All Hallows Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer for Sunday (October 16, 2022)
This Sunday All Hallows Murray once again offers two services—Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. The order of service for both services comes from The Church of England’s service book, Common Worship (2000). The morning readings are different from the evening reading as are the songs and the homily.
The morning service begins at the top of the page at the Acclamation of Christ at the Dawning of the Day. Scroll down the page for the beginning of the evening service as the Blessing of the Light.
MORNING PRAYER
THE ACCLAMATION OF CHRIST AT THE DAWNING OF THE DAY
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Open this link in a new tab to hear James Quinn’s morning hymn, “This Day God Gives Me.”
This day, God gives me strength of high heaven,
Sun and moon shining, flame in my hearth,
Flashing of lightning, wind in its swiftness,
Deeps of the ocean, firmness of earth,
Deeps of the ocean, firmness of earth.
This day, God sends me strength as my steersman,
Might to uphold me, wisdom as guide.
Your eyes are watchful; your ears are listening;
Your lips are speaking, friend at my side,
Your lips are speaking, friend at my side.
God's way is my way; God's shield is round me;
God's host defends me, saving from ill.
Angels of heaven, drive from me always
All that would harm me; stand by me still,
All that would harm me; stand by me still.
[Instrumental interlude]
Rising, I thank you, mighty and strong one,
King of creation, giver of rest;
Firmly confessing threeness of persons,
Oneness of Godhead, Trinity blessed,
Oneness of Godhead, Trinity blessed.
This prayer of thanksgiving is said.
Blessed are you, creator of all,
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As your dawn renews the face of the earth
bringing light and life to all creation,
may we rejoice in this day you have made;
as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God for ever.
THE WORD OF GOD
PSALMODY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Songs in His Presence’ setting of Psalm 121: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, “Our Help Is from the Lord.”
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Silence is kept.
Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defence
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Val Goldsack’s composition of the Benedicite Omnia Opera, “Canticle of Daniel.”
Works of the Lord O bless the Lord;
heavens of the Lord O bless the Lord
Clouds of the sky O bless the Lord,
glory and praise to Him forever more.
Sun and moon O bless the Lord;
stars of the heavens O bless the Lord
Showers and rain O bless the Lord
glory and praise to Him forever more.
Breezes and winds O bless the Lord;
fire and heat O bless the Lord
Frost and cold O bless the Lord
glory and praise to Him forever more.
Night-time and day, darkness and light,
Lightning and cloud let all the earth praise the lord.
Mountains and hills O bless the Lord
plants of the earth O bless the lord
Fountains and springs O bless the Lord,
glory and praise to Him forever more.
Children of men O bless the Lord,
Israel O bless the Lord
Servants and priests O bless the Lord,
glory and praise to Him forever more.
Spirits and souls of the just,
holy and humble of heart,
Ananias, Azarias,
Mizael O bless the Lord.
Praise the Father; praise the Son
and Holy Spirit, Three in One
May you be blessed O Lord in the heavens,
glory and praise to You forever more.
Silence may be kept.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Genesis 32: 22–31 Jacob wrestles with the angel of the Lord
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the River Jabbok with them. After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.
Silence is kept.
Luke 18:1–8 The Parable of the Importunate Widow
One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
A Lesson in Prayer
I do not remember who first told me the story of Robert Bruce and the spider. I associate the story in my mind with my maternal grandmother. She may have heard it from her mother, a Scot, and told it to me.
Bruce had been crowned king of Scotland. He was badly defeated during his first year as the Scottish king. As the tale goes, while he was hiding in a cave in the west of Scotland, he watched a spider repeatedly trying to spin a web. The spider failed a number of times but did not give up. It eventually succeeded. The spider inspired Bruce to continue fighting the English whom he finally defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn.
The point my grandmother made with the story was to continue to make an effort to do or achieve something, even though it was difficult or would take a long time. She had lived through World War I, 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic, the General Strike of 1926, the Great Depression, and World War II. Her father who had been a school master had dived into a freezing cold river to rescue a drowning boy and lost his voice. As a consequence, his family would suffer hardship as he was not able to teach. The lesson that she was teaching a small boy with this story was a good one—to persevere in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
When I grew older, I would learn that the story about Robert Bruce and the spider had originated hundreds of years later. It was originally written about someone else—Sir James Douglas, a Scotsman but not the king of Scotland! The story, however, has stuck with me and so has the point of the story as my grandmother told it.
