Silent Night-The Old Rugged Cross
By
Bill Dagle
There are two hymns that were played for the first time on the guitar: one out of
convenience and the other out of necessity. The Old Rugged Cross vibrated to life in
1913 reminding us of the finished work of salvation. Silent Night quietly ushered in the
Christmas Eve of 1818 describing so well the “fullness of time” of the Father’s plan.
Both have been sung and played down through the ages, becoming the musical bookends
of God’s glorious gift of His Son. Both songs supply us with a verbal picture of the
beginning and the completion of our salvation in Christ.
George Bennard would author the words and music for The Old Rugged Cross,
while in the birth of Silent Night, two men, Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber, would share
the honor. Bennard strummed the strings at his kitchen table in Albion, Michigan, with
an audience of only one, his wife. Mohr and Gruber played their song for the first time
before the congregation of the church a ST. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria. Bennard, the
Methodist evangelist, had found inspiration for his song in a vision of a cross, a
bloodstained, old wooden one. For the Catholic priest, Mohr, his inspiration came from
visiting the humble cottage of a poor woodcutter to bless a newborn baby. A vision of
another birth and a wooden manger welled up in his heart and mind on the way back to
the church. Arriving home, he put on paper what his heart was saying. Gruber, the
church organist, would now have the privilege of composing the music for this newborn
song.
These two great hymns have traveled around the world from their humble
beginnings. The Old Rugged Cross gained popularity through the efforts of Billy
Sunday, the great evangelist, and his song leader, Homer Rodeheaver, as Rody would
share the song along the “sawdust trail.” Silent Night began its journey through the
curiosity of the organ repairman who fixed the broken organ at St. Nicholas, explaining
why a guitar was used that Christmas Eve. From there, the repairman gave the song to
the Stasser family folk singers, who passed it on the Rainers, another Austrian family
group, who eventually brought the song to America.
Both hymns have stood the test of time because of the message captured within
the notes and lyrics. In a way, they are the bookends of the Christmas message. From the
Silent Night that witnessed His quiet arrival to the raging afternoon that saw the agony of
The Old Rugged Cross, Jesus was born to die. The gift of eternal life because of a sinless
death is the message of Christmas. The challenge now is what we do with this message,
either receive and live for all eternity or reject and be lost for all time. The decision is
yours.
