All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (January 31, 2021)

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 Carl P. Daw Jr.’s metrical version of the Phos hilaron, “O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens.”

O Light whose splendor thrills and gladdens
with radiance brighter than the sun,
pure gleam of God's unending glory,
O Jesus, blest Anointed One;

as twilight hovers near at sunset,
and lamps are lit, and children nod,
in evening hymns we lift our voices
to Father, Spirit, Son: one God.

In all life's brilliant, timeless moments,
let faithful voices sing your praise,
O Son of God, our Life-bestower,
whose glory lightens endless days.

Thanksgiving

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

We praise you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of the seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God,
rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord,
whose word makes evening fall.
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 Luke Mayernik’s responsorial setting of Psalm 113, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.

1 Praise, you servants of the Lord
praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and for ever.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.

2 From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the Lord to be praised.
High above all the nations is the Lord;
above the heavens is his glory.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.

3 Who is like the Lord, our God,
who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens
and the earth below?

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.

4 He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
to seat them with princes,
with princes of his own people.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever, for ever.

Silence is kept.

Lord Jesus, surrendering the brightness of your glory, you became mortal so that we might be raised from the dust to share your very being. May the children of God always bless your name from the rising of the sun to its going down, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

John 15:1-11 Jesus the True Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.

Silence is kept.

Homily

A Branch of the True Vine

Scripture often assumes knowledge on our part that that those to whom a book, a gospel, or a letter was originally written would have had, but which we no longer have. In the case of today’s reading, it is knowledge of how grape vines were cultivated in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Vine culture as their cultivation is called has changed over the centuries, particularly in the way that the vines are propagated. In Jesus’ time the plant was allowed to send out runners and these runners were covered with earth and allowed to grow into new plants. Today’s vine growers no longer follow that practice. In Jesus’ time a grape vine would be attached to a “mother vine” by one of these runners and through the runner would flow sap and nutrients to the new plant. When Jesus speaks of himself as being the true vine and his disciples as his branches, he may not just be comparing himself to the vine stock of a single plant. He may also be comparing himself to the “mother vine,” the vine from which all the new vines, the “branches,” grow.

One thing that has not changes since Jesus’ time is the need to prune the grape vines drastically each winter if they are to bear fruit the next year. If they are not cut back almost to the vine stock, they will not produce fruit. They will only produce a lot of foliage—great for making dolmas, stuffed grape leaves, but useless for making wine, raisins, and grape preserves or eating as table grapes. The branches that are cut off are allowed to wither and dry and then they are burned. The vineyard is covered by a haze of smoke at pruning time.

In today’s reading Jesus makes three important points. The first point is that apart from him, Jesus’ disciples can do nothing. They cannot be fruitful on their own. This point is something of which we really need to take heed in our time. We see a growing number of churchgoers who, while they identify themselves as Christians, are not abiding in Jesus nor is Jesus’ word abiding in them—the second point that Jesus makes. They are putting their trust elsewhere and they are not following Jesus’ teaching or his example. They may call themselves Christians and claim to be Jesus’ disciples, but their words and deeds say otherwise.

Some self-identified Christians are advocating the formation of a state in which religion and the state are not separated, a state very much like the kind of state that radical Islamicists champion but with Christianity as the state religion and not Islam. Jesus, however, did not encourage his disciples to become involved in the politics of the day and he did not advocate the formation of an earthly kingdom.

When Jesus talks about the kingdom of God, he is talking about the righteous reign of God in our hearts, his own lordship over our lives. Unlike an Islamic state, God’s kingdom cannot be imposed by force or established by the passage of laws. It spreads like yeast spreads in bread dough—by multiplication of more yeast; in the case of God’s kingdom, by the multiplication of more followers of Jesus.

God’s kingdom is spread very much in the way vines were propagated in Jesus’ time. A vine sent out runners which became new plants. God’s kingdom spreads through disciples that make new disciples and churches that plant new churches. To enter God’s kingdom requires the transformation of one’s heart, one’s inner self, and the transformation of one’s life. To experience such a transformation, one must abide in Jesus and Jesus’s word must abide in oneself. We abide in Jesus when we put our wholehearted trust in him. His word abides in us when we follow his teaching and example.

