A Truly Ancient-Modern Prayer
Today, as I was in Morning Prayer, I ran across this entreaty in the Lutheran “ Treasury of Daily Prayer ”: Lord God of truth, You converted the apostle Paul from persecutor of the Church to courageous preacher of the true Gospel that Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. Deliver us from all false gospels, so that we remain faithful to Christ alone, whose death and resurrection are the source of our salvation; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The petition asks for us to be delivered from all false gospels, and clearly defines (in short hand) what the true Gospel is. This requires some thought, some contemplation. For the collect (pronounced call’ -ekt ) beautifully echoes Galatians chapters 1 through 3, while opening up to modern applications. The “all false gospels” that confront us today are in some ways similar to the false gospels in Paul’s day, and in other ways dissimilar. Most lean heavy on productivity, output, efficiency. One alte...