Jacob in this morning’s Old Testament reading, Genesis 32: 22–3, and the widow in this morning’s New Testament reading, Luke 18:1–8, share something in common with the spider of the tale. They did not give up. Jacob wrestled with the man, a manifestation of God in human form, sometimes referred to as “the angel of the Lord,” until he received a blessing. The widow badgered the unjust judge into finally giving her justice.
Jesus told his disciples what is also known as the Parable of the Persistent Widow or the Parable of the Unjust Judge to encourage them persevere in prayer and not to give up.
For a variety of reasons, we may not receive an immediate answer to a prayer. But we should not let this stop us from praying.
As the apostle James points to our attention, God may not answer our prayer because our faith is not in God alone. Our loyalty is divided between God and the world (James 1: 5-8).
As James further draws to our attention, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation (James 1: 12). We may need to undergo changes in our hearts and our lives before God will answer our prayer. We may have unrepented sin with which we have not dealt.
God may not answer our prayer because the time is not right to answer it.
We may not be asking God for the right thing. We may not get what we ask for because our motives are all wrong. We want only what will give us pleasure (James 4: 3).
God may make us wait before answering our prayer to give us time to determine whether we really understand what we are asking for and whether we really want it. Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night and received a blessing, but he did not walk away unscathed. God may choose to answer our prayer, but he wants us to know what is going to happen if he answers our prayer. What we ask for may come with its own share of difficulties. This does not mean that God does not care about us or have our good at heart. Like the loving Father that he is, God is not going to let us harm ourselves because we have not thought carefully about what we are asking and what can come from it.
As Jesus told his disciples and the multitude, if we who evil give good things to our children, how much more will God whose goodness is beyond measure will give good things to his children. Let us trust what Jesus said and not give up praying as he taught his disciples with the Parable of the Importunate Widow.
In asking for good things for others, for healing, salvation, wholeness, protection, help in trouble or need, reconciliation and the like, we are also giving expression to our love for them. When we love someone, we desire what is good for them, what will enable them to be the person whom God created them to be. So let us keep on praying, praying from a heart filled with love for God, for others, and one another.
Silence is kept.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Perry’s metrical paraphrase of the Benedictus Dominus Deus, “Blessed Be the God of Israel.”
1 Blessed be the God of Israel
who comes to set us free;
who visits and redeems us,
who grants us liberty.
The prophets spoke of mercy,
of freedom and release:
God shall fulfill the promise
to bring our people peace.
2 Now from the house of David
a child of grace is given;
a Savior who come among us
to raise us up to heaven.
Before him goes the herald,
forerunner in the way,
the prophet of salvation,
the harbinger of day.
3 On prisoners of darkness
the sun begins to rise,
the dawning of forgiveness
upon the sinner's eyes;
to guide the feet of pilgrims
along the paths of peace:
O bless our God and Savior,
with songs that never cease!
Silence may be kept.
PRAYERS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors and elders, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth.
Silence is kept.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael Perry’s metrical paraphrase of the Benedictus Dominus Deus, “Blessed Be the God of Israel.”
1 Blessed be the God of Israel
who comes to set us free;
who visits and redeems us,
who grants us liberty.
The prophets spoke of mercy,
of freedom and release:
God shall fulfill the promise
to bring our people peace.
2 Now from the house of David
a child of grace is given;
a Savior who come among us
to raise us up to heaven.
Before him goes the herald,
forerunner in the way,
the prophet of salvation,
the harbinger of day.
3 On prisoners of darkness
the sun begins to rise,
the dawning of forgiveness
upon the sinner's eyes;
to guide the feet of pilgrims
along the paths of peace:
O bless our God and Savior,
with songs that never cease!
Silence may be kept.
