Follow faithfully
Almighty and merciful God, it is by your grace alone,
that your people are able to serve you;
grant that we may so faithfully follow you in this life,
that we fail not finally to attain your heavenly promises,
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
In today’s collect the invocation is to the “almighty” God. God’s dealings with his people throughout history left no room for them to believe anything but that he is “almighty”. He created everything out of nothing; despite the “death” of Sarah’s womb, he fulfilled his promise to Abraham; “with a mighty hand” he redeemed his people from bondage in Egypt…the list can go on and on.
God’s might was demonstrated not just during fighting with Israel against her foes, but sometimes it seemed like God was against his own people. The Lord who brought his people out of Egypt “with a mighty hand” (Daniel 9.15) now stands against his people’s sin and apostasy. He kept his part of the covenant, but Israel did not, and now “the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out” on her (Daniel 9.11). The scene is as depressing: a graveyard in a pitch-black night.
However, the good news is that God is not just mighty, he is also merciful. God’s righteous judgement of his people’s sin is not his final word. The Lord speaks his final word: “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life (Ezekiel 37.5-6). The merciful God does not leave the dry bones or give up on them but breathes life in them once again and they stand up “on their feet — a vast army” (Ezekiel 37.10). It is only by God’s mercy and grace that these dry bones are now full of life again.
This collect sums up these facts in just a few words. Having its origin in the Sacramentary of Leo — one of the oldest sources of Catholic liturgy — the collect did not undergo significant alterations at the hand of those who translated it from Latin. However, Thomas Cranmer, the English Reformer, found it necessary to add “only” after grace (Cranmer’s original reads: Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh, that…). We are reminded through today’s collect that nothing can bring dry bones into life except the grace of our merciful Father.
As individuals we might feel like our spiritual life is a failure; sometimes it is marriage, parenting, pastoring a church, or even life in general. Corporately too — we could look at our local church, denomination, or even country and see nothing but dry bones. This collect reminds us to run to God’s promises rather than depend on our ability or despair from the status quo.
Our service to God and neighbour is empowered by the grace of God. It is seen in light of the true and faithful Son and servant of God who offered his life as a “full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice” for us. So, as those loved by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and revived by the Spirit, let us serve our almighty and merciful God. It is this almighty and merciful God that “works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose” (Philippians 2.13). And when we feel like dry bones, let us pray with Augustine: Give what you command and command what you will!
So pray this with me:
Almighty and merciful God,
it is by your grace alone,
that your people are able to serve you;
grant that we may so faithfully follow you in this life,
that we fail not finally to attain your heavenly promises,
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.