All Hallows Eveing Prayer for Wednesday Evening (February 10, 2021)
Evening Prayer
The Service of LightJesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link to hear Carl P. Schalk’s setting of the Phos Hilaron, “Joyous Light of Glory.”
Joyous light ,
joyous light, of glory
of the immortal Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You, you are worthy of being praised,
of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God
O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory.
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 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 J. David Moore's choral arrangement of Isaac Watts' metrical version of Psalm 23, "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need."
My Shepherd will supply my need;
Jehovah is His Name:
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake,
In paths of truth and grace.
When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay;
One word of thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Does still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thy oil anoints my head.
The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, or a guest,
But like a child at home.
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
1 Corinthians 11: 17-34 The Supper of the Lord
Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
Silence is kept.
Homily
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent in churches that observe the Lenten season in preparation for Easter Sunday, the Sunday on which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. On Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday, many churches celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Lent is a good time of the year to reflect upon the place of the Lord’s Supper in our own spirituality.
In the New Testament we find four accounts of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper, three in the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and a fourth in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In Paul’s letter it is sandwiched between a passage in which Paul rebukes the church at Corinth for the abuses at the Lord’s Supper which have been brought to his attention and passage in which Paul warns the Corinthian church about partaking of the supper unworthily. Today’s reading contains all three passages.
Different Christian traditions have different views of the Lord’s Supper. I am not proposing to examine these differences. Rather I am going to take a look at where they share a common understanding of the sacrament or ordinance, based upon what Paul wrote the church at Corinth.
In the early Church the observance of the Lord’s Supper was a weekly event. The local church gathered to share bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’ suffering and death as he had commanded. The local church originally partook of the supper in the context of a larger meal—agape, or love feast, and it was at this meal that abuses occurred. Those who brought food did not share the food with those who were unable to bring food. They began eating before everyone had arrived. Those who brought wine used the larger meal as an opportunity to become drunk. In the culture of the time their behavior might have been understandable and even excusable, but it was not the behavior of a follower of Jesus as Paul infers.
A light no darkness can extinguish.
Open this link to hear Carl P. Schalk’s setting of the Phos Hilaron, “Joyous Light of Glory.”
Joyous light ,
joyous light, of glory
of the immortal Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
We sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God,
we sing to God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
You, you are worthy of being praised,
of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God,
O Son of God
O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory.
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 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 J. David Moore's choral arrangement of Isaac Watts' metrical version of Psalm 23, "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need."
My Shepherd will supply my need;
Jehovah is His Name:
In pastures fresh He makes me feed,
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back
When I forsake His ways,
And leads me, for His mercy’s sake,
In paths of truth and grace.
When I walk through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay;
One word of thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Does still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thy oil anoints my head.
The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, or a guest,
But like a child at home.
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
1 Corinthians 11: 17-34 The Supper of the Lord
Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory.
Silence is kept.
Homily
Do This in Remembrance of Me
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent in churches that observe the Lenten season in preparation for Easter Sunday, the Sunday on which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. On Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday, many churches celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Lent is a good time of the year to reflect upon the place of the Lord’s Supper in our own spirituality.
In the New Testament we find four accounts of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper, three in the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and a fourth in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In Paul’s letter it is sandwiched between a passage in which Paul rebukes the church at Corinth for the abuses at the Lord’s Supper which have been brought to his attention and passage in which Paul warns the Corinthian church about partaking of the supper unworthily. Today’s reading contains all three passages.
Different Christian traditions have different views of the Lord’s Supper. I am not proposing to examine these differences. Rather I am going to take a look at where they share a common understanding of the sacrament or ordinance, based upon what Paul wrote the church at Corinth.
In the early Church the observance of the Lord’s Supper was a weekly event. The local church gathered to share bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’ suffering and death as he had commanded. The local church originally partook of the supper in the context of a larger meal—agape, or love feast, and it was at this meal that abuses occurred. Those who brought food did not share the food with those who were unable to bring food. They began eating before everyone had arrived. Those who brought wine used the larger meal as an opportunity to become drunk. In the culture of the time their behavior might have been understandable and even excusable, but it was not the behavior of a follower of Jesus as Paul infers.