PRAYERS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors and elders, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your loving kindness to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
THE COLLECT
Mighty God,
strong, loving and wise,
help us to depend upon your goodness
and to place our trust in your Son;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CLOSING SONG
Open this link in a new tab to hear James Montgomery’s hymn, “Prayer is the soul's sincere desire.”
1 Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
2 Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.
3 Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
4 Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, 'Behold, he prays!'
5 Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death:
He enters heaven with prayer.
6 The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, and deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
7 O thou by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.
THE CONCLUSION
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
EVENING PRAYER
THE BLESSING OF THE LIGHT
A lamp or candle may be lit.
The Lord is my light and my salvation:
my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As darkness falls you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
By the light of Christ, your living Word,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
that we may walk as children of light
and sing your praise throughout the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
Blessed be God for ever.
Other candles may be lit as the following is sung.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael John Trotta’s choral arrangement of “O Gracious Light.”
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.
You are worthy at all times
to be praised,
You are worthy at all times
to be praise,
You are worthy at all times,
worthy to be praised,
praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, Giver of light,
you are worthy to be glorified
through all the worlds.
O gracious Light,
O gracious Light,
pure brightness
of the everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light, gracious Light,
pure brightness
of the everliving Father in heaven.
Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
Holy and blessed!
Holy and blessed!
As Psalm 141 — A Song of the Evening Sacrifice, is sung, incense may be burned.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
This opening prayer is said.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
Amen.
THE WORD OF GOD
PSALMODY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Songs in His Presence’ setting of Psalm 121: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, “Our Help Is from the Lord.”
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your loving kindness to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
THE COLLECT
Mighty God,
strong, loving and wise,
help us to depend upon your goodness
and to place our trust in your Son;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CLOSING SONG
Open this link in a new tab to hear James Montgomery’s hymn, “Prayer is the soul's sincere desire.”
1 Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
2 Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.
3 Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
4 Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, 'Behold, he prays!'
5 Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death:
He enters heaven with prayer.
6 The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, and deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
7 O thou by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.
THE CONCLUSION
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
EVENING PRAYER
THE BLESSING OF THE LIGHT
A lamp or candle may be lit.
The Lord is my light and my salvation:
my God shall make my darkness to be bright.
The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you
and also with you.
Blessed are you, Lord God, creator of day and night:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
As darkness falls you renew your promise
to reveal among us the light of your presence.
By the light of Christ, your living Word,
dispel the darkness of our hearts
that we may walk as children of light
and sing your praise throughout the world.
Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
Blessed be God for ever.
Other candles may be lit as the following is sung.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Michael John Trotta’s choral arrangement of “O Gracious Light.”
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.
You are worthy at all times
to be praised,
You are worthy at all times
to be praise,
You are worthy at all times,
worthy to be praised,
praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, Giver of light,
you are worthy to be glorified
through all the worlds.
O gracious Light,
O gracious Light,
pure brightness
of the everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
O gracious Light, gracious Light,
pure brightness
of the everliving Father in heaven.
Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!
Holy and blessed!
Holy and blessed!
As Psalm 141 — A Song of the Evening Sacrifice, is sung, incense may be burned.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Peter Inwood’s setting of Psalm 141, “O Lord, Let My Prayer Rise Before You Like Incense.”
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
1. Lord, I am calling:
hasten to help me.
Listen to me as I cry to you.
Let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
2. Lord, set a guard at my mouth,
keep watch at the gate of my lips.
Let my heart not turn to things that are wrong,
to sharing the evil deeds done by the sinful.
No, I will never taste their delights.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
3. The good may reprove me,
in kindness chastise me,
but the wicked shall never anoint my head.
Ev’ry day I counter their malice with prayer.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
4 To you, Lord, my God, my eyes are turned:
in you I take refuge;
do not forsake me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those who do evil.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you like incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
5 Praise to the Father, praise to the Son,
all praise to the life-giving Spirit.
As it was, is now and shall always be
for ages unending. Amen.
O Lord, let my prayer rise before you as incense,
my hands like an evening offering.
This opening prayer is said.
That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,
so may your mercy come down upon us
to cleanse our hearts
and set us free to sing your praise
now and for ever.
