Bishop Eric Menees
As we continue our examination of the Service of Holy
Eucharist in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer (BCP,) we transition from the
Absolution to the Offertory with the Comfortable Words of Jesus. For those
familiar with the 1928 BCP these words will be familiar and have been inserted
again into the 2019 BCP as part of the uniqueness of our Anglican tradition and
liturgy.
The Comfortable Words
The Celebrant may then say one or more of the following
sentences, first saying
Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15
If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2
This week I’d like to share with you a piece by William J.
Martin in the September 3, 2015 edition of The Anglican Way Magazine commenting
on the 1928 BCP using the language of the King James Bible.
“The Comfortable Words are one of the most cherished parts
of the classical Anglican liturgy. It is not unusual to see people mouthing the
words along with the priest, speaking them to themselves and God in their
hearts whilst he recites them aloud. However, despite their popularity and
familiarity, their meaning can be somewhat difficult to understand. This is the
case with the last set of Comfortable Words, which comes from St. John’s first
epistle (ii. 1,2). It reads: Hear also what Saint John saith. If any man sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the
Propitiation for our sins. The inclusion of the word propitiation can make it
hard to grasp the meaning of what is being said. So, what does this word mean? Why
is it so important that it is said at each service of Holy Communion?
In his excellent book, Knowing God, the venerable
evangelical Anglican theologian and scholar James I. Packer, masterfully
unpacks the meaning and spiritual significance of the word propitiation. To
propitiate means to avert God’s anger by the offering of a sacrifice. Thus,
when in the Comfortable Words we quote the passage from St. John, Hear also
what Saint John saith. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the Propitiation for our sins, we are
saying that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for sin that has averted God’s wrath
against us. One sometimes hears priests recite that passage in the following
way: And HE is the propitiation for OUR sins. This emphasizes that Jesus
satisfies the wrathful indignation of God against all sin. Jesus’ sacrificial
offering of himself on the Cross of Calvary not only takes away our sins, but
also appeases and transforms God’s wrath into forgiving love.
Some modern translations of the bible have replaced the word
propitiation with the word expiation. What, if anything, is the difference?
According to Dr. Packer the difference is that expiation has only half of the
meaning of propitiation. He writes, Expiation is an action that has sin as its
object; it denotes covering, putting away, or rubbing out sin so that it no
longer constitutes a barrier to friendly fellowship between man and God.
Propitiation, however, in the Bible, denotes all that expiation means, and the
pacifying of the wrath of God thereby. (Knowing God, p. 163-164. Packer’s
emphasis) This is an important difference.
The Bible speaks of God as having wrath against man for his
sins. In Romans 1:18 St. Paul writes, For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness. We should take sin very seriously because it makes God
angry. The wrath of God is not an arbitrary, capricious wrath like that of the
Greco-Roman gods and goddesses. Rather, sin is an affront to the very person
and being of God, who is holy and righteous, so his anger against sinners is
perfect and just. In the first four chapters of his epistle to the Romans Paul
comments on the wrath of God towards sinful man.
But then in Romans 5:10 the tune begins to change, as Paul
speaks of how the death of the Son has reconciled us to God, saying: We were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Thus, as Dr. Packer says, by his
sacrificial death for our sins Christ pacified the wrath of God. (Knowing God,
p. 165)
What is amazing is that propitiation is first and foremost
an act of God. In pagan religions deities are propitiated by their followers
offering sacrifices. In the Christian religion the entire work of salvation is
accomplished by God in Christ. Packer writes, It was God himself who took the
initiative in quenching his wrath against those whom, despite their ill-desert
he loved and had chosen to save. This is all Good News indeed, and very
spiritually comforting. The next time we hear those Comfortable Words may we
thank God in our hearts for his lovingkindness in forgiving our sins and
putting away his wrath.”
I pray you all a very blessed week!
Bishop Menees
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