Thursday Evenings at All Hallows (Thursday, August 29, 2024)

Welcome to Thursday Evenings at All Hallows.

When we read the Old Testament, we may think to ourselves, “How does what happened to the people of Israel in ancient times apply to me? I live in the twenty-first century. The world has changed.” It is true that may things have changed since ancient times. Human beings, however, have not changed greatly. The people of today are prone to the same failings as the people of ancient times. We can learn from the mistakes that they made and not repeat them.

In the message we look at one such failing and how we can avoid it.

GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give God glory!

Glory to God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
as in the beginning, so now, and for ever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Susan Briehl’s “Let Evening Fall.”

1 Let evening fall on field and forest,
on desert mesa, canyon deep;
let coyote prowl and night hawk circle
while solemn owl her wise watch keeps.

*2 Let mountain now resound with chanting,
and meadow echo antiphon;
let dusky breezes rustle aspen
while lake and land join even-song.

3 Let those who labor in the daylight
now bring their working to an end;
let others rise to keep the vigil,
the weak to guard, the sick to tend.

4 Let every heart that harbors hatred
(Let every heart that harbors hatred)
release its hold, receive your grace;
(release its hold, receive your grace;)
let every mouth that spoke in anger
(let every mouth that spoke in anger)
seek pardon’s peace, then sing your praise.
(seek pardon’s peace, then sing your praise.)

5 Let daylight fade and shadows lengthen
when those we love draw near to death;
Attend our prayers, our weak faith strengthen
as you receive their final breath.

6 O Maker of creation’s choir,
O Song of love sung out for all,
O Spirit, breath of all our singing,
Let praise arise, let evening fall.

*Omitted on the video.

The day is now past and the night is at hand.
Let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence

Father of lights, receive the prayer and praise we offer you
as our evening sacrifice; make us light for all the world,
delivered by your goodness from all the works of darkness;
through Jesus Christ your So our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s adaptation of Psalm 121, “Pilgrim’s Song.”

I lift my eyes to the mountains,
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the One
who made the heavens and the earth,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

1 God will not let your foot be moved.
God, who keeps you will not slumber.
The One who keeps Israel
never slumbers, never sleeps.

I lift my eyes to the mountains,
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the One
who made the heavens and the earth,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

2 God will be the one who keeps you,
as a shade at your right hand,
so the sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon in the night.

I lift my eyes to the mountains,
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the One
who made the heavens and the earth,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3. God will keep you from all evil.
God will always guard your life,
guard your comings, and your goings,
from now and evermore.

I lift my eyes to the mountains,
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the One
who made the heavens and the earth,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Pause

God, our Saviour, you sent Jesus into the world of sin, and
delivered him up to death for us: kindle in our hearts the
same love with which he loved his own to the end; who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and
for ever. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the Old Testament: Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Silence

A reading from the New Testament: James 1: 1-8

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Silence

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

Single-Minded

On a windy day visitors to the beach are likely to see the waves of sea, blown and tossed by the wind, as described by the apostle James, the brother of Jesus. James in his letter compares those who are unsteady and wavering in their thoughts and actions with wind-tossed waves.

James, also known as James the Just, while he was an apostle, was not one of the original twelve apostles. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that James presided over the Council of Jerusalem which determined that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised in order to be saved. According to Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, James and several other early Jewish Christians died as martyrs, stoned to death by the order of the High Priest at that time.

To James is ascribed the coining of the term “double-minded,” to describe the state of mind of those whom he compared to wind-tossed waves. They are always vacillating between one thing and another. They are pulled in two directions at once. Consequently, they lack faith.

The reading from the Book of Exodus, the account of how the people of Israel persuaded Moses’ older brother Aaron to make an idol for them in the form of a golden calf in Moses’ long absence on Mount Sinai and worshiped the idol, corrupting themselves and grieving God, illustrates what it means to be double-minded.

