SEXAGESIMA       

RECOLLECTION        JAN. 30, 2005

 

“Sexagesima” is Latin for “sixtieth”; this Sunday is so called because  it is roughly sixty days from Easter.  Sexagesima brings us a firm warning that as we work for Christ and His Kingdom, we must always be aware that any success we may see is not due to our own efforts, but to God’s  direction and His Grace.  It is God Who places the thoughts in our minds and in our hearts, and then in our mouths for others to hear.  It is only through constant prayer  and study that we can receive, with God’s Grace, understanding of what He wants us to say and write to any who are inquiring about matters of the Faith.  God’s Grace will keep us heading toward the God-directed life instead of a man-directed life. Man does not and cannot think the same way that God does.  The material parts of our lives enslave us to earthly things and possessions, making it difficult to lift up our minds to things Divine.  But, with God, all things are possible, and with His help, we too can be transformed into true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 71, (page 425, 1928 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER,) is of special interest to people who are 50 years or more of age.  This  psalm is a lament of an “aged man”, who was probably in his forties.(Remember, the average lifespan of this time in the Old Testament era was about 35 years.)  Paragraph 1 quotes almost verbatim from Psalm 31, (verses 1 through 4a.)  It also repeats some phrases from Psalms 25, 35, and 40.  The Psalmist is an aged musician, perhaps a member of the Temple choir. (Verses 9, 18, & 22.)  He prays for Divine vengeance upon his enemies, whom he accuses of making him ill. From his youth, God has taught him to sing His praise, which he has continued to do.  He prays that God will not forsake him in his old age, so that he may proclaim God’s Might to the younger generations:  “forsake me not, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed...”  He is assured that God will bring him back from the depths of Sheol, (hell). He vows that he will offer a song of praise and play his thanksgiving upon stringed instruments.  He calls God, “the Holy One of Israel,” a title used by Isaiah. 

The Collect, (page 120, 1928 BCP,), repeats the lesson of humility. The original Collect was shortened by +Thomas Cranmer in 1549. He changed the wording from the Gregorian prayer, “O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do by our own unaided strength,” etc. The original Latin words are: “ex nulla nostra actions confidimus”---that is, we have no confidence in any action that is purely our own.”  The petition “that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity”, needs to have added, “which hinders our serving Thee”.  No true disciple of Christ asks or expects to be free from the conflicts or sorrows of life, but he does pray to be defended against all that hinders his service to God.  +.Cranmer also eliminated the words after, (“mercifully grant that by Thy power,” “we may be defended by the protection of the Doctor of the Gentiles, against all adversity.”  This was a direct reference to St. Paul, a sower of the Word.  The Collect contains the two aspects of this Sunday; the exhortation to Christian activity and the warning against self-righteousness.

In the Epistle, (pg. 114, BCP), Paul is stung by unkind words directed at him, and paints a picture of his life in Christ, exhorting the Corinthians to activity in Christ’s Name. (2 Corinth.11:19-31.)  Read through Chap.12: 9, for a more complete under- standing of the Epistle.

The Holy Gospel, (St. Luke 8: 4-15, pg. 115,) pictures God’s agent as a “sower of the seed”.  It shows how our Lord thought about His work and how all committed Christians should think about theirs.  Like Paul, the sower may find his work disappointing and unrewarding, either because he has come across a mind shut tightly against God, or those who have shallow faith, or someone who is not interested in changing their life by accepting Christ, the Son of God.  “But it is wrong to become discouraged;  the seed that is sown is not one’s own, but, (the thought of the Collect is with us still)  the Word of God.” 

*  THE CHRISTIAN YEAR, Prayer-Book Collects, for every Sunday and Holy Day of the Church’s Year, With Epistles and Gospels as translated by J. B. Phillips – Macmillan Paperbacks Edition, “The Sunday called Sexagesima, pages 72-76.