All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (December 16, 2021)

Evening Prayer

The Service of Light

Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
A light no darkness can extinguish.

Open this link to hear Carl P. Schalk’s choral arrangement “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.

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 Mia Koehne’s arrangement of Psalm 141 from the Lutheran Service Book.

Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call you; come to me quickly;
Hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord,
and guard the door of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;
let me not be occupied with wickedness of evildoers.
But my eyes are turned to you, O God,
in you I take refuge.
Strip me not of my life.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening,
as the evening,
Oh, as the evening sacrifice.

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 Kiran Young Wimberly’s adaptation of Psalm 121, “I Lift My Eyes Up to the Hills.”

I lift my eyes up to the hills
where does my help come from?
I lift my eyes up to the hills
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord above,
the Lord of heaven and earth.
The One who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleeps

[Instrumental interlude]

The Lord who watches over Israel
is your shade at your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon harm you by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm;
and will watch over your life.
watch over you as you come and go
now and forevermore.

[Instrumental interlude]

The Lord will keep you from all harm;
and will watch over your life.
watch over you as you come and go
now and forevermore,
now and forevermore.

Silence is kept.

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

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

Mark 10: 32-45 The Last Journey to Jerusalem Begins

They were now on their way up to Jerusalem and Jesus walked on ahead. The disciples were dismayed at this, and those who followed were afraid. Then once more he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.

“We are now going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “as you can see. And the Son of Man will be betrayed into the power of the chief priests and scribes. They are going to condemn him to death and hand him over to pagans who will jeer at him and spit at him and flog him and kill him. But after three days he will rise again.”

Then Zebedee’s two sons James and John approached him, saying “Master, we want you to grant us a special request.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” answered Jesus.

“Give us permission to sit one on each side of you in the glory of your kingdom!”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I have to drink? Can you go through the baptism I have to bear?”

“Yes, we can,” they replied. Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink the cup I am drinking, and you will undergo the baptism which I have to bear! But as for sitting on either side of me, that is not for me to give—such places belong to those for whom they are intended.”

When the other ten heard about this, they began to be highly indignant with James and John; so Jesus called them all to him, and said, “You know that the so-called rulers in the heathen world lord it over them, and their great men have absolute power. But it must not be so among you. No, whoever among you wants to be great must become the servant of you all, and if he wants to be first among you he must be the slave of all men! For the Son of Man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life to set many others free.”

Silence is kept.

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

The Homily

Discovering our True Self as a Disciple of Jesus

“…. whoever among you wants to be great must become the servant of you all, and if he wants to be first among you he must be the slave of all men! For the Son of Man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life to set many others free.”

Among those who follow Jesus, those who live their lives Jesus’ way and not their own way, anyone who wants to be great must become the servant of their fellow disciples of Jesus. Anyone who wants to be first among their brothers and sisters in Christ must be a slave, not just to them, but to all!

In the United States where many people are competing with each other one way or another to become the cockerel that gets to crow from the top of dung heap, this may come as something as a shock! It did to the disciples. In first-century Judaea there were no paid servants—only slaves.

Why pay someone to serve you when you go to the slave market and buy a slave. Slaves were your property. They had no rights. Slave owners could do with them what they pleased—brand them with a hot iron; have sex with them, children as well as adults; beat them; starve them; and work them to death. Under Jewish law slaves had some protection. Under Roman law they had none. Examination of the teeth and bones of first-century slaves shows that they lived a very hard life.

The Romans did not practice birth control; they practiced infanticide. Roman entrepreneurs turned a profit from this practice, collecting unwanted babies abandoned to die in Roman garbage dumps. Some were sold to brothels. Others were deliberately crippled and maimed and when they were old enough, they forced to beg. There were no child protection laws. They were slaves—property.

The early Christians would rescue the abandoned babies and raise them as their own children.

Jesus’ disciples had not lived sheltered lives. Some may have owned slaves themselves. Here is Jesus telling them that if they wanted to be great, they had to be slaves to each other. If they wanted to be first, they had to be slaves not just to their brothers and sisters in Christ but everybody!

We live in a culture that places a strong emphasis on the self, self-gratification, and self-realization. We are encouraged to see ourselves as our own masters, living our lives as we want to live them, in ways which we believe are expressive of our true selves. Anyone who emotionally supports and encourages us in what we want to do is in our mind our friend. We may ignore that they may hidden motives of their own and may not have our best interest at heart.

Anyone who does not unreservedly support and encourages us or who may not offer us the kind of support and encouragement that we demand, we discard as our friend. “Friends agree with what I want,” we think. “Anyone who question what I want and who does not agree with me is not my friend!” They may deeply care about us, but we reject them because they draw to our attention the fact that the choices we may be making are badly thought out and are not always in our best interest. “I know what is best for me,” we retort. We may recognize that we are making a bad choice, but we do not want to admit it to ourselves. We do not want to admit that the individual who did not agree with our decision might be right.

Jesus, however, is telling us that if we are going to follow him as his disciple, we must abandon self-will. That is the point of what Jesus is saying about those who wish to be great and first among his disciples. It is not what we want but what God wants.

The key is found in these words, “…For the Son of Man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life to set many others free.”

The type of service to others about which Jesus is talking involves the sacrifice of self. In giving his life for our sakes, Jesus submitted his will to God’s will. For us, it entails giving up what we want to serve what God wants. With Jesus we pray, “Your will be done, not mine.”

A really tough thing to do in a culture that glorifies the self above all else. But if we examine Jesus’ teaching, they are about surrendering self to serve God, to serve others, When we enter the kingdom of God, God takes his rightful place on the throne in our lives. Self prostrates himself or herself at God’s feet.

What we are doing is not being untrue to ourselves but discovering our true selves in the service of God and the service of others.

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

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 Bernadette Farrell’s “Let Nothing Trouble You.”

Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
for the one who has God lacks nothing
Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
God alone, God alone, God alone is enough

If God builds the house
nothing will shake it;
neither the storm nor the raging tide.
For the one who builds lays the foundation;
strong as the earth, deep as the sea.

Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
for the one who has God lacks nothing
Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
God alone, God alone, God alone is enough

Be God's living stones, building God's temple;
shelter of light, with an open door.
Be the dwelling place of God's compassion;
where there is love, God will be there.

Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
for the one who has God lacks nothing
Let nothing trouble you or frighten you
God alone, God alone, God alone is enough

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.