Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer 1

ST PETER, MANEY

LENT 2010

Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer

Five sermons

 1.

‘meek heart & due reverence’

the spirituality of the service

A liturgy—a form of Christian worship—is a bit like an opera, in one sense, at least: although there is a fixed ‘score’ there are many different ways of performing it.  We know well that the same service can affect us in many different ways, depending on what is going on within and around us. Even so, the written service—especially in the BCP, where words play such a pivotal part—has a distinct character. It leads us towards God by a particular path. There are other paths, each with their own qualities and limitations, but it is this path that we are looking at today. Here, in outline, are five of its  features.

1      Reverence. 

The words ‘We do not presume’ (from the ‘Prayer of Humble Access’ which Thomas Cranmer wrote) betray the whole character of the service. The language and customs of the 16th and 17th centuries were more formal than ours, but this is far more than old-fashioned deference. Here we come before God not just with careful courtesy, but with profound humility and awe, aware of the immeasurable gulf that lies between us in our weakness and sin, and God in majesty and glory.

2     Receptiveness.

The whole service invites us to ‘hear and receive God’s Holy Word’. It is designed to be participated in with our ears pinned back and our hearts open.  It assumes that we can never hear too often—or take to heart too deeply—the message of the forgiveness grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus—the Word made flesh. And over time its words get engraved in our minds and, maybe, hearts.

3.       Understanding.

To listen attentively to the service is to have a kind of compact Christian education. Just think how much we learn from it—even though we use an abbreviated version, without the full Ten Commandments or the Homilies (ready-made sermons printed in the text, which are now invariably left out).  We are told of the whole scheme of God’s saving work, of God’s law, judgement, love and redemption. The whole service is infused with Scripture. Above all, we are taught about the self-giving love of Christ, ‘who in the same night in which he was betrayed…  The antique language of the service can, of course, be hard to follow, with its long sentences, but its intention is always to help us understand.

4        Penitence.

People often remark that there is too much talk of ‘miserable sinners’ in the BCP.  Year ago I used to take sick communion to a lady who refused to use the word ‘intolerable’ about the burden of our sins, and used to sing out ‘very heavy’, instead.  She had a point.  But the intention of all this is not to make us feel like worms. It is to hep us to face the right direction as we come to God. We turn to God as people who know our need and who also know God’s lavish grace.  And if we should by any chance come to church feeling a bit priggish, it is the best thing in the world for us to be reminded that God is not impressed by the weight of our merits: no, God is waiting to pardon our offences.

5        Thankfulness.

For all that this tends to be a quiet, almost subdued act of worship, there is no mistaking the note of praise and thanksgiving which sounds through it.  The BCP communicant is the cat who has found the cream.  We have encountered the God ‘whose property is always to have mercy’ , who calls the weary to come to him and be refreshed, and whose Son’s loving sacrifice is sufficient for the ‘sins of the whole world’.  What then can we offer: our sacrifice of thanks and praise.