently wrote only seven of the ten (or perhaps eleven total) verses
of the hymn, all of them convey this central theme – my life is tied
inescapably with His. He rose after death. That’s all I need to remind myself, especially
when I’m feeling mortal. He’s alive, no older today than He was on the first
Easter. That’s what’s waiting. Someone other than Wesley apparently added this
word to the hymn, but he probably felt it crying out from within as he wrote –
Alleluia!
Information on the song was
obtained from the books “Amazing Grace –
366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990,
Kregel Publications; “The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600
Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc.; and “Then Sings My Soul”, by Robert J. Morgan, 2003,
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
See this site for brief biography
of composer, and 10 verses of the song:
For a longer biographies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley
Information on the song’s history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Lord_Is_Risen_Today
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