All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (February 27, 2022)

 

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

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

Luke 9: 28-36 The Transfiguration

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he was saying this, a cloud overshadowed them, and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them.

Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” When the voice finished, Jesus was there alone. They didn’t tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

Silence is kept.

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

HOMILY

Why Aren't We Listening?

For a moment Peter, John, James had a glimpse of Jesus’ divinity. The terror that overtook them when the cloud overshadowed them suggests that the cloud may have been the shekinah, the glory of God, a cloud like the one that filled Solomon’s Temple when it was dedicated. A voice from the cloud tells them that Jesus is his Son, his Chosen One, and commands them to listen to him. God also came down Mount Sinai in a cloud and spoke to Moses, giving him the Ten Commandments. When the voice finishes speaking the three disciples find themselves alone with Jesus. The two men with whom Jesus had been conversing when they awoke are gone. Luke tells us that Peter, John, and James did not tell anyone at the time.

Jesus had earlier warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was (Luke 9: 18-20).

The sceptics—those who believe that the only things that exist are what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell, will suggest that the disciples cooked up this story to convince people that Jesus was more than itinerant preacher who angered the Jewish religious authorities and whom the Roman governor ordered crucified to ingratiate himself with the Jewish religious leaders and to prevent a riot.

What we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell, however, is not all that exists. Insects can see colors that we cannot. Dogs can hear sounds that we cannot. And so on. We cannot detect everything with our senses. Scientists are always discovering new things and believe that they will discover more new things as time goes on. We do not know everything about the universe in which we live. We have barely scratched the surface.

For us Luke’s account of the transfiguration—Jesus’ change in appearance on a mountain where he, Peter, James, and John had gone to pray, is a reminder that Jesus is not just a man. He is also God.

In the Gospel of John Jesus asserts that he and God are one. The teachings that he gives are God’s teachings. Indeed, he is the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy that God himself would come to his people, teach them, and make them his disciples.

The recognition that Jesus is both man and God makes a significant difference to our understanding of his suffering, death, and resurrection and to our response to his teachings. It leads us to the question that Jesus asks the disciples in Luke 9: 18-20. “But who do you say I am?”

Who do we say Jesus is? A myth as some people claim since admitting his reality would disturb their lives. The itinerant preacher who ran afoul of the Jewish religious authorities as others claim. Or the Son as the Gospels tell us Jesus claimed. If we say that Jesus is the Son, we then must ask ourselves why are we not heeding the voice from the cloud, the voice of God, that commanded the disciples to listen to Jesus. The implication is that listening to him involves more than hearing what he says but doing what he says.

In an article on his blog, “Are We Functional Atheists,” Paul Tripp draws attention to the tendency of Christians, who, while they say that they believe in God and attend a church, act in their daily lives as if there is no God. They do not act in a way that a disciple of Jesus, someone who had absorbed Jesus’ teachings so that his teachings had become a part of their character, would be expected to act. They are thinking, speaking, and making decisions without considering in the process what Jesus taught and did. There is a disconnect between what they say that they believe and how they act. 

They may say that they believe in loving others but in practice they are unfriendly, unpleasant, and unkind to others. They are impatient with others and hold things against them. They act in other ways that are cold and unloving. Jesus’ teachings do not appear to have influenced them at all.

To be fair to our fellow Christians (and to ourselves), it must be admitted that all of us are works in progress. God sees things that we may not see. God also knows the condition of each of our hearts.

It must also be said that Jesus made a connection between the condition of our hearts and our words and actions. What we say and how we act reveal much about our spiritual condition. If we are not seeing any change in ourselves, there is a good chance that we have not fully yielded ourselves to Jesus and we have not fully opened ourselves to God’s grace working in our lives. We have not thrown off our old sinful nature and our former way of life, as the apostle Paul puts it in his letter to the Ephesians. We have not put on our new nature, “created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4: 24 NLT).

Among the reasons that Christians do not take these steps is that they have the mistaken idea that God loves us exactly as we are and does not require us to make any changes in our lives. We can keep on being just like we have always been. God does love us as we are, but God also expects us to make changes in our lives. God sees what we can be and his purpose for us is to become that person. Yielding fully to Jesus and fully opening ourselves to God’s grace working in us requires accepting that God has better things in store for us than who we are now.

When God spoke from the cloud and told the disciples to listen to Jesus, God was not just giving a command. He was saying trust in me, trust in my goodness, trust in my faithfulness, trust in my love. I have great things in store for you. You are going to become like my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.

Silence is kept.

SONG OF PRAISE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Miriam Winter’s “My Soul Gives Glory to My God.”

1. My soul gives glory to my God,
My heart pours out its praise.
God lifted up my lowliness
In many marvelous ways.

2. My God has done great things for me:
Holy is the Name.
All people will declare me blessed,
And blessings they shall claim.

3. From age to age to all who fear,
Such mercy love imparts,
Dispensing justice far and near,
Dismissing selfish hearts.

4. Love casts the mighty from their thrones,
Promotes the insecure,
Leaves hungry spirits satisfied;
The rich seem suddenly poor.

5. Praise God, whose loving covenant
Supports those in distress,
Remembering past promises
With present faithfulness.

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

Almighty God, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross, give us faith to perceive his glory, that being strengthened by his grace we may be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear the anonymous German hymn, “Beautiful Savior, King of Creation.”

1 Beautiful Savior, King of creation,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I’d love thee, truly I’d serve thee,
light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

2 Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
robed in flow'rs of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
he makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

3 Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
bright the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels in the sky.

4 Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine!

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.