All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (April 6, 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

Luke 6: 27- 36 Love for Enemies

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

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

HOMILY

Whatever Happened to the Golden Rule?

The version of the Golden Rule that I was taught as a child was “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The version is not the King James Version of the Golden Rule. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12 KJV). Nor is the Prayer Book version. "My duty towards my neighbour, is to love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me…"(The Book of Common Prayer, 1662).

Although the wording is different, the meaning is the same. Treat others as you would have them treat you. I heard this teaching not only at home from my grandparents and my mother but also at school from my teachers and at church from my pastor.

I do not hear this teaching as much today as I did then. In fact, I cannot recall hearing it for more than two decades. Indeed, it appears to have fallen into desuetude. I do still hear the Great Commandment but not the Golden Rule. Its absence is evident in how Christians treat each other and other people on and off the internet.

Being labelled a rule may account for its disappearance. No one likes to keep rules nowadays. There is a tendency to disregard anything that resembles a rule, rules being seen as restraints on doing what some would have us believe is their God-given right to do as they please. This view has no support in Scripture. Nor does Jesus affirm it.

While the Christian faith is not about rule-keeping as its critics have sometimes described it, Jesus, however, did teach a number of principles by which he expected his disciples to live. The Golden Rule is one of them.

The Christian faith may be described as a set of beliefs and practices as may any religion. It may, however, also be described as a relationship—a relationship between God and us, mediated by Jesus, God in the person of the Son, a relationship in which God in the person of the Holy Spirit indwells the believer. But like all relationships it has boundaries—limits on what attitudes a disciple of Jesus may display and limits on what behavior in which they may engage.

We cannot call ourselves a disciple of Jesus and ignore what he taught or did. This is not to say that people do not call themselves Christians while not following his teachings and example. Regrettably they do and as a consequence Christians have earned the reputation of being dishonest people and hypocrites.

According to Wikipedia—

“The term ‘Golden Rule,’ or ‘Golden law,’ began to be used widely in the early 17th century in Britain by Anglican theologians and preachers. the earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.”

Variations of the Golden Rule, in a positive or negative form appear in a number of religions. They do not convey quite the same meaning as do Matthew 7:12 or Luke 6:31. The latter must be understood within the context of what else Jesus taught and practiced. They can be understood to mean that we chose to behave in a particular manner in hopes that others will reciprocate and behave in the same way. They can also be understood to mean that we treat others in way that we would wish to be treated by them under the best circumstances.

We discern the principle of reciprocity in a number of Jesus’ teachings. If we are unkind or disapproving in our judgment of others, we can expect them to reciprocate and be unkind or disapproving in their judgment of us. If we are not forgiving toward others, God may reciprocate and not be forgiving toward us.

At the same time Jesus puts limits on the situations in which we reciprocate what someone else does. If someone slaps one cheek, we are not to slap him back but turn the other cheek. We are not return evil for evil, or curses for curses. Rather we are to do good when others do evil to us and bless when others curse us.

It is in this particular regard that the Golden Rule as Jesus uses in his teachings differs from its variations in other religions. We treat others in a way that we would wish them to treat us but with no expectation that they will treat us in the same fashion. We treat them as we would like to be treated if we were in their place. While Jesus may appear to be appealing to self-interest, what he is telling us to do is act toward others in a kind and generous way although we may not get anything by acting this way toward them. We imagine how we would ourselves would like to be treated in their situation and treat them that way. We give thought to their feelings.

Jesus recognized what motivates people. In his dealings with them, he will begin with these motivations, but he works with the intention of causing a shift in their attitudes and beliefs and subsequently their behavior. If we want others to treat us with kindness, we should treat them with kindness. Our kindness may rub off on them. On the other hand, they may not return the kindness. In any case we keep treating them with kindness.

If we do not want someone to speak to us, we may ignore them and even avoid them. We, however, are not acting in the spirit of the Golden Rule as understood in the context of Jesus’ teachings and example.

The passage from the Prayer Book catechism mirrors that spirit. “To hurt nobody by word nor deed: To be true and just in all my dealing: To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart: To keep my hands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil-speaking, lying, and slandering: To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity….”

So do the first two of John Wesley’s general rules. The first rule is “…doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most generally practiced…” The second rule is “…doing good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all men…” These two rules are often simplified as do no harm and do good. In their simplified form, while they are easier to remember, they do not quite convey what Wesley had in mind.

If we ignore someone and avoid them, we are hurting them by our actions and we are doing them harm. Under extenuating circumstances, it might be allowable. However, in most cases it is not appropriate or acceptable.

Implicit in the Golden Rule is that how we act toward someone, while it may be the way that we wish them to treat us, will not hurt them or be harmful to them. Deliberately ignoring someone, refusing to speak to them or otherwise acknowledge their presence, and staying away from them, can cause injury to that person psychological and emotionally. It can also damage them socially. Others may observe us ignoring them and avoiding them and may do the same thing.

The Prayer Book catechism links doing to others what we would have done to us with loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Wesley’s first general rule links not doing to others what we would have done to us with the various kinds of evil, which are generally practiced. These associations are ones that we do well to keep in mind.

If we do to others as we would like them to do to us in the spirit with which it was intended, we will treat others with caring, compassion, consideration of their feelings, courtesy, fairness, forgiveness, friendliness, generosity, gentleness, helpfulness, kindness, neighborliness, open-handedness, patience, respect, sympathy, thoughtfulness, trust, and truthfulness. These are the ways, I believe, that we all would like to be treated. This list is not exhaustive.

When we treat others in this way, we are loving others as we love ourselves and in loving them, we are loving God.

Something that we may like to do in the remaining days of the season of Lent and throughtout the season of Easter and beyond is to mediate on each of these qualities in turn, imagining what it would be like to be more caring to others, more compassionate to them, and so on, and then putting into practice what we have imagined. We can ask God to fire our imaginations and to give us the will and the power to live the mental image or idea that we have formed in our minds.

This is one way we can learn to be more deliberate in treating others as we would like to be treated and making our treatment of them in accordance with this principle second nature to ourselves so that we do it easily without thinking much about it. It is also one of the ways that we let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think. It is one of the ways that we become more like Jesus—our teacher, Lord, and friend.

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, your Son Jesus Christ came into the world to free us all from sin and death. Grant that by the help of your grace we may be raised to new life in him and serve you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

RESPONSE

Click on this link to hear Roger Lee Hall’s arrangement of Sister Polly Rupe’s “Gentle Words.”

Gentle words, gentle words,
gentle words,
What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold.

Gentle words,
What the dew is to the flower,
Gentle words are to the soul,
and a blessing to the giver,
and so dear to the receiver,
we should never withhold.

Gentle words kindly spoken
often soothe the troubled mind,
while links of love are broken
by words that are unkind.

Then O, thou gentle spirit,
my constant guardian be,
"Do to others," be my motto,
"as I'd have them do to me."

Gentle words kindly spoken
often soothe the troubled mind,
while links of love are broken
by words that are unkind.

Then O, thou gentle spirit,
my constant guardian be,
"Do to others," be my motto,
"as I'd have them do to me."

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.