Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, April 20, 2023)
Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows. Jesus whose victory over death Christians around the world celebrate this Eastertide and throughout the year, calls men and women, young and old, from all walks of life to come and follow him today as he called the first disciples during his earthly ministry. The first disciples heeded his call at a time when they did not fully understand who he was. Jesus may also call us when we do not fully understand who he is.
The late Sam Shoemaker, an Episcopal priest, writer, and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, offered this advice to university students and others. Follow as much of Jesus as you understand while seeking to understanding him better and to follow him more. He recognized that our understanding of Jesus can grow over time and with the growth of our understanding, our surrender to Jesus' lordship over our lives can grow too. Our lives can become more oriented to Jesus and less to the world. DRAWING NEAR TO GOD
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Open this link in a new tab to hear David Mowbray’s “Shout for Joy, Loud and Long.”
1 Shout for joy, loud and long,
God be praised with a song!
to the Lord we belong
children of our Maker,
God the great life-giver!
Shout for joy, joy, joy;
shout for joy, joy, joy!
God is love, God is light,
God is everlasting!
2 By God's word all was made,
heaven and earth, light and shade,
nature's wonders displayed,
we to rule creation
from its first foundation.
Shout for joy, joy, joy;
shout for joy, joy, joy!
God is love, God is light,
God is everlasting!
3 Yet our pride makes us fall!
so Christ came for us all
not the righteous to call
by his cross and passion,
bringing us salvation!
Shout for joy, joy, joy;
shout for joy, joy, joy!
God is love, God is light,
God is everlasting!
4 Now has Christ truly risen
and his Spirit is given
to all those under heaven
who will walk beside him,
though they once denied him!
Shout for joy, joy, joy;
shout for joy, joy, joy!
God is love, God is light,
God is everlasting!
Anthem:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Sarah Hart’s “Hymn to Christ the King.”
Oh we were wandering in the dark
We had lost our hope and way
And we were restless in our hearts
How we needed to be saved
And so to rescue all your own
You sent to us your only son
A light to fall, a peace to bring
The coming of our Christ, the King
The word made flesh, the light from light
A cry that pierced our endless noise
A child to speak into our pain
Restoring unto us our joy
To teach our hearts and heal our wounds
Replace our doubt with heaven's truth
The broken, healed; the lost, redeemed
The beauty of our Christ, the King
Though heaven's glory he had shown
All our praises turned to scorn
The gift of mercy that he gave
We returned with cross and thorn
Yet to the end, he loved us still
Surrendered to the Father's will
Forgiveness was his offering
The mercy of our Christ, the King
And though they laid him in the tomb
In the silence of the grave
No stone could keep the love of God
From the ones he came to save
And so in power and radiant light
He vanquished death and rose to life
Now with the heavens I shall sing
The glory of our Christ the King
Song of Praise:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Joseph Augustus Seiss’ “Beautiful Savior.”
1 Beautiful Savior, King of creation,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I'd love Thee, truly I'd serve thee,
Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.
2 Fair are the meadows, Fair are the woodlands,
Robed in flow'rs of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer;
He makes our sorr'wing spirit sing.
3 Fair is the sunshine, Fair is the moonlight,
Bright the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels in the sky.
4 Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, Praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!
The Lord be with you.
The Lord bless you.
Let us pray.
Silence
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life
of all who put their trust in him:
raise us, we pray, from the death of sin
to the life of righteousness.
that we may ever seek the things which are above,
where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
HEARING GOD’S WORD
A reading from the Gospel according to John (John 21: 1-14)
Alleluia! Hear the Gospel of Christ.
Glory to Christ our Saviour. Alleluia!
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
“Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
Silence
Alleluia! This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our Lord. Alleluia!
An Unexpected Breakfast on a Lakeshore
This evening’s reading from the Gospel of John is one of several accounts of appearance of the risen Jesus recorded in the Gospels, the first four books in the New Testament. Simon-Peter had gone fishing on the Sea of Galilee and six disciples had gone with him. They had been on the lake all night and they caught nothing. The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake! It was the practice to go fishing at night as the fish came closer to the surface of the lake after the sun went down. I imagine that they were feeling tired and dejected.