Amen.
THE WORD OF GOD
PSALMODY
Open this link in a new tab to hear Songs in His Presence’ setting of Psalm 121: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, “Our Help Is from the Lord.”
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Silence is kept.
Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defense
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s metrical version of the Dignus est, “Heavenly Hosts in Ceaseless Worship.”
1 Heavenly hosts in ceaseless worship
`Holy, holy, holy' cry;
`he who is, who was and will be,
God Almighty, Lord most high.'
Praise and honor, power and glory,
be to him who reigns alone!
We, with all his hands have fashioned,
fall before the Father's throne.
2 All creation, all redemption,
join to sing the Savior's worth;
Lamb of God, whose blood has bought us,
kings and priests, to reign on earth.
Wealth and wisdom, power and glory,
honour, might, dominion, praise,
now be his from all his creatures
and to everlasting days!
Silence may be kept.
SCRIPTURE READING
Jeremiah 38: 1-13 Jeremiah in a Cistern
Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people. He had been saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life. They will live!’ The Lord also says: ‘The city of Jerusalem will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
So these officials went to the king and said, “Sir, this man must die! That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few fighting men we have left, as well as that of all the people. This man is a traitor!”
King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like. I can’t stop you.”
So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”
So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”
So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready, they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
When I read a passage of Scripture like this evening’s Old Testament reading, Jeremiah 38: 1-13, I look for evidence of God’s grace in the passage. The passage does not have to mention God in order to show God’s grace working in the hearts and minds and lives of the people in the passage. But God’s grace is evident from the events about which the passage tells us. The officials who accused Jeremiah of treachery could have killed him with a sword thrust. King Zedekiah acquiesced to their demands. Instead, God restrained them, and they lowered him into an empty cistern. A cistern is a large tank in which rainwater is collected and stored. There they left him to die by slow starvation. Bad enough. But not as bad as having been slain on the spot. A sword thrust would have silenced Jeremiah for good.
God moves Ebed-melech an Ethiopian and an important court official to intercede on Jeremiah’ behalf with King Zedekiah who has a change of heart and decides to spare Jeremiah’s life. The king provides Ebed-melech with a force of 30 men to rescue Jeremiah. Ebed-melech not only rescues Jeremiah from the cistern but he provides him with old rags and discard clothes to protect him from the ropes that he used to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern.
Several things about Ebed-melech deserve comment. He was an Ethiopian, a Cushite in the Hebrew. He came from the land of Cush. Cush is identified with the Kingdom of Kush or ancient Sudan. Its inhabitants were a dark skinned people. They were not a people of the Old Covenant, the covenant that God made with Abraham and later with Moses and the people of Israel. From the perspective of the Judeans who lived in the southern kingdom of Judea and in its capital Jerusalem, they were foreigners. They were also not practitioners of the Judean religion.
Ebed-melech, however, as an important court official may have been familiar with its teachings. He may have worshiped God in the outer courts of the Temple. The narrative does not tell us. Yet he treats Jeremiah with the kindness and care with which God enjoined the people of the Old Covenant to treat each other and strangers in their midst.
It is interesting that God chooses him to rescue Jeremiah. In a sense Ebeh-melech prefigures the Samaritan in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. In this evening’s Old Testament reading God uses a foreigner not only to be an instrument of his grace but also to exhibit those qualities of character which he desires his chosen people to display. In Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan, it is a despised Samaritan that acts in this role. This points to God’s willingness to use seemingly unlikely people from our perspective to accomplish his purposes.
If we think about it further, it was an Ethiopian, a servant of the Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia, and a eunuch, who was returning to his country from worshiping in Jerusalem and whom Philip met on the road, led to faith, and baptized. We do not know what part that eunuch would play in the evangelization of his country, but Ethiopian Church is one of the oldest branches of Christianity in the world.
