If “Love Wins” were a Hymn…

I’m currently attending a wonderful church, connected to my seminary.  I love the way in which they represent the Anabaptist way of following Jesus, not giving into nationalism or violence.  They are a voice of peace, grace, and love.

I noticed this love recently in a hymn that was selected to sing.  I was so impressed that I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the song right out of the hymnal.

If “Love Wins” were a hymn…

Lyrics:

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

1. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in God’s justice,
Which is more than liberty.

2. There is welcome for the sinner,
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior;
There is healing in His blood.

3. But we make God’s love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify its strictness
With a zeal God will not own

4. For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of the mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

5. If our love were but more simple,
We should rest upon God’s word;
And our lives would be illuminated
By the presence of our Lord.
Lyrics: Frederick William Faber (1854)
Music: Lizzie Shove Tourjée

This might be the most beautiful hymn I’ve ever sung!  Love truly does win!  Of course, we could also recognize that the title of the hymn is also the title of the prolific book by the late Clark Pinnock.

How does this old hymn speak to you?  What other hymns or modern worship songs demonstrate the deep and wide love and mercy of God in Christ?