Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (March 13, 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 Have no more to do with the old life! Learn the new

This is my instruction, then, which I give you from God. Do not live any longer as the Gentiles live. For they live blindfold in a world of illusion, and cut off from the life of God through ignorance and insensitiveness. They have stifled their consciences and then surrendered themselves to sensuality, practising any form of impurity which lust can suggest.

But you have learned nothing like that from Christ, if you have really heard his voice and understood the truth that he has taught you. No, what you learned was to fling off the dirty clothes of the old way of living, which were rotted through and through with lust’s illusions, and, with yourselves mentally and spiritually re-made, to put on the clean fresh clothes of the new life which was made by God’s design for righteousness and the holiness which is no illusion.

Finish, then, with lying and tell your neighbour the truth. For we are not separate units but intimately related to each other in Christ.

If you are angry, be sure that it is not out of wounded pride or bad temper. Never go to bed angry—don’t give the devil that sort of foothold.

If you used to be a thief you must not only give up stealing, but you must learn to make an honest living, so that you may be able to give to those in need.

Let there be no more foul language, but good words instead—words suitable for the occasion, which God can use to help other people.

Never hurt the Holy Spirit. He is, remember, the personal pledge of your eventual full redemption.

Let there be no more resentment, no more anger or temper, no more violent self-assertiveness, no more slander and no more malicious remarks, Be kind to each other, be understanding. Be as ready to forgive others as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.

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

HOMILY

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

In Ephesians 4: 17-32 the apostle Paul tells the members of the church at Ephesus that if they truly grasped what Jesus taught, it was to abandon their old way of life and to adopt a new way of life. Paul compares the two ways of life to clothes. The old way of life is like dirty clothes which have gaping holes rotted in them, caused by the false beliefs. Illusions are beliefs that are not true. The new way of life is like fresh clean clothes, which God himself has designed for righteousness and true holiness, holiness which is real and not illusory.

This outward transformation is accompanied by an inward change in heart and mind and together they show that God by his grace is renovating a particular individual. For example, when we begin to act more loving toward other people, this change in our behavior should be accompanied by a change in our attitude toward them and our beliefs about them. We experience a more loving attitude toward other people and view them in a more positive light.

The changes that a particular individual experiences in their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are evidence that they have experienced the new birth, or spiritual rebirth. God has regenerated their soul, enabling them to love God and to desire to please him instead of loving sin and desiring to please themselves.

We may struggle when God begins to renovate us because the attitudes, beliefs, and behavior associated with our old way of life has become deeply ingrained in us much in the same way bad habits do, and we have come to see them a part of our character, that particular combination of qualities in us, which make us different from other people. Our parents, for example, may have showed us little kindness and empathy and we internalized their attitudes, beliefs, and behavior, and we, in turn, are unable to show much kindness and empathy toward other people. Kindness and empathy can be learned, They do, however, require a corresponding change in our attitudes and beliefs.

In Ephesians 4: 17-32 Paul identifies several areas in which the members of the church at Ephesus need to make changes in themselves. I dealt with anger in Wednesday’s homily. In today’s homily I will take a look at what Paul tells the Ephesians about lying, stealing, bad language, and grieving the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells the Ephesians to put to an end to saying things that are not true in order to deceive people and to be honest and not tell lies. I do not believe that I would wrong in concluding that Paul also had in mind trying to persuade someone that something false is true, hiding the truth, telling only a part of the truth, and other ways that we try to deceive people. What he tells the Ephesians is that they should be completely honest with other people, particularly their fellow believers. Paul reminds the Ephesians that they are parts of the same body—the Body of Christ—and they are intimately related to each other in Jesus. This may be disconcerting to those of us who value their independence and self-reliance and who are uncomfortable with too much closeness. It is something which they need to adjust. As members of the Body of Christ we need to know each other and get along with each other. Knowing each other well is the key to good communication and good interpersonal relationships, which are musts for the members of the Body of Christ. Truthfulness helps create trust and trust is an ingredient in the glue which binds the Body of Christ together.

As Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, one member of the Body of Christ cannot tell another member, “I don’t need you” any more than can one part of our bodies tell another part, “I don’t need you.” God puts us just where he wants us, and we all are expected to care for each other. We cannot refuse to have anything to do with a fellow member of the local church without disrupting the whole church. While this may not be evident right away, it will become over time. Ill-will on the part of one church member to another will keep one or the other or both from fully participating in the worship, life, and ministry of the church. It can prejudice other church members against one or both church members and have a ripple effect through the entire congregation. For this reason, church members need to be honest and aboveboard with each other from the very beginning and to be prepared to cooperate and work with each other despite differences and disagreements.

Paul goes on to tell those who have been supporting themselves by dishonest mean that they need to change their ways and earn an honest living so they can give to the poor. Paul mentions stealing but I believe that I am safe in saying that what he says would apply to cheating and otherwise behaving in a dishonest way to get what we want. This would include manipulating other people for our advantage. I also believe that I am safe in assuming that Paul would not have approved of Robin Hood who robbed the rich to give to the poor.

Paul also tells the Ephesians to stop using bad language, words that are considered offensive by most people. Instead, they should use words that are suitable to the occasion and which God can use for his purposes.

