Bishop Eric Menees
This week's Collect
speaks to the freedom and grace that can only be found in Jesus Christ, and
which stands in opposition to the world around us. The world around us tries to
argue that there really is no sin - just poor choices. They argue that we are already
free, saying, “We are not sinners in need of salvation; we are children of God
who simply need correction and guidance.” The doctrine of original sin has been
replace by the philosophical construct that we are simply a tabula rasa - a
blank slate. Being neither really good nor really bad, we simply need good
parenting by a culture that is willing to take us by the hand and lead us to
some sort of government sponsored utopia.
I believe that, at
our core, we really know we are not a tabula rasa - we are fallen; selfish by
nature; wanting what we want, when we want it. I often use the following
example. Picture two lovely children from lovely families and homes. They are
both placed into a room that is light, and warm, and comfortable. There is no
furniture in the room they are in; they are alone save for two objects in the
center of the room: a lovely, shiny, colorful toy and a fork. One child gets
the toy, and one child gets the fork. How long do you think it will take for
the child with the fork to realize that with the use of the fork he can have
the toy as well? Do you know any very young child who would set down the fork
and say, "Oh please, you play with the toy, and when you are done perhaps
you'll allow me to play with it?" Or can you imagine the other very young
child with the toy saying, "Gosh this seems to be unfair; please, you take
the toy and I'll wait until you are done playing?" That child does not exist, because in our
nature we are sinners in need of salvation. Those children grow up and, no
matter how lovely and kind they are, they, like all of us, have a sinful side -
a side that seeks power and immediate gratification.
This Collect asks God
to set us free from the power of sin, free from the grip of our selfish nature,
and free to find our true freedom in the boundaries of a life in Christ.
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us, we
beseech thee, the liberty of that abundant life which thou hast manifested to
us in thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
You see here the abundant life that Jesus desires for us and
which he promised in John 10:10 - "The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly." Abundant life is available to us who place
our lives, our faith, and our trust in Jesus Christ. The thief, Satan, comes to
us in the voice of a culture that says we are perfect just the way we are. The
issue isn't our sin, it is our failure to accept the divine within us. The Lie
of Satan is attractive and tempting, but does not lead to freedom. Instead, it
leads to our bondage to the passions of our natural, sinful lives.
The good news is that
when we pray this prayer with a true and contrite heart, God hears and
responds. Jesus died on the cross so
that we can be saved from the penalty of our sin, and so that we may be freed
from the chains of sin that bind us down.
Thanks be to God for His love that comes to us and sets us
free. And to that I say...AMEN
Note: The "Notes to the church" articles are
written by Bishop Menees for the Diocese of San Joaquin. I have posted them on
Soundings with his permission for a wider audience. This is also the case for
his "Why I am an Anglican" series. Dale+
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