The tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,
“God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
‘I tell you that this man … went home justified before God.’ Luke 18:13-14 (NIV)
What is God like? That is an important question, perhaps the most important question we could ever ask. In particular, is he primarily wrathful and angry, or is he primarily gracious and merciful? It would be worth pausing for a moment at this point to consider how you primarily view God yourself. It will affect the way you relate to him, how you approach him and how you feel about serving him.
Thomas Cranmer answered the question decisively in the words of his Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, which this year was August 28th. (The wording was then altered, and not well, for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which was in turn carried over to our modern Common Worship). Here is Cranmer’s wording:
God, which declarest thy almighty power, most chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Give unto us abundantly thy grace, that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasures; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
That is exactly what the tax collector found. He simply prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and we read that “this man went home justified.” All we have to do is ask for mercy. Similarly, the dying thief simply asked, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” and he immediately received this assurance from Jesus: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43, NIV).
Cranmer’s Collect asserts that God declares his almighty power most ‘most chiefly’ in showing mercy and pity: “In an age when power and the acquisition (and abuse) of it is understood as the motivating force in human affairs – and every age, in fact, has marched to that devilish tune – this prayer stands in mighty contrast. It asserts a breathtaking alternative. God shows His power not chiefly in earthquake, fire, and flood, nor in the starry sky and earth beneath, nor in signs and wonders; but in pity” (The Collects of Thomas Cranmer, Barbee & Zahl).
Now, how will that affect how you relate to God, how you approach him, and how you feel about serving him? Surely it will move us from fear, uncertainty and reluctance, even dread, to gratitude, confidence, gladness and joy? As we sometimes sing, “Our sins, they are many; his mercy is more.”
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)