There was a song sung by George Strait that I always thought would be the basis for a great sermon. It was one of those ideas I had tucked away and never got around to using. Last month at the Texas District LWML Convention, our LCMS Texas District President, Michael Newman, used that song as part of his message, and he nailed it. The song is “Love Without End, Amen.” It is also known as “A Father’s Love.”
The song starts with a boy coming home after getting in a fight at school. He is afraid of what will happen when he tells his dad about it. The refrain is the father’s reply. President Newman did something you can get away with in Texas. He asked the congregation to sing the refrain with him, and almost everyone present did!
And he said, “Let me tell you a secret, about a father’s love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
He said daddies don’t just love their children every now and then
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen”
The song writer goes on to describe his own child being just like him, and that he shared the same words with his son. And then he makes the connection to our heavenly Father.
Last night I dreamed I’d died and stood outside those pearly gates
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake
If they know half the stuff I done they’ll never let me in
Then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again
And they said, “Let me tell you a secret, about a father’s love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
You see daddies don’t just love their children every now and then
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen”
Our heavenly Father does know what we’ve done and that we are not deserving of heaven. But His love led him to restore us to the position of being able to spend eternity with Him. This was not because we tried hard or did our best, but because God did what was necessary to make it possible.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
It was God’s love, the Father’s love, that send Jesus to be our Savior. He paid the penalty our sins deserved. He did what was needed for us to be forgiven. When you put your faith in Him, you get eternal life. That love of God has even more blessings for those who believe.
1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
And a little later in that same chapter:
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
You and I know that love without end. Amen.
