Spare Us, Good Lord

Scripture — Romans 5:15-19 (NRSV)

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Devotion

Though I am writing this devotion in Epiphany, you will be reading it the day after Ash Wednesday, as you embark on attempting to keep a holy Lent. I normally choose the passages for my Thursday-Friday devotions based on the Scriptures you will hear in church on Sunday, if your church uses the Revised Common Lectionary. That means that today I am writing about the Scriptures for the First Sunday in Lent.

Although not every Episcopal church observes this, it has been common in most of the churches I have been connected to for the congregation to pray a prayer called the Great Litany on the first Sunday of Lent at the beginning of the service. The Great Litany is over 500 years old; it was composed in 1544 during a time of war by Thomas Cranmer, soon to be the main architect behind the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), and as the full BCP would not be published for another four years it is actually the first piece of Anglican liturgy ever to be published in English. (You can read more about the history and structure of the Litany here by an author from the Anglican Church of North America.)

In its fulness (only the first few petitions are included below) the Litany prays in broad strokes for everything, and I do mean everything, that you could possibly think to pray for, including being delivered “from the crafts and assaults of the devil. . .from lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine. . from all oppression, conspiracy, and rebellion; from
violence, battle, and murder; and from dying suddenly and unprepared.”

It invokes the Trinity, repents of every major sin imaginable, mentions all the major events in the life of Christ, prays for everyone from bishops and the President to “all prisoners and captives, the homeless and the hungry, and all who are desolate and oppressed,” asks for protection at all the crucial moments of our lives, and finally beseeches the Lord to “strengthen such as do stand; to comfort and help the weak-hearted; to raise up those who fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet.” Whew! While it would probably do us good to pray for all those things every Sunday (and indeed the Litany can be used at any time and isn’t limited to Lent), it does take about ten minutes to get through, and so usually only appears once a year.

Why pray, repent, and beseech at such length? Why meditate here at the beginning of Lent, as Paul does above in Romans 5, on both our sinfulness and on God’s mightiness to save: “If, because of the one man’s [i.e. Adam’s] trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15-17). There are, I think, two possible unhelpful directions we can go in Lent. One is to ignore our need to repent; while the practices of Lent do not earn us salvation, they sometimes help us to lay our souls bare and see what it is we need to be saved from. But the other unhelpful direction we can go is to stay wallowing in our despair and going over and over our sin without seeking the remedy. The purpose of Lent—as the Litany helpfully reminds us—is to come out the other side on Easter morning:

Remember not, Lord Christ, our offenses, nor the offenses of our forefathers; neither reward us according to our sins. Spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and by thy mercy preserve us, for ever.

He does, and he will.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Grace and Righteousness Lead to Eternal Life Through Christ (Romans 5:12–21).