Be delivered from your chains
Almighty God,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness,
we may be delivered from the chains of those sins
which in our frailty we have committed,
for the sake of Jesus Christ,
our blessed Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
The Collect is an earnest plea to God to do three things for us his beloved children who are painfully aware of our sinfulness.
First, we pray that God would “absolve us from our offences”— our sins, iniquities, and transgressions. This is based on the fact, not assumption, that we sin and that our sins are indeed offensive and odious to God. Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said that “Modern European global north moralities [are…] a morality that does not believe in human sinfulness and failure. It does not believe in forgiveness, it does not believe in hope.” Unfortunately that is a correct assessment of our culture today. The truth, however, is that we are sinners and our sins are not just actions that miss the mark that God set for us, our sins deeply offend our Triune God, the one who created, redeemed, and daily sustains us. Hence we desperately need to seek his forgiveness for our own present and eternal good by humbly praying in faith for his mercy which he promises us in Christ.
Second, we pray that God would deliver us “from the chains of those sins which in our frailty we have committed”. Martin Luther captured clearly the clingy and oppressive bonding that we have with sin when he wrote that “Original sin is in us like our beard. We are shaved today and look clean; tomorrow our beard has grown again, nor does it cease growing while we remain on earth. In like manner original sin cannot be extirpated from us; it springs up in us as long as we live." Outside of Christ, we are in bondage to sin. In Christ, sin still has a way of clinging to us and so we need the delivering and transforming power of Christ until we are fully and finally set free from “the power of canceled sin” at glorification.
Third, we pray that God would grant that these petitions “for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour”. Forgiveness and deliverance from our sin are only possible through faith in Christ because of his atoning death and resurrection for us. Again Martin Luther is helpful here: “When the devil throws our sins up to us and declares we deserve death and hell, we ought to speak thus: ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? Does this mean that I shall be sentenced to eternal damnation? By no means. For I know One who suffered and made a satisfaction in my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Where he is, there I shall be also.’”
Finally the Collect grounds these petitions on the “almighty” power and “bountiful goodness” of God revealed to us in Christ through his atoning death and resurrection. He is so powerful and bountifully good that he can forgive us all our sins no matter how heinous and he can deliver us from our sin no matter how strong it’s grip on us. That is indeed good news for us miserable offenders.
We must earnestly pray that God Almighty will grant England and the rest of the Anglican Communion an answer to this prayer for his name’s sake. Amen.
So pray this with me:
Almighty God,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness,
we may be delivered from the chains of those sins
which in our frailty we have committed,
for the sake of Jesus Christ,
our blessed Lord and Saviour.
Amen.