All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (July 6, 2022)

 

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

One or more candles may be lit.

Grace, mercy and peace to us
from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are in the midst of us, O Lord;
and we are called by your name.

EVENING HYMN

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”

O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!
Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

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, ruler of the universe!
Your word brings on the dusk of evening,
your wisdom creates both night and day.
You determine the cycles of time,
arrange the succession of seasons,
and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.
Lord of the starry hosts is your name.
Living and eternal God, rule over us always.
Blessed be the Lord, whose word makes evening fall.
Amen.

HYMN OF THE DAY

Open this link in a new tab to hear Jaraslov Vadja’s “God of the Sparrow.”

God of the sparrow
God of the whale
God of the swirling stars
How does the creature say Awe
How does the creature say Praise

God of the earthquake
God of the storm
God of the trumpet blast
How does the creature cry Woe
How does the creature cry Save

God of the rainbow
God of the cross
God of the empty grave
How does the creature say Grace
How does the creature say Thanks

God of the hungry
God of the sick
God of the prodigal
How does the creature say Care
How does the creature say Life

God of the neighbor
God of the foe
God of the pruning hook
How does the creature say Love
How does the creature say Peace

God of the ages
God near at hand
God of the loving heart
How do your children say Joy
How do your children say Home

SCRIPTURE

Romans 9: 1-18 God's Mercy

With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

Silence is kept.

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

HOMILY

The Gift of Grace

In today’s reading, Roman 9: 1-18 the apostle Paul draws to the attention to the church at Rome to whom he is writing and to ourselves that God can choose to show mercy to some while choosing to pass over others. God shows mercy to those to whom he shows mercy not because of anything that they have done—good or bad. God shows us mercy for his own purposes. God chooses those to whom he shows mercy. God chooses those to whom he shows compassion. We cannot choose God’s mercy. We cannot work for God’s mercy. Whatever mercy God shows us is wholly God’s doing.

What Paul is saying in this passage was troubling to his fellow Jews who believed that they could win God’s favor and indeed put themselves right with God by their own efforts. Make the require sacrifices, observe the prescribed festivals, tithe as required by the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Code, and otherwise live in accordance with the teaching of the Old Testament Law. And everything would be hunky-dory with God.

Jesus himself shocked his disciples when he told them it was near impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. They believed as did their fellow Jews that if anyone could fulfill the requirements of the Law, it was a rich man. When they became upset, Jesus pointed to their attention that what was impossible for human beings was not impossible for God.

We are not in much better shape in our thinking in our time than the Jews were in Paul’s time. We take what the apostle John says about God’s character and run with it. God is love, isn’t he? God is just a big softie. God is not going to take us to task if we do the wrong thing. 

We overlook one important thing. God shows us his grace, his favor and goodwill, because he chooses to. God is not bound to in any way. He does so because he chooses to. That is why grace is grace. God may have a loving nature, but God is not obligated to treat us with mercy and compassion. He chooses to.

Grace is not a license to do what we please, to do whatever is right in our own sight. Grace is God’s help, undeserved and unearned, to live our lives God’s way.

What is God’s way? First, it is to trust God and to believe in Jesus. 

Second, it is to emulate Jesus’ character and to live our lives according to Jesus’ teaching and example. 

Third, it is to be faithful witnesses to and for Jesus. 

To quote Ed Stetzer, it is “to show and share the love of Jesus Christ to all kinds of people,” not just people like ourselves. 

Grace is what enables us to do these things. We cannot do them apart from God.

Yes, God loves us. But his love for us is a gift to us. We should not take it for granted. We also should not abuse it. 

God’s love for us calls for a response of grateful thankfulness and loving obedience. It would be ungrateful of us to offer God anything less.

Silence is kept.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

Open this link to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of our Lord’s Summary of the Law, “Jesus Creed.”

Jesus said
The first commandment is this:
Hear O Israel
The Lord our God is the only Lord.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
Amen.

SONG OF PRAISE

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Magnificat, “Song of Mary.”

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.

The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Let us pray.

God, most gracious and most holy,
grant us the help of your Spirit
as we pray for the Church and the world.

We pray for the Church in every land . . .
for this church and for other local churches . . .
that we may worship and serve you
with reverence and joy.

Silence

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

We pray for the peoples of the world . . .
and for the leaders of the nations . . .
that all may work together for justice and peace.

Silence

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

We pray for those who are ill or distressed . . .
for the lonely and the bereaved . . .
and for those in any other need or trouble . . .
that they may be comforted and sustained.

Silence

Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Father, we remember before you
all your servants who have died in the faith of Christ . . .
We pray that we too may lead faithful and godly lives in this world,
and finally share with all the saints in everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect

O God,
you are working still,
breaking down and building up;
open our eyes to discern your hands
so that we may take our place
as labourers together with you.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Liturgical Folk’s setting of the Trisagion, "Holy God."

Holy God
holy and mighty
holy immortal one
have mercy
mercy
mercy upon us

Repeat 5 more times.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.

As our Saviour taught his disciples,
we pray:

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.

BLESSING

The blessing of God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
remain with us always. Amen.