Sundays at All Hallows (Sunday, September 10, 2023)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday we have two Scripture Readings, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. A Gospel Canticle and an Affirmation of Faith, the Apostles’ Creed, follows the readings and precedes the Prayers. An Anthem introduces this Sunday’s Message, which is followed by a Prayer of Dedication, a Benediction, a Closing Hymn, and the Exchange of the Peace.

DRAWING NEAR TO GOD

O God, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
Glory be to God, our Creator.
Glory be to Jesus the Christ.
Glory be to the Spirit,
now and forever. Amen.

Open a link in a new tab to hear Dale A. Witte’s arrangement of the Venite, “Come, O Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord Our Savior!”

Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord our Savior!
Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord!

1 Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving.
Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.

Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord our Savior!
Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord!

2 For the Lord is a great God and great King above all gods.
The deep places of the earth are in his hands.
The heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his and formed the dry land.

Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord our Savior!
Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord!

3 Oh, come let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are his people,
the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord our Savior!
Come, O come, let us sing to the Lord!

Open this link in a new tab to hear John L. Bell’s paraphrase of Psalm 63, “O God, You Are My God Alone.”

1 O God you are my God alone,
whom eagerly I seek,
though longing fills my soul with thirst
and leaves my body weak.

2 Just as a dry and barren land
awaits a freshening shower,
I long within your house to see
your glory and your power.

3 Your faithful love surpasses life,
evoking all my praise,
through every day to bless your name,
my hands in praise I'll raise.

4 My deepest needs you satisfy
as with a sumptuous feast.
So, on my lips and in my heart,
your praise has never ceased.

5 Throughout the night, I lie in bed,
and call you Lord to mind,
In darkest hours I meditate,
how God my strength is kind.

6 Beneath the shadow of your wing,
I live and feel secure;
and daily, as I follow close,
your right hand keeps me sure.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Eric Becker’s responsorial setting of “Daniel 3 - Glory and Praise.”

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

Blessed are you, O Lord God our Father,
praiseworthy and exalted for ever;
blessed and holy and glorious your name,
exalted for all ages.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

Blessed are you in the temple of your glory,
praiseworthy, glorious, your name for ever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
above all for ever.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon cherubim,
praiseworthy, exalted above all forever.

Glory and praise for ever! For ever!
Glory and praise for ever! For ever!

HEARING GOD’S WORD

A reading from the Old Testament (Ezekiel 33: 7-11)

“Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.

“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

Silence

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

A reading from the New Testament (Romans 13: 8-14)

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfil the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law.

This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Silence

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Carl P. Daw Jr.’s 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
and raises up new hope for us:
a Branch from David's tree.
So have the prophets long declared
that with a mighty arm
God would turn back our enemies
and all who wish us harm.

2 With promised mercy will God still
the covenant recall,
the oath once sworn to Abraham,
from foes to save us all;
that we might worship without fear
and offer lives of praise,
in holiness and righteousness
to serve God all our days.

3 My child, as prophet of the Lord,
you will prepare the way,
to tell God's people they are saved
from sin's eternal sway.
Then shall God's mercy from on high
shine forth and never cease
to drive away the gloom of death
and lead us into peace.

Let us affirm with Christians across the ages what we believe about God and his love for us.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
from there he will come to judge
the living and the dead.

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

PRAYING FOR GOD’S WORLD

Let us pray for all people and the Church throughout the world.

Let us pray for peace in the life of the world, let us pray for God’s peace:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for all who suffer injury, sickness, and loss…, let us pray for all the afflicted:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for all who are struggling to meet their basic needs, let us pray for all who are seeking to help them.
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let pray for all who wield authority and influence, let us pray for all who exercise power:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for all whom we have wronged, let us pray for all who hate us:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for all ordained elders and licensed local pastors and for all who serve Christ in his church, let us pray for all God’s people:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us pray for ourselves and each other, our families, those with whom we work or learn, our neighbors, and our friends , let us pray for all whom God has placed in our lives:
(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Intercessions may be offered by anyone present.

Let us pray for….

(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

Let us give thanks for all in whom Christ has been honored,
(especially….)

(pause) 

we bring our prayer to you.
Good and gracious God, hear our prayer.

All these mercies we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who taught us to pray with the confidence of children.

We therefore dare 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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

TEACHING THE FAITH

Open this link in a new tab to hear Janice Detweiler’s “The Great Commandment.”

