Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, April 23, 2023)
Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.
Life has been compared to a journey. The older we grow, the farther we are along in that journey. At times we journey with companions. At times we journey alone. If we are a disciple of Jesus, there is one companion that we can count on always being at our side. It is Jesus. He walks beside us wherever life takes us.
DRAWING NEAR TO GOD Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Gathering Song:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Linda Stassen-Benjamin’s “Sing Alleluia to the Lord.”
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing Christ is risen from the dead
Sing Christ is risen from the dead
Sing Christ is risen
Sing Christ is risen
Sing Christ is risen from the dead
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Anthem:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s “On the Journey to Emmaus.”
On the journey to Emmaus with our hearts cold as stone—
The one who would save us had left us alone.
Then a stranger walks with us and to our surprise,
He opens our stories and he opens our eyes.
And our hearts burned within us as we talked on the way,
How all that was promised was ours on that day,
So we begged him, “Stay with us and grant us your word.”
We welcomed the stranger and we welcomed the Lord.
And that evening at table as he blessed and broke bread,
We knew it was Jesus aris’n from the dead;
Though he vanished before we knew he was near—
The life in our dying and the hope in our fear.
On our journey to Emmaus, in our stories and feast,
With Jesus we claim that the greatest is least:
And his words burn within us— let none be ignored—
Who welcomes the stranger shall welcome the Lord.
Song of Praise:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Donald Pearson's setting of the Dignus est, “Splendor and Honor.”
Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God.
For you created everything that is,
and by your will they were created
and have their being;
Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God.
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain,
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation,
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne,
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor,
for ever more and for evermore.
Splendor and honor and kingly power
are yours by right, O Lord our God.
For ever more and for evermore.
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us pray.
Silence
Almighty God, you have given your only Son
to be for us both a sacrifice for sin
and also an example of godly life;
give us grace that we may always thankfully receive
the immeasurable benefit of his sacrifice,
and also daily endeavor to follow
in the blessed steps of his most holy life;
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for evermore. Amen.
HEARING GOD’S WORD
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 24:13–35)
Alleluia! Hear the Gospel of Christ.
Glory to Christ our Saviour. Alleluia!
That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, eleven kilometers from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
“What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.
“Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”
Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.
Silence
Alleluia! This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our Lord. Alleluia!
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were so deep in conversation that they may have not noticed when a third person joined them. They may not have noticed the stranger until he spoke to them, asking them what they were discussing so intently. He may have been walking with them for some time.
From Luke’s narrative, it can be gathered that it was not unusual to meet strangers on the road and to have a conversation with them. Jerusalem was surrounded by a number of small towns and villages and the inhabitants of these small towns and villages travelled back and forth between them and the city. While some may have ridden a donkey or a mule, most walked. Emmaus was one of these outlying communities, a little under seven miles from Jerusalem. We don’t know its exact location.
The disciple named Cleopas appeared to be genuinely surprised that the stranger had not heard about what had happened in Jerusalem in the last few days, surprised enough to suddenly stop walking.
I suspect that the stranger’s response to what the two disciples told him about the events of the past three days was more in the way of a gentle, good-natured chiding than a harsh, ill-natured rebuke. The stranger goes on to explain how the events were foretold in the Law of Moses and the books of the Prophets, in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. As the two disciples listen intently to him, they are greatly moved by his words.
As the two disciples neared Emmaus and the end of their journey, they begged the stranger to stay the night with them as the shadows were growing longer and the day was ending. The stranger accepted their offer of hospitality and went to their home with them.
To the Jews in biblical times showing hospitality to guests was considered a religious duty, a good deed, and an expression of loving kindness. The Old Testament “contains many examples of being hospitable toward strangers and the rewards one receives for the act of kindness.” It was the kind of hospitality which anticipated a need and did not wait until the need was expressed or became obvious to meet it. The later rabbinical commentaries on the Law and the Prophets, taught that “one’s house should always be welcoming and open to strangers.”
At meals, guests were also expected to recite a special blessing in the course of the grace after meals for the host. This would become the later custom. It may have been different at the time the disciples invited the stranger to stay with them for the night.
The blessing that the stranger said was at the breaking of the bread which occurred at the beginning of a meal and was always recited before any food eaten. It is the equivalent of a grace before a meal, in which the person says the prayer blesses God for the bread the diners are about to eat. It is a blessing that Jesus would have said many times when he and his disciples ate together.
It was when their guest recited this blessing, broke the bread for the evening meal, and gave it to them, that two disciples’ eyes were opened, and they recognized who their guest was—Jesus. And then he vanished. One moment he was there. And the next, he was gone.
Jesus’ disappearance makes me think of the comings and goings of Aslan in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles. This particular passage from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader comes to mind:
Do not look so sad. We shall meet soon again."
"Please, Aslan," said Lucy, "what do you call soon?"
