A Song in the Middle of the Road
by Herbert McGonigle
The Bible is rich in passages telling us about the mercies of God. The word "mercy" is wide and comprehensive in meaning, and God's "mercies" are his goodness, love, kindness, favor, and grace. In both the Old and New Testaments God's mercies are spoken of as great (2 Samuel 24:14), manifold (Nehemiah 9:19), tender (Psalm 25:6), enduring forever (2 Chronicles 7:3), never ending (Lamentations 3:22), and the means of our salvation (Titus 3:5).
Christian biography in every age illustrates how the people of God rejoice as they find and prove God's mercies in their own lives. One such moving illustration comes from the life and ministry of Samuel Parkes Cadman (1864-1936).
Between the years 1900 and 1930, Samuel was one of the best known evangelical preachers in the U.S. For many years he was the minister of the very influential Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York. In his own pulpit, and wherever he preached, crowds gathered to hear him. Then he began a ministry that gave him even greater fame and popularity as a preacher. He became the country's first radio preacher. He was the pioneer of this new means of communicating the gospel to millions of homes.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Samuel's was the most recognized voice in every state in the nation. In fact, he was so popular that the millions of people who listened to him thought he was an American. Samuel, however, was born in Shropshire in England, into a very devout Primitive Methodist home. His father, a miner, was a local preacher and class leader. Samuel also became a miner and a local preacher. Later he trained for the ministry in London and then emigrated to the U.S. in 1890.
As a preacher he was soon a rising star in the Congregational denomination and it was no surprise when he was called to preach in a prestigious pulpit in Brooklyn. Throughout his long ministry Samuel never forgot the Christian teaching and example he had while growing up in a Primitive Methodist home. Often, he told a true story of an event in his home that made an unforgettable impression upon him.
He was nine years old at the time and the incident, so full of spiritual power, stayed with him for the rest of his life. Samuel came home from school one day to discover that his younger sister had died suddenly and without warning. She was five years old and the joy and delight of the family. Now she was gone and the house seemed silent and lonely without her. The family was engulfed in grief.
That evening, Samuel's father was due to attend his weekly class meeting. He didn't want to leave his family but at the same time he didn't want to disappoint the people waiting for him in the Methodist chapel. Samuel recalled how his father struggled with emotions. Was it right to go to the chapel? Should he not stay with his brokenhearted wife? After much heart searching he picked up his hat, coat, and Bible, and set out to walk to the class meeting, bringing his son along.
As they walked, the father said very little, but when they were about halfway to the chapel, he stopped. Seeing that his father was battling strong emotions, Samuel expected him to turn around and go back home. Instead, his father did something that was the greatest expression of faith and trust Samuel had ever seen. He stood on the road, took off his hat, and began to sing!
In that hour when his heart was breaking with grief and pain, he expressed his deep and unshaken faith in the words of a favorite hymn, "Now I Have Found the Ground Wherein." This Moravian hymn was first written in German then translated by John Wesley. It was familiar and beloved with all the Methodist people:
He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). As the Psalmist discovered, the Lord's goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6). Our faith and hope and trust are in the love and mercy of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Such a faith will hold us, assure us, strengthen us, and comfort us in the darkest hours. Today, tomorrow and every tomorrow what Samuel Parkes Cadman's father sang about so certainly in his hour of grief is still true. "Father, Thy mercy never dies!"
Herbert McGonigle is senior lecturer in historical theology, church history, and Wesley studies at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England. Holiness Today, July/August 2008
Christian biography in every age illustrates how the people of God rejoice as they find and prove God's mercies in their own lives. One such moving illustration comes from the life and ministry of Samuel Parkes Cadman (1864-1936).
Between the years 1900 and 1930, Samuel was one of the best known evangelical preachers in the U.S. For many years he was the minister of the very influential Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York. In his own pulpit, and wherever he preached, crowds gathered to hear him. Then he began a ministry that gave him even greater fame and popularity as a preacher. He became the country's first radio preacher. He was the pioneer of this new means of communicating the gospel to millions of homes.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Samuel's was the most recognized voice in every state in the nation. In fact, he was so popular that the millions of people who listened to him thought he was an American. Samuel, however, was born in Shropshire in England, into a very devout Primitive Methodist home. His father, a miner, was a local preacher and class leader. Samuel also became a miner and a local preacher. Later he trained for the ministry in London and then emigrated to the U.S. in 1890.
As a preacher he was soon a rising star in the Congregational denomination and it was no surprise when he was called to preach in a prestigious pulpit in Brooklyn. Throughout his long ministry Samuel never forgot the Christian teaching and example he had while growing up in a Primitive Methodist home. Often, he told a true story of an event in his home that made an unforgettable impression upon him.
He was nine years old at the time and the incident, so full of spiritual power, stayed with him for the rest of his life. Samuel came home from school one day to discover that his younger sister had died suddenly and without warning. She was five years old and the joy and delight of the family. Now she was gone and the house seemed silent and lonely without her. The family was engulfed in grief.
That evening, Samuel's father was due to attend his weekly class meeting. He didn't want to leave his family but at the same time he didn't want to disappoint the people waiting for him in the Methodist chapel. Samuel recalled how his father struggled with emotions. Was it right to go to the chapel? Should he not stay with his brokenhearted wife? After much heart searching he picked up his hat, coat, and Bible, and set out to walk to the class meeting, bringing his son along.
As they walked, the father said very little, but when they were about halfway to the chapel, he stopped. Seeing that his father was battling strong emotions, Samuel expected him to turn around and go back home. Instead, his father did something that was the greatest expression of faith and trust Samuel had ever seen. He stood on the road, took off his hat, and began to sing!
In that hour when his heart was breaking with grief and pain, he expressed his deep and unshaken faith in the words of a favorite hymn, "Now I Have Found the Ground Wherein." This Moravian hymn was first written in German then translated by John Wesley. It was familiar and beloved with all the Methodist people:
Now I have found the ground wherein Sure my soul's anchor may remain, The wounds of Jesus, for my sin Before the world's foundation slain..."But," said Samuel, "it was the fifth verse my father chose to sing that night on the road to the chapel, and I've never forgotten the impression it made on me. With his voice quivering and tears running down his cheeks, he sang his faith in God's unfailing mercies in those wonderful words."
Though waves and storms go o'er my head Though strength, and health, and friends be gone, Though joys be withered all and dead, Though every comfort be withdrawn, On this my steadfast soul relies, Father, Thy mercy never dies."Father, Thy mercy never dies!" Samuel Cadman's father was a devout, Spirit-filled Christian and in his darkest hour he found strength in the sure mercies of God. The love and mercy of God are an ocean that has no bounds. God's amazing love surrounds us in every circumstance of life. When the worst of life's calamities and heartbreaks crowd in upon us and our world seems to be falling apart, His mercies never die!
He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). As the Psalmist discovered, the Lord's goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6). Our faith and hope and trust are in the love and mercy of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Such a faith will hold us, assure us, strengthen us, and comfort us in the darkest hours. Today, tomorrow and every tomorrow what Samuel Parkes Cadman's father sang about so certainly in his hour of grief is still true. "Father, Thy mercy never dies!"
Herbert McGonigle is senior lecturer in historical theology, church history, and Wesley studies at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England. Holiness Today, July/August 2008