All Hallows Evening Prayer for Wednesday Evening (July 27, 2022)

PROCLAMATION OF THE LIGHT

One or more candles may be lit.

Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. Luke 1:9

EVENING HYMN

Open this link in a new tab to hear F. Bland Tucker’s translation of the Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light.”

O Gracious Light, Lord Jesus Christ,
In you the Father’s glory shone.
Immortal, holy, blest is he,
And blest are you, his holy Son.

Now sunset comes, but light shines forth,
the lamps are lit to pierce the night.
Praise Father, Son, and Spirit: God
Who dwells in the eternal light.

Worthy are you of endless praise,
O Son of God, Life-giving Lord;
Wherefore you are through all the earth
And in the highest heaven adored.

O Gracious Light!

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 Jim and Jean Strathdee’s “Love the Lord Your God.”

Love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart.
Love the Lord, your God,
with all your soul.
Love the Lord, your God,
with all your mind.
Love the Lord, your God –
with all that you are.

Love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart.
Love the Lord, your God,
with all your soul.
Love the Lord, your God,
with all your mind.
Love the Lord, your God –
with all that you are.

SCRIPTURE

Luke 11: 14-28 Jesus and the Prince of Demons

One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe—until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”

As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

Silence

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

HOMILY

How Are We Blessed?

I believe that it is safe to conclude that Jesus, when he speaks about the word of God in the closing passage of today’s reading, Luke 11: 14-28, has his own words in mind, as well as what God had revealed to the people of Israel through the Law that he gave Moses and through the prophets. We learn from the Gospel of John that Jesus regarded his words as not his own but what he had heard from God. He claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesy that God himself would teach his people and make them his disciples. His healings, exorcisms, and other miracles were a testament to the truth of what he claimed.

The people in the crowd who attribute Jesus’ power to the evil one or who demand a sign from heaven, see the good that Jesus is doing but are unwilling to admit that it is God’s doing. They reveal the tendency to look for the worst in people and situations, a tendency which is found in us all.

Psychologists call this tendency the “negativity bias” or the “negativity effect” and it is hard-wired into our brain. We choose to give more weight to the negative things we see in a person or situation than the positive things. What we do find, we exaggerate. If we cannot find anything, we imagine something. We chose to think the worst about people and view situations as far worse than they are in actuality. We not only think the worst of people and situations, but we also expect the worst from them. Having chosen to see someone or a situation in the worst possible light, we then respond to the person or situation out of our biased, distorted view of the person or situation.

This tendency and the proclivity of the unregenerate person to rebel against God and to do what is displeasing to God goes far in explaining why human beings act so badly toward each other. We do not lose the latter proclivity even when the power of the Holy Spirit working in us enables us to will and do what is pleasing to God, something that we cannot do naturally ourselves. Without God’s help our inclination is to harm others, do evil, and not to do any good to our fellow human beings.

If you examine Jesus’ teaching, you will find that he urges us to take a more positive view of people and situations and to respond to them in accordance with this view. He teaches us to be compassionate and merciful toward others as God is compassionate and merciful toward us. He identifies loving the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves as the essence of true religion. He teaches us to be kind in forming opinions of other people and to make allowances for them. He also teaches us to forgive the failings of others and not to hold their failings against them. He further teaches us to love those who have no love for us and who wish us ill and to do good to them, to pray for those who treat us badly, and to bless those who curse us. We are to treat everyone as we ourselves would wish to be treated. His disciples are especially to love one another and our love for each other is to be a sign to the world that we are his disciples.

Jesus recognizes that we are not able to do these things on our own. He points to our attention what is impossible for us is not impossible for God. He promises that God will provide us with a helper in the person of the Holy Spirit, God himself who will come and live in us.

If we take these things into consideration, all who hear the word of God and put it into practice are indeed blessed. There are no two ways about it. They are not only doing what is pleasing to God, but they have been given the will and the power to do it. They are truly blessed.

If when we read Jesus’ words—and I recommend reading them aloud, we feel a tugging inside us, a stirring in our innermost selves, and we think to ourselves, “I’m going to do that. God wants me to do it. It is the right thing to do,” or “Yes, I am doing that, but I need to put more effort into doing it,” it is in all likelihood the nudging of the Holy Spirit. If we respond to the Holy Spirit’s nudging, God will supply us with the grace we need—through our singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs and our hearing of God’s Word read and preached at our church’s gatherings, through our regular and frequent partaking of the sacrament of Holy Communion, through our own personal reading and study of God’s Word and our mediation on his Word, through fasting, through expectant prayer, and through spiritual conversations with our fellow Christians.

To make use of the grace that God supplies, we must be open to the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. We must trust our Lord’s words and have confidence in them. We must approach the means of grace with faith and thanksgiving, not just the sacrament of Holy Communion but all the means of grace.

While we may at times not think it, all Christians are a means of grace to each other. We can always be ready to listen to each other and to help and support each other, to offer each other encouragement, and to treat each other with kindness and respect. We can be patient with each other when mistakes are made and forgive each other. In this way too all who hear God’s word and put it into practice are blessed.

Silence is kept

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

Open this link to hear Ryan Flanigan’s setting of the Apostles Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
And born of the virgin Mary

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried
He descended to the dead, on the third day he rose again
He ascended into heaven, and is seen at the right hand of the father
He will come again to judge the living and the dead

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church
The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins
The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting
Amen

SONG OF PRAISE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Stuart Townend’s “My Soul Will Magnify.”

My soul will magnify the Lord
I rejoice in God, my Savior
In the wonder of His favor
For He has done great things for me
He was mindful of His servant
Every age shall call be blessed
The hope of Abraham come
In the giving of the Son
For He who promised is mighty
In remembering His mercy

My soul will magnify the Lord
For His grace to those who fear Him
Through every generation
The proud He scatters to the wind
As the ruler's strength is broken
And the rich are left with nothing
The humble lifted high
And the hungry satisfied
Our portion and our treasure
Our hope and help forever

My soul will magnify the Lord
I rejoice in God, my Savior
In the wonder of His favor

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

During the silence that follows each bidding, the congregation may pray aloud or silently for each concern or need

To our Father in heaven
let us make our requests with thanksgiving,
through our only mediator,
Jesus Christ the Son.

I ask your prayers for peace in the life of the world ...
Pray for God's peace.

Silence

I ask your prayers for all who suffer injury, sickness and loss ...
Pray for all who are afflicted. 

Silence

I ask your prayers for all who wield authority and influence ...
Pray for all who exercise power.

Silence

I ask your prayers for all whom we have wronged ...
Pray for all who hate us.

Silence

I ask your prayers for our bishop(s) ...
and for all whom Christ has appointed to his service ...
Pray for God's people.

Silence

I ask your prayers for ...

During the silence members of the congregation may ask the prayers of the congregation for specific concerns and needs

Silence

Give thanks to God for all
in whom Christ has been honoured,
(especially ... )

Silence

O God, whose will it is
that all should find salvation
and come to know the truth:
receive the prayers and petitions
which we offer in faith and love;
through him who gave proof of your purpose,
and who sacrificed himself
to win freedom for all humankind,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
more ready to hear than we to pray,
giving more than we desire or deserve;
pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgive those things
of which our conscience is afraid,
and give us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask,
except through your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

RESPONSE

Open this link in a new tab to hear Steve Angrisano’ s setting of “Lord have mercy.

Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

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.