"I call all times soon," said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.
"Gone!" said he, "and you and I quite crestfallen. It's always like that, you can't keep him; it's not as if he were a tame lion.
The two disciples may have felt disappointed and sad when Jesus vanished. But if they did, it did not last very long.
Recalling their experience on the road to Emmaus, how their hearts burned within them as the stranger talked to them and explained the Scriptures to them, the two disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples. By then night must have fallen and they traveled the road at night. This was a dangerous undertaking. However, they braved the dangers of the road at night to tell their fellow disciples.
Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we ourselves can meet the risen Jesus today. Like them, we may not recognize him. Jesus’ words in a passage from the Gospel of Matthew comes to mind—Matthew 25: 34-40.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
Jesus meets us in many guises, in those in need, in the homeless, in those who fled their country in search of a better life in this country, in those struggling with mental illness, alcoholism or drug addiction, in those on the fringes of society, in all kinds of people, in all walks of life. He may not reveal himself to us as he did to the two disciples that day. However, the hospitality we show to them, we show to him. The welcome we give to them is the welcome we give to him. The way we treat them is the way we treat him.
The implication of what Jesus is saying is that we should show them the kind of hospitality that we would show to him, give them the kind of welcome that we would give him, and treat them in the same way that we would treat him. It does not matter who they are or from what walk of life they come. It does not matter whether we believe that they are deserving of our respect, our patience, our kindness, or our generosity. What matters most is that we are faithful to our Lord, trust in him, and live our lives according to the principles and truths that he taught and exemplified.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Bruxvoort Colligan’ “O Christ, Surround Me.”
1 God be the love to search and keep me
God be the prayer to move my voice
God be the strength to now uphold me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
2 Bind to myself the name of Holy
Great cloud of witnesses enfold
Prophets, apostles, angels witness
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
3 Brightness of sun and glow of moonlight
Flashing of lightning, strength of wind
Depth of the sea to soil of planet
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
4 Walking behind to hem my journey
Going ahead to light my way
And from beneath, above, and all ways
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
[Instrumental interlude]
5 Christ in the eyes of all who see me
Christ in the ears that hear my voice
Christ in the hearts of all who know me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WORLD
Concerns and Prayers:
Let us pray for all people and the Church throughout the world.
Specific petitions or thanksgivings may be offered silently or aloud after each bidding.
Let us pray for the preservation of the earth…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for our nation…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let u pray for ourselves and our community…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for those in need…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Other biddings may be added.
Eternal God and Father,
you have promised to hear those who pray
in the name of your Son.
Grant that what we have asked in faith
we may obtain according your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
GOING OUT TO SERVE
Let us pray.
Lord our God, we give you thanks
because you have delivered us from the
power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of
your Son.
Grant that, as by his resurrection
we are brought to new life,
so by his continued reign in us
we may be brought to eternal joy;
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Benediction:
Open this link to hear Lee Fisher’s "Go in Peace, Go in Love."
Go in peace, go in love
May the Lord be at your side
Go in peace, go in love
May he ever be your guide
May his grace overflow
And his mercy be upon you
Go in peace, go in love
Now and evermore
Go in peace, go in love
May the Lord be at your side
Go in peace, go in love
May he ever be your guide
May his grace overflow
And his mercy be upon you
Go in peace, go in love
Now and evermore
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
HEARING GOD’S WORD
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 24:13–35)
Alleluia! Hear the Gospel of Christ.
Glory to Christ our Saviour. Alleluia!
That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, eleven kilometers from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
“What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.
“Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.”
Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.
Silence
Alleluia! This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our Lord. Alleluia!
Jesus Meets Us in Many Guises
The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were so deep in conversation that they may have not noticed when a third person joined them. They may not have noticed the stranger until he spoke to them, asking them what they were discussing so intently. He may have been walking with them for some time.
From Luke’s narrative, it can be gathered that it was not unusual to meet strangers on the road and to have a conversation with them. Jerusalem was surrounded by a number of small towns and villages and the inhabitants of these small towns and villages travelled back and forth between them and the city. While some may have ridden a donkey or a mule, most walked. Emmaus was one of these outlying communities, a little under seven miles from Jerusalem. We don’t know its exact location.
The disciple named Cleopas appeared to be genuinely surprised that the stranger had not heard about what had happened in Jerusalem in the last few days, surprised enough to suddenly stop walking.
I suspect that the stranger’s response to what the two disciples told him about the events of the past three days was more in the way of a gentle, good-natured chiding than a harsh, ill-natured rebuke. The stranger goes on to explain how the events were foretold in the Law of Moses and the books of the Prophets, in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. As the two disciples listen intently to him, they are greatly moved by his words.
As the two disciples neared Emmaus and the end of their journey, they begged the stranger to stay the night with them as the shadows were growing longer and the day was ending. The stranger accepted their offer of hospitality and went to their home with them.
