 |
| If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
|
L
|
ORD, we pray
thee that thy grace may always prevent[1] and
follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
|
H
|
ear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for
the Lord hath spoken. 16 Give glory
to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet
stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into
the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. 17 But if ye
will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride;
and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord's
flock is carried away captive. 18 Say unto
the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities
shall come down, even the crown of your glory. 19 The cities
of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be
carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. 20 Lift up
your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the
flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? 21 What wilt
thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to
be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail? (Jer 13:15-21)
As
we see in Jeremiah above, the grace of the Lord does not always seem inviting
and sweet – it is often manifested in hard chastisement. The greater the
departure from the Lord’s Table, the more severe the chastisement in bring us
back to it. The Lord covets the love of His people. When we go from out of His
care and loving guidance, His tears are shed in secret places. He knows how
purely vain we are in our pride. Our next breath depends upon His preservation;
yet, we act as if WE, not Him, are the masters of our fate and the captains of
our souls. (What a bloated poem was that of Mr. Henley). Like a child bent over
the knee of a loving father, we feel wronged, yet the father weeps more inward
tears than we.
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 that 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)?
[1]
Prevent is a word that has many uses, and at least one has fallen out of
general usage as time has gone on. This
is one of them. In this case the word
prevent means to go before. Before you object to archaic words, consider
this is a current word, it just has a use you may not have been aware of and
now you are! What a bonus for this week!
