All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (March 20, 2022)
One or more candles may be lit.
Bless be God who forgives all our sins
God’s mercy endures forever
EVENING HYMN
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.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, O Lord our God,
the shepherd of Israel,
their pillar of cloud by day,
their pillar of fire by night.
In these forty days you lead us
into the desert of repentance
that in this pilgrimage of prayer
we might learn to be your people once more.
In fasting and service
you bring us back to your heart.
You open our eyes to your presence in the world
and you free our hands to lead others
to the radiant splendour of your mercy.
Be with us in these journey days
for without you we are lost and will perish.
To you alone be dominion and glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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.
SCRIPTURE
Romans 12: 1-21 Life in God’s Service
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.
Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Walk as a True Disciple
Today’s homily is the third in a series of five homilies about Romans 12. We will be examining what Paul is saying in Romans 12:9-13 and what implications it has for us. Paul tells the members of the church at Rome and us—
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.”
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.” In other words, don’t put on a show for your fellow Christians and other people. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law put on a show for the Jews whom they wanted to see them as very pious, having a deep respect for God and the Jewish religion, and to admire and applaud them for being very pious. But Jesus told his disciples not to copy them. Their hearts were far from God despite their display of piety.
We can fall into the same trap as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. We want to look good in front of our fellow Christians and other people and have them think well of us. We may have adopted a persona for church and feel the need to maintain this persona at all costs.
A persona, or social image, is “the aspects of a person’s character that they show to other people, especially when their real character is different.” Everyone has one or more personas that we use in different situations. They are like masks that we wear to hide our real self. We may wear one for church, another for the place where we work, a third for our friends, and a fourth for our family and relatives.
When we are at church, we may act really loving. But it is an act. It is not the real thing. Our real self that we are hiding from our fellow church members may not be very loving at all. We do not feel a lot of love and care for others. In fact, we are quite selfish. We care only about ourselves rather than about other people. We may also be spiteful. We behave in unkind ways in order to hurt or upset other people. We deliberately do things to annoy them or to cause them unhappiness.
Woe to the person who sees behind our mask and draws our attention or other people’s attention to our selfishness and spitefulness. They may experience the fury of our anger. We may not vent our anger at them directly. We may refuse to speak to them or speak to them very little. We may give them the cold-shoulder. We may ignore them and avoid them. We may gossip about them with our fellow church members and tell lies about them. We may spread rumors intended to harm them or to hurt their feelings. We may do other things to turn our fellow church members against them, to persuade them that the person with whom we are angry has a bad character, does not have good intentions, and cannot be trusted. We may hide the truth from our fellow church members or only tell them part of the truth. We may seek to elicit their sympathy and to make them an ally.
What Paul tell the members and the members of the church at Rome is that we must abandon the pretense, the way we are behaving in order to make our fellow church members and other people believe something that is not true. Instead of pretending to love other people, we must actually love them.
This means learning to love them, this is, to like and care for them, good qualities, bad qualities, and all. It means learning to treat them in a kind and pleasant way. It means getting to know them, learning to understand them, and learning to imagine what it is like to be in their place. It means learning to feel sorry and sad for them and to show that we feel sorry and sad about their problems.
Genuinely loving other people may be more difficult for some people than others. They may not have received much love when they were little. They may have had unfeeling, unkind, unpleasant, insensitive, uninterested, and self-absorbed parents and they may have internalized the attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of their parents.
However, we can learn to be more loving despite what we may have experienced as a child and how it may have affected us. It may take time and effort on our part, but it can be done. It is also God’s will for us. To help us God has given us the gift of himself in the person of the Holy Spirit, his grace, and our fellow believers. One of the reasons that God has put them in our lives is for that very purpose. God does not throw together a local church willy-nilly. God puts everyone just where he wants them. God gives them gifts to help us grow to be more like Jesus and to live our lives according to his teachings and example.
