The
Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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O
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LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy
Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve
it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
15 What hath my beloved to do in mine
house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed
from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. 16 The LORD
called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise
of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are
broken. 17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath
pronounced evil against thee (Jeremiah 11:14-17)
Whether I apply the words of Jeremiah to my church, or to my nation, I cannot
pray for their success in wickedness and affronting the very God who blesses
them. We live in a nation whose foundation, like the church, rested upon God
and His Word. Long before we saw our freedoms in America begin to dwindle and vanish,
we saw our blessed Church fade and dwindle – overcome by the desires to be
accepted by the world and a cowardly reluctance to stand upon those truths that
made her great. Can I pray for her success in that regard? Can I pray for the
success of the leaders of our nation who embrace the filthy practice of
homosexual marriage and the murder of innocents before they ever see the beauty
of God's Creation bathed in sunlight? We are now harvesting the bitter fruits
of rejecting God as a nation and as a Church. Murder, abortion, vile sexual
sins, drug abuse, and alcoholism have grown up in our fields of infidelity. Our
children stagger in lost paths, while we revel in our faith in government to
the detriment of our faith in God.
The
Collect for the 16th Sunday after Trinity makes proper and
appropriate appeal to the only prayer we can truly utter for an apostate
church, society, and government. Our weak faith of today did not result from an
overly reliance upon government, but our overly reliance on government resulted
from our weak faith. The former bastion of freedom and liberty – the early
Church in America - failed to stand up when divorce began to grow
prolific, when the 1st Amendment right of children to pray at any
place (especially in school) was abrogated by a renegade judiciary, when the
Holy Bible was deemed too harmful for the exposure to children in public
schools, when abortion (more egregious even than the slaughter of millions in
Nazi death camps) became legal and even encouraged, and when high government
officials began to advocate for the right men to marry men, and women to marry
women. How far into the abyss can we sink ere we burst Hell wide open? So, can
I pray the Prayer Book Prayer for the President who has callously embraced the
sinful and opposed the righteous? Yes, for every word of the prayer is honoring
of God and calls any man in the office of President to be made aware of his
right path and to turn from any wickedness:
O LORD our Governor, whose glory is in all the
world; We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that being guided by thy
Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, and to all in Authority, wisdom and strength to know and
to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness; and
make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
This prayer calls for righteousness in the President, and should we (as Jonah)
be disappointed if he repents from the course he has embarked upon to evil?
Of course, before any President may leads us in righteousness, the
heart and soul of America must be open to Christ and willing to follow on a
righteous course. Whose duty is it to remind us our responsibilities and debt
to God? Is it not the Church – His beloved Bride who has committed spiritual
adultery? O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and
defend thy Church Before God will grant pity, we must ask it of
Him. We must ask in the same vein as 2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Does God seek to
hear the prayers of ALL people in a wicked land? No, not at all, but He DOES
seek to hear the prayers of those who are "called by my Name"
to humble themselves (have we?), and pray (have we?), and seek my face (have
we?), and "turn from their wicked ways (have we?). Only after this formula
shall God heal America. At present, we are NOT a righteous nation. At present,
we are not humble. At present, we are not a pure church in prayer. At present,
we still pursue a wicked path. But god WILL have pity and grant it for our
asking.
Do
you believe the America we have known can be safe without the special
benevolence and succor of God? "….because it cannot continue in
safety without thy succor." It cannot be so preserved without
it founding principles established in God for His Church.
If we
desire God's help, we must seek it admitting our sins and doing so in humility
and prayer. America must turn from the propagation of murder of babies and from
that "abomination that maketh desolate" spoken of by Daniel
the Prophet and by our Lord Jesus Christ! "….. preserve it
evermore by thy help and goodness." If we are serious in our
national repentance, we shall seek to be a good people so that we can be
helped, forgiven, and restored by a Good and Holy God. Have we drifted too far
from the share to be saved? Is the arm of the Lord ever shortened to save His
people? I exhort ever Reader of this letter to stand with that same courage of
men such as Patrick Henry in the beginning of our Liberties and stand upon the
Liberty of Christ and not of governments. There is no weapon fashioned by the
enemy of our souls that can stand against our Lord and Savior.
