A sermon my Mike Warren, Reader at St Paul's

on Sunday 26th September 2007

You shall call, and the LORD will answer;

You shall cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am !'” [Isaiah 58, v 9]

“A controlled explosion”

– Unpacking the Collect for the Twelfth Sunday After Trinity.

Have you seen that advert where people are packing their cars to go on holiday, only to have them explode when they try to shut the boot ? The screen is full of images of clothes, toys and bits of luggage flying all over the place while a fully-laden but uncluttered Toyota glides serenely past them, unscathed.

That Toyota is like the Collects – packed full of priceless wisdom, but unstressed and uncluttered. The trouble is, they often glide past us unnoticed because we've heard them so often. Today, I'd like to unpack the Toyota – in a sort of “controlled explosion”.

First of all, what is a Collect ?

Imagine that before every service a bowl was passed round the congregation and we were all invited to put in the deepest desires of our hearts. When the bowl was full, Murray would, in a single sentence, summarise the entire content and offer it to God.

THAT, in a nutshell, is what a Collect does – it sums up what we would like to say to God in the fullest detail but the shortest form .

“Almighty and everlasting God…”

That is to remind us of whom we have the privilege of addressing. There must be no “dead letters” or “not known at this address” about our praying.

“YOU are always more ready to HEAR than WE [are] to PRAY…”

Imagine waking up in the night and thinking we heard a noise downstairs. How we would hold our breath and strain our ears. Well, that's how the Collect imagines God – constantly straining his ears in the hope that someone, somewhere, wants to speak to him, share their hopes and fears and gratitude with him.

How disappointed he must be when no-one bothers to get in touch. Many parents whose children have ‘flown the nest' must be able to identify with that !

“ [YOU are always ready] to give more than either WE desire or deserve ;…”

God is a loving Father, not some grasping old skinflint out of whom the smallest gift must be wheedled or wept for. He is the millionaire who longs to share his wealth with all his family, and especially those whose resources are slender and needs great. He laughs with delight when we ask him for anything, and loves to give us more than we have the nerve to ask – and far more than any of us deserves .

We need to have God's loving nature firmly fixed in our minds. Only then can we understand what prayer is about.

Today, we are asking him for three things:

[1] “pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy…”

Without God's mercy, we perish. It is his mercy which guarantees our next breath !

[2] “forgive us those things of which our conscience is afraid…”

forgiveness flows naturally from God's mercy, and I like the way it is phrased – “those things of which our conscience is afraid” – much more specific than, say, “forgive us our trespasses [or “sins”]”. I'm sure we can all think of “things of which our conscience is afraid” – those memories of thoughts, words and deeds which still make us cringe or shudder when they come into our mind. These are the things we desperately need to be freed from – and who but God has the power to do it ? He also has the will !

Psalm 130, vv 3 – 4: “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,

O Lord, who could stand ?

But with you there is forgiveness ;

Therefore you are feared .”

We don't fear God because he is angry or fierce, we fear him because he alone can cleanse us from our guilt. We need, if you like, to keep on the right side of the saviour of our souls !

[3] “and give us those good thing which we are not worthy to ask..”

Once again, God's “ giving us good things ” springs from his mercy. Not one of us is good enough to approach God for anything

“but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord…”

another timely reminder of our need of humility when we approach the throne of God. Only Jesus is good enough of himself that God the Father will deny him nothing he may ask for. It is the same Christ who died on our behalf who asks on our behalf for those good things which we dare not ask for ourselves. Christ “mediates” for us; he is our heavenly “go-between”.

Imagine that God desperately wants to bless us, but our sins stand in his way. He is looking for a way to get around our lack of deserving when he Jesus, his “beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased”, catches his eye No words need to be exchanged. Jesus has already exchanged himself on the cross for all our guilt and shame.

For Jesus Christ's sake, God not only hears our prayers, he gives us more than we ask for – and his gifts are always good things, even if, at the time we think God has either not heard us at all, or, at worst, has answered as we deserved . We think that God has given us “a stone when we asked for bread or a snake when we asked for fish”.

There's a meditation which sums up the truth about God giving us more than we desire. It comes in various forms, but along these lines:

“I asked for strength

and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for wisdom

And God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity

And God gave me brawn and brain to work.

I asked for courage

And God gave me dangers to overcome.

I asked for patience

And God gave me situations where I was forced to wait.

I asked for love

And God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favours

And God gave me opportunities .

I received nothing I asked for.

but everything I needed .

My prayers were answered in full !”

Whenever we pray a Collect, we are asking, possibly unawares, for more than we realise. We desire good for ourselves and those we love, but God desires even better things – hence “I asked for… I was given …

I have a theory. “A Collect a day keeps the Tempter at bay.”

Not, perhaps, so much for the words but for the intention behind the words – and how God never fails to interpret that intention correctly. The Collects are a magnificent gift – but are we getting the full benefit of that gift. Perhaps they are a divine prescription from the great physician:

“Take one every morning and one at bedtime.”

If we did, what would be our spiritual state of health over a week, a month, a year, a lifetime ?

Tell you what, let's give it a go – God is so gracious that he gives us a printed copy of his medicine each week. Let's not let forget to take it, eh ?