Except for Maundy Thursdays, few churches now celebrate the Lord’s Supper in the context of a larger meal.
While some churches permit the consumption of alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine at church picnics, parish suppers, and the like, it is generally not a good idea. It does not offer the kind of supportive environment that church attendees and their guests who may be struggling to overcome a drinking problem need to maintain sobriety.
In his account of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper Paul draws to the attention of the Corinthian church that the Lord’s Supper is more than a meal in which we commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim Jesus’ death until he returns in glory. We make know what he has done for us. He has opened for us the way of salvation through faith in him.
In stuffing their faces and boozing it up the Corinthians are not showing any respect for the Lord’s Supper. They are turning the Lord’s Supper into an orgy, a practice associated with the worship of the Greek and Roman pagan gods.
Paul warns the Corinthians that partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner has consequences. They should only eat the bread and drink the cup after they have examined themselves.
The verse, “For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves,” can be interpreted two different ways.
Some Christians believe that Christ’s Body is in the bread, based on their interpretation of the words, “This is my body that is broken for you.” They cite 1 Corinthians 10:16 in support of their belief, “And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?"
Other Christians believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively when he referred to the bread as his body. They interpret the passage to mean that those who brought food and began eating before everyone had arrived and who brought wine and were getting drunk did not see the latecomers as members of Christ’s Body—his church. They failed to discern his body in those who arrived late.
Whatever Paul means, his point was that the Lord’s Supper should be treated with much more respect than the Corinthians were treating it. The Lord’s Supper was a special meal and not the kind of meal that some Corinthians had come to regard the supper. It was not to be confused with the cultic meals associated with the worship of the Greek and Roman pagan gods.
While some churches permit the consumption of alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine at church picnics, parish suppers, and the like, it is generally not a good idea. It does not offer the kind of supportive environment that church attendees and their guests who may be struggling to overcome a drinking problem need to maintain sobriety.
In his account of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper Paul draws to the attention of the Corinthian church that the Lord’s Supper is more than a meal in which we commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim Jesus’ death until he returns in glory. We make know what he has done for us. He has opened for us the way of salvation through faith in him.
In stuffing their faces and boozing it up the Corinthians are not showing any respect for the Lord’s Supper. They are turning the Lord’s Supper into an orgy, a practice associated with the worship of the Greek and Roman pagan gods.
Paul warns the Corinthians that partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner has consequences. They should only eat the bread and drink the cup after they have examined themselves.
The verse, “For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves,” can be interpreted two different ways.
Some Christians believe that Christ’s Body is in the bread, based on their interpretation of the words, “This is my body that is broken for you.” They cite 1 Corinthians 10:16 in support of their belief, “And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?"
Other Christians believe that Jesus was speaking figuratively when he referred to the bread as his body. They interpret the passage to mean that those who brought food and began eating before everyone had arrived and who brought wine and were getting drunk did not see the latecomers as members of Christ’s Body—his church. They failed to discern his body in those who arrived late.
Whatever Paul means, his point was that the Lord’s Supper should be treated with much more respect than the Corinthians were treating it. The Lord’s Supper was a special meal and not the kind of meal that some Corinthians had come to regard the supper. It was not to be confused with the cultic meals associated with the worship of the Greek and Roman pagan gods.
Earlier in the same letter Paul warns the Corinthians against participating in such meals.” You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” It is evident that some Corinthians were not distinguishing between the Lord’s Supper and these meals.
What then are the implication of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians for us in the twenty-first century?
When we take part in this sacrament or ordinance instituted by Jesus himself, we should behave in a manner befitting the celebration of the sacrament. We should not do what the sons of one pastor did at the conclusion of the Lord’s Supper. They took the other half of the loaf that had been set apart for sacramental use and turned it into a football. They were tossing it back and forth between them. It may have been ordinary bread according to their tradition’s way of thinking, but it had also served as a sacramental sign—a symbol of Christ’s Body—and warranted more respectful treatment.
We should prepare in advance of our participation in the observance of the ordinance. At a minimum we should examine ourselves and confess any unrepented sins to God and ask his forgiveness. We may wish to read suitable verses of Scripture assuring us of God’s forgiveness.
