All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (December 6, 2020)

Evening Prayer 

The Service of Light

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John Scott’s arrangement of “Creator of the Stars of Night.”

Creator of the stars of night
Thy people’s everlasting light
O Jesus, Saviour of us all
Regard thy servants when they call

Thou, grieving at the bitter cry
Of all creation doomed to die
Didst come to save a ruined race
With healing gifts of heav’n’ly grace

Thou camest, bridegroom of the bride
As drew the world to eveningtide
Proceeding from a virgin shrine
The Son of Man, yet Lord divine

At thy great name, majestic now
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow
And things in heav’n and earth shall own
That thou art Lord and King alone

To thee, O holy One, we pray
Our judge in that tremendous day
Preserve us, while we dwell below
From ev’ry onslaught of the foe

All praise, eternal Son, to thee
Whose advent sets thy people free
Whom with the Father we adore
And Spirit blest, for evermore. Amen.

Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe,
creator of light and darkness.
In this holy season.
you renew your promise to reveal among us
the splendor of your glory,
enfleshed and visible to us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Through the prophets
you teach us to hope for his reign of peace,
Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
you open our blindness to the glory of his presence.
Strengthen us in our weakness.
Support us in our stumbling efforts to your will
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
For to you all honour and blessing are due,
Now and 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.

Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your loving kindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever. Amen.

The Psalms

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.

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.

Silence is kept.

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

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him off and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


The Gospel of Christ
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Silence is kept.

Homily

Good Slave or Bad Slave? Which Are You? 

In this passage which is one of several passages in Matthew’s Gospel in which Jesus responds to his disciples’ questions about the end of the age and his second coming, Jesus describes the choices that a slave faces in his master’s absence and the consequences of that choice.. If the slave is faithful and wise and if, when the master returns, he finds the slave doing what he was instructed to do, Jesus draws to his disciples’ attention, the master will reward the slave’s diligence by giving the slave stewardship over all his possessions. Having proven himself trustworthy in performing one task, the master will entrust him with a greater task.

On the other hand, if the slave is wicked and takes advantage of his master’s absence, abusing his fellow-slaves and carousing with drunkards, his master is likely to return unexpectedly, catch him mistreating his fellow slaves and neglecting his duties, and inflict upon him a terrible punishment.

I believe that we can safely assume that the slave in question to which Jesus was alluding was his own disciples.

Now it must be noted that the task which the master gives to the slave was no ordinary one. It is to take care of his fellow-slaves, to give them their daily ration of food. This is not an inconsequential task. It carries with it a heavy responsibility. Without food the slaves of the household would starve. They would be forced to beg or steal or turn to prostitution. They would not be able to perform their own duties. What might have been a smooth-running household would be in complete disarray. When the master returned, he would find chaos. Jesus’ disciples would have grasped the importance of the task that the master is giving to the slave So would have those to whom Matthew wrote his Gospel.

In ancient times and in areas of the world where slavery persists today, slaves are regarded as the property of their master. In societies where slavery is practiced, a slave does not have the right to beat a fellow slave except upon the instruction of his master. He is damaging the master’s property. A slave who beats a fellow slave on his own initiative is usurping a prerogative of his master. To eat and drink with drunkards, a slave would need food and wine or money to purchase food and wine. Since he is a slave, he likely would not have food, wine, or money except his master’s. He would have to steal from his master to carouse with drunkards. In ancient times drunkards were not likely to carouse with a slave unless he provided the food and wine or purchased the food and wine.

Jesus’ disciples and those to whom Matthew wrote his gospel would have also understood that the slave’s wickedness was not confined to dereliction of his duties, mistreatment of his master’s property and debauchery. It involved the misappropriation and misuse of his master’s food, wine and money. A slave stealing from his master was a serious offense. He would have also broken the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Jesus’ point was that those who are awaiting his return can choose between being faithful and wise or being wicked. They can be found doing what they were appointed to do. Or they can be found taking advantage of his absence. The choice is not a light one. It has eternal consequences.

As disciples of Jesus, what have we been appointed to do? We find Jesus’ instructions to us in the four Gospels—in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The reading of one or more of these Gospels with an eye to Jesus’ teaching recorded in a particular Gospel would be a fruitful endeavor during the Season of Advent and afterwards.

The better acquainted that we come with what Jesus taught, the better acquainted that we come with Jesus himself. Jesus not only teaches us to emulate God’s mercy, but also Jesus embodies God’s mercy. Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross was itself was an act of God's mercy toward us. Through that act of mercy God reconciled himself to us. In becoming better acquainted with Jesus and the mercy God has shown us through him, we become better acquainted with God himself. After all, Jesus whose birth we celebrate in just a little over three weeks from now was God himself, “embodied in flesh, embodied in human form.”

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open 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

Almighty God,
give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life
In which Jesus came among us in great humility,
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer is said.

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

Open this link to hear John Rutter;s arrangement of “Be Thou My Vision” for SATB Choir and Harp

1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art,
Be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

2 Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word
Be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord,
Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son,
Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

3 Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight,
be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might,
Be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower,
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Be thou my inheritance now and always,
Be thou and thou only the first in my heart,
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.

5 High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright Sun,
O grant me its joys after vict'ry is won,
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

May the God of peace equip us with everything good for
doing his will, working in us what is pleasing to him,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever
and ever. Amen.