Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 103

Benedic, anima mea

( . . . )

8. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy : long-suffering, and of great goodness.

9. He will not alway be chiding : neither keepeth he his anger for ever.

10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.

11. For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth : so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him.

12. Look how wide also the east is from the west : so far hath he set our sins from us.

13. Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children : even so is the Lord merciful unto them that fear him.

( . . . )

The Collect.

O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing 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.

{***Cranmer’s 1549 version: “O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us abundantly  thy grace, that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”***}

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 26.12-19

Psalter: Psalm 63, 64 | 54, 55

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 15.1-11

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 18.9-14

Barbee and Zahl: “The prayer discloses an insight concerning God’s character which is of great importance. God is said here to declare His almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity. This gets to the heart of the Gospel question. It is a question to which our blessed Reformers gave their absolute all (and sometimes their bodies to be burned) in seeking to hear the answer: Is God primarily wrathful or is He primarily gracious (i.e., merciful)? More precisely, is God going to estimate me according to my deservings (Heaven forbid, at least if I am honest!) or according to  some other standard of undeserved compassion? What, at the end of the day – at the end of my days – is God like? This prayer makes the unambiguous and quite un-complex assertion that God demonstrates power primarily in pity. This is too much for my “natural man.” Yet I ache for it through every fibre. In an age when power and the acquisition (and abuse) of it is understood as the motivating force in human affairs – and every age, in fact, has marched somewhat to that devilish tune – this prayer stands in mighty contrast. It asserts a breathtaking alternative. God shows His power not chiefly in earthquake, fire, flood, nor in the starry sky and earth beneath, nor in signs and wonders; but in pity” (91).