kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth

May we trust in your mercy and know your love

These lines from the Collect for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity — “May we trust in your mercy and know your love” — made me think of that wonderful hymn by Frederick William Faber, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy”. I’ve heard it said many times that we, Anglicans, learn a lot of our doctrine through our hymns; and I think that is certainly true of this particular hymn.

There was such a lot I was thinking of saying about trusting in God’s mercy and knowing his love. But the words of the hymn say it all for me; and far better than I could. Please, read the words, take them to heart, and trust in their truth.

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
  Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in his justice,
  Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
  Are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
  Have such kindly judgement given.

For the love of God is broader
  Than the measure of man’s mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
  Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make his love too narrow
  By false limits of our own;
And we magnify his strictness
  With a zeal he will not own.

There is plentiful redemption
  In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
  In the sorrows of the Head.

There is grace enough for thousands
  Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
  In that upper home of bliss.

If our love were but more faithful,
  we should take him at his word;
and our life would be thanksgiving
  for the goodness of the Lord.

Frederick William Faber (1814-1863)

Incidentally, Faber spent a few years as Rector of the Parish of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, just up the road from where I live. That was before he converted to Roman Catholicism, and moved to Birmingham in 1847. You can read more about Frederick William Faber on the Ely Diocesan Website, HERE.

Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

When we prosper save us from pride

When compared with the society I live in, I would very definitely not be thought of as prosperous, and certainly don’t live in a house anything like the one pictured above. My circumstances would probably be closer to the next line in this Collect for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity — “when we are needy save us from despair”.

But, if the comparison is made with many millions of people around the world who live in a different society, I could be considered prosperous — I’m sitting here in front of a reasonably good computer; accessing the internet, which certainly isn’t free; I drive a car, not a particularly new one, but a car nevertheless; I know what I’m having for dinner later, and it won’t be especially difficult to prepare; and I’ve eaten a reasonably substantial lunch today; I have drinking water on tap; etc etc — I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture.

I think it’s all too easy for many of us to forget about the comparison talked about in the second paragraph, and only think about that in the first. I know, for myself, that that is something I do. So I’m usually much closer to the “despair” than the “pride”. But this Collect reminds us that both are wrong; and that we should put our trust in God alone. A great “ideal”, but not so easy to achieve.

In the book of Additional Collects, there are one or two prayers in each season that are designated to be suitable for use instead of that set for the day. This week’s is one such prayer. I guess that highlights the importance of what we’re praying for, ie learning to trust more in God, and also acknowledges the difficulty of doing so — especially for those of us in the developed world.

Let us, this week, at least, really pray this prayer:

Lord God,
your Son left the riches of heaven
and became poor for our sake:
when we prosper save us from pride,
when we are needy save us from despair,
that we may trust in you alone;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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