The sun has begun to rise, and they see a figure standing on the shore. There is a mist on the lake which hides the figure partly from view. The sun is rising behind the figure and dazzles the disciples. They cannot make out who it is.
The figure calls out to them. The voice is a strangely familiar one. “Children, have you caught any fish.”
“Children” may strike us an odd way to address grown men, but in the ancient Mid-East, it was not an uncommon way for a leader to address his followers. Or the head of a clan or other kinship group to address its members.
“Not a thing,” the disciples answer. The tone of their reply echoes their low spirits.
“Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” The figure instructs them. For a moment they may have hesitated but then they remember a previous occasion on which they had received a similar instruction. So they comply, casting their net in the water on the right-hand side of their boat. As they pull the ropes that close the net, they can feel the weight of a catch of fish struggling in its confines. The weight is so heavy that they cannot haul the fish-filled net into the boat.
The one whom John calls the beloved disciple in his Gospel recognizes that the figure standing on the shore is Jesus. Maybe he had sharper eyes than the rest. Or recognized the voice as that of the Lord’s. Or put two and two together and came up with the right answer. He tells Simon-Peter, “It I the Lord.” Simon-Peter who had taken off his outer garment wraps it around him and plunges into the water of the lake. They were only about a hundred yards from the shore. The other disciples come to the shore in the boat, pulling the fish-filled net behind them.
When the disciples clambered out of the boat, they see a charcoal fire on the shore. There is some fish grilling over the fire and there is also some bread. Jesus tells them, “Bring some fish you have just caught.”
Simon-Peter clambers back into the boat and drags the net onto the shore. The net is filled with large fish—one hundred and fifty-three of them. Despite their heavy weight the net does not tear.
Jesus then tells them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples say a word. None dare to ask him, “Who are you?” They know it is the Lord.
Jesus first serves them the bread and then the grilled fish. This, John tells us, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.
Jesus on the shore, calling to the disciples in a boat on the lake. The miraculous catch of fish. Jesus feeding the disciples with bread and fish. These are familiar motifs found elsewhere in the Gospels. They point to how Jesus meets us where we are in life, often at one of its low points, and calls us to follow him; to his control over the natural world; and to his compassion, his sympathy and understanding for our sufferings or troubles and his willingness to help us. The simple breakfast of bread and grilled fish Jesus serves the disciples on the lake shore set the stage for what happens next. Jesus repeats his call to the disciples to follow him.
How then does this evening’s reading relate to our own lives?
First, it is a reminder that Christians obey and serve a living Lord, not someone who died centuries ago. Our risen and ascended Lord has experienced life as we have. While he did not sin, he was tempted as we are tempted. He experienced rejection and betrayal. He experienced suffering and death. The compassion he feels for us is not based on some vague idea of what it is to be human but on real experiences.
Second, the meal Jesus has prepared for the disciples is an expression of the compassion he shows toward not just his disciples but also all humankind. Jesus knew that the disciples would be tired and hungry from fishing all night. It is the same compassion that he showed to the five thousand and to Jarius’ daughter. He miraculously fed the five thousand with five small hard barley loaves and two small dried fish. He bid the girl’s parents to give her something to eat after restoring her to life. On this particular morning he fixes breakfast for the disciples. He also provides them with a miraculous catch of fish which they could eat or sell and with the proceeds from their sale buy flour and olive oil for bread.
Third, it reminds us that Jesus continues to make provision for his disciples. He has provided us with the Gospels in which are recorded his teaching and his deeds. He has provided us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence and power indwelling in us. He has also provided us with the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Eucharist.
The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is not just a token meal commemorating the suffering and death of our Lord. It is also an important means of grace, a means by which God invisibly works in us, invigorating, strengthening, and confirming our faith in him. When we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, give thanks over the bread and the cup, and then share them, we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord. John Wesley who founded the Methodist Movement valued this means of grace so much that he partook of the Lord’s Supper weekly most of the year and more often at Christmastide and Eastertide. He encouraged the early Methodists to share together the sacramental bread and cup as frequently as possible.
