It was a Christmas wish, and she was already at work to make it come to fruition. That’s the short version of how “A Mansion, Robe, and Crown” that Sylvia Rose had begun to consider writing in December 1984 was conceived, 30 years after she was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While she was living in Michigan, in a place called Inkster (near Detroit), her mind was probably in Valdosta, Georgia, where her father lived. What she wrote in the next few months, however, showed that her mind was also in the afterlife. Here, in her own words, is how Sylvia came to write about three things all of us believers can look forward to receiving one day.
In
December of 1984, I was called aside by my father at our family Christmas
gathering and asked a special request. He wanted me to write songs
for his funeral. He was not ill but said he wanted me to not wait until his
death in order to do it. I was honored by the request and said as
much. What my father did not know was that I was in the process of
writing a hymnal of original songs that would be suitable for congregational
singing. Upon receiving his request, I wrote four songs that were
included in the hymnal, Songs of Faith: “God Is Gonna Take Us Home”, “My
Heavenly Home”, “We’ll Live Again” and “A Mansion, Robe &
Crown”. But it was the latter that was written specifically as a
tribute to my father’s life using the promises of three things that Christ has
said that his saints would enjoy. The three verses of the song refer
to each of those things.
I first considered the homes that my father had
lived in. Because he had twelve children, by necessity they were
always of substantial size. However, I knew that they would not
compare to the new house (a mansion) that he would have after
death. And so I wrote: I’m gonna trade my earthly home for a
better one bright and fair…Although the family had lived in the north
for many years, my father had returned to his home town in the South after my
mother died. It was there that he boasted of the better weather than
what we had in the north and his preference for the warmth and sun. Therefore
verse two speaks of that love: The weather there is always fair there is sunshine
day and night… The reference to the heavy garment was his
fleshly body which would be left behind on earth: “I’ll need no heavy
garment I’ll just wrap my robe around”. The
third verse was very personal in that it described the difficulties that my
father had in ministry. He had been scorned and rejected by many
throughout the latter years of his preaching, but without resentment or
bitterness, he remained steadfast and faithful to God and His church. Thus I
wrote: My head is bowed and bloody now from the work that I’ve tried to
do, but one day I’ll be rewarded with a crown so bright and new.
I’ll wear a smile so bright for there’ll be no cause for a frown…
Not only was the book printed almost ten years
before my father’s death, but the most popular song in the entire book that was
sung throughout the country was the one written to his honor, “A Mansion, Robe
and Crown”.
Thanks to Sylvia for that story! She and her dad, as well as countless other believers, have leaned on the promises of our God, and what he tells us He’s gonna do for us. Here’s some that go well with Sylvia’s song-message to us.
John 14:2 – Jesus said he’d go to arrange for my mansion, and one for each believer.
Luke 15:2 – I am like the prodigal (or lost) son, yet my Father will give me a robe to wear when I repent and come home to Him.
1 Peter 5:4 – The apostle reminds me that the Chief Shepherd will give me a crown to reward my faithfulness.
Merry Christmas, fellow Christians!
The song story is from here, the original source: https://www.srosepublishing.com/copy-of-stories-behind-the-songs
See another recitation of the song story here: https://dwillis1957.wordpress.com/2020/05/31/a-mansion-robe-and-crown/
See here for biography of the author, Sylvia Rose: https://www.srosepublishing.com/sylviarose
