Persevering in the Faith: A Sermon for Proper 24

One part of our liturgy that we oftentimes overlook is the Collect of the Day. While at least one of our scripture lessons will get addressed in the homily, the Collect of the Day comes and goes very quickly.

I first began to appreciate the depth and breadth of the Collects when I developed the practice of praying Morning and Evening Prayer every day. In that case, the Collect of the Day, which is introduced in worship on Sunday, is then prayed as many as 13 more times that following week. So, by the end of the week, that collect has been the one consistent, constant thing in our morning and evening common prayer. As such, it can work on us in profound ways - particularly if we agree with the Anglican axiom that “our praying shapes our believing.”  

So today, I’d like to focus my homily on our Collect of the Day. Let me read it again – and if you’d like to read along, it can be found on page 183/235 in the red Book of Common Prayer in your pew rack.

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name…

I’ve always struggled with the phrase “preserve the works of your mercy.” It almost seems to imply scarcity, as if God’s works of mercy are like a natural resource that is scarce, and therefore needs to be preserved. And this perceived scarcity goes against my belief that God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. Our scriptures time and time again tell us that with God, there is always enough love, mercy, and grace to go around. So, if that is what we believe, why would we need to ask God to set aside - or “preserve” - some works of mercy? Would it be “just in case” God runs out of mercy one day?

Perhaps the reason that this prayer caught my attention is because of the constant message of scarcity with which we are being bombarded in the news these days. Grocery store shelves are once again in risk of being bare. Christmas is going to be ruined this year because there won’t be enough toys – for children and adults - due to supply chain issues.

There is also a scarcity of labor – particularly in the medical profession and service industry. All of this scarcity creates an atmosphere of anxiety, blame, and negative energy. In a country and culture of immediate gratification and bigger, faster, better, and more, scarcity is indeed a crisis, whether perceived or real.

Perhaps that is why the first clause of the Collect of the Day for Proper 24 has always bothered me. The secular world operates in scarcity economics and politics, whereas God operates in abundance in all areas of life. From the creation story to the Revelation to John, - and all the stories in between - our God is a God of abundance. So why would God have to “preserve” God’s works of mercy?

When we say “All things come of thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee” at the Presentation of the Gifts at the Offertory, we are proclaiming that out of God’s abundance comes our own. We are faithfully and boldly proclaiming that as God’s people, we are a people of abundance, and as such, we are not afraid to give back to God what God has given us. It is a profoundly important part of our worship service every week, and it is deeply countercultural – dare I say even radical in the scarcity-obsessed world in which we live.

So, we give out of our own abundance as a gracious response to God’s abundance, and my experience has been that to give from a position of gratitude for God’s abundance is so much more joyful than giving out of position of perceived scarcity. In other words, I don’t want us to give to the to the church in order to simply preserve what we have, or keep the bills paid. That to me doesn’t sound like life changing, transformative mission and ministry. That to me doesn’t sound like the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That sounds like a Historic Preservation Society.

But both as an English Major in college and as a seminary student, we were always reminded to keep reading the entire text before we make any final decisions as to its meaning. And such is the case for our Collect of the Day.

So let us examine the second clause of the Collect: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name…

This is a brilliant play on words, as it lifts up the tension between preserving and persevering. I believe that both missionally and pastorally speaking, perseverance is much bolder and more faithful than preservation. I am much more drawn to a God and to a Church that empowers me to persevere than a God or a church that is merely trying to preserve what is already there. Perseverance points to transformation and new life in the face of adversity. Preservation points to fear of change and a lack of willingness to step out in faith.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a wedding here at Christ the King. It was abundantly clear to me and everybody here just how much in love this young couple was – and it was a beautiful thing to behold. But as wonderful and romantic as this was to witness, I reminded the couple that love that is grounded in our own capacity to love can only go so far. This was not a reflection on them as people, but a reflection on the limitations of human love.

As happy as they are now, in order to stay with it for the long haul, their marriage – and all marriages - will need to be grounded in the love that can only be found in Jesus Christ. That love will not only preserve what they already have, it will allow them to persevere through what life will throw at them in the years to come. And it is God’s abundance that will sustain them, not their own. Marriage is about God’s persevering love being shared with us so that we can experience and share it with one another.

Over the past 19 months through the covid-19 pandemic, Christ the King has been a Church that chose to abide in God’s persevering love. We didn’t hunker down and try to preserve what we have. We did quite the opposite. We created a new full-time position for children’s and youth ministry, built a new school building, renovated our education building, and we have more projects in line to complete. We chose to believe that our God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. We chose to abide in God’s persevering love. As our Collect of the Day so beautifully says, we are a church that has persevered through steadfast faith in the confession of the name of Jesus Christ. And it is a joy to serve in a church that chooses to persevere rather than preserve.

Let’s continue to operate out of a theology of abundance and perseverance as opposed to a theology of scarcity or historic preservation. Through life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has called us to something much more profound than mere preservation. We are called to persevere in our proclamation that with God, there is always enough love, mercy, and grace to go around. And we are called to persevere in our proclamation that that none of this would be possible on our own. Our own goodness isn’t good enough. It is Jesus Christ who empowers us to persevere in God’s abundant love. And that is why we persevere in our proclamation that Christ is King. Amen.