11th Sunday in Trinity

P- 151 S 418 G524 C-195 R-397

The Collect

O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament

Isaiah 26:12-16, 19

Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

The Epistle
1 Corinthians xv. 1.

BRETHREN, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

The Gospel
St. Luke xviii. 9. JESUS spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Commentary from THE ANNOTATED BOOK OF COMMON PRAYEREdited by JOHN HENRY BLUNT Rivingtons, London, 1884 ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
The subject of this Sunday is the mercy and pity of Almighty God in bestowing the power of supernatural grace as a free and undeserved gift upon sinners. St. Paul's "I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God," is a parallel to the publican's "God be merciful unto me a sinner:" and our Lord's declaration that the Publican went down to his house justified because of his humility, is a parallel to the inspired words of the Apostle, "By the grace of God I am what I am...yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." "Ancient writers, as St. Augustine and others," says Isaac Williams, "Delight to dwell on these words of St. Paul, as so expressive of his sweet, trembling humility, fearing to contemplate himself, except in his sins and infirmities, and losing all sense of his greatness in God; fearful lest he should presume, and so lose by presumption all that crown of hope and joy which by humility he had gained." This tome of the holy Apostle, and that of the Publican, is strikingly taken up by the Collect, which offers also a fine specimen of the fulness of devotion which may be gathered into this form of prayer. Those subjects are [1] the mercy of God; and let it be noted, how suggestive is the idea that this mercy is the chief manifestation of Almighty Power: [2] the grace of God, as His gift, according to the measure of our necessities; [3] obedience, as accomplished only by the power of grace; [4] the fulfilment of the Divine promises; [5] the "great recompence of reward," the "heavenly treasures," of which Isaiah and St. Paul wrote, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." Such fulness of meaning approaches very nearly to that of inspiration, and may well lead us to the belief that a special blessing from God rested upon the intellect and devotional instinct of the original writer.