The word “sacrament” comes from a Latin word, “sacramentum,” meaning pledge. It is the kind of pledge, the oath of loyalty, that a Roman soldier made when he first enlisted or when he reenlisted. Whenever we share the Lord’s Supper, once a week, once a month, or less often, we pledge ourselves anew to follow our Lord, to walk in his ways in our daily lives. I turn, our Lord generously supplies us with grace, the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, to enable us to do that and much, much more.
Silence
Song of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Susan Toolan’s “Two Fishermen.”
1 Two fishermen, who lived
along the Sea of Galilee,
stood by the shore to cast
their nets into an ageless sea.
Now Jesus watched them from afar,
then called them each by name.
It changed their lives,
these simple men;
they'd never be the same.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
2 And as he walked along the shore
'twas James and John he'd find,
and these two sons of Zebedee
would leave their boats behind.
Their work and all they held so dear
they left beside their nets.
Their names they'd heard as Jesus called;
they came without regret.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
3 O Simon Peter, Andrew,
James, and John beloved one,
you heard Christ's call
to speak good news
revealed to God's own Son.
Susanna, Mary, Magdalene
who traveled with your Lord,
you ministered to him
with joy for he is God adored.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
4 And you, good Christians,
one and all who'd follow Jesus' way,
come leave behind
what keeps you bound
to trappings of our day,
and listen as he calls
your name to come and follow near,
for still he speaks in varied ways
to those his call will hear.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me
and come and follow 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…
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Let us pray for our nation…
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Let us pray for ourselves and our community…
Let us pray for those in need…
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
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 Saviour taught his disciples, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, 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.
Closing Song:
Open this link to hear John L. Bell and Graham Maule’s “The Summons.”
1 Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
2 Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?
3 Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean in you and you in me?
4 Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around
Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
5 Lord, your summons echoes true when I but call your name!
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
Benediction:
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from
the dead,
strengthen you/us
to walk with him in his risen life;
and may almighty God bless you/us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
or
Christ our King
make you/us faithful and strong to do his will that you/we may reign with him in glory;
and may almighty God bless you/us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Alleluia!
Go in joy and peace to love and serve
the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Alleluia!
The sun has begun to rise, and they see a figure standing on the shore. There is a mist on the lake which hides the figure partly from view. The sun is rising behind the figure and dazzles the disciples. They cannot make out who it is.
The figure calls out to them. The voice is a strangely familiar one. “Children, have you caught any fish.”
“Children” may strike us an odd way to address grown men, but in the ancient Mid-East, it was not an uncommon way for a leader to address his followers. Or the head of a clan or other kinship group to address its members.
“Not a thing,” the disciples answer. The tone of their reply echoes their low spirits.
“Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” The figure instructs them. For a moment they may have hesitated but then they remember a previous occasion on which they had received a similar instruction. So they comply, casting their net in the water on the right-hand side of their boat. As they pull the ropes that close the net, they can feel the weight of a catch of fish struggling in its confines. The weight is so heavy that they cannot haul the fish-filled net into the boat.
The one whom John calls the beloved disciple in his Gospel recognizes that the figure standing on the shore is Jesus. Maybe he had sharper eyes than the rest. Or recognized the voice as that of the Lord’s. Or put two and two together and came up with the right answer. He tells Simon-Peter, “It I the Lord.” Simon-Peter who had taken off his outer garment wraps it around him and plunges into the water of the lake. They were only about a hundred yards from the shore. The other disciples come to the shore in the boat, pulling the fish-filled net behind them.
When the disciples clambered out of the boat, they see a charcoal fire on the shore. There is some fish grilling over the fire and there is also some bread. Jesus tells them, “Bring some fish you have just caught.”
Simon-Peter clambers back into the boat and drags the net onto the shore. The net is filled with large fish—one hundred and fifty-three of them. Despite their heavy weight the net does not tear.
Jesus then tells them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples say a word. None dare to ask him, “Who are you?” They know it is the Lord.
Jesus first serves them the bread and then the grilled fish. This, John tells us, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.
Jesus on the shore, calling to the disciples in a boat on the lake. The miraculous catch of fish. Jesus feeding the disciples with bread and fish. These are familiar motifs found elsewhere in the Gospels. They point to how Jesus meets us where we are in life, often at one of its low points, and calls us to follow him; to his control over the natural world; and to his compassion, his sympathy and understanding for our sufferings or troubles and his willingness to help us. The simple breakfast of bread and grilled fish Jesus serves the disciples on the lake shore set the stage for what happens next. Jesus repeats his call to the disciples to follow him.
