All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (October 6, 2021)
Evening Prayer
The Service of LightJesus 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 in a new tab to hear Songs in His Presence’s Psalm 8 O Lord, Our God, How Wonderful.”
O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place -
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet:
O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
(how wonderful your name!)
All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our God,
how wonderful your name,
how wonderful your name in all the earth!
(how wonderful your name!)
Silence is kept.
We bless you, master of the heavens,
for the wonderful order which enfolds this world;
grant that your whole creation
may find fulfilment in the Son of Man,
Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Open this link in a new tab to hear the hymn, “Fairest Lord Jesus.”
1 Fairest Lord Jesus,
ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish,
Thee will I honor,
thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown.
2 Fair are the meadows,
fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.
*3 Fair is the sunshine,
fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
4 Beautiful Savior!
Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor,
praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.
*Replaced on the video by “alleluia, alleluia, alleluia….”
The Proclamation of the Word
The Reading
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 God Has Spoken by His Son
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under their feet.”
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower[g] than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
The Homily
Christians were first called Christians in the ancient city of Antioch—a reference to the centrality of the Christ, the Anointed One, to their faith. Christ in Greek means “anointed.”
Over the centuries, however, other things have displaced the Christ at the center of Christianity—the sacraments, the blessed Virgin, and here in the United States in more recent times politics and political figures. Some churches have become so politized that politics have become a substantial barrier between young people and others and the gospel. Indeed, it has led them to question the power of the gospel because they do not see in these churches any evidence of the gospel’s power, no transformed lives that are faithful reflections of Jesus.
While some have become atheist and agnostics, others have cobbled together their own personal religion from different elements of the world religions to meet their spiritual needs. While it may be tempting to blame the influence of an increasingly secular culture and other worldly influences for these developments, we need to first look at ourselves, at our failure to genuinely be followers of Jesus. We may not like hearing that we are playing a major part in what is happening. However, we have Jesus’ own words testifying again us.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own? You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.” (Matthew 7:5 PHILLIPS)
We look for the fault in other people when it clearly lies in ourselves.
Central to the Christian faith is the person, the character, the work, the teaching, and the example of Jesus, son of man, Son of God. If these elements are no longer genuinely central to the faith of our church, I would go as far to say that we are no longer Christians We are no longer followers of Jesus. We have an empty faith, a hollow faith. It is devoid of Jesus.
We may praise Jesus with our lips for an hour on Sunday but for the remaining hours of that day and for the other days of week, we do not praise him with our lives. We do not honor him by emulating his character and following his teaching and example.
In today’s reading we learn that Jesus, when he was here on earth, fulfilled two very important roles: he was our Teacher, and he was our Savior. Having risen from the dead and returned to heaven, he fulfills a third important role, the most important role of all. Jesus is the Lord of all. He is not just our Lord or the Lord of all humanity. He is the Lord of all God’s creation, of everything!
Take a moment to let that sink in…..
The pastor who raves on and on about this and that will one day perish and become dust. The politician who raves on and on about this and that will one day perish and become dust too. Jesus, however, is eternal. He lives for ever.
One day the pastor and the politician and we ourselves will have to give an accounting to Jesus, an accounting to the Lord of all. Every thing good we did, everything evil we did will be revealed and made know. Nothing will be hidden. All will be brought into the light.
All the lies we told ourselves will be revealed for what they are—lies! All the lies that we told others will be revealed for what they are too—lies! We will be naked and ashamed before God. Naked and ashamed as the two who did not trust God, who listened to the tempter, and who ate what was forbidden them.
On that day Jesus will not condemn us. We will condemn ourselves. Having spurned God’s love for us, having not repented after God has given us opportunity after opportunity to do so, God will grant us what we desire most—the severing of fellowship with him, an eternity without God, an eternity without God’s love, his compassion, his forgiveness, and his kindness.
“God wouldn’t do that, would he? Jesus wouldn’t do that?” We may think to ourselves. “God is loving God. Jesus is loving Lord.” Yes, God is a loving God. Jesus is a loving Lord. But God will not force us to be with him for all eternity if we do not want to be with him. Jesus will remove the blindness from our eyes and the self-deceit from our hearts and show us consequences of our choices—our choice to hate instead of love, to hurt instead of heal, to do harm instead of doing good, and will respect our final choice. I suspect that those who choose a godless, Jesus-less eternity will not see anger on indifference on Jesus’ face, in his eyes, but a deep sorrow, the kind of sorrow that we ourselves may display when someone whom we have loved deeply spurns our love.
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 in a new tab to hear The Little Sisters of Jesus', "Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song as I Journey."