We may be tempted to question the relevance of today’s Old Testament reading to ourselves. It, however, is much more relevant to us than we may realize. The events in the reading are a part of a larger story in which God delivers the people of Judea from captivity in Babylon and eventually delivers all of those who believe in his Son Jesus Christ from slavery to sin and death. It is one of a number of stories in the Bible in which God uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes, for example, Rahab the prostitute, or in which he delivers those who are faithful to him, for example, Daniel in the lion’s den and the three young men in the fiery furnace. They teach us that God does not do things in the way that we would do them and that God is a deliverer. They also show us that God shows grace to us, compassion and mercy, not only in all kinds of ways but also through all kinds of people. We are precious in his sight.
Take a few moments this evening and ask God to open your eyes and your heart and show you the people through whom he has shown you his love and the ways that he has shown his love to you. And then thank him.
Silence is kept.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lucien Deiss' setting of the Magnificat, My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord."
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.
And from this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
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.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and sent the rich away empty handed.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
PRAYERS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors and elders, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth.
I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
May he not suffer your foot to slip;
may he slumber not who guards you:
indeed he neither slumbers nor sleeps,
the guardian of Israel.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your shade;
he is beside you at your right hand.
The sun shall not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.
Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Silence is kept.
Lord, ever watchful and faithful,
we look to you to be our defense
and we lift our hearts to know your help;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Timothy Dudley Smith’s metrical version of the Dignus est, “Heavenly Hosts in Ceaseless Worship.”
1 Heavenly hosts in ceaseless worship
`Holy, holy, holy' cry;
`he who is, who was and will be,
God Almighty, Lord most high.'
Praise and honor, power and glory,
be to him who reigns alone!
We, with all his hands have fashioned,
fall before the Father's throne.
2 All creation, all redemption,
join to sing the Savior's worth;
Lamb of God, whose blood has bought us,
kings and priests, to reign on earth.
Wealth and wisdom, power and glory,
honour, might, dominion, praise,
now be his from all his creatures
and to everlasting days!
Silence may be kept.
SCRIPTURE READING
Jeremiah 38: 1-13 Jeremiah in a Cistern
Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people. He had been saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life. They will live!’ The Lord also says: ‘The city of Jerusalem will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”
So these officials went to the king and said, “Sir, this man must die! That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few fighting men we have left, as well as that of all the people. This man is a traitor!”
King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like. I can’t stop you.”
So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”
So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”
So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready, they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.
Silence is kept.
May your word live in us
and bear much fruit to your glory
HOMILY
Precious in God’s Sight
When I read a passage of Scripture like this evening’s Old Testament reading, Jeremiah 38: 1-13, I look for evidence of God’s grace in the passage. The passage does not have to mention God in order to show God’s grace working in the hearts and minds and lives of the people in the passage. But God’s grace is evident from the events about which the passage tells us. The officials who accused Jeremiah of treachery could have killed him with a sword thrust. King Zedekiah acquiesced to their demands. Instead, God restrained them, and they lowered him into an empty cistern. A cistern is a large tank in which rainwater is collected and stored. There they left him to die by slow starvation. Bad enough. But not as bad as having been slain on the spot. A sword thrust would have silenced Jeremiah for good.
God moves Ebed-melech an Ethiopian and an important court official to intercede on Jeremiah’ behalf with King Zedekiah who has a change of heart and decides to spare Jeremiah’s life. The king provides Ebed-melech with a force of 30 men to rescue Jeremiah. Ebed-melech not only rescues Jeremiah from the cistern but he provides him with old rags and discard clothes to protect him from the ropes that he used to rescue Jeremiah from the cistern.
Several things about Ebed-melech deserve comment. He was an Ethiopian, a Cushite in the Hebrew. He came from the land of Cush. Cush is identified with the Kingdom of Kush or ancient Sudan. Its inhabitants were a dark skinned people. They were not a people of the Old Covenant, the covenant that God made with Abraham and later with Moses and the people of Israel. From the perspective of the Judeans who lived in the southern kingdom of Judea and in its capital Jerusalem, they were foreigners. They were also not practitioners of the Judean religion.
Ebed-melech, however, as an important court official may have been familiar with its teachings. He may have worshiped God in the outer courts of the Temple. The narrative does not tell us. Yet he treats Jeremiah with the kindness and care with which God enjoined the people of the Old Covenant to treat each other and strangers in their midst.
