All Hallows Evening Prayer for Sunday Evening (April 10, 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
Luke 23: 1-49 The Trial, Crucifixion, and Death of Jesus
Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”
So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!”
Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”
“Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked. When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.
Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. (Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)
Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
“Why did Jesus have to die in such a brutal fashion?” is a question with which his followers have wrestled over the centuries. “Could he not have saved humanity without dying the way that he did?”
To the Jews in the time of the apostles the idea of a crucified Messiah was offensive and scandalous. They believed that anyone who was hung from a tree was cursed by God. In their minds God would not allow such a thing to happen to his Anointed. Jesus could not have been the Messiah.
To the Gentiles a crucified savior was utter nonsense. The whole idea was preposterous—stupid and silly. Anyone who believed in such a thing was dull-witted and gullible or worse—insane.
For both Jews and Gentiles Jesus’s crucifixion and death were serious obstacles to their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah, as a savior.
They focused on this one thing and let it keep them from believing in Jesus.
Human beings tend to do that. We let one thing—an attitude, a belief, a feeling, or an opinion—prevent us from accepting someone or something.
In our time Jesus’ crucifixion and death continues to be an obstacle for some folks. The God depicted in the Bible is a monster and child-abuser, they argue. A really loving God would not subject his Son to such a brutal death. A really loving God would not force his child to suffer and die like that.
They ignore two important considerations. Jesus was not just a human being. He was also God in the person of the Son. It was God himself in human flesh who suffered and died for our sake on the cross, not some poor soul God grabbed off the streets.
Jesus not only went willingly to the cross, but he also went determinedly. While he showed fear in the garden of Gethsemane, he chose to do what he had come to Jerusalem to do. He saw his death as a part of his mission here on earth. It served a purpose. It was not the unfortunate end of the short career of an itinerant preacher and miracle healer.
In the first book C.S. Lewis wrote in the Narnia Chronicles, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is a part of the story in which Jardis, the White Witch as she is called in that book, demands the life of Edmund, one of the four Pevansie children, who has betrayed his siblings. The lives of all traitors are her due, she reminds Aslan, the Christ-figure in the story, but in the form of a beast, the great lion, the Son of the Emperor Overseas. Unless she is given her due, Narnia will be destroyed. Aslan agrees to take Edmund’s place, sparing him death at the hand of the White Witch, and saving Narnia from destruction.
Aslan surrenders himself to Jardis and her evil followers. They bind him, muzzle him, shave his mane, and lay him on a stone table. They jeer him before Jardis plunges her knife into his heart.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Not Without Purpose
“Why did Jesus have to die in such a brutal fashion?” is a question with which his followers have wrestled over the centuries. “Could he not have saved humanity without dying the way that he did?”
To the Jews in the time of the apostles the idea of a crucified Messiah was offensive and scandalous. They believed that anyone who was hung from a tree was cursed by God. In their minds God would not allow such a thing to happen to his Anointed. Jesus could not have been the Messiah.
To the Gentiles a crucified savior was utter nonsense. The whole idea was preposterous—stupid and silly. Anyone who believed in such a thing was dull-witted and gullible or worse—insane.
For both Jews and Gentiles Jesus’s crucifixion and death were serious obstacles to their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah, as a savior.
They focused on this one thing and let it keep them from believing in Jesus.
Human beings tend to do that. We let one thing—an attitude, a belief, a feeling, or an opinion—prevent us from accepting someone or something.
In our time Jesus’ crucifixion and death continues to be an obstacle for some folks. The God depicted in the Bible is a monster and child-abuser, they argue. A really loving God would not subject his Son to such a brutal death. A really loving God would not force his child to suffer and die like that.
They ignore two important considerations. Jesus was not just a human being. He was also God in the person of the Son. It was God himself in human flesh who suffered and died for our sake on the cross, not some poor soul God grabbed off the streets.
Jesus not only went willingly to the cross, but he also went determinedly. While he showed fear in the garden of Gethsemane, he chose to do what he had come to Jerusalem to do. He saw his death as a part of his mission here on earth. It served a purpose. It was not the unfortunate end of the short career of an itinerant preacher and miracle healer.
In the first book C.S. Lewis wrote in the Narnia Chronicles, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is a part of the story in which Jardis, the White Witch as she is called in that book, demands the life of Edmund, one of the four Pevansie children, who has betrayed his siblings. The lives of all traitors are her due, she reminds Aslan, the Christ-figure in the story, but in the form of a beast, the great lion, the Son of the Emperor Overseas. Unless she is given her due, Narnia will be destroyed. Aslan agrees to take Edmund’s place, sparing him death at the hand of the White Witch, and saving Narnia from destruction.
Aslan surrenders himself to Jardis and her evil followers. They bind him, muzzle him, shave his mane, and lay him on a stone table. They jeer him before Jardis plunges her knife into his heart.
Believing that she has killed the one that she fears the most, Jardis breaks her promise and attacks the Narnians. She is intent on killing Edmund anyways.