Alto:
Love one another, for love is of God.
He who loves is born of God;
And knows God.
He who does not love, does not know God,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

Bass:
Love bears all things,
Believes all things,
Love hopes all things,
Endures all things.

Tenor:
God is love, God is love, God is love.
God is love, God is love, God is love.
God is love, God is love, God is love,
God is love, God is love, God is love.

Soprano:
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
With all thy soul, all thy strength,
All thy mind.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
For God is love, God is love, God is love.

Living the Second Great Commandment: Loving Others

In today’s New Testament reading what is this love about which the apostle Paul is speaking? We live in an age in which there is much confusion over what constitutes “love.” The Cambridge Dictionary offers this definition of “love”— “to like another adult very much and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to have strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family.” It further defines “love" as “the feeling of liking another adult very much and being romantically and sexually attracted to them, or strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family.”

But what Paul is speaking about has nothing to do with liking someone a lot and feeling romantically and sexually attracted to that person or having strong feelings of liking for a friend or a family member. Indeed, it has nothing to do with our feelings at all.

What Paul is speaking about is a particular disposition toward other people—an attitude, and way of thinking, and the behavior associated with that attitude and way of thinking.

As Paul points to the attention of the group of Christians to whom he was writing in Rome”, “love does no wrong to others.” The particular disposition about which he is speaking puts the well-being of others first. It is manifest in the kind of selflessness that Jesus manifest, in caring more about what other people need and want than about what we ourselves need and want.

In an age that has elevated “self” on a pedestal, and which puts our needs and wants above everything else, it may be a difficult concept to wrap our minds around.

In telling this group of Christians that in loving their neighbor as themselves, they are fulfilling the requirements of God’s law, Paul is echoing Jesus. He is not breaking new ground. He is repeating what the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, teaches and what Jesus himself taught.

Loving our neighbor, as the apostle James points to our attention, goes beyond saying what we think are kind words to a hungry, ragged, homeless man. It entails feeding him, clothing him, and putting a roof over his head.

As the apostle John wrote in his first epistle, how can we say that we love God whom we have not seen if we do not love others whom we have seen. “The command that Christ has given us is this,” John goes on to write. “Whoever loves God must love others also.

Jesus in his teaching tied loving God to loving others and loving him to obeying what he commanded. True disciples of Jesus pattern their lives on his teaching and example. They do not twist what he taught and misconstrue what he did in order to justify attitudes, ways of thinking, and behavior that he would not have condoned, much less urged his disciples to adopt, and which can be traced to a deceitful heart and a sinful human nature.

Jesus may have called the Pharisees “a brood of vipers” but what he said is not a good reason for someone who claims to be one of his followers to attack people’s character on the internet, call them names, ascribe evil motives to them, and otherwise behave in a way that is unbecoming for someone whom Jesus has called to represent him. Jesus enjoined his disciples to love even those they regarded as their enemies, to treat them as they themselves would wish to be treated, and to show them compassion, forgives, generosity, kindness, and patience, the very things that God shows us.

The God and Father of Jesus is the same God who told the prophet Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live….” While God may entrust us with the task of warning the sinful to repent and to change their ways, God is not giving us a license to harass and persecute them and to make them an object of our unrelenting anger and displeasure.

It does not fall to us to decide upon whom God will have mercy and upon whom God will not have mercy. It does fall to us to tell all people about Jesus and to live a life of love following Jesus’ example. The Holy Spirit will determine if the seeds we sow will grow and bear fruit.

Silence

GOING OUT TO SERVE

Lord God,
we rejoice in your greatness and power,
your patience and love,
your mercy and justice.
Enable us by your Spirit
to honor you in our thoughts,
words and actions,
and to serve you in every aspect of our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Lord bless us
and protect us.
May the Lord smile on us
and be gracious to us.
May the Lord show us his favor
and give us his peace.
Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Shirley Erena Murray’s “Go Gently, Go Lightly.”

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

Go singing, go bringing
the gifts of the Spirit,
go hopefully searching
for things that are true:
in living, in loving,
whatever befalls you,
God keep you, God bless you
in all that you do.

[Instrumental interlude]

Go gently, go lightly,
go safe in the Spirit,
live simply, don't carry
much more than you need:
go trusting God's goodness,
go spreading God's kindness,
stay centered on Jesus
and where he will lead.

Those present may exchange a sign of peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.