The
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, who declarest thy
almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such
a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may
obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The
Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity is beautiful as it is in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer; however, the
wording has been changed by the revisers of the 1662 and 1928 Prayer Books. The
change made from the original wording of the Gelasian Collect as accurately
translated by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer makes the prayer more legalistic than
graceful. The change occurs in the second clause of the prayer: "Mercifully
grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy
commandments." The translation of that phrase by Cranmer made our
reception of grace a matter of mercy and pity on God's part (there is no OTHER
part): "Give unto us abundantly thy grace, that we, running to
thy promises, etc, etc. This restores the grant of grace back
into the Hands that are the only ones capable of giving it. I will always
prefer to run to the promises of God rather than to His Commandments though I
love His Law.
Cranmer and the English Reformers wove the
lectionary together brilliantly to reflect the wide expanse of God's consistent
plan for man and his salvation from the Books of the Law, History,
Poetry, Prophets (Major & Minor), to the beauty and profundity of those
truths laid out and extended in the New Testament. The Old Testament mirrors
our inability to earn our salvation by way of perfect obedience and, so, the
Law is a curse to us. Perhaps this is why God ends His Old Testament books with
the word "curse": And he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse. (Mal 4:6) So, also,
does the Gospel text for today (Luke 18:9-14) fit nicely with God's desire to
see hearts thrown upon the throne of grace and mercy (as was that of the
publican) rather than, as the Pharisee, lifted up in prideful boasting and
self-righteousness.
If there was any great truth re-established
by the great Reformers of England, and Luther of Germany, was the fact that we
are not saved by the good works of our hands, but by GRACE alone! For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9) Martin Luther
fairly nailed the matter when he said, "Woeful sinners like you and me
are justified – made righteous – by our faith in Jesus Christ. Neither
"good" works nor the "intercession" of other sinful men can
save us from God's just wrath. Christ is our intercessor."
Looking at the Collect sequentially, we read of the greatest demonstration of
the powers of God – that of showing mercy and pity. Have you ever considered
the power of these two characteristics? A man who is hopelessly drowning in a
storm-tossed sea is incapable of showing pity to another victim of the billows
of the sea. He may FEEL pity, but he cannot SHOW it for he has his own troubles
keeping his head above the briny foam. We have all been, and some remain,
lost seaman in the waters of the sea. Abandoned by the vessel that afforded us
safety, we are lost in the dark waters. Only the trailing lights of the distant
ship's stern can we see. Now what power has such a person to show mercy or pity
to another in such a serious predicament? I aver that in our perils in the sea
of life, we are incapable until one greater than us shows mercy and pity to us.
He commands the waves of the sea to be at peace, He calms the ominous thunder,
and He raises a platform upon which our feet may be supported. This kind of
power to show grace, mercy, and pity is not available from any source other
than the Almighty God! If we have received it, we are more able to share it.
There was a time when our lifeblood was hot
and full of vigor. We danced upon the hills and valleys of life with the
enthusiasm and joy of youth. But what of the dark days that loom ahead when the
clouds return after the rain? We no longer have that unlimited reservoir of
youth to call upon. Our body no longer responds to the challenges of life. We
stumble and see darkly. Our friends have left the battlefield and we are often
alone with our crutches. Then what? Do we not have that same power to call upon
that visited us as a constant Maker while we were in our mother's womb? If we
have not that power, hope is forlorn; but, with that great Friend and Maker as
our constant companion, we need not fear the crumbling banks of Jordan Waters.
As we stand on the mysterious precipice of physical death, we may feel the
earth and sand settle beneath our feeble feet, the darkness is falling though
the day is Noon. The life breath is escaping our ability to draw it. What then?
If we have made our salvation sure in Christ, He will neither leave us nor
forsake us at that moment by the Waters of Jordan. Let the banks crumble and
the sands sink – He is there to lift up our sagging souls and bear us up on
wings as eagles. That great everlasting arm that guided Moses by the Red Sea
will not fail you either at that moment of your passage into His Presence. Do
you have assurance of that, Reader?
Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of
thy grace Please note
that none can receive or contain ALL of God's grace for it is a bottomless sea
for abundance. We need only a measure thereof. That measure of His grace
is like the slightest droplet from Calvary's Cross. That single droplet of the
Lord's Blood is sufficient for thee. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor 12:9)
Next, I prefer Cranmer's translation for
beauty and accuracy over that of the revisers of 1662: "Give unto us
abundantly thy grace, that we, running to thy promises."
It is far more biblically sound to run to the promises of God than to be so
self-righteous as to run the way of His Commandments. This in no way diminishes
our responsibility under God's Laws and Commandments, for we are held to their
standard in life, but we are not saved through our good works and obedience to
the Law. We are saved UNTO good works by grace, not BY them. We have no
native righteousness, so we must ask Christ to cover us with His own
righteousness imputed.
The
most powerful men, in my opinion, are strong gentlemen who possess the ability
to be bullies, but rather display great compassion and mercy under
circumstances that the world considers undeserving of such compassion and
mercy. The same is true of virtuous ladies who forgo the temptation to share a
tale or a bit of gossip on their prying neighbor and, instead, commend all that
is commendable in their neighbors' characters. Following is an excellent
example of gentlemanly compassion on the part of, arguably, the greatest
Commander this country has ever fielded: "Out reconnoitering one day
with a very partisan officer, Lee was shocked when the man exclaimed that he
wished all the enemy were dead. "How can you say that, General?" Lee
exclaimed. "Now, I wish that they were all at home attending to their
own business, and leaving us to do the same." After Appomattox, he
confided to a friend that had never seen a day when he did not pray for the
enemy. (Douglas Southall Freeman, R.E. Lee, a Biography, 1934)
All of the promises of God are promises of grace: "….may obtain thy
gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure."
Have we been tasked with hard labors and perfect obedience to the Commandments
of God ere He grants us His gracious promises? Not at all for that would not be
grace! It is by the agency of grace, mercy, and pity that the Lord looks to
sinners and publicans who lay their burdens down at His compassionate feet. If
we lay down our war books down by the riverside, just as the captive Children
of Israel hung their harps on the willows of Babylon, we shall study war no
more, but rather study peace, mercy, and grace. By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our
harps upon the willows in the midst thereof (Psalms 137:1-2) Little did
these men and women, lost in despair and forlorn of hope, realize that God had
already prepared a salvation for them and a return to Jerusalem through the
very man God called His anointed, Cyrus, who would not only send them home, but
pay their way as well. For every staggering calamity in the life of a
Christian, God has prepared a means of rescue. Do you believe that, Reader?
