All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (September 29, 2021)
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 Like Incense Before You.”
Let my prayer rise up like 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 like 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 like 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 like 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 to hear Jonathan Asprey’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.”
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
Where he can settle down.
And the swallow she can build a nest,
Where she may lay her young.
Within the court of the Lord of hosts,
My King, my Lord and my God.
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung.
And I’d rather be a door-keeper
And only stay a day,
Than live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
And the Lord, he’s like a shield;
And no good thing does he withhold
From those who walk the way.
How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
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.
Open this link in a new tab to John Michael Talbot’s “1 Corinthians 13.”
Love is patient, Love is kind
Love is humble, does not put on airs
Love is never rude
Not prone to anger, does not seek itself
Love is patient, Love is kind
It does not brood over injuries
Does not rejoice in what is wrong
Love rejoices always with the truth
Love never fails
There is no limit to Love
To its power to prevail
To its trust, to its hope
Its power to endure
There are in the end three things that last
There is faith, there is hope and charity
And the greatest of these is Love
So after Love seek eagerly
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
James 3:13-4:7a Real, Spiritual Wisdom Means Humility, Not Rivalry
Are there some wise and understanding men among you? Then your lives will be an example of the humility that is born of true wisdom. But if your heart is full of rivalry and bitter jealousy, then do not boast of your wisdom—don’t deny the truth that you must recognise in your inmost heart. You may acquire a certain superficial wisdom, but it does not come from God—it comes from this world, from your own lower nature, even from the devil. For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil.
The wisdom that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favouritism or hint of hypocrisy. And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness—in other people and in themselves.
But about the feuds and struggles that exist among you—where do you suppose they come from? Can’t you see that they arise from conflicting passions within yourselves? You crave for something and don’t get it, you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves. Consequently in your exasperated frustration you struggle and fight with one another. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And when you do ask he doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit—you only want to satisfy your own desires.
You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realising that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is the Spirit he has caused to live in us? No, he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit, if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why he says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’
Be humble then before God. but resist the devil and you’ll find he’ll run away from you.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
The Homily
We, however, proved to be stubborn and determined to do what we wanted irrespective of the consequences to ourselves. We chose not to trust God but to listen to a tempter. Our willfulness cost us not only an earthly paradise but also our innocence. We would inherit a headstrong and rebellious nature.
But God did not abandon us. He clothed our nakedness and our shame and promised us a redeemer to restore our bruised and broken relationship with him. The God who had created us in an act of love would keep on loving us.
What happened from then on was an unfolding of the consequences of our distrust. We traded innocence for a life of hardship. We came to know suffering and death.
As we read on, the story becomes a story of God’s love for his chosen people Israel. While God was a steadfast lover, the people of Israel were fickle and capricious. They frequently changed their affections, pursuing new lovers. Yet God did not abandon them. He kept on loving them.
In the fullness of time God would send the promised redeemer. Out of his great love for us God would send us his only begotten Son in whom God was not only reconciling humanity to himself, yes, all of humankind, not just Israel, but also in whom God was teaching us to love as God himself loves.
The rest of the story may be described as the outworking of that love, an outworking that does not end with the New Testament, but which continues to this very moment in our lives.
How do we receive God’s love? With humility—with the sincere recognition of our own worth, which is free from self-deception and in which we see ourselves as God sees us. We walk a fine line between acknowledging that we are willful, headstrong, rebellious and undeserving of God’s love and knowing that in his merciful kindness God dearly loves and treasures us.
How do we show love toward others as God himself has taught us to show? Humbly. We take our cue from Jesus who surrendered his glory, humbled himself, and became one of us. In the words of the Shaker song, “Love Is Little,” our love is little, our love is low. Our love is humble. Our love does not take on airs.
In today’s reading the apostle James, Jesus’ older brother, tells us that humility comes from true wisdom, the wisdom that is a gift from God.
“The wisdom that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favouritism or hint of hypocrisy. And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness—in other people and in themselves.”
No harm comes from it. No evil. Only good. With its help we grow in our love of God and our love of others.
James goes on to warn us that when we deliberately choose to love the world over God, we are putting ourselves at odds with God. The good news is that God gives us grace strong enough to overcome what may be influencing us and causing us to be envious of others, distrustful and suspicious of them, to do harm to ourselves and to others, to grieve and sadden God with our choices and actions “if we are humble enough to receive it.” Grace is in all its manifestations is God’s love for us. God is ready to help us if we choose humbly to accept his help, We choose not to let our pride and our unwillingness to accept help from others get in the way. God is there for us.
James ends today’s reading with the reminder that if we humble ourselves before God, to lean into God’s grace, and not rely solely on our own strength, and resist the negative influences in our lives, they will flee us.
The words of the Shaker song, "The Stubborn Oak," come to mind—
“I will not be like the stubborn oak,
But I’ll be like the willow tree,
I’ll bow and bend unto God’s will
And I will seek his mercy still.
When we humble ourselves before God, we bow and bend to God’s will and we rely upon God’s grace to fulfill it. We say “yes” to God’s love for us.
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear Joanne Boyce’s adaptation of the Magnificat, “My Soul Glorifies the Lord.”
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices
My God forever he will be,
bless his holy name.
He looks upon me his servant,
looks on me in my lowliness.
He works marvels for me,
Hence forth all ages call me blessed,
Call me blessed.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices
My God forever he will be,
bless his holy name.
He scatters the proud hearted,
casts the mighty from their thrones.
His mighty arm before me,
In strength he raises the lowly,
raises the lowly.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices
My God forever he will be,
bless his holy name.
He fills the starving with plenty,
but empty sends the rich away.
From age to age his mercy,
The mercy promised us forever,
promised forever.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices
My God forever he will be,
bless his holy name.
Bless him, bless him.
Bless him, bless him.
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
In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
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 Joseph Brackett Jr.'s "'Tis the Gift to Be Simple."
'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.
When we find ourselves in the place just right,
'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.
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.
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