All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (September 15, 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 F. Bland Tucker’s translation of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”

O Gracious Light, Lord Jesus Christ,
In you the Father’s glory shone.
Immortal, holy, blest is he,
And blest are you, his holy Son.

Now sunset comes, but light shines forth,
the lamps are lit to pierce the night.
Praise Father, Son, and Spirit: God
Who dwells in the eternal light.

Worthy are you of endless praise,
O Son of God, Life-giving Lord;
Wherefore you are through all the earth
And in the highest heaven adored.

O Gracious Light!

Thanksgiving

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

Blessed are you, Creator of the universe,
from old you have led your people by night and day.
May the light of your Christ make our darkness bright,
for your Word and your presence are the light of our pathways,
and you are the light and life of all creation.
Amen.

Psalm 141 is sung and incense may be burned.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen's adaptation of Psalm 141, "Let My Prayer Rise Up as Incense Before You."

Let my prayer rise up as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as an offering to you.

O God, I call to you, come to me now;
hear my voice when I cry to you.

Let my prayer rise up as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as an offering to you.

Keep watch within me, God;
deep in my heart may the light of your love be burning bright.

Let my prayer rise up as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as an offering to you.

All praise to the God of all, Creator of life;
all praise be to the Christ and the Spirit of love.

Let my prayer rise up as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as an offering to you.

Silence is kept.

May our prayers come before you, O God, as incense, and may your presence surround and fill us, so that in union with all creation, we might sing your praise and your love in our lives. Amen.

The Psalms

Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s adaptation of Psalm 121, “I Lift My Eyes to the Quiet Hills.”

I lift my eyes
to the quiet hills
in the press of a busy day;
as green hills stand
in a dusty land
so God is my strength and stay.

I lift my eyes
to the quiet hills
to a calm that is mine to share;
secure and still
in the Father's will
and kept by the Father's care.

I lift my eyes
to the quiet hills
with a prayer as I turn to sleep;
by day, by night,
through the dark and light
my Shepherd will guard his sheep.

I lift my eyes
to the quiet hills
and my heart to the Father's throne;
in all my ways
to the end of days
the Lord will preserve his own.

Silence is kept.

Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defence
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Bernadette Farrell’s “Christ, Be Our Light.”

Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Colossians 3: 12-21 The Expression of the New Life

As, therefore, God’s picked representatives of the new humanity, purified and beloved of God himself, be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind. Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, remembering that as members of the same body you are called to live in harmony, and never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you.

Let Christ’s teaching live in your hearts, making you rich in the true wisdom. Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and Christian songs, singing God’s praises with joyful hearts. And whatever you may have to do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.

Wives, adapt yourselves to your husbands, that your marriage may be a Christian unity.

Husbands, be sure you give your wives much love and sympathy; don’t let bitterness or resentment spoil your marriage.

As for you children, your duty is to obey your parents, for at your age this is one of the best things you can do to show your love for God.

Fathers, don’t over-correct your children, or they will grow up feeling inferior and frustrated.

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

A People of the Light

In this evening’s reading, in this part of his letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul echoes Jesus’ teaching. Paul first calls to the attention of the disciples at Colossae that God has picked them to be representatives of the new humanity. The reason God has picked them is to set an example for others.

In the Sermon on the Mountain Jesus tells his listeners to let their light shine like the light of a lamp on a lamp-stand in the sight of others. Rather than hide them like we might hide a lamp under a basket, he tells them to let others see the good things they do and praise their Father in Heaven. The lamps used in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry were tiny. They can fit in the palm of our hand and easily can be hid under a basket.

What goes unsaid is the good things we do show we have heeded Jesus’ teaching and are living the way he taught. In doing so we encourage others to follow Jesus and do the same thing. They will praise God for what he is doing in our lives and will want God to do in their lives what he is doing in ours.

We are to stand out from our fellow human beings not to receive praise and adulation for ourselves, but rather the recognition for what we have become should go to God. But it does not end there. Others will be moved to turn to Jesus and to submit to his lordship over their hearts, minds, and lives. They will become disciples of Jesus like ourselves.

Consider how people responded to Jesus’ miracles. Jesus performed a number of miracles during his earthly ministry. People responded to his miracles, the good things he did, one of three ways.

They came with an explanation for the miracles which denied they were God’s doing. In our day we may deny the miracles themselves happened.

They praised God. They may have followed Jesus for a while but then they fell away. Jesus did not live up to their expectations.

They set their hearts on following Jesus and did not turn back from their decision.

We can expect a similar reaction to the good things we do.

People may suspect our motives. They may conclude we have secret reasons for doing what we have done.

They may become disciples for a while and then drop out because things are not the way they thought things would be.

They keep following Jesus.

