Evening Prayer for Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent, 7:00 p.m.

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EVENING PRAYER

for Wednesday in 5 Lent

Vespers

(Lutheran Book of Worship, page 142)

 

Behold, now is the acceptable time;

now is the day of salvation.

Turn us again, O God of our salvation,

that the light of your face may shine upon us.

May your justice shine like the sun,

and may the poor be lifted up.

 

Joyous light of glory:

of the immortal Father;

                                heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ.

                We have come to the setting of the sun,

                                and we look to the evening light.

                We sing to God, the Father, Son,

                                and Holy Spirit:

                You are worthy of being praised

                                with pure voices forever.

                O Son of God, O Giver of life:

                                The universe proclaims your glory.

 

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give him thanks and praise.

 

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night: Enlighten our darkness by the light of your Christ; may his Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for you are merciful, and you love your whole creation, and we, your creatures, glorify you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  Amen

 

Let my prayer rise before you as incense;

                the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

O Lord, I call to you; come to me quickly;

                hear my voice when I cry to you.

 Let my prayer rise before you as incense;

                the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord,

                and guard the door of my lips.

Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;

                let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers.

But my eyes are turned to you, Lord God;

                in you I take refuge. Strip me not of my life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Let my prayer rise before you as incense;

                the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

 

Silence for meditation.

 

Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before you, O Lord, and let your lovingkindness descend upon us, that with purified minds we may sing your praises with the Church on earth and the whole heavenly host, and may glorify you forever and ever.

Amen

 

Psalm 102

 

The Lord delivers us from the power of darkness,

  and leads us into the kingdom of his Son.

 

¹ Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry | come before you;*

                hide not your face from me in the day | of my trouble.

² Incline your | ear to me;*

                when I call, make haste to | answer me,

³ for my days drift a- | way like smoke,*

                and my bones are hot as | burning coals.

⁴ My heart is smitten like | grass and withered,*

                so that I forget to | eat my bread.

⁵ Because of the voice | of my groaning*

                I am but | skin and bones.

⁶ I have become like a vulture | in the wilderness,*

                like an owl a- | mong the ruins.

⁷ I lie a- | wake and groan;*

                I am like a sparrow, lonely | on a housetop.

 ⁸ My enemies revile me | all day long,*

                and those who scoff at me have taken an | oath against me.

⁹ For I have eaten ash- | es for bread*

                and mingled my | drink with weeping.

¹⁰ Because of your indigna- | tion and wrath*

                you have lifted me up and thrown | me away.

¹¹ My days pass away | like a shadow,*

                and I wither | like the grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, en- | dure forever,*

                and your name from | age to age.

¹³ You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to have mer- | cy upon her;*

                indeed, the appointed | time has come.

¹⁴ For your servants love her | very rubble,*

                and are moved to pity even | for her dust.

¹⁵ The nations shall fear your | name, O Lord,*

                and all the kings of the | earth your glory.

¹⁶ For the Lord will | build up Zion,*

                and his glory | will appear.

¹⁷ He will look with favor on the prayer | of the homeless;*

                he will not de- | spise their plea.

¹⁸ Let this be written for a future | generation,*

                so that a people yet unborn may | praise the Lord.

¹⁹ For the Lord looked down from his holy | place on high;*

                from the heavens he be- | held the earth;

²⁰ that he might hear the groan | of the captive*

                and set free those con- | demned to die;

²¹ that they may declare in Zion the name | of the Lord,*

                and his praise | in Jerusalem;

²² when the peoples are gath- | ered together,*

                and the kingdoms also, to | serve the Lord.

²³ He has brought down my strength | before my time;*

                he has shortened the number | of my days;

²⁴ and I said,

"O my God, do not take me away in the midst | of my days;*

                your years endure throughout all | generations.

²⁵ In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations | of the earth,*

                and the heavens are the work | of your hands.

²⁶ They shall perish, but you will endure;

they all shall wear out | like a garment;*

                as clothing you will change them,

and they | shall be changed;

²⁷ but you are al- | ways the same,*

                and your years will | never end.