To the Jews in biblical times showing hospitality to guests was considered a religious duty, a good deed, and an expression of loving kindness. The Old Testament “contains many examples of being hospitable toward strangers and the rewards one receives for the act of kindness.” It was the kind of hospitality which anticipated a need and did not wait until the need was expressed or became obvious to meet it. The later rabbinical commentaries on the Law and the Prophets, taught that “one’s house should always be welcoming and open to strangers.”
At meals, guests were also expected to recite a special blessing in the course of the grace after meals for the host. This would become the later custom. It may have been different at the time the disciples invited the stranger to stay with them for the night.
The blessing that the stranger said was at the breaking of the bread which occurred at the beginning of a meal and was always recited before any food eaten. It is the equivalent of a grace before a meal, in which the person says the prayer blesses God for the bread the diners are about to eat. It is a blessing that Jesus would have said many times when he and his disciples ate together.
It was when their guest recited this blessing, broke the bread for the evening meal, and gave it to them, that two disciples’ eyes were opened, and they recognized who their guest was—Jesus. And then he vanished. One moment he was there. And the next, he was gone.
Jesus’ disappearance makes me think of the comings and goings of Aslan in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles. This particular passage from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader comes to mind:
Do not look so sad. We shall meet soon again."
"Please, Aslan," said Lucy, "what do you call soon?"
"I call all times soon," said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.
"Gone!" said he, "and you and I quite crestfallen. It's always like that, you can't keep him; it's not as if he were a tame lion.
The two disciples may have felt disappointed and sad when Jesus vanished. But if they did, it did not last very long.
Recalling their experience on the road to Emmaus, how their hearts burned within them as the stranger talked to them and explained the Scriptures to them, the two disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples. By then night must have fallen and they traveled the road at night. This was a dangerous undertaking. However, they braved the dangers of the road at night to tell their fellow disciples.
Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we ourselves can meet the risen Jesus today. Like them, we may not recognize him. Jesus’ words in a passage from the Gospel of Matthew comes to mind—Matthew 25: 34-40.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”
Jesus meets us in many guises, in those in need, in the homeless, in those who fled their country in search of a better life in this country, in those struggling with mental illness, alcoholism or drug addiction, in those on the fringes of society, in all kinds of people, in all walks of life. He may not reveal himself to us as he did to the two disciples that day. However, the hospitality we show to them, we show to him. The welcome we give to them is the welcome we give to him. The way we treat them is the way we treat him.
The implication of what Jesus is saying is that we should show them the kind of hospitality that we would show to him, give them the kind of welcome that we would give him, and treat them in the same way that we would treat him. It does not matter who they are or from what walk of life they come. It does not matter whether we believe that they are deserving of our respect, our patience, our kindness, or our generosity. What matters most is that we are faithful to our Lord, trust in him, and live our lives according to the principles and truths that he taught and exemplified.
Silence
Hymn of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Richard Bruxvoort Colligan’ “O Christ, Surround Me.”
1 God be the love to search and keep me
God be the prayer to move my voice
God be the strength to now uphold me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
2 Bind to myself the name of Holy
Great cloud of witnesses enfold
Prophets, apostles, angels witness
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
3 Brightness of sun and glow of moonlight
Flashing of lightning, strength of wind
Depth of the sea to soil of planet
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
4 Walking behind to hem my journey
Going ahead to light my way
And from beneath, above, and all ways
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
[Instrumental interlude]
5 Christ in the eyes of all who see me
Christ in the ears that hear my voice
Christ in the hearts of all who know me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
O Christ, surround me
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WORLD
Concerns and Prayers:
Let us pray for all people and the Church throughout the world.
Specific petitions or thanksgivings may be offered silently or aloud after each bidding.
Let us pray for the preservation of the earth…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for our nation…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let u pray for ourselves and our community…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us pray for those in need…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Other biddings may be added.
Eternal God and Father,
you have promised to hear those who pray
in the name of your Son.
Grant that what we have asked in faith
we may obtain according your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
GOING OUT TO SERVE
Let us pray.
Lord our God, we give you thanks
because you have delivered us from the
power of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of
your Son.
Grant that, as by his resurrection
we are brought to new life,
so by his continued reign in us
we may be brought to eternal joy;
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Benediction:
Open this link to hear Lee Fisher’s "Go in Peace, Go in Love."
Go in peace, go in love
May the Lord be at your side
Go in peace, go in love
May he ever be your guide
May his grace overflow
And his mercy be upon you
Go in peace, go in love
Now and evermore
Go in peace, go in love
May the Lord be at your side
Go in peace, go in love
May he ever be your guide
May his grace overflow
And his mercy be upon you
Go in peace, go in love
Now and evermore
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Comments
Post a Comment