Some people may be harder to love than others. That itself may explain why God has put them in our lives. God has put them there because they are hard to love, and we need to learn to love hard-to-love people. The important thing is to set our hearts on loving them no matter what. The world will walk away from someone who is hard to love. Jesus teaches us to keep on loving them despite the pain and anguish they may cause us. Jesus’ own love was a self-sacrificing love. We emulate his love.
“Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” If we are to dislike anything very much, Paul tells the members of the church at Rome and us, it is what is not right or correct. He does not specify what he means, and we are left to decide for ourselves what he may have had in mind. I believe that we would be safe if we look to Jesus’ teachings and example and to the teachings of the apostles where they reflect his teachings. This is not to suggest that the other parts of the Bible are less inspired than these passages of Scripture but since Jesus is the one whom we call Lord and Teacher is only natural to look for guidance and direction to his teachings and example and the teachings of the apostles which are in line with his.
If Jesus teaches us to love others and Paul teaches us to be genuine in our love for others, then the things that we should think as not good or suitable, the things that we should not support or agree to have happen are those things that are not in line with what Jesus taught and did. To hate something is to have strong negative feelings about it whether it is an attitude, belief, or behavior. Being cruel to people or animals, being extremely unkind and unpleasant to them and causing them pain intentionally, is something about which it is appropriate or acceptable to have strong negative feelings.
Bullying a spouse or child is a form of cruelty but so is refusing to speak to a spouse or child and to acknowledge their existence. This can be very painful for a child who may not know why they are receiving such treatment and can be very damaging to the child’s self-esteem. An individual who received this kind of treatment as a child may treat others the same way as an adult. It is also painful for an adult. It is not something that we would want to support or agree to have happen.
When we hold something tightly, we cannot be separated from it. We may hold a child’s hand tightly when we are walking through a crowd of people. We do not want the child to become separated from us and to come to harm in any way. Paul urges the members of the church at Rome and us to do the same thing to what we consider to be good. We should not hold them carelessly but firmly and closely. In determining what it good, I believe that we would also be safe if we look to Jesus’ teachings and example and to the teachings of the apostles where they reflect his teachings.
Despite the strong influence that the internet and social media is exerting on Christians, Jesus’ command to love one another, his other love commands, his command to treat other people exactly as we would wish to be treated, and his other teachings are things that we want to hold tightly and not let go of. Christians are supposed to be known for their love for one another and their fellow human beings, not for flaming other people and cancelling them.
“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” When we show genuine affection for someone, we exhibit sincere feelings of liking or loving them very much and caring about them. We show our affection not just in our words but importantly in our actions. We take the time and make effort to get to know someone well enough that we know the best way to show that person affection.
When we honor someone, we show great respect for them. We may compliment them, praise them for their admirable qualities or a job well done, or give them greater responsibility which shows that we trust them and recognize their capabilities. We enjoy doing it. We may not always get a positive response but that should not keep us from doing it. If we give someone a compliment, it should be genuine. The same goes for praise.
We should not, however, use compliments and praise to manipulate other people like an abuser loving-bombing a spouse or partner who has separated from them, in order to persuade them to get back together.
“Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” Paul’s teaching is in line with what the Old Testament teaches and with what Jesus teaches. The Book of Proverbs has nothing kind to say about the sluggard, the slow and lazy person who sleeps while others work. On the other hand, those who are industrious are commended. The master in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents in the Gospel of Matthew rewards the two servants who are industrious in making a profit for their master. On the other hand, the third servant who buries talent entrusted to him is rebuked and has the talent taken from him. Jesus in the Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel of John points to the attention of those who sought him out after he fed the five thousand miraculously with five loaves and three fishes that their motivation for doing so was not right. They did not want to work for their daily bread. Jesus’ teaching contains allusions to passages from the Book of Proverbs show that he was familiar with that Old Testament text. He himself claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Paul practiced what he preached. He supported his own gospel ministry and made tents for a living.
Paul himself modeled the enthusiasm with which he urged the members of the church at Rome to serve God. Before he was converted, Paul showed zeal in persecuting the early Christians, believing that he was doing God’s will. Jesus set him straight. From then on he spread the gospel with even greater enthusiasm than he had persecuted the early Christians.
