All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (December 20, 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 Gavin Bryars’ choral arrangement of Psalm 141, “Lord, I Cry Unto Thee.”

Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Lord, I cry unto thee.

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
Lord, I cry unto thee.

But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.

Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
Give heed to my voice, let my cry come unto thee.

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 Psalm 84, "O How Amiable Are Thy Dwellings" from The Book of Common Prayer of 1662.

1 O how amiable are thy dwellings: thou Lord of hosts!

2 My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young : even thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be alway praising thee.

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee: in whose heart are thy ways.

6 Who going through the vale of misery use it for a well: and the pools are filled with water.

7 They will go from strength to strength: and unto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Sion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: hearken, O God of Jacob.

9 Behold, O God our defender: and look upon the face of thine Anointed.

10 For one day in thy courts: is better than a thousand.

11 I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God: than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

12 For the Lord God is a light and defence: the Lord will give grace and worship, and no good thing shall he withhold from them that live a godly life.

13 O Lord God of hosts: blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

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.

Jesus also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

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

Silence is kept.

Homily

Sprung from a Tiny Seed 

In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry a mustard seed represented to the Jews something that was very tiny. Its very small size had become proverbial. If you asked Jesus’ original audience what is the smallest of seeds, they would without hesitation tell you the mustard seed. Whether a mustard seed is actually the smallest of seeds does not matter. To the Jews it was. Jesus in choosing the mustard seed to represent the kingdom at its very beginning was choosing something that his original audience thought was very tiny.

Now most mustard plants do not grow into shrubs, much less shrubs so great that birds can nest in their shade. At most a tit might perch on the tip of a mustard plant. A tit is a very small bird. However, the black mustard plants that grow along the banks of the Jordan River do grow into a shrub the height of a small tree. During his earthly ministry Jesus would have seen these shrubs as would have his original audience. While the mustard plants that we may see in the fields if we live in a region where mustard is grown may never grow to that height, we should not conclude that a mustard plant cannot grow to the height that Jesus describes in this parable.

Essentially what Jesus is telling us in the parable is that the kingdom of God begins a something very small and grows into something very large. If you compared God’s kingdom to a fire, it starts as tiny flame which grows into a great blaze. Where does God plant that tiny seed? Where does God light that tiny flame” He plants the seed and lights the flame in our hearts. God’s kingdom not only grows from a tiny seed in our hearts, a tiny flame in our innermost being, but it spreads from us to others. The mustard plant grows to maturity, bears seeds, and the seeds fall to the ground, sprout, and grow into mustard plants. One mustard plant growing in the corner of a field can fill the field with mustard plants. One small flame burning in the tall grass can set a whole forest ablaze.

The spread of God’s kingdom is God’s doing. At the same time God uses us as his instruments in its spread. He may plant the tiny seed and light the tiny flame through us. He may nourish that seed and fan that flame through us too.

As the seed of the kingdom grows in us, as the flame of the kingdom blaze up, we will be given opportunities to prepare the hearts of others for the planting of the kingdom’s seed, to lay the tinder for the kingdom’s flame. We will be given opportunities to plant the seed, opportunities to nourish it. We will be given opportunities to light the flame, opportunities to fan it.

We should not shrink from these opportunities but should whole-heartedly embrace them. When we do the kingdom’s work, the kingdom will not only take root and flourish in the hearts of others, it will grown in our hearts. The kingdom will burn bright in their hearts and ours. We will become lights shining in the midst of a dark world, lights that Jesus calls us to be.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear George Dyson’s Magnificat in F.

My soul doth magnify the Lord:
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded:
the lowliness of his hand-maiden.

For behold, from henceforth:
all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me:
and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him:
throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm:
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat:
and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things:
and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel:
as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. 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 in a new tab to hear the traditional Advent carol, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!”

O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel
That into exile drear is gone,
Far from the face of God's dear Son.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Branch of Jesse! draw
The quarry from the lion's claw;
From the dread caverns of the grave,
From nether hell, thy people save.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright!
Pour on our souls thy healing light;
Dispel the long night's lingering gloom,
And pierce the shadows of the tomb.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O Come, thou Lord of David’s Key!
The royal door fling wide and free;
Safeguard for us the heavenward road,
And bar the way to death's abode.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Adonai,
Who in thy glorious majesty
From that high mountain clothed in awe,
Gavest thy folk the elder Law.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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.