All Hallows Evening Prayer for Saturday Evening (January 14, 2023)

The Service of the Light

Light and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord
Thanks be to God

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s metrical version of the Phos hilaron, “O Light Whose Splendor Thrills and Gladdens.”

O Light whose splendor thrills and gladdens
with radiance brighter than the sun,
pure gleam of God's unending glory,
O Jesus, blest Anointed One;

as twilight hovers near at sunset,
and lamps are lit, and children nod,
in evening hymns we lift our voices
to Father, Spirit, Son: one God.

In all life's brilliant, timeless moments,
let faithful voices sing your praise,
O Son of God, our Life-bestower,
whose glory lightens endless days.

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.

The Psalms

Open this link in a new tab to hear Andrea Sandefur’s setting of Psalm 134, “Come, All Your Servants of the Lord.”

Come all you servants of the Lord (bless the Lord)
Who stand by night in the house of the Lord
Come all you servants of the Lord (bless the Lord)
Who stand by night in the house of the Lord

Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord
Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord, bless the Lord

May the Lord bless you from Zion
He who made heaven and earth (heaven and earth)
May the Lord bless you from Zion
He who made heaven and earth (heaven and earth)

Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord
Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord

Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord

Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
Lift up your hands, and bless the Lord, bless the Lord

Silence is kept.

Guard all your household, Lord,
through the dark night of faith,
and purify the hearts of those who wait on you,
until your kingdom dawns with the
rising of your Son,
Christ, the morning star.
Praise to you our God;
You answer prayer. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Daniel Kallman’s choral arrangement of Jonathan Asprey’s paraphrase of Psalm 84, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.”

How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
Where he can settle down.
And the swallow she can build a nest,
Where she may lay her young.
Within the court of the Lord of hosts,
My King, my Lord and my God.
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung.

And I’d rather be a door-keeper
And only stay a day,
Than live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away.
For the Lord is shining as the sun,
And the Lord, he’s like a shield;
And no good thing does God withhold
From those who walk the way.

How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.
My soul is longing and fainting,
The courts of the Lord to see.
My heart and flesh, they are singing,
For joy to the living God.
How lovely is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hosts, to me.

Silence is kept.

Lord God,
sustain us in this vale of tears
with the vision of your grace and glory,
that, strengthened by the bread of life,
we may come to your eternal dwelling place;
in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

The Proclamation of the Word

The Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (Matthew 22: 34-40)
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Silence follows the reading

The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s paraphrase of the Magnificat, My Soul Proclaims with Wonder."

My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

For God has looked with favor,
on one the world thought frail;
and blessings through the ages will echo
the angel's first "All hail."

My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

God's mercy shields the faithful
and gives them safe retreat
to arms that turns to scatter
the proud in their conceit.

My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

The mighty have been vanquished;
the lowly lifted up.
The hungry find abundance;
the rich, an empty cup.

My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

To Abraham's descendants
the Lord will steadfast prove,
for God has made with Israel
a covenant of love.

My soul proclaims with wonder
the greatness of the Lord;
rejoicing in God's goodness,
my spirit is restored.

Homily

The Greatest Commandment: What Is It and How Do We Keep It?

We may hear what is sometimes described as the “Great Commandment,” the “Greatest Commandment,” or the “Summary of the Law” repeated mantra-like in church. Church members may wear T-shirts emblazoned with the two commandments on their front. They may be featured prominently on our church website. But do we really understand what they mean and their implications for ourselves?

Both commandments are found in the Old Testament. The second great commandment is found in a list of commandments related to holiness in personal conduct in the Book of Leviticus. “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19: 18).” In the same list is found this commandment. “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19: 33-34 NLT).

The Book of Leviticus forms a part of the Samaritan Bible as well as the Jewish Bible and the good Samaritan of Jesus’ proverb would have been familiar with both commandments. The Samaritans regarded themselves to be Israelites and their religion the original, uncorrupted religion of the people of Israel.

The first and greatest commandment is found in the Book of Deuteronomy. “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 NLT). The first verse of this passage can also be translated “The Lord our God is one Lord;” or “The Lord our God, the Lord is one;” or “The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”

Jesus’ teaching gives us insight into what it means to love God as does the Old Testament. The books of the Old Testament emphasize several qualities that characterize loving God. They are trusting God; being faithful to God, that is, being unswerving in our loyalty and devotion to God; obeying God; and doing God’s will. In these ways we honor and respect God and demonstrate how much we value God. Jesus in his teaching emphasizes the same qualities.

The Wikipedia article on the “Great Commandment” makes this claim: "Most Christian denominations view these two commandments as, together, forming the core of the Christian religion. The second passage is considered to be a form of the Golden Rule.” Rather than being a form of the Golden Rule, “Do to others what you would have them to do you,” the Golden Rule is more a way of loving our neighbor.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus makes very clear that our neighbor is not the family or individual who lives next door to us. Our neighbors are all our fellow human beings, not just those we know very well and like a lot but also those who hate us and who may want to harm us. Jesus also associates being a neighbor with helping others when they need help.

Jesus teaches and models a number of ways that we can love our neighbors. Among these ways is to be compassionate, kind, forgiving, and generous toward them. Praying for them is also a way of loving them.

Jesus ties our love for God and our love for others to our love for him. When we obey him, we obey the Father who sent him. When we minister to the needs of others, we minister to him.

Jesus also teaches that we should love others regardless of whether they reciprocate our love.

Jesus further teaches that the hallmark of being his disciple is our love for our fellow disciples. This characteristic is what will distinguish us as his disciples. It is how those around us will know that we are his followers. We will exhibit the same kind of love for each other as he has exhibited for us.

As the apostle John draws to our attention in his writings, we cannot claim to love God while acting hatefully and unloving toward other people. In loving others, we show our love for God.

While it may seem like God has set the bar high in terms of what is expected from us, God does not leave us to meet these expectations in our own strength. The God who has these expectations of us is the God who is love. God provides us with ample grace, the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, which enable us not only to love God and to love others but also to grow in our love for God and our love for others. The more we grow in our love of God, the more we grow in maturity of character and in turn the more we grow in our love of others. Just as God makes it possible for us to believe in Jesus and not perish but have eternal life, God also makes it possible for us to live a life of love as Jesus did, a life of love for God and a life of love for others.

Affirmation of Faith

Hear, O Israel,
the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.

This is the first and the great commandment.
The second is like it:
Love your neighbour as yourself.

There is no commandment greater than these.

Intercessions and Thanksgivings

Let us pray for the Church and for the world.

Grant, almighty God,
that all who confess your name may be united in your truth,
live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations,
in the ways of justice and peace;
that we may honor one another and serve the common good.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly
in the service of others and to your honor and glory.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours,
and grant that we may serve Christ in them,
and love one another as Christ loves us.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit;
give them courage and hope in their troubles,
and bring them the joy of your salvation.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We commend to your mercy all who have died,
that your will for them may be fulfilled;
and we pray that we may share with all your saints
in your eternal kingdom

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Additional intercessions, petitions, and thanksgiving may be offered in silence or aloud.

Almighty God, you have promised to hear our prayers.
Grant that what we have asked in faith
we may by your grace receive,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Collect

Almighty God,
your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
is the light of the world.
May your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

And now, as our Saviour Christ 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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Dale Sechrest’s “With All My Heart.”

With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord

And I will love my neighbor as myself
Yes, I will love my neighbor as myself

With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord

And I will love my neighbor as myself
Yes, I will love my neighbor as myself

With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my strength
I will love you, Lord!
I will love you, Lord!

Dismissal

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.