When religion and the state have not been separated in the past, this deadly combination has led to devastating religious wars which were accompanied by widespread persecution, forced conversions, torture, and mass executions. This has also happened in our time.

While those who believe themselves to be Christians have taken up the sword in the cause of their religion, the way of the sword is not the way of Jesus. The days in which those who believed themselves to be followers of Jesus have forced others to convert to their religion at the point of the sword have been among the darkest days of Christianity.

The separation of church and state clause in the US Constitution is there for a reason. It is to prevent the repetition of what happened in the United Kingdom and Europe in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. England experienced the bloody persecution of Protestants by a Catholic monarch, the cruel suppression of religious dissent by a King and his Archbishop, and two brutal civil wars at the heart of which was religious differences. When those whom the King and his Archbishop had persecuted gained the upper hand, they condemned the King and his Archbishop to death and abolished the rule of kings and bishops. But it did not end there. Following the restoration of the monarchy, clergy who refused to accept the new service book of the state church were ejected from their parishes and their livings. They were banned from exercising any kind of ministry and they and any other Englishmen who shared their beliefs were prohibited from holding gatherings. The founding fathers inserted the separation of church and state clause to spare the fledgling United States from what had happened in the United Kingdom.

During the Glorious Revolution in 1689 King and Parliament extended religious tolerance to Baptists, Congregationalists, and other Non-Conformists, those who refused to use the state church’s official service book. However, Scottish Episcopalians would not enjoy the freedoms and privileges of subjects of the English Crown until the late eighteenth century and Roman Catholics not until the early nineteenth century.

A third point that Jesus makes in today’s reading is to abide in his love. How do we abide in his love, the same love that the Father has for him and he has for us? We abide in Jesus’s love, Jesus tell us, by obeying his commandments. And what are Jesus’ commandments?

Be holy as your Father in heaven is holy. Turn away from the works of darkness. Shun them. Walk in the light as children of light. Be merciful as God is merciful and thereby show yourselves to be children of the Most High. Love God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Forgive others as you would be forgiven. Have love for one another as he has loved us. Love our enemies. Return good for evil. This is how Jesus commands us to live our lives to God’s glory.

When we obey Jesus’ commandments—obey them not out of duty but out of love for Jesus, we not only abide in Jesus’ love, but also we abide in Jesus himself and his word abides in us. We put our trust in him on display, not to draw the attention and praise of others but to match our words with deeds. We show that his word--his teaching and his example, has indeed become a part of us, of who we are. We are in him and he is in us. We are a fruit-bearing branch in the life-giving vine.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s metrical version of the Magnificat.

Refrain:
My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

For God has looked with favor,
on one the world thought frail;
and blessings through the ages will echo
the angel's first "All hail." Refrain

God's mercy shields the faithful
and gives them safe retreat
to arms that turns to scatter
the proud in their conceit. Refrain

The mighty have been vanquished;
the lowly lifted up.
The hungry find abundance;
the rich, an empty cup. Refrain

To Abraham's descendants
the Lord will steadfast prove,
for God has made with Israel
a covenant of love. Refrain

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

Be present, merciful God,
and protect us through the hours of this night:
that we, who are wearied by the changes
and chances of this fleeting world,
may rest on your eternal changelessness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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 Karen Schneider Kirner’s arrangement of Steven C. Warner’s “I Am the Vine,” for keyboard, guitar, cantor, and assembly.

Refrain:
I am the vine,
you are the branches,
Remain in me
and you will bear abundant fruit.

1 I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vine-grower.
He trims away ev’ry barren branch,
but the faithful ones he trims to increase their yield.
Refrain

2 Live on in me,
as I do in you.
No more than a branch can bear fruit alone,
can you bear fruit apart from me.
Refrain

3 If you live in me,
and my words live on in you,
ask what you will, it will be done for you.
Through your work, God is glorified!
Refrain

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face to shine upon us
and be gracious to us.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon us
and give us peace. Amen