O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: The Fuel to Faithful Following
Sunday's sermon from John 21:15-25
In 1882, George Matheson (1842-1906) penned a hymn that the world over grew to love. At age 20, Matheson was engaged to be married but was going blind. When he told the news to his fiance, she opted to break off the engagement because she could not be married to a blind minister. He had a robust academic career ahead, many believing he would be the greatest theologian and minister of Scotland--he had already written two theology books before his blindness.
His sisters committed to taking care of him. As time went on, the primary sister who was caring for him married, leaving him saddened not only by the prospect of being alone but also dredging up the memories of his fiance jilting him. During these doldrums, Matheson penned this hymn titled, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.”
Reflecting on this hymn, George later wrote:
"My hymn was composed in the manse of Inellan on the evening of June 6, 1882. I was at that time alone. It was the day of my sister's marriage, and the rest of my family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something had happened to me which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high. I have never been able to gain once more the same fervor in verse."
The first verse reads as follows:
O love that will not let me go
I rest my weary soul in thee.
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
In this final passage in the Gospel of John, we see that Jesus’ love (as expressed in Matheson’s hymn) did not let Peter go. Peter bragged about his faithfulness, then betrayed Jesus when the stakes became too high for him. Peter may have thought Jesus was done with him, just like you may this morning—something you have said, done, or thought. I talked with my mom last night and told her the passage I was preaching on. She reminded me of Mark 16:7 when the angel at the empty tomb said, “Go tell the disciples and Peter…” They may have thought he was out as a disciple, but he wasn't. The world, our flesh, and Satan himself can take us down a path that looks good (faithful, even!) but what we see leads nowhere. Jesus is ready to restore and call us to focus, all the while preserving His testimony in His Word for us to refer back to and whose message we are to anchor ourselves.