Kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace

Unexpected coincidences often amaze me, and leave me wondering if it’s God’s timing at work. I experienced one of those moments when I was reading the Additional Collect for this Sunday, The Fifth Sunday after Trinity. I looked at it soon after being tagged for the meme in my last blog post: Meme: what has God been teaching me? I was tagged by ElShaddai Edwards, and it was his response to the meme on his blog, “He is Sufficient”, that made me sit up and take notice when taken together with this Collect, or, at least, the phrase I’ve picked out to reflect on, “Kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace”.

ElShaddai talks about his conscience being pricked beyond the bounds of legalism. It sounds to me as though the Holy Spirit is moving him in a positive direction. I remarked in the comments on ElShaddai’s post about how easy I can find it to slip back into legalism, almost like a comfort blanket. When, really, the love and grace of God should be fulfilling that role for us.

And that’s really where I think the phrase, “Kindle in all who minister the gospel your countless gifts of grace”, comes in. Regular readers will probably not be surprised to see me thinking about “Love” again, I do it quite a lot. Whenever I’m preaching I always try to consider whether what I’m going to say fits with a God that loves each and every one of us as though we are the only to love. And if it doesn’t, then I have to wonder if it’s the right thing to be saying. I would be pretty hopeless as a “Fire and Brimstone” Preacher.

As ministers of the gospel I don’t think it’s a bad gauge for us to be measuring ourselves against, the Love of God. And even though I know I will frequently fall woefully short, it doesn’t mean I should stop striving towards that goal. All too often, though, I find myself clutching that comfort blanket of legalism.

You can probably tell from all this, that I’m a pretty mixed-up character at times. So this Collect will be a heartfelt prayer for me — especially when I’m preaching this Sunday.

Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Additional Collect for The Fifth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Help us to keep your law of love

Regular readers of this blog will start to think I’ve got a “hobby horse”, as so many of my posts seem to be about “Love”. I think it’s almost inevitable through the great period of Easter. But now we’re into the period the Church calls “Ordinary Time”, that long period of growth and deepening of faith in the Sundays following Trinity Sunday, and I’m still talking about love.

Most of the earlier posts on Love have been about God loving us, or us loving God; both, of course, very important. But this Collect seems to be, to my mind, talking about something entirely different; love of each other. The phrase, “law of love”, feels a bit awkward, though. Can we legislate for love? Surely, love, if it’s to mean anything, has to be freely given?

But, once you start to read the Gospel reading set for this First Sunday after Trinity, things begin to make far more sense. It comes from that great block of Jesus’ teaching known as “The Sermon on the Mount”:

Matthew 5:38-end

‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In these verses Jesus sets out the ideal that we should be striving to achieve. It’s a very high ideal, and certainly a very difficult one to achieve. But that shouldn’t stop us attempting it. After all, the higher we aim, the higher we will achieve. I think, currently, I fall a long way short — a long way!

However, there are people that have come close to the ideal set by Jesus in the sermon on the mount, even in our own period of history. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who’s eyes many people would have recognized above, is one particularly notable person in the last century. But we can also think about Pope John Paul II, the Polish Pope who was the catalyst that helped bring about the fall of Eastern European Communism; and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who helped to bring apartheid to the peaceful end that everyone thought was impossible. I’m sure you can think of many more.

So we can see that despite it being difficult to achieve, even close to, the ideal set by Jesus, it is possible — even by us weak human beings. Keep praying that God will help us to keep his law of love, and we may even find that one day, we, too, are getting close.

God of truth,
help us to keep your law of love
and to walk in the ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life
in Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.

Additional Collect for The First Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council