The good things they did Jesus urged his listeners not to hide were not solely acts of mercy. They were also acts of faith, acts that demonstrated the strength of their convictions, their belief in Jesus, his teaching, and his example. They were the kinds of things which Paul describes in the first part of this evening’s reading.

“…be merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind. Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues.”

In these words, we can hear Jesus’ speaking. Paul is repeating in his own words what Jesus had taught and what he had received from the oral tradition by which Jesus’ teaching had been preserved and passed on to Paul.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, remembering that as members of the same body you are called to live in harmony, and never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you.”

When I read this passage, Jesus’ words from the Gospel of John come into my mind.

“This is my commandment: that you love each other as I have loved you.”

“Holy Father, keep the men you gave me by your power that they may be one, as we are one.”

“I am not praying only for these men but for all those who will believe in me through their message, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, live in me and I live in you, I am asking that they may live in us, that the world may believe that you did send me. I have given them the honour that you gave me, that they may be one, as we are one—I in them and you in me, that they may grow complete into one, so that the world may realise that you sent me and have loved them as you loved me.”

The unity that Paul urges the disciples at Colossae to show by living harmonious, peaceful lives is the unity that Jesus asked God to give his disciples.

Paul goes on to exhort the disciples at Colossae.

“Let Christ’s teaching live in your hearts, making you rich in the true wisdom. Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and Christian songs, singing God’s praises with joyful hearts. And whatever you may have to do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, thanking God the Father through him.”

Having restated Jesus’ teaching, Paul  urges the disciples at Colossae to let that teaching live in their hearts, in other words, to put it into daily practice. A living teaching is a teaching that we follow every day, every moment of the day.

Karate students, when they learn a kata, or karate move, keep practicing it until it becomes an integrated part of themselves. It becomes second-nature.

In the same way a living teaching becomes a characteristic or habit in ourselves that it appears to be instinctive because we have behaved in that way so frequently. It becomes a characteristic or habit of our heart, our inner selves.

We learn new ways of doing things, ways that fit with what Jesus taught and exemplified. Giving up the old ways of doings things can be hard, but when we replace the old ways with new ways and lean into the new ways, we will find the old ways loose their grip on us. They may kick up now and then, but the more we embrace the new ways, the more we live our lives in accordance with them, the weaker our old ways will grow.

We can use sacred songs to instruct each other, to encourage each other, to reinforce the new ways that we are living our life, new ways that not only embody what Jesus taught and exemplified, but also demonstrate our strong conviction that Jesus was who he claimed to be—the Son of God, God himself enrobed in human flesh.

Doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, as Paul urges the disciples at Colossae and ourselves to do means doing everything in the character of Jesus—with love, with humility, with a desire to please God. We are to do everything with grateful hearts, thankful for the kindness God has shown us and keeps showing us.

The lamps of Jesus’ day shed enough light to illuminate the main room of a house. Most houses had one or two rooms—a main room and a storage room—and maybe a canopy covered roof top. However, a hundred such lamps gathered together in one room would produce a blaze of light!

A local church is like a room filled with many lamps. The lamps are ourselves. When we live our individual lives Jesus’ way, when we live our common life Jesus’ way, the light we produce may be blinding in its brightness. Its brightness will not only cause people to glorify God, but they may also be drawn to the light and become themselves one of the lamps shining in the darkness of this world. Let us not forget that God works in us for the good of others as well as our own good and his glory. Let us be a people of light.

Silence is kept.

The Gospel Canticle

Open this link in a new tab to hear John Philip Newell’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “The Song of Mary.”

My soul sings of you, O God.
My spirit delights in your Presence.

You have cherished my womanhood.
You have honored earth’s body.

All will know the sacredness of birth.
All will know the gift of life.

Your grace is to those who are open.
Your mercy to the humble in heart.

The dreams of the proud crumble.
The plans of the powerful fail.

You feed the hungry with goodness.
You deny the rich their greed.

The hopes of the poor are precious.
The birth pangs of creation are heard.

You have been faithful to the human family.
You are the seed of new beginnings.

My soul sings of you, O God.
My spirit delights in your presence.

My soul sings of you, O God.
My spirit delights in your presence.

My soul sings of you, O God.
My spirit delights in your presence.

My soul sings of you, O God.
My spirit delights in your presence.

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

O God,
without you we are not able to please you:
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

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 gospel song, “This Little Light of Mine.”

This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

All down the road, I’m goin’ let it shine
All down the road, I’m goin’ let it shine
All down the road, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

I’m goin’ let it shine
I’m goin’ let it shine
I’m goin’ let it shine
I’m goin’ let it shine
I’m goin’ let it shine
I’m goin’ let it shine
Let it shine, shine, shine

The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.

May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of love be our guide and path,
for all of our days. Amen.