Book of Common Prayer Sunday Eucharistic Lectionary Propers

Appointed for the Week of

The Third Sunday After Trinity

THE COLLECT.

O LORD,

we beseech thee mercifully to hear us;

and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray,

may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

THE EPISTLE. 1 St Peter 5. 5.

ALL of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:

for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

Be sober, be vigilant;

because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour:

whom resist stedfast in the faith,

knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

And the God of all grace,

who hath called you into his eternal glory in Christ,

after that ye have suffered a while,

shall himself restore,

stablish,

strengthen you.

To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen.

THE GOSPEL. St Luke 15. 1.

THEN drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying,

This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

What man of you having an hundred sheep,

if he lose one of them,

doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness,

and go after that which is lost,

until he find it?

And when he hath found it,

he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he cometh home,

he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them,

Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,

more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver,

if she lose one piece,

doth not light a candle,

and sweep the house,

and seek diligently till she find it?

And when she hath found it,

she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying,

Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost.

Likewise, I say unto you,

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

BCP Online - Table of Propers

Book of Common Prayer Sunday Eucharistic Lectionary Message

A Sermon for

The Third Sunday After Trinity

By: Fr. David Curry

(16th June 2024, Christ Church, Windsor, NS)

“Rejoice with me”

The parables in today’s Gospel illustrate wonderfully the teaching in the Epistle. Not only does “God resist the proud and gives grace to the humble,” but that grace conveys us unto glory for God “himself shall restore, stablish and strengthen you … after that ye have suffered a while.” God is “the God of all grace” and the parables illustrate the nature and the immensity of God’s grace.

The parables come as a response to an accusation. Christ is accused of receiving sinners and eating with them, thereby identifying himself with sinners, being made sin himself, as it were; condemned by association. But Christ’s response shows that he does this, not so as to be defined by sin, “he who knew no sin,” but for the sake of our redemption, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He tells three parables, two of which comprise today’s gospel: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin. Beyond them, but as the completion of them, is the parable of the lost or prodigal son.

Sheep, coins, sons. There is a progression to these images. They belong together. I like to think of their interrelation artistically as forming a kind of triptych of divine grace in which the centre panel would be the parable of the prodigal son framed by the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. We only come to its central message through those two parables which stress the priority of divine grace in our restoration. What is emphasised is God’s reaching down to us in the gravity of our sins which separate us from God and from the community of divine love. There is, after all, a kind of passivity to sheep and coins, but this only serves to heighten the activity of God’s grace. Yet the effects of that grace are to be realised in us which is what we are given to see in the parable of the prodigal son. In him we see the motions of God’s grace in us that cause our restoration to grace, our establishment in grace, and our being strengthened by grace.

TBA