Proper 23A SJHC
In the 1928 Prayer Book today’s
collect is prayed on the 17th Sunday after Trinity and reads, “Lord,
we pray 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.” This prayer
was sent by Pope Gregory the Great with St. Augustine to Canterbury in 597,
over 1500 years ago. “Prevent” comes
from the Latin “praevenio” to come before.
“Prevenient grace” is a theological term
for God’s grace given to all people to prepare
us to receive and respond to the gospel. The gospel is good news of Jesus’ death on the cross which set us
free from slavery to sin and Jesus’ resurrection to offer us new life in him in
the truth and power of the Holy Spirit.
Article
Ten of the Article of Religion tells us, “. . . we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God,
without the grace of God by Christ preventing us (going before us), that we may
have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.”
In the
section on the sacraments our church catechism page 857-858 says this, “The sacraments are outward and
visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and
certain means by which we receive that grace. Grace is God’s favor towards us,
unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs
our hearts, and strengthens our wills.”
God’s
prevenient grace comes before our conversion and prepares us to receive and
respond to the good news of Jesus’ death on the cross which set us free from
slavery to sin and Jesus’ resurrection to our new life in him in the truth and
power of the Holy Spirit. When we
respond to the good news in faith we begin to receive the continuing grace of
God. Our sins are forgiven, our minds spiritually enlightened, our hearts
stirred and our wills strengthened to know and do God’s will in our lives.
We call
that response “conversion” or “being saved.”
The response is not automatic or universal. God’s prevenient grace,
God’s call, is universal. God calls us all. God’s grace makes it possible for
everyone to respond. But God’s creation includes free will. We have to choose
to hear the call and respond to it.
Baptism
and the eucharist are the biblical means of grace, the ways God has given us to
know his grace and to grow in his grace. Most of us have been blessed to be
born into families that knew God’s continuing grace and brought us to baptism.
In baptism we are made members of the spiritual body of the crucified and
resurrected Jesus. As St. Paul tells us in the epistle to the Romans, we are
grafted in to the body as a tree is grafted into a root. We are made God’s children by adoption and
grace. In the eucharist we give thanks. Efharisto
is the Greek word for “I thank you.” We give thanks for the death and
resurrection of Jesus and for the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us by
faith. We offer ourselves in God’s service, and we are spiritually fed and
strengthened in that service by the bread and wine which are for us the life
giving body and blood of Jesus.
God’s
grace, “God’s favor towards us, unearned and undeserved” us such a wonderful
gift that it is hard to understand why everyone does not accept it. . Our sins
are forgiven, our minds spiritually enlightened, our hearts stirred and our
wills strengthened to know and do God’s will in our lives. Why is it so hard
for us to receive this wonderful grace, and to continue in it?
Today’s
bible readings suggest four reasons why it is hard for us to receive this
wonderful grace, and to continue in it. First,
some have not heard this good news. God trusts Christ’s body the church to proclaim
the good news. Some have not heard because as someone said, “what you do is so loud
I can’t hear what you say.” We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God. Some have been so injured by church
people clergy and lay that they are spiritually deaf. Second, some cannot hear because they are so culturally bound. Third, fear makes some deaf. Fourth, some are so immersed in the
immediate tasks of this life that we will not stop long enough to hear God’s
eternal call. Some are so caught up in sin that we are unable to repent and
receive God’s grace.
Fear: The
people of Israel escaped slavery in Egypt, followed Moses into the desert, were
fed by manna, watered from the rock. But when Moses was slow coming down the
mountain they got scared. Clergy can fear like everyone else. Aaron the priest
made the golden calf. We “test the Church by the scripture.” Moses prayed for the people; pray for the
church that we may be faithful in preaching and serving Jesus.
Busyness: “. . . they
made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while
the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.” Some of us who have
responded to grace allow the urgent to distract us from the important. We need
continually to respond to God’s grace and seek to serve.
The wedding garment: Continual repentance
is a sign of grace filled life. Eastern Orthodox spirituality includes the
Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a
sinner.” We are sinners saved by God’s
grace in Jesus Christ. God grant us grace to live as we believe.
REPEAT
COLLECT.
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