We should handle the elements—the bread and the wine (or grape juice) in a respectful manner.
We should also recognize the other participants for whom they are—fellow members of the Body of Christ—irrespective of the walks of life from which they come.
During this Lenten season take some time to reflect on the place of Lord’s Supper in your own spirituality. Give thought to how you might give the Lord’s Supper a larger place than it occupies now. However we may understand the Lord’s Supper, its celebration or observance is a means of grace to us—a way that God shows his favor and goodwill towards us—a way he works in us to transform us into the likeness of his Son, into the likeness of Jesus.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your name.
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 Carl P. Daw Jr.’s hymn, “As We Gather at Your Table.”
As we gather at your Table,
as we listen to your Word,
help us know, O God, your presence;
let our hearts and minds be stirred.
Nourish us with sacred story
till we claim it as our own;
teach us through this holy banquet
how to make Love's victory known.
Turn our worship into witness
in the sacrament of life;
send us forth to love and serve you,
bringing peace where there is strife.
Give us, Christ, your great compassion
to forgive as you forgave;
may we still behold your image
in the world you died to save.
Gracious Spirit, help us summon
other guests to share that feast
where triumphant Love will welcome
those who had been last and least.
There no more will envy blind us
nor will pride our peace destroy,
as we join with saints and angels
to repeat the sounding joy.
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
What then are the implication of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians for us in the twenty-first century?
When we take part in this sacrament or ordinance instituted by Jesus himself, we should behave in a manner befitting the celebration of the sacrament. We should not do what the sons of one pastor did at the conclusion of the Lord’s Supper. They took the other half of the loaf that had been set apart for sacramental use and turned it into a football. They were tossing it back and forth between them. It may have been ordinary bread according to their tradition’s way of thinking, but it had also served as a sacramental sign—a symbol of Christ’s Body—and warranted more respectful treatment.
We should prepare in advance of our participation in the observance of the ordinance. At a minimum we should examine ourselves and confess any unrepented sins to God and ask his forgiveness. We may wish to read suitable verses of Scripture assuring us of God’s forgiveness.
We should handle the elements—the bread and the wine (or grape juice) in a respectful manner.
We should also recognize the other participants for whom they are—fellow members of the Body of Christ—irrespective of the walks of life from which they come.
During this Lenten season take some time to reflect on the place of Lord’s Supper in your own spirituality. Give thought to how you might give the Lord’s Supper a larger place than it occupies now. However we may understand the Lord’s Supper, its celebration or observance is a means of grace to us—a way that God shows his favor and goodwill towards us—a way he works in us to transform us into the likeness of his Son, into the likeness of Jesus.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Ann Krentz’s choral arrangement of “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness.”
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
You looked upon my lowliness,
and I am full of grace.
Now ev’ry land and ev’ry age
this blessing shall proclaim—
great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To all who live in holy fear
Your mercy ever flows.
With mighty arm you dash the proud,
Their scheming hearts expose.
The ruthless you have cast aside,
the lonely throned instead;
the hungry filled with all good things,
the rich sent off unfed.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name.
To Israel, your servant blest,
your help is ever sure;
the promise to our parents made
their children will secure.
Sing glory to the Holy One,
give honor to the Word,
and praise the Pow’r of the Most High,
one God, by all adored.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord;
I sing my Savior’s praise!
Great wonders you have done for me,
and holy is your name,
and holy is your name.
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 Carl P. Daw Jr.’s hymn, “As We Gather at Your Table.”
As we gather at your Table,
as we listen to your Word,
help us know, O God, your presence;
let our hearts and minds be stirred.
Nourish us with sacred story
till we claim it as our own;
teach us through this holy banquet
how to make Love's victory known.
Turn our worship into witness
in the sacrament of life;
send us forth to love and serve you,
bringing peace where there is strife.
Give us, Christ, your great compassion
to forgive as you forgave;
may we still behold your image
in the world you died to save.
Gracious Spirit, help us summon
other guests to share that feast
where triumphant Love will welcome
those who had been last and least.
There no more will envy blind us
nor will pride our peace destroy,
as we join with saints and angels
to repeat the sounding joy.
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
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