All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening ( February 12, 2022)
One or more candles may be lit.
Light and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord
Thanks be to God
EVENING HYMN
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!
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Dear Jesus,
as a hen covers her chicks with her wings
to keep them safe, do thou this night
protect us under your golden wings. Amen.
SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 15: 12-20 Our Resurrection
Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? If that is true, it means that Christ was not raised; and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.
But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Jesus Is Really Lord
The resurrection of Jesus, Paul draws to our attention in today’s reading, has important implications for us as Christians, as disciples of Jesus. It means our faith is not a delusion, a belief in something that is not true. It means that our sins can be forgiven and indeed they are forgiven when we turn away from them, ask God’s forgiveness, receive his forgiveness, and trust in Jesus. It means that we have hope beyond this present life. We can confidently believe that one day we will be in heaven with Jesus, Indeed, Jesus is truly our Savior. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is a guarantee, a promise, and an assurance that the dead, like Jesus, will be raised.
Jesus’ resurrection has an implication which also greatly affects us but which Paul does not mention in this passage. It means that Jesus is in fact not just our Savior, but he is also truly our Lord. He is not our lord because we give him authority over our lives. He is our Lord because he possesses authority of his own over our lives. His words are authoritative not because we think of them as worth respecting and obeying. They are authoritative because they are backed by God’s authority, God’s power to demand obedience from us.
Living in a time when people balk at the very thought of anyone exercising control over them other than themselves, this knowledge may make them uneasy. Our culture encourages us to place ourselves first, to be only interested in our selves and our own activities, to give a lot of attention to ourselves and very little thought to others. It encourages us to, in the words of the Bible, do what is right in our own eyes.
If Jesus is really Lord, then we are expected to obey and respect his teaching and to follow his example. It is not optional, something that we can choose to do if we want to do it. Jesus is not a philosopher whose words may be treated as advice or suggestions. While Jesus would prefer that we give him obedience and respect out of love for him, Jesus nonetheless has the right to command our obedience and respect.
What Jesus taught is fairly clear as is the example that he set. We have God’s grace enabling us to believe in Jesus and to obey and respect his teaching and to follow his example. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us into the right path and to keep us in that path. What then prevents us from fully embracing Jesus as our Lord and submitting to his lordship over our lives. While some of us may have more difficulty to relating to authority figures more than others do, the main reason is willfulness on our part—the determination to do as we want and not what others want, including Jesus.
We also may have the mistaken idea that because God is a loving God, he allows us to be willful, to intentionally do bad things, to determinedly do exactly as we want, even if we know it is wrong, and turns a blind eye to our willfulness. But such a God is not a loving God, He is an uncaring God, an indifferent God, a God who is unconcerned about the trouble into which we may get ourselves, a God who does nothing to help us, a God who does not think about us or is interested in us. Such a God is not the God which Jesus revealed to us in his teaching and his life.
God does not neglect us like a parent who gives little attention to a child and leaves them unsupervised, so they come to harm, either their own actions or the actions of others.
I learned when I was involved in child welfare work, how a child’s relationship with their parents can affect their ideas of God. If one or both parents neglect or abuse a child, the child may have difficulty in relating to God. Their parents’ neglect or abuse of them will shape their perceptions of God.
The God that Jesus revealed is a God who takes an interest in us, a God that is kind to us, a God that looks after us, a God who sets limits with us, limits for our own good, just like a loving parent does.
A loving parent does not let a child play too close to a pond or river, so that they fall in and drown. A loving parent does not let one sibling to treat another sibling cruelly and do injury to them.
Children obey and respect a loving parent not because that parent is entitled to their obedience and respect, but because they know that parent cares about them and desires what is best for them. We obey and respect God, the Father and the Son, for very much the same reason. We know God loves us and therefore we love God.
Silence is kept.
SONG OF PRAISE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Kiran Young Wimberly’s adaptation of Psalm 67. “May God Be Gracious Unto Us.”
May God be gracious unto us
Make God’s face shine on to us
That your way be known on earth
And your power among all nations
Let the peoples praise you, God,
All the peoples praise you, God,
And be glad and sing for joy
Guide the peoples of all nations
God, our God, has blessed us kindly
Blessed us and sustained us kindly
God be gracious unto us
And God’s face shine on all nations
May God be gracious unto us
May God’s face shine on to us
God be gracious unto us
And God’s face shine on all nations
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
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
Let your merciful ears, O Lord,
be open to the prayers of your humble servants;
and that they may obtain their petitions
make them ask such things as shall please you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
RESPONSE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Singing the Faith’s version of “A New Commandment.”
A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
that you have love one for another;
by this the world shall know that you are my disciples:
that you have love one for another.
A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
that you have love one for another;
by this the world shall know that you are my disciples:
that you have love one for another.
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.
BLESSING
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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