All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (March 2, 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 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

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.

SCRIPTURE

John 14: 21-24 Those who love Jesus do what he says

Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

Judas (not Iscariot) asked Jesus, “Lord, what has happened that you are going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will go to them and make our home with them. A person who doesn’t love me doesn’t do what I say. I don’t make up what you hear me say. What I say comes from the Father who sent me.

Silence is kept.

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

HOMILY

More Than Part-Time Disciples

If we are honest with ourselves, we generally do not live our lives according to Jesus’ teaching and example in a consistent manner. We may aspire to live our lives according to his teaching and example, but in practice we live our lives according to them only a part of the time. We are part-time disciples, not full-time disciples. I cringe when I say that. Regrettably it is true.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the original disciples that those who love him will know and obey what he commands. They will do what he says. Jesus goes on to say that he does not make up what he says. It comes from God who sent him. Before we beat ourselves up for not being as devoted to Jesus as we might be, let us take a look at some of the things that keep us from being full-time disciples.

One of the reasons that we do not think, act, and make decisions in accordance with Jesus’ teaching and example in a consistent manner is that we have not fully absorbed them and made them a part of our character. We have not completely internalized them.

Early in our lives we developed habitual ways of thinking, acting, and making decisions, which have become our default in most situations. They are the ways that we are going to think, act, and make decisions if we do not intentionally change the ways that we think, act, and make decisions. Unless we develop a conscious awareness of them and replace them with new ways of thinking, acting, and making decisions, they will keep us from being full-time disciples.

For example, we may have developed the habit of not being entirely honest with people. We may hide the truth from them. We may tell them only a part of the truth. We may have acquired this habit to avoid parental disapproval, to gain acceptance from those around us, and to elicit sympathy from them. Over time it may become a reaction to a wide range of situations and to which we give little or no thought. It has become a part of our character, the particular combination of qualities in us that make us different from other people. It will prove an impediment to living according to Jesus’ teaching and example, which require us to be completely honest with other people and ourselves.

We may recognize that we have a particular flaw in our character, and we may understand what is expected from us as a disciple of Jesus but may chose to ignore Jesus’ teaching and example because they are inconvenient to us in the set of circumstances in which we find ourselves. To our minds they are not suitable for our purposes and needs and do not cause us the least difficulty. We may rationalize our decision in a variety of ways. Whatever the reasons we find to justify our decision in our own mind, what we are essentially doing is placing our own will before God’s. We may have the God-given freedom to do that, but it is a mistake to think doing it is right.

The danger is that if we frequently put our own convenience before following Jesus’ teaching and example and thereby doing God’s will, it will become a habit. We will not be any different from the way that we were before we became a disciple of Jesus except that we will know better and therefore our choice will be more willful than it would have been then.

For these reasons we need to be far more intentional in living according to Jesus’ teaching and example than we presently are. We need to leave nothing to chance.

In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul offers his guidance. “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” (Romans 12:2).

The primary way that God helps us to change how we think is through Jesus’ teaching and example themselves. Canadian pastor and writer, Tim Challies, describes the influence of Jesus’ teaching in a post on his blog:

“As one might drop a handful of spices into a pot of brackish water, and therewith sweeten the waters—so these teachings of Jesus fell into the world’s unloving, unkindly life, and at once began to change it into gentleness. Wherever the gospel has gone these saying of the great Teacher have been carried, and have fallen into people’s hearts, leaving there their blessings of gentleness.”

If we are determined to become more than part-time disciples, we must go to the trouble of immersing ourselves in what Jesus taught and how Jesus acted and allow his words and actions to shape how we think, act, and make decisions. What Jesus said and did should be the principal consideration in how we live our lives.

What better time to take the first steps in our transition to full-time disciples of Jesus than this holy season of Lent on which we now embark. 

Silence is kept.

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

Almighty and everlasting God,
you despise nothing you have made
and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our brokenness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Steven C. Warner's "Tune My Heart According to Your Will."

Ostinato Refrain:
Tune my heart according to your will.
Oh, tune my heart according to your will.
O Lord! Tune my heart wholly according to your will.

1 Send your wisdom in my heart,
may she be with me and work in me!
For in God’s will, in God’s will is our peace.

2 Within my inmost being you invite my soul,
to let go of familiar, consent to be made new.
For in God’s will, in God’s will is our peace.

3 I am your word; may I respond to you.
May my life answer you; may I resonate with you.
For in God’s will, in God’s will is our peace.

4 For you alone, you occupy my life.
May your love act in me, in everything I do.
Come, transform me, Lord, wholly according to your will.

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.