This
school teacher was thinking as a missionary. So if one ever pondered what the
fusion of those two vocations would sound like, Priscilla Jane Owens left no
mystery outstanding for this question when she crafted “Jesus Saves” in 1882
while living in Baltimore (see period map from 1852 here). As she sat down in
the Union Square Methodist Church, she wanted this to be a joyful sound, and
indeed she put those very words in the first syllables of the poetry she wrote.
Missionary work is to be exciting, was her bottom line. How did she stamp this
idea on the song? Two words that she exclaimed repeatedly are the recipe she
prescribed.
Perhaps
Priscilla learned her method in “Jesus Saves” as a result of her lengthy career
in children’s education. If you want those you’re cultivating to remember an
idea, it’s best to repeat it, perhaps many times in a small space. That way,
they cannot possibly miss it. This 53-year old teacher had seen her share of
students for many years on both Sundays and the other days of the week, and she
must have shared many songs with them by this time in 1882. Jesus Saves! That
was the message she wanted these students, probably both children and adults
for this occasion, to grasp. The church apparently was anticipating a worship service
that would focus on mission work. Where the mission work was going isn’t explicitly
communicated, but perhaps it was a variety of places, given what she said in
the song’s verses. ‘All around’ and ‘every land’ (v. 1), ‘far and wide’ (v.2),
Priscilla says. He works, no matter where one goes -- a confidence and buoyancy
she and the Union Square church members evidently wanted to accompany whomever
and wherever their church-supported missionary was. Verse three implies they
expected there would be challenges for the mission work, ‘battle strife’ and ‘gloom’
which the messenger would encounter and overcome with the same two words. Perhaps
these people, including Priscilla, were not strangers to difficulties. ‘We don’t
wear rose-colored glasses, but here’s our solution’, they say. Fix your sight
on the completed work of Him – that fact is crucial for everyone. Anyone who’s
bought into Jesus’ accomplishment – really staked his life on it – will be the
most effective missionary.
What
more needs to be said? Priscilla Owens had a mission, to create as much a mood
as anything else. We should be energized
about our leader, and the future He provides. But would it be easier for
hearers to grasp what she’s saying, maybe if they had once been destitute? Possess
nothing, but then discover the gold bullion that makes you a king. Priscilla
marks this gold with something like an X on the treasure map. Question:What do
I in fact have, besides what He’s got waiting for me? Answer: Nothing. Next question:
How does one find the pot of gold? Priscilla might say her two words are your
answer to that one.
See more
information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of
Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J.
Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; and Amazing
Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck,
Kregel Publications, 1990.
See 4
verses of song and brief biography here of composer: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/o/w/e/owens_pj.htm
See this
link for exact location of the church where the composer developed the hymn: http://churches-and-cemeteries.com/pages/1709659.html
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