January 24, 2005

“Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life”
by Pastor George Van Alstine

At the end of the nineteenth-century, New York City was already the major symbol of the increasing urbanization of human populations worldwide. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, cities had become magnets to those who were trying to improve their lot in life. But together with the opportunities to succeed came greater opportunities to fail. Social upheaval led to many of the problems we identify with cities today.

Rev. Frank M. North, an Episcopal minister, felt God’s call to serve the Lord in New York City. In 1892 he became part of the denomination’s New York Missionary Society and editor of the Christian City, a periodical about urban church growth. He walked the streets and touched the people, so that the city’s needs became near to his heart. In 1903 he wrote a hymn which is in many hymn books today. It expresses well the call of the city’s people to a Christian’s conscience.
Where cross the crowded ways of life
Where sound the cries of race and clan,
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Thy voice, O Son of man!

Living in New York City, North was certainly familiar with “the crowded ways of life.” Forced together, these varied ways of living frequently “crossed” each other. Sometimes this resulted in “cries of race and clan,” as people threw racial slurs at each other. The big city is also characterized by “selfish strife,” as everyone is competing for available jobs, housing, etc.
In haunts of wretchedness and need,
On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From paths where hide the lures of greed,
We catch the vision of Thy tears.

In the urban struggle, some are left behind and live in “wretchedness and need.” Perhaps North’s most haunting line is “shadowed thresholds dark with fears.” We can picture all those isolated individuals who live in tiny inner-city tenement apartments. They feel powerless and vulnerable as they pass their days and wait for death.

The main point of North’s hymn is that the dark heart of an urban center is where the light of the gospel can shine most brightly. No matter how noisy the city gets, “we hear Thy voice, O Son of Man.”
O Master from the mountain side,
Make haste to heal these hearts of pain,
Among these restless throngs abide,
O tread the city’s streets again;

North calls Jesus to come “from the mountain side,” a pastoral place where he may quietly teach his disciples, and to descend to the place where “hearts of pain” cry out for healing. His prayer is that Jesus will “tread the city’s streets again.”

The final stanza affirms that God has not given up on the city. In fact, the eternal reality will be a glorified heavenly city:
Till sons of men shall learn Thy love
And follow where Thy feed have trod:
Till glorious from Thy heaven above
Shall come the city of our God.

I wonder why evangelical churches are abandoning America’s big cities in a rush to build state-of-the-art super-churches in the newest suburban development?