Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Collect for Proper 15
Have you read Ian McEwan’s Atonement? It’s an award-winning novel that’s been adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. In it, thirteen year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets a flirtatious interaction between her sister and the housekeeper’s son as harassment. Later, when she stumbles upon her cousin being abused in the dark, she assumes she knows the runaway offender, accuses him, and he is sent to prison.
Years later, Briony comes to discover that the perpetrator was someone else. She had ruined this young man’s life. What’s more, her sister had become a wartime nurse after learning that prisoners were being sent to the frontlines, and both were killed long before Briony could do anything to make things right.
Decades later, Briony is being interviewed upon the release of her final autobiographical novel. She says that she’s been trying to make up for this single act her entire life, and that this work is the culmination of her efforts. In it, she creates a fictitious ending to the young lovers’ story. They don’t die, but, after a long struggle, are happily living together in the home where they had planned to be reunited.
McEwan’s novel highlights the irreversibility of certain decisions. Briony’s actions had tragic consequences on the lives of two individuals. In contrition, she spent the rest of her life making atonement for this terrible mistake.
This week’s collect is all about the atonement of Christ. In it, we acknowledge that Jesus’ death was “a sacrifice for sin,” and we ask to receive “the fruits of his redeeming work.” As a result, we recognize him to be “an example of Godly life,” and pray for the grace “to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life.” In other words, we don’t make reparation to make things right. We make amends because God is making things right.
At the end of Atonement, we know that Briony’s efforts to make things right can’t undo what’s already been done. Her lifelong attempt at rectification might be the best she could do to approximate justice, but without the ability to make right what had gone wrong there could be no true atonement.
The promise of the gospel is that there is one who has the power to rectify all that has gone wrong, and the wonderful news for you and me is that we have access to this “redeeming work” in that one man, Jesus Christ. This is real atonement for victimizers like you, me, and Briony. It liberates us from endless striving or despairing capitulation, because we have been assured that our terrible mistakes will not only be forgiven but will one day be undone and made right. This frees us to make amends – not in order to approximate atonement, like Briony, but – to anticipate the day when God will undo the consequences of Sin and Death once and for all.
Ben, this was great—especially the language of “appropriating atonement” and rectification. I’ll be thinking about it!
-Your friend from MBird NYC
“...we don’t make reparation to make things right. We make amends because God is making things right.”
Amen--Truthful and true. The Lord bless you.