I must admit that I have a hard time imagining someone serving God in a way that is done unwillingly. I suspect that we may do it more often than we like to admit. We do something because it is the right thing to do and it pleases God, but we are not keen on doing it and our hearts are not in it. We go through the motions of loving one another. We may find an excuse not to love a fellow Christian, and we may even get support from others to not do it. Serving God enthusiastically, on the other hand, means giving it our all and not holding back. We put our heart into it. We show a lot of excitement and interest.
“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Hope is a feeling of wanting and expecting a particular thing to happen; something that we wish for. When we are confident, we feel certain that something will happen in the way that we want or expect. When we rejoice, we express great happiness about something. A Christian’s confident hope is Jesus will return and set things to rights. The dead will be raised to new life and Jesus’ disciples will be with him forever. Until that happens. Paul urges the members of the church at Rome and us to persevere even in the face of difficulties.
Although the road may be a rough one and dark storm clouds gather around us, we press on. We do not give up. Our friends may desert us as Jesus’ disciples abandoned him after he was arrested. But we do not let that deter us. We doggedly soldier on.
We pray without stopping. This does not mean that we pray every waking moment, but it does mean that we do not take long breaks in our prayers. We learn to be aware of God ‘s presence and converse with him during our daily activities like Brother Laurence of the Resurrection learned. Whether he was repairing sandals, working in the kitchen, sweeping fallen leaves, he was mindful that God was with him, and he sought God in prayer. For this seventeenth century French monk, God was his constant companion.
“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” We are always on the lookout to help others, not just the members of our local church and our fellow Christians but also all whom Jesus taught were our neighbors. We are always alert to do good to someone. We live the Boy Scout and Girl Guide/Girl Scout slogan, “Do a good turn daily.” However, we are not satisfied to do just one good turn.
We not only make visitors and newcomers to our church, Sunday School class, or small group feel welcome and part of the group, but we are also friendly and generous to everybody. We are ready to offer a meal, a hot shower, and a bed to anyone who needs one. We see in everyone not just someone whom God dearly loves and treasures and for whom Jesus gave up himself on the cross, but also Jesus himself. We are pleased that they have come to our church, Sunday School class, or small group, and we minister to them as we would minister to Jesus. We show them every kindness and courtesy.
As we take stock of ourselves during this season of Lent, we might want to ask ourselves these questions?
How much of an effort am I making to order my life according to Jesus’ teachings and example? What could I do differently?
How differently do I think and act when I am away from the members of my church than I do when I am with them?
How might I think and act more like a disciple of Jesus when I am with the members of my church? When I am away from them?
When it comes to living the Christian faith and life, what motivates me the most?
How enthusiastic am I about serving God? What would help me be more enthusiastic?
How am I helping the other members of my church grow in the Christian faith and life? What could I do differently?
How could I walk more closely with Jesus as one of his disciples? What am I going to do and when am I going to get started?
Once you decide what you are going to do, write it down. Keep it simple and doable. Be specific. Take time every day to think carefully about how you are progressing and what else you may need to do. This will help you keep focused and intentional. If you tend to procrastinate, commit yourself to getting started right away.
SONG OF PRAISE
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
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
With confidence and trust let us pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, have mercy.”
For the one holy catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the mission of the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those preparing for baptism and for their teachers and sponsors, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For peace in the world, that a spirit of respect and reconciliation may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all in danger; that they may be relieved and protected, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy
For all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For grace to amend our lives and to further the reign of God, we pray to you, Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
The Collect
Father of mercy, alone we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves. When we are discouraged by our weakness, strengthen us to follow Christ, our pattern and our hope; 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 Richard Gillard’s “The Servant Song.”
Brother, sister, let me serve you
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey,
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping,
when you laugh I'll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we've seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven,
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we've known together
of Christ's love and agony.
Brother, sister, let me serve you
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant too.
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.
SOLEMN PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Look with compassion, O Lord,
upon this your people;
that rightly observing this holy season
they may learn to know you more fully,
and to serve you with a more perfect will;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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