At the end of this part of the story, we find the two Pevensie’s girls, Lucy and Susan, weeping over the bound corpse of Aslan.
At the end of this part of the story, we find the two Pevensie’s girls, Lucy and Susan, weeping over the bound corpse of Aslan.
They are disturbed by movements on his corpse. It is field mice nibbling his bonds to free him. Their disgust turns to pity. The mice do not realize that Aslan is dead, they think.
As they turn to go down the hill upon which the stone table stood, the sun begins to rise. They are startled by a loud crack behind them. When they look back at the table, it is cracked in half and Aslan is gone!
They search for his body and find Aslan alive, risen from the dead, bigger and more glorious than ever. They are overjoyed. Aslan bids them to climb on his back and they race to deliver the Narnians from Jardis and her evil horde.
Aslan’s death in Lewis’ story is purposeful. It saves not only Edmund’s life but also it saves all of Narnia. What New Testament tells us is that Jesus’ death was purposeful too. It played a part of God’s reconciliation of humanity to himself.
Jesus himself saw his death as serving a purpose. His disciples initially sought to discourage him from going to Jerusalem and dying there. It was later, after Jesus had been crucified, died, was buried, and arose from the dead, they grasped that it had a purpose.
Aslan’s death in Lewis’ story is purposeful. It saves not only Edmund’s life but also it saves all of Narnia. What New Testament tells us is that Jesus’ death was purposeful too. It played a part of God’s reconciliation of humanity to himself.
Jesus himself saw his death as serving a purpose. His disciples initially sought to discourage him from going to Jerusalem and dying there. It was later, after Jesus had been crucified, died, was buried, and arose from the dead, they grasped that it had a purpose.
As Jesus had told them, a seed must be planted in the ground and lie dormant for a time, if it is to germinate and to become a plant.
They may not have fully grasped the purpose of his death and interpreted its purpose the best that they could. It, however, was no longer purposeless in their minds.
As Jesus’ followers, as people who believe in what Jesus taught and practiced and who try to live our lives according to his teachings and example, accepting Jesus’s death had purpose and an important purpose at that is a part of following him. While we may not fully grasp what its purpose was, we believe that it was purposeful. It was not just some unfortunate happening: Jesus ran afoul of the religious authorities in Jerusalem, and they engineered his death.
As Jesus’ followers, as people who believe in what Jesus taught and practiced and who try to live our lives according to his teachings and example, accepting Jesus’s death had purpose and an important purpose at that is a part of following him. While we may not fully grasp what its purpose was, we believe that it was purposeful. It was not just some unfortunate happening: Jesus ran afoul of the religious authorities in Jerusalem, and they engineered his death.
Despite the brutal manner of his death, his dying was not purposeless. It opened to us the way of salvation. It enables us to be put right with God and to be on good terms with God through faith in Jesus.
The apostles and early Christians did not draw any negative inferences from Jesus’s crucifixion and death as horrific as it was. It carried a far greater stigma in their time than it does today.
The apostles and early Christians did not draw any negative inferences from Jesus’s crucifixion and death as horrific as it was. It carried a far greater stigma in their time than it does today.
They saw a positive outcome to what happened—a risen Lord who had overcome death. Any doubts that they had about Jesus were swept away. Even James, Jesus’ older brother who with his other siblings had thought that Jesus was crazy was convinced that Jesus whom he had known all of his life was God.
Jesus saw purpose in his death. The memorial that Jesus instituted to recall and proclaim his death, the Lord’s Supper, affirms the purposefulness of his death. Many of us will be commemorating his institution of that ordinance or sacrament this coming Thursday, Maundy Thursday.
Whether we ourselves will be joining in such an observance, let us remember this final week of Lent that Jesus’s crucifixion and death were not meaningless. They were not without purpose. They played an important part in our salvation.
Jesus saw purpose in his death. The memorial that Jesus instituted to recall and proclaim his death, the Lord’s Supper, affirms the purposefulness of his death. Many of us will be commemorating his institution of that ordinance or sacrament this coming Thursday, Maundy Thursday.
Whether we ourselves will be joining in such an observance, let us remember this final week of Lent that Jesus’s crucifixion and death were not meaningless. They were not without purpose. They played an important part in our salvation.
It is not necessary for us to fully grasp their purpose for us to benefit from them. What is necessary is that we believe in Jesus and trust in him, that we declare our faith and confidence in him not only with our lips but with our lives, following his teachings and example and living a life of love like his, a life that embodies God’s love for humankind.
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 everliving God, in tender love for all our human race you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take our flesh and suffer death upon a cruel cross. May we follow the example of his great humility and share in the glory of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive 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 Isaac Watts’ hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.
3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
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.
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 everliving God, in tender love for all our human race you sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to take our flesh and suffer death upon a cruel cross. May we follow the example of his great humility and share in the glory of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive 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 Isaac Watts’ hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
1 When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through his blood.
3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
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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