All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (January 20, 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 hear Tony Alonso’s responsorial setting of Psalm 141, “Like Burning Incense, O Lord.”

Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my rise to you.
Like burning incense, O Lord,
let my prayer rise to you.

1 I call out to you,
Come quickly to my aid.
My song cries out to you,
O listen to me now.
I raise my hands in off’ring to you.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

2 Let me speak your truth;
watch over all I say.
Keep my thoughts on you;
let goodness rule my heart.
Keep me far from those who do harm.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

3 Never let me dine
with those who seek to harm.
Keep your holy ones
always at my side.
Plant your wisdom deep in my soul.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

4 I look to you for help;
I seek your loving eyes.
Guard my life for you;
Spare me from all wrong.
Keep all evil far from my heart.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

5 Glory be to God
and to God’s only Son,
glory to the Spirit,
three in one,
now and for ever. Amen.

Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)
Like burning incense, O Lord,
(Like burning incense, O Lord,)
let my prayer rise to you.
(let my prayer rise to you.)

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 David Ashley White’s choral arrangement of Carl P. Daw Jr’s paraphrase of Psalm 23, “The Lord My Shepherd Guards Me Well.”

The Lord my Shepherd guards me well,
and all my wants are fed:
amid green pastures made to lie,
beside still waters led.
My careworn soul
grows strong and whole
when God's true path I tread.

Though I should walk in darkest ways
through valleys like the grave,
no evil shall I ever fear;
your presence makes me brave.
On my behalf
your rod and staff
assure me you will save.

For me a table has been spread
where all my foes can see;
you bathe my head with fragrant oil
to soothe and honor me.
My heart and cup
are both filled up
with joyful ecstasy.

Your steadfast love will follow me
to shield me all my days
and bring me to your holy house,
redeemed from error's ways,
my whole life long
to join the song
of those who sing God's praise.

Silence is kept.

O God, our sovereign and shepherd,
who brought again your Son Jesus Christ
from the valley of death,
comfort us with your protecting presence
and your angels of goodness and love,
that we also may come home
and dwell with him in your house for ever. Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

John 10: 1-18 Jesus the Good Shepherd

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

Jesus Is Your Shepherd Too 

Jesus’ offering of himself on the cross once and for all time for the sins of the world was a voluntary act on his part. He was not forced to suffer a brutal death. He went to the cross of his own free will. The Gospels repeatedly draw this to our attention.

Christians as well as those who are not Christians ask this question, “Why was it necessary for Jesus to die to make things right between God and ourselves? Couldn’t God just have overlooked our sins, our acts of rebellion against him?” Because we have difficulty seeing the need for Jesus’ death, it is important for us to recognize that he freely suffered death for our sake.

God is infinitely loving—far more than we can image. But God is infinitely holy—that too far more than we can imagine. Because he is infinitely loving, God extends mercy to us, mercy which we cannot earn and which we do not deserve. Because he is infinitely holy, he cannot overlook our sins. Instead of directing his righteous anger at our rebellion at us, he took the full force of that anger upon himself in the person of the Son, in the person of Jesus. The slate was wiped clean. When he sees a believer, he no longer sees a rebel. He sees his obedient Son, obedient even to suffering death on the cross.

I am not going to hazard why God chose that particular solution. I will hazard that God knows himself better than we do and in God’s mind it was the best solution.

What about those who do not yet believe? God restrains his anger toward them and works in them to will and do his good pleasure as he did ourselves before we became believers.

Does this mean we can sin with impunity, without fear of any consequences? No. We can still displease God. We can still grieve the Holy Spirit. We can abuse the gift of salvation that God has given us.

God’s gift of salvation is like an unwrapped present. It is faith that enables us to unwrap the present and to enjoy its contents. It does not take a lot of faith to open the present. Among its contents is more faith to enjoy the contents of that gift.

Can we lose our salvation? Theologians, people who do a lot thinking about God, are divided on that issue. Some say that we can. Others say that we cannot. I for one believe that nothing can come between God’s love for us and ourselves. Having begun a good work in us, God will bring it to completion.

This does not mean that we can sit around and do nothing until God calls us to a final accounting of how we spent our lives. How we live our lives is an expression our faith. We cannot be the first son of the Parable of the Obedient Son and tell our father that we will go to work in the vineyard and then not go.

As Jesus himself drew to his disciples’ attention, he will only acknowledge as his followers those who do God’s will. Those who truly love him will keep his words and obey his commandments.

As the apostle Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, some of us may not serve our Lord as well as we should and may be saved like someone plucked from a fire in the nick of time with the smell of smoke still clinging to us.

Jesus tells us that his sheep follow him because they know his voice. In the ancient Mid-East and in the Mid-East in our day, you will see shepherds with their flock of sheep tamely following them as they lead the flock to pasture. A mid-Eastern shepherd spends his days and his nights with his flock. The shepherd knows the sheep and the sheep know him and they know his voice. The sheep have heard his voice since they were lambs. The shepherd may have assisted their dam at their birth.

Jesus knows us. He calls each of us by name just as a mid-Eastern shepherd call his sheep. He does not call each of us in the same way. He may call us many times before we hear him. His call may simply be a stirring of interest in learning more about him. One of his teachings may resonate with us. We may be intrigued by the changes in the life of a friend who has heard his call and responded to it. If we do not heed him right away, he will not give up on us. He will keep calling.

How is Jesus calling you in your life? If you cannot hear him, ask God to enable you to hear his voice. Jesus IS calling you. He is calling you to come and follow him.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s paraphrase 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 Mack Wilberg’s choral arrangement of the American folk hymn, “Come, Thou Fount of Ev’ry Blessing.”

Come, thou fount of ev’ry blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

[Organ Interlude]

Here I raise my Ebenezer,
hither by thy help I’m come,
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand’ring from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

[Organ Interlude]

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wand’ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above,
seal it for thy courts above.

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

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen