All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (November 17, 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 Joyous Light of Glorious God from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
Joyous light of glorious God,
heavenly, holy, Jesus Christ,
We have come to the setting of the Sun
and we look to the ev’ning light.
We sing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our voices pure voices together.
O precious God, giver of life,
we sing your praises forever.
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 Psalm 141 from Kent Gustavson's Mountain Vespers.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O God, 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,
and guard the doors of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;
Never occupied in wickedness.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
in you I take refuge.
My eyes are turned to you, O God,
Strip me not of my life.
Let my prayer rise before you as incense,
the lifting up of my hands 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 13:1-11 Jesus prophesies the ruin of the Temple
Then as Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Master, what wonderful stonework, what a size these building are!”
Jesus replied, “You see these great buildings? Not a single stone will be left standing on another; every one will be thrown down!”
Then while he was sitting on the slope of the Mount of Olives facing the Temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew said to him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What sign will there be that all these things are going to be accomplished?”
So Jesus began to tell them: “Be very careful that no one deceives you. Many are going to come in my name and say, ‘I am he’, and will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, don’t be alarmed. such things are bound to happen, but the end is not yet. Nation will take up arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in different places and terrible famines. But this is only the beginnings of ‘the pains’. You yourselves must keep your wits about you, for men will hand you over to their councils, and will beat you in their synagogues. You will have to stand in front of rulers and kings for my sake to bear your witness to them—for before the end comes the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations. But when they are taking you off to trial, do not worry beforehand about what you are going to say—simply say the words you are given when the time comes. For it is not really you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
The Homily
Are We Living in the End Times?
One of the affects the COVID-19 pandemic has had upon us is to cause Christians to think more about the last days. While it may be tempting to think that we are living in the last days, the truth is that we do not know. Jesus told his disciples that he did not know when he would return, only that they should be prepared for his coming again. In today’s reading Jesus compares the events leading up to his return to birth pangs. A mother may experience them long before she gives birth to her child. They do not mean that the child’s birth is imminent.
This may be disappointing to those Christians who set great stock in predicting Jesus’ coming again, based upon obscure passages of the Bible. The truth is that we do not know, Jesus did not know, and I believe that we are safe in concluding that God planned it that way.
There is no better way of sorting the lazy workers from the diligent ones than the boss going on a business trip and no one having any idea of when he is returning. The diligent workers will stay on their toes while the lazy workers will take it easy, even fall asleep on the job.
Here are three thing that I believe should be remembered in connection with today’s reading.
The first is to be on our guard against those who claim to come in Jesus’ name and who will lead Christians astray. In the last several years we have a number of pastors who, while claiming to represent Jesus appear intent of upon attracting a following and glorifying themselves, not pointing past themselves to Jesus. The message that they preach has little to do with Jesus’ teaching and example and has more to do with their opinions in politics, the pandemic, and other issues. They are entitled to their opinions as is every American, but they as pastors have a responsibility to make Jesus, his person, his work, his character, and his teaching and example the focus of their preaching, and not their opinions on the issues of the day.
Scripture is full of warnings against following human leaders and not God, abandoning the ways of God for the ways of the world. Phil Cooke in a recent devotional pointed out that many American Christian are functional atheists except on Sundays. They live like there is no God during the week. A recent Barna survey found very few Christians lived in accordance with Jesus’s teaching and example by their own report—a whopping 9%.
We hear Christians lamenting the declining influence of Christianity in the United States. This study suggests that it is their own fault. They may want to blame our growing secular culture, but it comes back to their own failure to live what Jesus taught and exemplified.
The second is not to mistake the conflicts in which some churches have become embroiled with state and local government during the pandemic as the persecution of the end times. What sparked these conflicts is nothing compared to the real persecution that Christians are experiencing elsewhere in the world—in Muslim countries, in India, and China.
In some cases, such as in Nevada, local churches have been unfairly treated; in other cases, they have been asked to conform with reasonable measures to protect the public from the spread of a dangerous virus. There have been abuses, but the idea that these abuses are systemic is an exaggeration, representing the situation as far worse than it really is.
The exaggerated fear that government in the United States is infringing upon the religious freedoms of Americans prompted Texans to adopt a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of churches to hold gatherings in the midst of an outbreak of a pandemic disease. This provision is likely to prove short-sighted in the event of the arrival of a far more contagious and more virulent disease than COVID-19 in the United States. It guarantees that church gatherings in which reasonable precautions against the spread of such a disease are not observed will become major sources of infection for their communities. It relies on churches to act responsibly on their own initiative, but as we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic some pastors and their congregations cannot be counted on to do that.
Disregarding the wellbeing of others is pursue our own interests is not something that Jesus taught. Nor is the idea that individuals are responsible for their own wellbeing and no one else’s. Jesus taught us to love other people. Implicit in that teaching is that we give thought to their wellbeing and not just our own.
We cannot say to ourselves, “God will protect me; therefore, I need not concern myself with what happens to others.” We show our faith in Jesus, not by gathering to hear a sermon, receive communion, and chat with friends, but by emulating Jesus' character and living our lives as Jesus taught and practiced.
As Jesus on several occasions points to the attention of his disciples and the crowds that flocked to hear him, God desires mercy, showing concern for other people’s wellbeing and acting on that concern, and not sacrifice, gatherings for worship. True worship is a life lived in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example and not a meeting on Sunday morning.
When Jesus talks about standing in front of rulers and kings for his sake to bear our witness to them, he is not talking about being hauled into court for flouting a state or county’s public health regulations. We should take care not to confuse one with the other. We should be wary of the attention-seekers who overdramatize disagreements between churches and state and county public health authorities and exploit them to gain a name for themselves.
The North American Church may experience real persecution in its time, but what it is experiencing right now is not the hostility and ill-treatment Christians are experiencing in other parts of the world. It does not even come close. Regrettably the North American Church has its share of drama queens who like to stir up drama in which they can star. They, however, are not making the church’s task of reaching North Americans with the gospel easier.
If we experience real persecution in our time, I expect that it may come from an unlikely quarter—from those who claim that they are Christians!. In any event God will give us the words to speak.
In the meantime, we should be about the task that Jesus has given us, spreading the gospel to every people group on the earth. It is the third thing to remember. When Jesus said, “…before the end comes the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations…,” he is emphasizing the importance of evangelizing the entire world, which includes our own neighborhood or community. This means that we should be having far more conversations about God with our friends, relatives, neighbors, fellow-students, and coworkers than we are presently doing.
An earlier Barna study concluded that “spiritual conversations are exceedingly rare for most Americans, and even for Christians, who are at best reluctant to have them.”
We also should be acting in ways that increase the receptivity of those with whom we have these conversations.
A third study found that non-Christians are most likely to give a hearing to Christians who emulate Jesus’ character and follow his teaching and example.
Take a moment for that to sink in. We have a higher chance of getting a hearing from a non-Christian if we genuinely act like a disciple of Jesus. Our actions are more impactful than our words alone.
Whether Jesus comes this very hour or at some time in the distant future, he should find us having spiritual conversations with other people and pointing them to him, emulating his character, and living the way that he taught us to live and modeled for us. He should find us discipling those who have decided to surrender their lives to him and to trust in him for their salvation. He should find us encouraging one another to show love and to do good and helping one another to live the life of one of his disciples. Are we living in the end-times? A more important question is, “Are we living in readiness for our Lord’s return?”
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Magnificat from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
1 You O God have done great things
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you
n ev’ry generation.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
2 You have shown the strength of your arm,
you have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast the might down from thrones
and have lifted up the lowly.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 You have filled the hungry with good things,
the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel
you’ve remembered your promise of mercy.
The promise you made
to Sarah and Abraham.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Amen
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 Shirley Erena Murray’s “And Jesus Said.”
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I've come to turn your fear to hope,
I've come to take you through the deep,
to be your friend
until the end,
and give your troubled heart to sleep.
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I know your emptiness and grief,
I hear your words of unbelief,
but if you will,
I'll heal your soul
and give your doubting heart relief.
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I am the Way, I am the Light,
I am the Truth that holds you tight,
and in God's home
you have a room,
a place of welcome and delight.
And Jesus said:
And Jesus said:
Don’t be afraid—
Don’t be afraid….
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
May the Lord bless and protect us
May he show us mercy and kindness
May the Lord be good to us and give us peace
Numbers 6: 24-26
Scripture is full of warnings against following human leaders and not God, abandoning the ways of God for the ways of the world. Phil Cooke in a recent devotional pointed out that many American Christian are functional atheists except on Sundays. They live like there is no God during the week. A recent Barna survey found very few Christians lived in accordance with Jesus’s teaching and example by their own report—a whopping 9%.
We hear Christians lamenting the declining influence of Christianity in the United States. This study suggests that it is their own fault. They may want to blame our growing secular culture, but it comes back to their own failure to live what Jesus taught and exemplified.
The second is not to mistake the conflicts in which some churches have become embroiled with state and local government during the pandemic as the persecution of the end times. What sparked these conflicts is nothing compared to the real persecution that Christians are experiencing elsewhere in the world—in Muslim countries, in India, and China.
In some cases, such as in Nevada, local churches have been unfairly treated; in other cases, they have been asked to conform with reasonable measures to protect the public from the spread of a dangerous virus. There have been abuses, but the idea that these abuses are systemic is an exaggeration, representing the situation as far worse than it really is.
The exaggerated fear that government in the United States is infringing upon the religious freedoms of Americans prompted Texans to adopt a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of churches to hold gatherings in the midst of an outbreak of a pandemic disease. This provision is likely to prove short-sighted in the event of the arrival of a far more contagious and more virulent disease than COVID-19 in the United States. It guarantees that church gatherings in which reasonable precautions against the spread of such a disease are not observed will become major sources of infection for their communities. It relies on churches to act responsibly on their own initiative, but as we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic some pastors and their congregations cannot be counted on to do that.
Disregarding the wellbeing of others is pursue our own interests is not something that Jesus taught. Nor is the idea that individuals are responsible for their own wellbeing and no one else’s. Jesus taught us to love other people. Implicit in that teaching is that we give thought to their wellbeing and not just our own.
We cannot say to ourselves, “God will protect me; therefore, I need not concern myself with what happens to others.” We show our faith in Jesus, not by gathering to hear a sermon, receive communion, and chat with friends, but by emulating Jesus' character and living our lives as Jesus taught and practiced.
As Jesus on several occasions points to the attention of his disciples and the crowds that flocked to hear him, God desires mercy, showing concern for other people’s wellbeing and acting on that concern, and not sacrifice, gatherings for worship. True worship is a life lived in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example and not a meeting on Sunday morning.
When Jesus talks about standing in front of rulers and kings for his sake to bear our witness to them, he is not talking about being hauled into court for flouting a state or county’s public health regulations. We should take care not to confuse one with the other. We should be wary of the attention-seekers who overdramatize disagreements between churches and state and county public health authorities and exploit them to gain a name for themselves.
The North American Church may experience real persecution in its time, but what it is experiencing right now is not the hostility and ill-treatment Christians are experiencing in other parts of the world. It does not even come close. Regrettably the North American Church has its share of drama queens who like to stir up drama in which they can star. They, however, are not making the church’s task of reaching North Americans with the gospel easier.
If we experience real persecution in our time, I expect that it may come from an unlikely quarter—from those who claim that they are Christians!. In any event God will give us the words to speak.
In the meantime, we should be about the task that Jesus has given us, spreading the gospel to every people group on the earth. It is the third thing to remember. When Jesus said, “…before the end comes the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations…,” he is emphasizing the importance of evangelizing the entire world, which includes our own neighborhood or community. This means that we should be having far more conversations about God with our friends, relatives, neighbors, fellow-students, and coworkers than we are presently doing.
An earlier Barna study concluded that “spiritual conversations are exceedingly rare for most Americans, and even for Christians, who are at best reluctant to have them.”
We also should be acting in ways that increase the receptivity of those with whom we have these conversations.
A third study found that non-Christians are most likely to give a hearing to Christians who emulate Jesus’ character and follow his teaching and example.
Take a moment for that to sink in. We have a higher chance of getting a hearing from a non-Christian if we genuinely act like a disciple of Jesus. Our actions are more impactful than our words alone.
Whether Jesus comes this very hour or at some time in the distant future, he should find us having spiritual conversations with other people and pointing them to him, emulating his character, and living the way that he taught us to live and modeled for us. He should find us discipling those who have decided to surrender their lives to him and to trust in him for their salvation. He should find us encouraging one another to show love and to do good and helping one another to live the life of one of his disciples. Are we living in the end-times? A more important question is, “Are we living in readiness for our Lord’s return?”
Silence is kept.
The Gospel Canticle
Open this link in a new tab to hear the Magnificat from Kent Gustavson’s Mountain Vespers.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
1 You O God have done great things
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you
n ev’ry generation.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
2 You have shown the strength of your arm,
you have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast the might down from thrones
and have lifted up the lowly.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
3 You have filled the hungry with good things,
the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel
you’ve remembered your promise of mercy.
The promise you made
to Sarah and Abraham.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For you have looked with favor on your lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Glory to you, O Lord our God
With your love and power.
Amen
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 Shirley Erena Murray’s “And Jesus Said.”
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I've come to turn your fear to hope,
I've come to take you through the deep,
to be your friend
until the end,
and give your troubled heart to sleep.
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I know your emptiness and grief,
I hear your words of unbelief,
but if you will,
I'll heal your soul
and give your doubting heart relief.
And Jesus said: don't be afraid--
I am the Way, I am the Light,
I am the Truth that holds you tight,
and in God's home
you have a room,
a place of welcome and delight.
And Jesus said:
And Jesus said:
Don’t be afraid—
Don’t be afraid….
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us praise the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
May the Lord bless and protect us
May he show us mercy and kindness
May the Lord be good to us and give us peace
Numbers 6: 24-26
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