How then does this evening’s reading relate to our own lives?
First, it is a reminder that Christians obey and serve a living Lord, not someone who died centuries ago. Our risen and ascended Lord has experienced life as we have. While he did not sin, he was tempted as we are tempted. He experienced rejection and betrayal. He experienced suffering and death. The compassion he feels for us is not based on some vague idea of what it is to be human but on real experiences.
Second, the meal Jesus has prepared for the disciples is an expression of the compassion he shows toward not just his disciples but also all humankind. Jesus knew that the disciples would be tired and hungry from fishing all night. It is the same compassion that he showed to the five thousand and to Jarius’ daughter. He miraculously fed the five thousand with five small hard barley loaves and two small dried fish. He bid the girl’s parents to give her something to eat after restoring her to life. On this particular morning he fixes breakfast for the disciples. He also provides them with a miraculous catch of fish which they could eat or sell and with the proceeds from their sale buy flour and olive oil for bread.
Third, it reminds us that Jesus continues to make provision for his disciples. He has provided us with the Gospels in which are recorded his teaching and his deeds. He has provided us with the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s presence and power indwelling in us. He has also provided us with the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Eucharist.
The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is not just a token meal commemorating the suffering and death of our Lord. It is also an important means of grace, a means by which God invisibly works in us, invigorating, strengthening, and confirming our faith in him. When we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, give thanks over the bread and the cup, and then share them, we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord. John Wesley who founded the Methodist Movement valued this means of grace so much that he partook of the Lord’s Supper weekly most of the year and more often at Christmastide and Eastertide. He encouraged the early Methodists to share together the sacramental bread and cup as frequently as possible.
The word “sacrament” comes from a Latin word, “sacramentum,” meaning pledge. It is the kind of pledge, the oath of loyalty, that a Roman soldier made when he first enlisted or when he reenlisted. Whenever we share the Lord’s Supper, once a week, once a month, or less often, we pledge ourselves anew to follow our Lord, to walk in his ways in our daily lives. I turn, our Lord generously supplies us with grace, the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, to enable us to do that and much, much more.
Silence
Song of Response:
Open this link in a new tab to hear Susan Toolan’s “Two Fishermen.”
1 Two fishermen, who lived
along the Sea of Galilee,
stood by the shore to cast
their nets into an ageless sea.
Now Jesus watched them from afar,
then called them each by name.
It changed their lives,
these simple men;
they'd never be the same.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
2 And as he walked along the shore
'twas James and John he'd find,
and these two sons of Zebedee
would leave their boats behind.
Their work and all they held so dear
they left beside their nets.
Their names they'd heard as Jesus called;
they came without regret.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
3 O Simon Peter, Andrew,
James, and John beloved one,
you heard Christ's call
to speak good news
revealed to God's own Son.
Susanna, Mary, Magdalene
who traveled with your Lord,
you ministered to him
with joy for he is God adored.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me,
and come and follow me."
4 And you, good Christians,
one and all who'd follow Jesus' way,
come leave behind
what keeps you bound
to trappings of our day,
and listen as he calls
your name to come and follow near,
for still he speaks in varied ways
to those his call will hear.
"Leave all things you have
and come and follow me
and come and follow 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…
Let us pray for peace and shared prosperity…
Let us pray for our nation…
Let us pray for the Church and its mission…
Let us pray for ourselves and our community…
Let us pray for those in need…
Let us give thanks for the faithfully departed…
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 Saviour taught his disciples, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, 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.
Closing Song:
Open this link to hear John L. Bell and Graham Maule’s “The Summons.”
1 Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
2 Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?
3 Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean in you and you in me?
4 Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around
Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
5 Lord, your summons echoes true when I but call your name!
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
Benediction:
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from
the dead,
strengthen you/us
to walk with him in his risen life;
and may almighty God bless you/us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
or
Christ our King
make you/us faithful and strong to do his will that you/we may reign with him in glory;
and may almighty God bless you/us,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Alleluia!
Go in joy and peace to love and serve
the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Alleluia!
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