All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (September 23, 2020)
Evening Prayer
Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link in a new tab to hear William G. Storey’stranslation of the Phos hilaron, “O Radiant Light, O Son Divine.”
O radiant Light, O Sun divine
of God the Father's deathless face,
O image of the light sublime
that fills the heav'nly dwelling place.
O Son of God, the source of life,
praise is your due by night and day.
Our happy lips must raise the strain
of your esteemed and splendid name.
Lord Jesus Christ, as daylight fades,
as shine the lights of eventide,
we praise the Father with the Son,
the Spirit blest, and with them one.
Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, Sovereign God,
our light and our salvation,
eternal creator of day and night,
to you be glory and praise for ever.
Now, as darkness is falling,
hear the prayer of your faithful people.
As we look for your coming in glory,
wash away our transgressions,
cleanse us by your refining fire
and make us temples of your Holy Spirit.
By the light of Christ,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
and make us ready to enter your kingdom,
where songs of praise for ever sound.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever. Amen.
Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
Silence is kept.
God our protector and guide, incline our hearts to turn from evil and do good,
Open this link in a new tab to hear Daniel Kallman’s choral arrangement of Jonathan Asprey’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.”
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
Where he can settle down.
And the swallow she can build a nest,
Where she may lay her young.
Within the court of the Lord of hosts,
My King, my Lord and my God.
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung.
And I’d rather be a door-keeper
And only stay a day,
Than live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
And the Lord, he’s like a shield;
And no good thing does God withhold
From those who walk the way.
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
Silence is kept
The Word of God
Thanks be to God
Tongues That Bless
In this passage the apostle James draws to our attention how the human tongue can be an instrument of evil. The tongue can be used to inflict all kinds of harm and to cause all kinds of trouble. The tongue can be used to spread lies and half-truths and to circulate vicious rumors. It can be used to deceive, to distort, and to mislead. It can be used to sow mistrust and to stir up hatred.
The tongue can be used to do irreversible damage to an individual or group’s reputation. An office worker may use malicious gossip to attack the character or work of a coworker and to deny them a promotion. A politician may make false accusations against an opponent or a rival party. They may slyly hint that their opponent or the rival party is guilty of wrongdoing without offering any proof to support their intimation. They may later walk back what they said or deny that they said it. They may claim that they were only speaking their mind, what they thought about a situation, or that they were not being serious and were only joking. By then the damage has already been done. Those who are eager to use their tongues to do evil will have added to it, embellished it, and passed on. A snake or spider’s venom continues to work in the body of its victim even though the snake or spider is no longer biting the victim. The poison of the tongue works much in the same way.
We live in a time in which the virulence of that poison, its ability to do harm, is far greater than it was in past. Due to the telephone, the radio, television, and social media—Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the like—it can spread quickly and do more damage than when it was confined to gossip over the back fence, in the village pub or town coffee house, in the dining rooms and salons of the great houses, and on the broadside in the city streets. The number of people who are willing to spread the venom has grown as has their willingness to spread it and the ease with which they can spread it. Past restrain not to speak ill of others, not to talk bad about them, has disappeared as the influence of Christianity has faded, not only in larger society but also among Christians themselves. The teaching of Jesus and the apostles go unheard and unheeded.
An evil tongue has no mind of its own. It is the instrument of a human heart bent on doing evil. In his sermon on the mountain Jesus told the multitude, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Jesus pointed to the attention of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that what defiles us does not come from outside us. It comes from within us—from the wickedness of the human heart. When we confess our sins to God at Morning and Evening Prayer, using the General Confession from the traditional Anglican Book of Common Prayer, we acknowledge that “we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.” We recognize that the source of the evil that we do is our own hearts, a heart bent upon disobeying God.
As followers of Jesus, James reminds us, only good should come from our mouths, not evil. A spring does not pour fresh water and brackish water from the same opening. James goes on to echo Jesus, asking his readers whether a fig tree can yield olives or a grapevine figs. In the sermon on the mountain Jesus tells the multitude, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush…” (Luke 6: 43-44) Just as a fig tree cannot produce olives or a grapevine figs, James goes on to write, saltwater cannot produce fresh. In other words, a tongue that is always speaking evil cannot speak good. This should give us pause. If someone, including ourselves, is constantly saying unkind things, belittling others, stirring up anger and hatred, and the like, we are deceiving ourselves if we believe that deep down inside they may be a good person. When we repeat what they say, sharing it with others, we are taking part in their wickedness.
This is not to say that such a person is beyond redemption. God desires that we all turn from our wickedness and live. But it is to say that we should not emulate them. Nor should we repeat what they are saying. We are called to live by a far different standard.
We are to be springs from which flows only fresh water, healthy trees that bear only good fruit. The words that we speak should renews the spirit and refresh the soul. They should be words that build up and not tear down, words that heal, words that encourage, words that forge bonds of love.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel CanticleOpen this link in a new tab to hear Lucien Deiss' setting of the Magnificat.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,*
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.*
And from this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,*
holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and sent the rich away empty handed.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Intercessions
Let us complete our evening prayer to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For peace from on high and our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the welfare of all churches and for the unity of the human family, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For (name), our bishop, and (name), our pastor, and for all ministers of the Gospel, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For our nation, its government, and for all who serve and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For this city (town, university, monastery…). For every city and community, and for all those living in them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the good earth which God has given us and for the wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For the safety of travelers, the recovery of the sick, the care of the destitute and the release of prisoners, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For an angel of peace to guide and protect us, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a peaceful evening and a night free from sin, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
For a Christian end to our lives and for all who have fallen asleep in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord have mercy.
In the communion of the Holy Spirit (and of all the saints), let us commend ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ our Lord.
To you, O Lord.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray,
and in your great mercy
defend us from all perils and dangers of this night,
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
And now, as our Saviour has taught us,
we are bold to say,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Dismissal
Thanks be to God.
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