It's a sad cliche, but when some people get old and sick, they get cranky. Such was the situation that eventually birthed one of the most beloved invitation hymns, "Just as I Am." No doubt you have watched Billy Graham crusades on television and heard this hymn featured as inquirers came forward. But there's a story behind the hymn. Its author, Charlotte Elliott, born in 1789, was enjoying a great life as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse, living in Brighton, England. She was popular in social circles where religion was not mentioned. But in her early thirties she became very ill and depressed.
One of her visitors at this time of trial was a noted evangelist from Switzerland. Dr. Caesar Malan. As he ate dinner with her and her family, Charlotte lost her temper, railing against God and family. Embarrassed, her family quickly left, leaving Dr. Malan alone with Charlotte. He didn't mince his words. He remarked that she was holding onto hate and anger because she had nothing else in the world to cling to. That's why she was sour, bitter, and resentful. She asked, "What's your cure?" He replied, "The faith you are trying to despise."
A few days later, she realized she needed to apologize to Dr. Malan. In doing so, she remarked that she needed to clean up some things in her life before becoming a Christian. The evangelist looked at her and said, “You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” That day, May 9, 1822, she prayed to become a Christian. Her sister said for the rest of Charlotte’s life, she cherished that date as “the birthday of her soul to true spiritual life and peace.”
One day about a dozen years later, in 1836, she was alone in her brother’s home while the rest of the family was out preparing for a fund-raising bazaar. As an invalid, there wasn’t much she could do there. But she started thinking about the day she prayed to become a Christian, coming “just as I am” to the Lord. The lyrics came to her almost effortlessly. That year they’d be published in was called “The Invalid’s Hymn Book,” which included 115 of her original works. The book was sold to raise money for a project of her brother, a pastor. He wanted to build a school for the children of poor pastors in Brighton, England.
Miss Elliott lived to be 82, writing about 160 hymns and marking her as one of England’s finest women hymn-writers. All that time, she endured sickness. One time she wrote (as you wade through it, remember it’s in the wordy prose of her era):
“He knows, and He
alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily
feelings of almost overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve
not to yield to slothfulness, depression and instability, such as the body
causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for
my motto, ‘If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross
daily, and follow Me.’”
Another time she wrote, “God sees, God guides, God guards me. His grace surrounds me, and His voice continually bids me to be happy and holy in His service just as I am.” It’s said that after her death, friends and family found in her personal papers more than a thousand letters from people around the world expressing how much “Just as I am” had meant to them. By the way, the tune that was eventually matched to Miss Elliot’s hymn-poem was composed by an American, William Bradbury, also known for composing the music for the lyrics of hymns like “He Leadeth Me,” “Jesus Loves Me,” “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” and “The Solid Rock.”
Who knows how many millions have responded to invitations to “come just as you are”? Even if you’re depressed, cranky, out of sorts, doubting…. God has seen it all. He says, simply, come: “Whoever comes to Me, I will never drive away” (John 6:37).
Choir with scenic background and words for sing-along:
George Beverly Shea (of Billy Graham crusades) sings:
So fascinating, Jeanne! Thank you for taking time and energy to put this intriguing and faith stimulating story together to encourage the rest of us. Perhaps it is especially interesting to me and Shari since we lived in Brighton, Sussex, UK for several years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to comment...loved being reminded of your ministry in England but didn't know it was Charlotte Elliot's hometown!
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