The words that we use and how we use them can significantly impact other people. We may have heard the old adage, “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words cannot hurt me.” That adage is untrue. Words can hurt people and they can do lifelong emotional and psychological damage to people. Unkind or cruel words said to a child at an impressionable age can damage their self-esteem and acts like a curse on them for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, a kind word or a compliment can be a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy day. It can lift someone’s mood and help them feel better about themselves. God can use kind words to pave the way to a spiritual conversation in which God brings someone to faith in Jesus. We should not underestimate the power of words, especially words that are Spirit-powered. Offensive, rude, or shocking speech can put people off. Kind and pleasant words, on the other hand, make us more attractive and pleasing. Listening attentively and choosing our words wisely can win us a hearing with those who do not yet know Jesus.

Paul further urges the Ephesians to not make the Holy Spirit sad and angry. John Wesley believed that we could by repeated, grievous, unrepented sin so offend the Holy Spirit that the Spirit would withdraw from our lives. 

One of the ways that we grieve the Holy Spirit is to be extremely determined to act in a particular way and not to change despite what anyone else says. We may not care what they think. The way we are acting, however, is contrary to what Jesus taught and did.

We may have convinced ourselves that God will overlook how we are acting, envisioning God as an overly-indulgent grand uncle who winks at our indiscretions. But such actions deeply trouble and grieve the Holy Spirit.

A genuinely loving parent does not give a child anything they want and not mind if they behave badly. A genuinely loving parent will set firm limits on a child and enforce them.

God is not capricious and arbitrary. God has clear expectations of us. While God is kind and forgiving, he nonetheless expects us to do our best to meet his expectations. To that end God provides us with the help of the Holy Spirit, his grace, and our fellow Christians. He does not leave us to struggle to meet them in our own strength.

At the same time God does expect us to make use of the help that he provides. If God puts someone in our life to help us to grow as a disciple of Jesus, we cannot take a dislike to them and say that we do not want them in our life. One of the reasons that God may have put that particular individual in our life is so that we learn to love people like them. We may find fault with them, but learning to love others, faults at all, may be exactly what God wants us to learn.

Having talked about four things that Ephesian Christians should stop doing and one thing that they should avoid doing, Paul draws their attention to three things that they should be doing. First, they should kind. Second, they should be understanding, Third, they should be forgiving. All three things are an integral part of loving others, in particular our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Of the things about which Paul had talked previously, four were about being unloving to others and one was about being unloving toward God. When we grieve the Holy Spirit, we are not showing God the love that we owe him, and which is his by right. We are acting in an unloving manner toward God.

All five are connected to the Ten Commandments is some way. For example, lying is bearing false witness.

The three things that Paul tells the Ephesians that they should be doing not only are an integral part of loving others, but they also mirror God’s own attributes. When we are kind, we care about others. We are gentle, friendly, and generous. When we are understanding, we have the ability to understand why people behave in a particular way and to forgive them when they do something wrong. When we are forgiving, we are willing to forgive. When we forgive, we stop feeling angry with somebody who has done something to harm, annoy or upset us or we stop feeling angry with ourselves. All three things describe God.

Anger, as we saw in Wednesday’s homily, can keep us from being kind, understanding, and forgiving. We put our displeasure with someone before doing God’s will.

Some people grew up in an environment in which they were shown little kindness, understanding, or forgiveness, and they internalized this behavior along with the attitudes and beliefs that accompanied it. As a consequence, they show little kindness, understanding, or forgiveness toward others. They also lack empathy, the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experiences, and other similar things and to put themselves in that person’s place.

As well as being an integral part of loving others, these things are building blocks of the new life which Paul is urging the Ephesian Christians to adopt. Without them we are not going to make very much progress in the Christian faith and life. Indeed, we will be suffering a case of arrested spiritual development. Our spiritual growth will be stunted.

On the positive side, all of these things can be learned. We can learn to be kinder. We can learn to be more understanding. We can learn to forgive. We can learn to be more empathetic.

Key to learning to be kinder is interacting with other people. Key to understanding other people is getting to know them well. Key to forgiving other people is letting go of our anger and not holding anything against the person with whom we are angry. All of these things take time and effort on our part. If, however, we are serious about being a disciple of Jesus, we take the time and make the effort.

We cannot learn to be kinder, more understanding, and more forgiving if we are always dodging the members of our church whom we find displeasing and therefore dislike and treating them as pariahs, or outcasts, people who have no place in our lives because we refuse to accept them. Jesus mingled with all kinds of people, with tax collectors, prostitutes, and other social outcasts, the Pharisees, and the religious elite of the time. He taught us to love those who are not our friends and do good to them. He did not teach us to shun them.

What Paul is essentially telling the members of the church at Ephesus in today’s reading is that if they consider themselves disciples of Jesus, individuals who believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus, then they need to act like his followers. They cannot go on acting like they used to do. This is also what Paul is telling us. If we consider ourselves disciples of Jesus, then we also need to act like his followers. As the old adage reminds us, actions speak louder than words!

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

God of patience and humility, in your love you gave your Son to be rejected and raised up on a cross. Gather us under its shadow and open our eyes to its mystery, that we may share even now in the life that is from above; through Jesus Christ our Lord, 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 Shirley Erena Murray’s “Go Gently, Go Lightly.”

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

Go singing, go bringing
the gifts of the Spirit,
go hopefully searching
for things that are true:
in living, in loving,
whatever befalls you,
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.

[Instrumental interlude]

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

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.