Katherine Hankey

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
Acts 1:8

I Love to Tell the Story LBW 390

1    I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
      of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
      I love to tell the story, because I know it’s true;
      it satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.

Refrain

      I love to tell the story; I’ll sing this theme in glory
      and tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.

2    I love to tell the story: how pleasant to repeat
      what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet!
      I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
      the message of salvation from God’s own holy word.  Refrain

3    I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
      seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
      And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
      I’ll sing the old, old story that I have loved so long.  Refrain

Text: Katherine Hankey, 1834-1911

      Kate Hankey daughter of a wealthy banker, lived a life of middle-class comfort in London.  As a Christian, she made it her mission to organize Bible studies for the “factory” women who lived in London at that time. The first 30 years of her life were marked by these efforts. But then she fell ill with a serious disease in her early 30’s, and doctors told her that in order for he to survive, she would need at least a year of bed rest. She despaired because she also had to stop organizing and leading Bible Classes.  During her long, painful recovery, she wrote two poems.  The first, “The Old, Old Story” was an instant success.  The second, “I love to tell the story” became the source for the lyrics of this famous hymn.

      Ten months after her recovery, she was finally permitted to continue organizing her Bible classes among London’s working poor.  When she was considered too old to go out into the streets and organize Bible classes for the working poor, she spent the rest of her life organizing Bible classes in the local prisons. She continued to tell the old, old story until she died.

Prayer: We so often grow weary, or think we are ill suited, to tell the story of Jesus.  But the story is old, familiar and life giving.  So, give us the power and the will, to be like Kate Hankey and just tell that story in all of its power and simplicity to others, for all of our lives, so that they may know it and tell it to others, and the world be blessed in its telling.  Amen.