In ancient Egypt the idols of the Egyptian bull god Apis made in the form of a golden calf and in ancient Canaan idols of the Canaanite fertility Baal were also made in this form. Indeed, every Canaanite town and city had a golden calf idol of Baal in its public square. When the kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms upon King Solomon’s death, Jeroboam who became king of the northern kingdom also made two gold calves and told the people of his kingdom that they were the gods who had delivered them from Egypt and directed them to offer sacrifices to these idols, one at Bethel and the other at Dan, rather than go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at King Solomon’s temple. Jeroboam also made shrines on the high places (1 Kings 12: 25-33). In the Old Testament the golden calf symbolizes apostasy of the worst kind, abandoning the worship of the one true God for the worship of idols, of false gods.

Being double-minded was not peculiar to the people of Israel in Old Testament times. It troubled the early Christians as James points to the attention of the readers of his letter. It continues to trouble Christians in our own time. We are also prone to worshiping idols of our own making, people and things that we give what rightly is the place of God in our lives, including ourselves. As Jesus told is his disciples and the crowds who flocked to hear him, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other…” (Matthew 6:24).

A lesson that we can take away from these two readings is the importance of being single-minded in our devotion to God, in our loyalty and love for God. Being single-minded is the opposite of being double-minded. The single-minded person looks to Jesus Christ not only for salvation but also direction and guidance in this life. While they may sometimes experience doubts as we all do, they do not let their doubts control them like the double-minded person does. They persevere in the face of adversity. They seek to be faithful to life’s end.

The single-minded person is determined to do what Aslan instructed Lucy in C.S. Lewis’ Prince Caspian:

"Now, child," said Aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, "I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone."

The single-minded person has made a firm decision to follow Jesus Christ and will not let anyone or any difficulties stop them.

Silence

Open this link in a new tab to hear Percy Dearmer’s “Jesus, Good Above All Other.”

1 Jesus, good above all other,
gentle child of gentle mother,
in a stable born our brother,
give us grace to persevere.

2 Jesus, cradled in a manger,
for us facing every danger,
living as a homeless stranger,
make we thee our King most dear.

3 Jesus, for thy people dying,
risen Master, death defying,
Lord in heaven, thy grace supplying,
keep us to thy presence near.

4 Jesus, who our sorrows bearest,
all our thoughts and hopes thou sharest,
thou to us the truth declarest;
help us all thy truth to hear.

5 Lord, in all our doings guide us;
pride and hate shall ne'er divide us;
we'll go on with thee beside us,
and with joy we'll persevere.

Let us confess our faith, as we say:

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
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
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.

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

During the course of the silence after each petition, those present may offer their own prayers silently or aloud.

Let us join in prayer with God’s faithful people throughout the
world, saying “God of Love: hear our prayer.”

We pray for the unity of your church, that our life may reflect the
love you have shown us.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We ask your grace for N our pastor and for all who
minister in word and in action, that we may bear faithful witness
to your good news.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We seek your peace and justice in our world, our country, and our
community, that the needy may never be forgotten.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We ask your blessing on our homes, our friends and family, and
on those who live alone, that we may know your presence ever
near us.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We name before you all whom you have given us to pray for
[especially….], knowing that you are doing for them better things
than we can ask or imagine.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We commend to you all who have died [especially….], that our
trust in you may deepen as you keep them safe in your care.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We offer our thanks and praise for all you have done for us,
rejoicing in the knowledge that you are with us always.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

We look for your purposes to be accomplished and ask you to fill
us with the strength and vision to further your reign.

Silence

God of love: Hear our prayer.

Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to 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.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Kate B. Wilkinson’s “May the Mind of Christ, My Savior.

1 May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
live in me from day to day,
by His love and pow'r controlling
all I do and say.

2 May the word of God dwell richly
in my heart from hour to hour,
so that all may see I triumph
only through His pow'r.

3 May the peace of God my Father
rule my life in everything,
that I may be calm to comfort
sick and sorrowing.

4 May the love of Jesus fill me
as the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing:
this is victory.

5 May I run the race before me,
strong and brave to face the foe,
looking only unto Jesus
as I onward go.

6 May His beauty rest upon me
as I seek the lost to win,
and may they forget the channel,
seeing only Him.

The Sending Forth of God’s People 

In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Those present may extend their palms toward each other in a gesture of blessing.

May God, Creator, bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of Love be our guide and path,
for all our days. Amen.

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

Those present may exchange a gesture of peace with these or similar words:
Peace be with you.