All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (March 9, 2022)

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

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

Ephesians 4: 17-32 Living as Children of Light

With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

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

HOMILY

Angry Christians Do Not Make Loving Disciples

In today’s reading from his Letter to the Ephesians the apostle Paul warns the church at Ephesus and us about danger of letting our feelings control our thoughts and actions and causing us to say and do things that hurt others.

Paul quotes the first half of a verse from Psalm 4. The entire verse is “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent” (Psalm 4: 4 NLT).

While it may be appropriate to express anger in a particular set of circumstances, what Paul has in mind is nursing our anger, hanging on to our feelings of displeasure with someone and allowing these feelings to influence how we think and how we act. Anger can distort our thinking to point that we lose touch with reality and misinterpret a situation. When we bottle things up and do not talk about the things that make us angry, we become angrier and may act out our anger in ways that may hurt ourselves as well as others.

Depend upon the kind of environment in which they grew up, people learn to express their anger or not to express it. Some learn to express their anger directly; others, indirectly. Some learn to express their anger appropriately; others, inappropriately.

When we express our anger directly, we speak to the person with whom we are angry and we put our anger into words. Verbalizing our feelings, psychologists, have found makes them less intense. It also makes letting go of anger and unhappiness easier. 

When we express anger indirectly we give expression to our anger in a roundabout way. We may have a more difficult time letting go of anger and resentment. 

We express our anger indirectly when we are sarcastic—use remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what we say, in order to hurt someone’s feelings; slight someone—insult them by ignoring them or treat them as if they are not important; give them the cold-shoulder—show an unfriendly attitude toward someone, especially by intentionally ignoring or showing no interest in them; sulk—be silent and refuse to smile or be pleasant to people; give someone the silent treatment—not speak to someone, or speak to them very little; stonewall them—shut down the conversation or refuses to interact with them; gossip about them—talk about their private lives and say things that are unkind, disapproving, or untrue; spread rumors intended to hurt or upset them; procrastinate—keep delaying doing things that we are doing for them; and otherwise making trouble for them. (These definitions and some other words and phrases used in this homily are adapted from the Cambridge Dictionary.) For example, we might insinuate that the person with whom we are angry is guilty of some impropriety such as helping themselves to money in the coffee fund coin jar. While it may be proved that what we insinuated was not true, we have cast a shadow of suspicion over them and have prejudiced other people against them, damaging their reputation. We may even express our anger secretly or in a hidden way such as taking small items from their workstation, items which they may not at first notice are missing. We may impulsively key their car in the parking lot. We may not realize that we are acting out of anger.  

Because of their early childhood experiences some people may be angry but are not aware of their anger. One or both parents discouraged them from expressing anger, so they learned to hide their anger, going as far as hiding it from themselves. They may act angry but are not be in touch with their angry feelings.

The appropriateness of anger is determined by its suitability to a particular place, time, or situation. Other factors that determine its appropriateness is its duration, its intensity, its proportion to the situation that triggered it, and the manner in which it is expressed.

When we express our anger in an appropriate manner, we take responsibility for our feelings of anger and do not blame them on someone else. We use I-statement, “I feel angry when my feelings are ignored,” and we do not verbally or physically attack the person with whom we are angry. Expressing our anger in an appropriate manner is an important step in managing our anger rather than allowing our anger to control us.

Paul tells the Ephesian church and us that in permitting our anger to control us, we are sinning. He does not say that anger itself is sinful, but letting it control us. When we allow our anger to consume us, it affects everything we do. We stew in our own anger and nurse a grudge rather than let go of our anger and resentment and forgive whoever is the object of our displeasure. We choose to be unpleasant and spiteful over being pleasant and kind. We may go to great lengths to show our displeasure with them. We may shut down all communication with them while at the same finding various ways to make their life miserable. We want them to feel the pain or hurt that they may have caused us. 

When we fly off the handle, react in a very angry way to something that someone says or does, or we are short-tempered and get angrily easily, often for no good reason, we also letting anger control us.

When we let anger take the driver’s seat in our lives, we make it near impossible for us live the way that God through Jesus taught us to live—to love others and to be forbearing of them, to be patient and forgiving with them. We are sinning because we are letting our anger keep us from doing what is pleasing to God—listening to Jesus and doing what he says.

As Paul draws to the attention of the Ephesian church and us, we give opportunity to the devil when we harbor anger and resentment toward another person. We create a situation in which the harmful spiritual forces working in our lives gain influence over us and exploit our anger to hurt others and ourselves. 

A person who is angry does not think very clearly and may act impulsively without giving much thought to the consequences of their actions. They may do things that they might otherwise not do.

A young woman angry at her friends because they warned her against a man whom she had started dating might ignore their warnings only to discover what her friends had told her was true when a video of her having sex with the man appears on the internet. Unknown to her the man had videoed them having sex, shared the video with his friends, and posted it on the internet.

Paul goes on to urge us to rid ourselves of “all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander.” Bitterness is a mixture of anger, sadness, and disappointment. Bitterness can keep us from forgiving others. Rage is extreme or violent anger. It can cause us to do physical harm to others. By "anger" Paul appears to mean the strong feelings that make us want to hurt someone or be unpleasant and which we have been feeling for a long period, not what we feel when something unfair, painful, or bad happens at the time that it happens.  Harsh words are words that are unpleasant, unkind, cruel, or more severe than is necessary. They are the kinds of words that we may speak when we are angry. Slander are false spoken statements which damage someone’s reputation. We may also say bad things about someone to influence other people’s opinion of them when we are angry.

Paul further urges—

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

When we are kind, we are generous, helpful, and considerate of other people’s feelings. When we are tender-hearted, we are gentle and caring. When we forgive someone, we stop blaming them or being mad at them for something that they have done, and we do not punish them for doing it.

While Paul does not specifically address the use of anger in the form of explosive outbursts or the silent treatment to manipulate and  control people what he urges us to do would not be consistent with that type of behavior. Among the other behaviors which what he says appear to preclude is criticizing someone in a way that shows we do not respect or value them or acting in a way that does the same thing. We are apt to do that sort of thing when we are angry. 

Psychologists who study anger describe the attitude accompanying such behavior as "thinging." We no longer see the person as a human being but as a thing. Once we begin to see someone as a thing, we are less likely to have any inhibition against treating them cruelly or even killing them. 

If one conclusion can be drawn from what Paul says about anger in today’s reading, it is that angry Christians do not make loving disciples. Their anger keeps them from living their lives according to Jesus’ teachings and example. It is true that Jesus drove the cattle and sheep dealers and money changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem with a whip made from a knotted rope. But Jesus did not let his anger control him. He did not let it keep him from obeying God. He was always in the driver’s seat, not his anger. He put God’s will first and not his own.

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 God,
whose Son Jesus Christ
fasted forty days in the wilderness,
was tempted as we are, and yet did not sin:
Give us grace to discipline ourselves
in obedience to your Spirit,
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your saving power;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Rosemary Herklots; ‘Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive.’

1 'Forgive our sins as we forgive,'
you taught us, Lord, to pray,
but you alone can grant us grace
to live the words we say.

2 How can your pardon reach and bless
the unforgiving heart,
that broods on wrongs and will not let
old bitterness depart?

3 In blazing light your cross reveals
the truth we dimly knew:
what trivial debts are owed to us,
how great our debt to you!

4 Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls,
and bid resentment cease;
then, by your mercy reconciled
our lives will spread your peace.

5 'Forgive our sins as we forgive,'
you taught us, Lord, to pray,
but you alone can grant us grace
to live the words we say.

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.