The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity - 2014

The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.

Quomodo dilexi!

Psalm 119.97-104

97. LORD, what love have I unto thy law : all the day long is my study in it.

98. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies : for they are ever with me.

99. I have more understanding than my teachers : for thy testimonies are my study.

100. I am wiser than the aged : because I keep thy commandments.

101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way : that I may keep thy word.

102. I have not shrunk from thy judgements : for thou teachest me.

103. O how sweet are thy words unto my throat : yea, sweeter than honey unto my mouth.

104. Through thy commandments I get understanding : therefore I hate all evil ways.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service ; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

***Here is the 1549: “ALMYGHTIE and mercyfull God, of whose onely gifte it cometh that thy faythfull people doe unto thee true and laudable service; graunte we beseche thee, that we may so runne to thy heavenly promises, that we faile not finally to attayne the same; through Jesus Christe our Lorde.”

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 24.10-22

Psalter: Psalm 81, 82 | 73

Epistle Reading: Galatians 3.16-22

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 10.23-37

Toon: “This is most certainly a prayer that assumes that human beings are made in the image of God to be his servants not only in this life but in the age to come. They are creatures who by God’s mercy look forward to a rich, full and everlasting life in the kingdom of God, where their service of the Lord will be richer and fuller and progress from glory to glory. However, in this prayer is also the biblical assumption that the fullness and quality of the life to be enjoyed in the age to come is related to the type of life that is lived in this evil age.

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is addressed as the Almighty (the Sovereign, All-powerful) and as merciful (showing pity and love to the undeserving). Then, in bowing before his presence (by the device grammatically of the relative clause) his people remember that their vocation in this world, as Christians in the Household of God, is that they serve God fruitfully even as they daily pray, Thy will be done. Also they remember that their right serving of their God and Father is dependent upon his gift to them of grace, mercy, wisdom and strength. The little word only emphasises that they are wholly dependent on God’s help to serve him aright.

If the vocation of the creature is to serve the Creator, who is the Father and the Judge, in the name and merits of Christ Jesus, then it is most appropriate for the people of God to ask for spiritual strength to offer this service daily in the right mind and attitude and with appropriate fervour and consecration. Grant, we beseech thee, is an emphatic way of showing total dependence and asking for total help with the intention of offering complete service.

The end of man is to enjoy and glorify God for ever. The Gospels and Epistles place before Christian believers an array of promises of eternal life with rewards for those who, in this world and life, faithfully serve the Lord and their fellow men. Implied in the words of petition is a warning that we may fail to attain to the enjoyment of the content of the promises of heavenly bliss.

This prayer is offered not only through the one Mediator, Jesus Christ, but specifically through the merits of the same Lord, for the attainment of the promises is only possible by what he has done for us and for our salvation.

From the Epistle we learn of the centrality of Christ in the purposes of God and that it is in, with and through him that we have a right relation with the Father through the Holy Ghost.

From the Gospel we learn that loving God also requires the loving of the neighbour and who in reality and fact the neighbour is” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/the-bcp/thirteenth-sunday-after-trinity).