1 Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.
I'll tell everybody about you wherever I go.
You alone are our life and our peace and our love.
Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.
2 Lord Jesus, I'll praise you as long as I journey.
May all of my life be a faithful reflection of you.
May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.
Lord Jesus, I'll praise you as long as I journey.
3 As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.
To carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears.
For you saved me by giving your body and blood.
As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.
4 I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey;
but courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side.
And with all of the family you saved by your love,
we'll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey,
we'll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey.
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.
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower[g] than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
The Homily
Jesus—Teacher, Savior, Lord
Christians were first called Christians in the ancient city of Antioch—a reference to the centrality of the Christ, the Anointed One, to their faith. Christ in Greek means “anointed.”
Over the centuries, however, other things have displaced the Christ at the center of Christianity—the sacraments, the blessed Virgin, and here in the United States in more recent times politics and political figures. Some churches have become so politized that politics have become a substantial barrier between young people and others and the gospel. Indeed, it has led them to question the power of the gospel because they do not see in these churches any evidence of the gospel’s power, no transformed lives that are faithful reflections of Jesus.
While some have become atheist and agnostics, others have cobbled together their own personal religion from different elements of the world religions to meet their spiritual needs. While it may be tempting to blame the influence of an increasingly secular culture and other worldly influences for these developments, we need to first look at ourselves, at our failure to genuinely be followers of Jesus. We may not like hearing that we are playing a major part in what is happening. However, we have Jesus’ own words testifying again us.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own? You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.” (Matthew 7:5 PHILLIPS)
We look for the fault in other people when it clearly lies in ourselves.
Central to the Christian faith is the person, the character, the work, the teaching, and the example of Jesus, son of man, Son of God. If these elements are no longer genuinely central to the faith of our church, I would go as far to say that we are no longer Christians We are no longer followers of Jesus. We have an empty faith, a hollow faith. It is devoid of Jesus.
We may praise Jesus with our lips for an hour on Sunday but for the remaining hours of that day and for the other days of week, we do not praise him with our lives. We do not honor him by emulating his character and following his teaching and example.
In today’s reading we learn that Jesus, when he was here on earth, fulfilled two very important roles: he was our Teacher, and he was our Savior. Having risen from the dead and returned to heaven, he fulfills a third important role, the most important role of all. Jesus is the Lord of all. He is not just our Lord or the Lord of all humanity. He is the Lord of all God’s creation, of everything!
Take a moment to let that sink in…..
The pastor who raves on and on about this and that will one day perish and become dust. The politician who raves on and on about this and that will one day perish and become dust too. Jesus, however, is eternal. He lives for ever.
One day the pastor and the politician and we ourselves will have to give an accounting to Jesus, an accounting to the Lord of all. Every thing good we did, everything evil we did will be revealed and made know. Nothing will be hidden. All will be brought into the light.
All the lies we told ourselves will be revealed for what they are—lies! All the lies that we told others will be revealed for what they are too—lies! We will be naked and ashamed before God. Naked and ashamed as the two who did not trust God, who listened to the tempter, and who ate what was forbidden them.
On that day Jesus will not condemn us. We will condemn ourselves. Having spurned God’s love for us, having not repented after God has given us opportunity after opportunity to do so, God will grant us what we desire most—the severing of fellowship with him, an eternity without God, an eternity without God’s love, his compassion, his forgiveness, and his kindness.
“God wouldn’t do that, would he? Jesus wouldn’t do that?” We may think to ourselves. “God is loving God. Jesus is loving Lord.” Yes, God is a loving God. Jesus is a loving Lord. But God will not force us to be with him for all eternity if we do not want to be with him. Jesus will remove the blindness from our eyes and the self-deceit from our hearts and show us consequences of our choices—our choice to hate instead of love, to hurt instead of heal, to do harm instead of doing good, and will respect our final choice. I suspect that those who choose a godless, Jesus-less eternity will not see anger on indifference on Jesus’ face, in his eyes, but a deep sorrow, the kind of sorrow that we ourselves may display when someone whom we have loved deeply spurns our love.
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 in a new tab to hear The Little Sisters of Jesus', "Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song as I Journey."
1 Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.
I'll tell everybody about you wherever I go.
You alone are our life and our peace and our love.
Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.
2 Lord Jesus, I'll praise you as long as I journey.
May all of my life be a faithful reflection of you.
May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.
Lord Jesus, I'll praise you as long as I journey.
3 As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.
To carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears.
For you saved me by giving your body and blood.
As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.
4 I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey;
but courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side.
And with all of the family you saved by your love,
we'll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey,
we'll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey.
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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