²⁸ The children of your servants | shall continue,*

                and their offspring shall stand fast | in your sight."

 

The Lord delivers us from the power of darkness,

  and leads us into the kingdom of his Son.

 

Lord, while our days vanish like shadows and our lives wear out like a garment, you remain undisturbed by change. Although our earthly lives come to an end, help us to live in Christ's endless life and at length attain our home, the heavenly Jerusalem, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. 

  Amen

 

Hymn                   We All Are One in Mission                            WOV 755

 

1      We all are one in mission;

        we all are one in call,

        our varied gifts united

        by Christ, the Lord of all.

        A single great commission

        compels us from above

        to plan and work together

        that all may know Christ's love.

 

2      We all are called for service,

        to witness in God's name.

        Our ministries are diff'rent;

        our purpose is the same:

        to touch the lives of others

        with God's surprising grace,

        so ev'ry folk and nation

        may feel God's warm embrace.

3      Now let us be united,

        and let our song be heard.

        Now let us be a vessel

        for God's redeeming Word.

        We all are one in mission;

        we all are one in call,

        our varied gifts united

        by Christ, the Lord of all.

 

Text: Rusty Edwards, b. 1955

 

READING                                                          Ephesians 4:1-16

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸ Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”^[a]

⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?^[b] 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds^[c] and teachers,^[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,^[e] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The Word of the Lord.                                        Thanks be to God.

Response

In many and various ways

God spoke to his people of old by the prophets.

  But now in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.

 

The GOSPEL CANTICLE is sung.

 

Antiphon:

Let justice roll down like waters,

  and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

                my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

                for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

                From this day all generations will call me blessed.

                                The Almighty has done great things for me,

                                and holy is his name.

                                He has mercy on those who fear him

                                in every generation.

                He has shown the strength of his arm;

                he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

                He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

                and has lifted up the lowly.

                He has filled the hungry with good things,

                and the rich he has sent away empty.

                He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

                for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

                the promise he made to our fathers,

                to Abraham and his children forever.

                Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

Antiphon:

Let justice roll down like waters,

  and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 

God our Father, you give the church its unity in your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant that, sustained and enlivened by the Gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we may be joined together with all other Christians for the walk of faith and the work of ministry; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

  Amen

 

Almighty God, by our baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, you turn us from the old life of sin. Grant that we who are reborn to new life in him may live in righteousness and holiness all our days, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Almighty God, draw our hearts to you, guide our minds, fill our imaginations, control our wills, so that we may be wholly yours. Use us as you will, always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   

 

Let us pray for our own needs and for the needs of others.

 

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you, and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his name, you will be in the midst of them. Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us, granting us, in this world, knowledge of your truth and, in the age to come, life everlasting.   

 

O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments; and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever.   

  Amen

 

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,

                                forever and ever. Amen

 

 

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

Hymn                   To You, Before the Close of Day                                        LBW 277

 

1              To you, before the close of day,

                Creator of the world, we pray!

                Your grace and peace to us allow

                and be our guard and keeper now.

 

2              From evil dreams defend our sight,

                from all the terrors of the night,

                from all deluding thoughts that creep

                on heedless minds disarmed by sleep.

 

3              O Father, this we ask be done

                through Jesus Christ, your only Son,

                who with the Holy Ghost and you

                shall live and reign all ages through. Amen

 

Text: compline office hymn, c. 8th cent.; tr. John M. Neale, 1818-1866, adapt.

Prayer and Benediction

Accept, O Lord, our praises and supplications, and look graciously on our households and our faith family, that we may abide this night in peace and safety under the shadow of your wings, and so assist us by your grace that we may be made fit for that kingdom where there shall be no more sin, nor sorrow, nor pain, but all shall be joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, to whom, with you, O Father, and you, O blessed Jesus, be all glory, both now and evermore.

  Amen

 

The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.  Amen