It is interesting that God chooses him to rescue Jeremiah. In a sense Ebeh-melech prefigures the Samaritan in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. In this evening’s Old Testament reading God uses a foreigner not only to be an instrument of his grace but also to exhibit those qualities of character which he desires his chosen people to display. In Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan, it is a despised Samaritan that acts in this role. This points to God’s willingness to use seemingly unlikely people from our perspective to accomplish his purposes.
If we think about it further, it was an Ethiopian, a servant of the Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia, and a eunuch, who was returning to his country from worshiping in Jerusalem and whom Philip met on the road, led to faith, and baptized. We do not know what part that eunuch would play in the evangelization of his country, but Ethiopian Church is one of the oldest branches of Christianity in the world.
We may be tempted to question the relevance of today’s Old Testament reading to ourselves. It, however, is much more relevant to us than we may realize. The events in the reading are a part of a larger story in which God delivers the people of Judea from captivity in Babylon and eventually delivers all of those who believe in his Son Jesus Christ from slavery to sin and death. It is one of a number of stories in the Bible in which God uses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes, for example, Rahab the prostitute, or in which he delivers those who are faithful to him, for example, Daniel in the lion’s den and the three young men in the fiery furnace. They teach us that God does not do things in the way that we would do them and that God is a deliverer. They also show us that God shows grace to us, compassion and mercy, not only in all kinds of ways but also through all kinds of people. We are precious in his sight.
Take a few moments this evening and ask God to open your eyes and your heart and show you the people through whom he has shown you his love and the ways that he has shown his love to you. And then thank him.
Silence is kept.
GOSPEL CANTICLE
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lucien Deiss' setting of the Magnificat, My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord."
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.
And from this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
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.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and sent the rich away empty handed.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
PRAYERS
(Let us offer our prayers to the source of all love and all life, saying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
Merciful Lord, we pray for all who call themselves Christians: that we may be faithful disciples of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for N our pastor, for all pastors and elders, and for all who serve Christ in his Church: that they may remain faithful to their calling and rightly proclaim the word of truth.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your loving kindness to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
THE COLLECT
Mighty God,
strong, loving and wise,
help us to depend upon your goodness
and to place our trust in your Son;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CLOSING SONG
Open this link in a new tab to hear Philip Stopford’s “Do Not Be Afraid.”
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
When you walk through the waters,
I’ll be with you;
You will never sink beneath the waves.
When the fire is burning all around you,
you will never be consumed by the flames.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
When the fear of loneliness is looming,
then remember I am at your side.
When you dwell in the exile of a stranger,
remember you are precious in my eyes.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
You are mine, O my child,
for I am your Father,
and I love you, I love you,
I love you, I love you
With a perfect love, a perfect love.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
You are mine.
THE CONCLUSION
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
We pray for the leaders of the nations, and all in authority: that your people may lead quiet and peaceable lives.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community and those who live here, the poor and the rich, the elderly and the young, men and women: that you will show your loving kindness to all.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who are in trouble or need that you will deliver them from their distress.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for _______________________.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all the saints who have found favor in your sight from earliest times, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and those whose names are known to you alone: and we pray that we too may be counted among your faithful witnesses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Free Prayer
In silent or spontaneous prayer all bring before God the concerns of the day.
THE COLLECT
Mighty God,
strong, loving and wise,
help us to depend upon your goodness
and to place our trust in your Son;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever.
Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
As our Savior 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.
CLOSING SONG
Open this link in a new tab to hear Philip Stopford’s “Do Not Be Afraid.”
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
When you walk through the waters,
I’ll be with you;
You will never sink beneath the waves.
When the fire is burning all around you,
you will never be consumed by the flames.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
When the fear of loneliness is looming,
then remember I am at your side.
When you dwell in the exile of a stranger,
remember you are precious in my eyes.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
You are mine, O my child,
for I am your Father,
and I love you, I love you,
I love you, I love you
With a perfect love, a perfect love.
Do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid,
for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name;
You are mine, you are mine.
You are mine.
THE CONCLUSION
The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil,
and keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Comments
Post a Comment