My Song is Love Unknown (ELW 343, verse 1)
1 My song is love unknown,
my Savior’s love to me,
love to the loveless shown
that they might lovely be.
Oh, who am I that for my sake
my Lord should take frail flesh and die?
Devotion
At Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, our children’s sermon is fittingly called “Points for Pilgrims.” At the end of each message, the preacher begins a call and response, “You are a dearly loved child of God,” and the congregation (with the children) responds, “and so are you.” Whatever the origin of this tradition, these are powerful words, not to be disregarded. Our Lenten hymn reflects on our deservedness of Christ’s action on the cross for the sake of us and our broken world. It is a common sentiment of Lent to encourage us to ponder our shame and unworthiness of God’s love and sacrifice. But even so, we can know that we are the dearly beloved children of God, and even in Lent feelings of unworthiness and shame must never get in the way of truly hearing this Good News. Christ’s love is not a love of shame or guilt, but one of pure joy—freely given to all.
Prayer
Triune God, thank you for calling us as dearly loved children of God. Let us hear those words as truth. Amen.