Collect for Proper 6
I’m going to talk about Prayer Books this morning. Books, plural. There is a tie in to the propers for today that I’ll come back to later. As Episcopalians we cherish the Book of Common Prayer. It unites us and helps define us as a denomination. There is much to cherish in the rich and reverent language and in the way that “common” prayer, having the same prayers in common, brings us together as a parish community and with other Episcopalians throughout the country and beyond.
As an aside, since I’m in teaching mode, I’d also like to point out a unique aspect of our Book of Common Prayer. Something different from the books used for corporate prayer in other denominations. The Book of Common Prayer is deliberately designed to serve both as a source for our community, corporate prayers, also as a source of prayers for individual use. You should find the Book of Common Prayer not only in the pews of Episcopal churches, but also on the nightstands of individual Episcopalians.
But the Book of Common Prayer is not the only prayer book available for our use. There are other supplemental prayer books approved and available to us as Episcopalians. Like the BCP, they provide “common” prayers for denominational use and they draw upon the rich language and heritage of our Anglican tradition. One is the Book of Occasional Services. It is a resource for services used occasionally, but not universally in Episcopal parishes.
Just to introduce you to the Book of Occasional Services if you’re not familiar with it: It includes services for Advent and Christmas Lessons and Carols. We use the Christmas one. A service that is only occasionally celebrated but is a wonderful part of our heritage from the Church of England.
Some of the supplemental liturgical rites that we use during Holy Week come from the Book of Occasional Services… the agape meal, the watch in the garden, the foot washing.
All those little mini-liturgies that we do when we dedicate new vestments or a new banner or Sanctus bell… those are not made up by the Rector. They come from the Book of Occasional Services.
The special focus on healing that we use at the Wednesday Eucharist comes from the Book of Occasional Services. As does the service used by Lay Eucharistic Visitors when they take the sacrament out to those unable to be in church so that they can be included in our common worship.
And the service for the Blessing of a Home! How many of you knew we had an Episcopal service for the Blessing of a Home? A service where we pray that God will dwell in the home where we dwell. It’s a wonderful service, yet in almost 25 years of ordained ministry I can count on both hands the number I’ve been asked to do. In that service we pray that God will bless each room in the house… the living room, the dining room, the study, the garden, the bathroom, the bedroom… bless that space and bring blessing to the lives and activities of the people who dwell there. And bless the doorway and the people and the journeys that come and go.
So it was actually the Collect appointed for today that set me off on this train of thought. In that collect we pray that we may proclaim God’s truth with boldness and minister God’s justice with compassion. Unlike many of our collects where we pray that God will comfort or heal or guide us individually, in this collect we pray that we may fulfill the mission of the church. I like the simplicity and the forcefulness of this collect. Supported by God’s love, sustained by God’s grace, we pray that we may proclaim God’s truth with boldness and minister God’s justice with compassion.
I had the opportunity this past week to participate, just as a guest, in a service for the installation of a new rector at a parish in the diocese. Those are fun celebrations. They can, however, sometimes be rather inward looking, focusing primarily on the rector’s ministry within the parish and the internal relationships of the parish community. This service, however, was intentionally outward looking, focusing also on the parish’s ministry outside its walls in the surrounding neighborhood.
As a part of this service we said a Litany for the Mission of the Church (from the Book of Occasional Services.) It’s a litany we pray far too occasionally. Listen to some of the intercessions.
Savior, deliver us. From blind hearts and petty spirits, that refuse to see the need of all humankind for your love.
What is it in our lives blinds us to other peoples’ need for God’s love? What enables us to deny or ignore the profound value of God’s love in other people’s lives? What blindness, what petty selfishness insulates us from the needs of others?
Savior, deliver us. From pride, self-sufficiency and the unwillingness to admit our own need of your compassion.
Often one of the biggest stumbling blocks to seeing others’ need for God’s love is the failure to admit our own need. I can do it. I have everything I need. I am strong enough, smart enough… to manage. I don’t need anyone’s help or compassion.
Savior, deliver us. From ignorance, apathy, and complacency that prevent us from spreading the Gospel.
In my experience and observation, apathy is the big one. We just don’t care enough about the Gospel to spread it… to proclaim God’s truth with boldness as the collect says.
And then the Litany continues with intercessions for the gifts of ministry. And we need to pray to be given those gifts. It is only when we ask God for the gifts of ministry that we can do the ministry to fulfill the mission of the church.
O God, we pray for the gifts of ministry.
Inspire our minds with a vision of your kingdom in this time and place.
Touch our eyes, that we may see your glory in all creation.
Touch our ears, that we may hear from every mouth the hunger for hope and stories of refreshment.
Touch our lips, that we may tell in every tongue and dialect the wonderful works of God.
Touch our hearts, that we may discern the mission to which you call us.
Touch our feet, that we may take your Good News into our neighborhoods, communities, and all parts of the world.
Touch our hands, that we may each accomplish the work you give us to do.
O God, we pray for the gifts of ministry that we might fulfill the mission of the church. Amen.
