Second Evensong of the First Sunday after Trinity

A BLESSING OF THE LIGHT

[A candle may be lit. Other candles may then be lit.]

Let my prayer be as incense before thee,

the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe!  Thy word bringest on the dusk of evening, thy wisdom createth both night and day.  Thou dost determine the cycles of time, arrange the succession of seasons, and establish the stars in their heavenly courses.  Lord of the starry hosts is thy name.  Living and eternal God, rulest over us always.  Blessed be the Lord, whose word makest evening fall. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Cathedral Singers sing Stephen P. Starke’s setting of the ancient lamp-lighting hymn Phos hilaron, “O Gracious Light, Pure Brightness of the Everliving Father.”

1. O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the
everliving Father in heaven.
O Jesus, Christ, holy and blessed!

2. Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing thy praises, O God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Thou art worthy at all times
to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

EVENING PRAYER

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Choir of Salisbury Cathedral sing Psalm 34, “I Will Always Give Thanks.”

PSALM 34

I WILL alway give thanks unto the Lord: his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O praise the Lord with me: and let us magnify his Name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me: yea, he delivered me out of all my fear.

5 They had an eye unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 Lo, the poor crieth, and the Lord heareth him: yea, and saveth him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him: and delivereth them.

8 O taste, and see, how gracious the Lord is: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

9 O fear the Lord, ye that are his saints: for they that fear him lack nothing.

10 The lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they who seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good.

11 Come, ye children, and hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 What man is he that lusteth to live: and would fain see good days?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil : and thy lips, that they speak no guile.

14 Eschew evil, and do good: seek peace, and ensue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous: and his ears are open unto their prayers.

16 The countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil: to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth them: and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart: and will save such as be of an humble spirit.

19 Great are the troubles of the righteous : but the Lord delivereth him out of all.

20 He keepeth all his bones: so that not one of them is broken.

21 But misfortune shall slay the ungodly: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

22 The Lord delivereth the souls of his servants: and all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A Reading from the Gospel according to Luke

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet;

A light upon my path.

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

Simon invited Jesus to eat with him. But he showed Jesus none of the common forms of hospitality that a host would show an invited guest in that day. He did not wash the dust of his guest’s feet. He did not greet Jesus with a kiss. He did not anoint Jesus’ head with olive oil. These were not minor faux pas, minor slips or blunders in etiquette. They may be construed as a studied insult of the guest. We do not know if that was Simon’s intention. We do not know who else Simon may have invited to eat with him. Simon may not have wanted to appear too friendly toward Jesus in front of his other guests.

Note that Jesus does not bring up Simon’s lack of hospitality until Simon began to question in his mind whether Jesus was a prophet since he permitted the woman to touch him. The Pharisees were obsessed with ritual purity. They would go to great lengths to maintain that purity. In permitting the woman to touch him in the eyes of the Pharisees Jesus was making himself unclean, ritually impure—something to their mind a prophet would never do. A prophet would be as scrupulous in observing the Jewish ritual purity laws and regulations as they were.  A prophet would not allow himself to be defiled in that way.

Jesus senses what some modern writers would describe as a “teachable moment.” He knows what is going through Simon’s mind. He uses a simple anecdote to teaching Simon and the other Pharisees about forgiveness. He points to their attention that what the woman is showing him is the love to which forgiveness gives rise. The woman may have been a sinner and her sins may have been great but because those sins have been forgiven, her love for the one who forgave them is great.

We do not know who the woman was or what her sins were. Over the centuries Christians have speculated about her identity and the nature of her sins. But none of that matters. What does matter is that Jesus forgave her.

There are a lot of lessons for us in this passage. But the most important lesson is that Jesus welcomes sinners. As his disciples we must welcome them too. After all, a disciple follows the teaching and example of the one whom he calls teacher. We cannot shun them like the Pharisees. 

Jesus also called sinners to repentance. Repentance involves turning away from whatever is coming between us and God and turning to Jesus. But Jesus welcomed sinners first. He did not do what the Pharisees did. They insisted that a sinner must first repent, adopt their ways, and then they might welcome him. No, Jesus welcomed the sinner, ate with them as he did Matthew and Zacchias, and then, when the time was ripe, he called them to repentance. 

We are expected to do the same. It will not be easy. There is more than a little Pharisee in each of us. We are more comfortable with people like ourselves. But if we are serious about following Jesus, we must pattern our lives on his teaching and his example.

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Choir of Salisbury Cathedral sing the hymn, “O Jesus I Have Promised.”

1 O Jesus, I have promised
to serve thee to the end;
be thou for ever near me,
my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if thou wilt be my guide.

2 O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou guardian of my soul.

3 O Jesus, thou hast promised
to all who follow thee,
that where thou art in glory
there shall thy servant be;
and Jesus, I have promised
to serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
my Master and my Friend.

4 O let me see thy footmarks,
And in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone;
O guide me, call me, draw me,
Uphold me to the end;
And then in heaven receive me,
My Saviour and my Friend

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Choirof Hereford Cathedral sing the Magnificat in F, composed by George Dyson.

MAGNIFICAT

MY soul doth magnify the Lord:
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded:
the lowliness of his hand-maiden.

For behold, from henceforth:
all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me:
and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him:
throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm:
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat:
and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things:
and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel:
as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.

[Prayers for ourselves and others may be said.]

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

OUR Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that 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.

Almighty God, without thee we are not able to please thee. Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who livest and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear the Choir of King's College, Cambridge sing the hymn, “Abide With Me.”

1 Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

3 I need thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

4 I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

5 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:
heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Lord God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of thy brightness we may know thee, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord:

Thanks be to God!

The God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing:

through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

[A period of silence for prayer and reflection may be observed, after which the candle or candles may be extinguished.]