Many years ago on a rainy Sunday after attending a Communion service at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, I asked the celebrant, the Rev. William Johnson, Canon Theologian of the Cathedral, what the connection is between what God gives to us and what God asks of us.
His response was to direct me to a prayer in the “Green Book” then in use, so nicknamed for the green cover of the paperback Services for Trial Use authorized by the 1970 General Convention. At that time the Collect for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, the prayer now appears in our Book of Common Prayer as Proper 15, the Collect for the Sunday closest to August 17. It reads as follows:
Almighty God, who hast given thy only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life: Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavor ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
For me the key element in that Collect, and the answer to my question to Canon Johnson, was the phrase “both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life.”
Artificial intelligence tells me “A sacrifice involves relinquishing a personal desire, comfort, or advantage to achieve a longer-term goal or to help others.” If we love someone, we forgive them many small impositions and tolerate many discomforts on their behalf. But if even God our heavenly parent loves us, even any wrong we may have committed is forgiven, and forgiven indeed. The body and blood we receive at Communion both remind us of that love and set for us a worthy if unattainable example.
Though the Green Book was not to be removed from the cathedral, as I departed Canon Johnson handed me a copy of the book and instructed me to put it under my raincoat. He may have added “Don’t let anybody see you.”
Colin