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| Follow Me! |
The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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L
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ORD, we pray thee that thy grace may
always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good
works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
10 For
precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon
line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith
ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not
hear. 13 But
the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they
might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (Isaiah
28:10-13)
Today’s Collect reminds me of a fundamental principle of learning – there are
others, but this one is applicable to today’s Collect. That principle is
“repetition aids retention”. It was one of those laws with
which I became intimately familiar and one which I employed to great effect in
my career in the training and education of military aviators. A maneuver often
repeated will be remembered easily. A certain rule of meteorology, or of
aerodynamics, often repeated and tested, will be retained over the lifetime of
the military pilot. The Bible itself is a monument to this principle. We see
the same principles of salvation, redemption, sanctification, etc, featured in
multi-faceted accounts throughout the Holy Bible, and much to our profit. The
same is true of the Collects which are, themselves, based on scriptural truths.
I once read of an event in the ministry of the great Charles Spurgeon in
England. Mr. Spurgeon had given the exact SAME sermon four Sundays in a row.
Frustrated and a bit indignant, one of the congregants asked him if he was
aware he had given the same sermon four Sundays running. “Yes, I am aware of
it,” responded Spurgeon. “But why the same sermon four times?” asked the
congregant. “That is simple to explain,” replied Spurgeon. “When you begin to
heed the sermon, I will go on to the next.”
LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us
It is a mighty comfort to know that God’s grace not only follows in the wake of
our service as the people of God, but even PRECEDES (another
meaning of prevent) the Elect in his/her daily walk. We do not worry about
walking down a darkened path upon which the Lord has set our foot, because we
KNOW that He is ever both BEHIND and BEFORE us. He is as the Pillar of
Cloud by Day, and Pillar of Fire by Night, to both lead
and follow His people in the Wilderness journey of this world. If God places
our feet on a path, we must go the distance in faith no matter the utter
desolation along the way. I am reminded of a quote by the scientist, Robert
Jastrow (an agnostic at best) who ironically wrote in his book, God and
the Astronomers: “For the scientist who has lived by faith in the
power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains
of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over
the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting
there for centuries.”
“…..and make us continually to be given to all good works.” How
can we be “given to good works?” It must have become
a feature of our changed nature at the moment of conversion, and the
sanctification that is to follow that conversion. It is the empowering genius
of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, our salvation is none of our own doing, but the
pure and whole work of grace; yet, the evidence of our salvation is the good
works and purity of life that follows the soul’s salvation.
Our revered and martyred Archbishop Cranmer translated this Collect from the
Sacramentary of Gregory. The Latin word from which he translated the word
‘continually’ is uigiter. This Latin word means “like
an overflowing stream.” The grace granted to us to be called the sons
and daughters of God is that same ceaseless grace that enables and directs our
paths in righteous living. It is a sanctifying grace that continually refines
our souls as the Refiners Fire. It never ceases, never becomes inadequate – but
is ALWAYS profuse and wonderful in abundance. Lord, gives us that grace that
inspired the early church to stand against a world of ignorance and
superstition. Is the world so
different today from that of the first century Romans?
An army in the field needs certain provision. It needs, first of all, a
logistical train that follows in its path. But even more important: it needs a
leader to go before. The Captain of the Corps sets the standard in courage,
resourcefulness, perseverance, and conduct. We have the resources of heaven
upon which to call for our supply and logistical base, and we have the Lord
Jesus Christ as the Captain of our souls who has already scouted out, mapped,
and led the way to the field of battle. He stands as the Ensign at the extreme
edge of the Battlefield urging us, not to go, but to FOLLOW
Him! What a wonderful God, and magnificent Lord who both leads and follows!
Have you called upon that abundant provision of God? Have you looked to the
Field Commander as your inspiration and courage to advance against the enemy
(Satan and his legions)?
