From the sermons of Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie, Rector of Saint Thomas, New York City, 1824-27, an extract from
a sermon for the New Year, on the text from Ps.101:1 "My song shall be of mercy and judgment".
Two aspects of this extract are particularly noteworthy. The first is the robust realism of its account of our earthly life, at the beginning of a new year. This reflects the Prayer Book: "Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies ... and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies ... From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us ... We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out". Such a robust realism addresses the uncertainties that surround us as we enter another year and its intimations of our mortality. Mindful of the anxieties and uncertainties of our own times, we can see a need for the Prayer Book liturgy and for preaching shaped by its robust realism.
Secondly, and closely related to this, is the concluding exhortation "let all the appointed means of grace be faithfully resorted to". This is preceded by references to Prayer Book rites: quoting the Litany, the Absolution at the Communion, and alluding to the exhortation at Mattins and Evensong ("to hear his most holy Word"). Such appointed means of grace (recalling the
Old High understanding that this description was not limited to the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion) will sustain us throughout this year of Our Lord 2023 and all the days of our earthly life.
But in a world full of "changes and chances," and where so many are made to "eat the bread of adversity, and to drink the waters of affliction," it is needful that we turn to other themes. Uninterrupted and perfect prosperity is the lot of few. Disappointment and suffering are the ordinary heritage of all. Affliction is the discipline of our heavenly Father, intent upon promoting our greatest good; and even the severe "judgments of God are sent abroad in the earth, only that the inhabitants thereof may learn righteousness." Have we, my brethren, been made to experience these? Has sickness invaded our families, or visited ourselves? Has the brightness of our prosperity been overcast, and have poverty, anxiety, or care, weighed down our spirits? Or has some melancholy bereavement lessened our joys? And when we explore in vain the diminished circle where some beloved one is no longer seen, do our thoughts turn away to linger around the solitary graves, where one after another of our kindred have been laid to sleep in dust? Is the light of every morning made sad by an overwhelming sense of deprivation, and the Darkness of our midnight hour increased by dreary recollections of the dead? If in any of these particulars we have been visited by the hand of God, then well does it become us to reflect, what lessons of wisdom he is reading to us in these dispensations; how he sounds in our ears the declaration, that perfect happiness, or long continued enjoyment, dwells not on earth; that in heaven alone is uninterrupted joy; that here we are strangers and pilgrims, and have no continuing city, and therefore that we should seek one to come. And if with this lesson so strongly addressed to our affections, so indelibly written on our memory, and so continually present to our thoughts, we have learned to look for that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; if we have raised our expectations and our views of happiness from the things which are seen and are temporal, to the things that are not seen, which are eternal; then afflictions themselves have been mercies, for which we have reason to be thankful; and connecting our sorrows with our joys, we shall give praise to God for both, and say, "My song shall be not only of mercy, but of judgment." My brethren, there are few of us, perhaps, who have not reason to speak of both; few who have not had mercies showered upon our path, and afflictions sent upon us for our good.What use have we made of them? And how have we improved them? Do we recollect the grateful feelings which prosperity infused into our hearts? Can we recall the sense of obligation which we experienced, and the vow of duty which we then promised to perform? And can we this day look back, and free from an accusing conscience, reflect that we have faithfully kept our vow, and worthily endeavoured to glorify him "who is the giver of every good and perfect gift?" Rescued from danger, delivered from trouble, and uplifted with joy, has God been remembered? And have we shown forth our love to him by obedience to his laws, by love and kindness to our brethren, and by an universal desire to please our Almighty Benefactor and Friend? And when in sickness, in affliction, or in fear of some impending evil, we have been compelled to humble ourselves before the Father of mercies, and have obtained relief; when acknowledging the duty and the wisdom of serving him, we have promised "to live a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking henceforth in his holy ways;" how have we fulfilled these just resolutions, or how requited him who interposed in our behalf! Have we ungratefully forgotten him, when his judgments were withdrawn, and our danger averted? And has neither a sense of gratitude for his mercy, nor a just apprehension of his wrath, been able to excite us to fulfil our bounden duty and reasonable service, heightened by our voluntary engagement, and made more binding by our solemn vow? Whatever has been our past conduct, my brethren, let us enter upon this year with a deep sense of God's mercies, and with such a dread of his judgments, as maybe effectual in inclining our hearts to seek and to secure his favour. Whatever have been "our sins, negligences, and ignorances," let us now "with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him for pardon," and let us supplicate him "to endue us with the grace of his Holy Spirit, to amend our lives according to his holy word." For the knowledge of our duty let that "holy word," diligently studied, be "a light to our feet, and a lamp to our paths." For guidance and direction in the ways of holiness, let prayer, humble, ardent, unaffected prayer, be duly addressed to the mercy-seat of our Redeemer; and for continual strength and ability to keep God's holy law, let all the appointed means of grace be faithfully resorted to, and perseveringly employed.
(The painting is George Harvey, 'Nightfall, St. Thomas Church, Broadway, New York', c. 1837.)
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