Evening Prayer, Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord

THE Annunciation of our Lord

March 25, 2020

Service of Light

L  Jesus Christ is the Light of the world,

C  the light no darkness can overcome.

L  Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,

C  and the day is almost over.

L  Let Your light scatter the darkness

C  and illumine Your Church.

L  Joyous light of glory:

C  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.

L  Blessèd 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.

C  Amen.

Psalm 45:7–17

   7You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
   8your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
   9daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
   at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
   forget your people and your father’s house,
   11and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
   12The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
   the richest of the people.

13All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
   14In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
   with her virgin companions following behind her.
15With joy and gladness they are led along
   as they enter the palace of the king.

16In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
   you will make them princes in all the earth.
17I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
   therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

L  Let us pray.

Let the incense of our repentant prayer ascend before You, O Lord, and let Your loving-kindness descend on 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.

C  Amen.

Reading                                                                                                                                                 Luke 1:26–38

   26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

   34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

   35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Sermon

Psalm 45:17

   I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

        therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

 Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord. As the Angel Gabriel announced the Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. There is great cause for us to celebrate and rejoice in the good news that our Lord came into this world in this way. He came, not as a tourist, not as a visiting dignitary. He moved in. He was born and bred here in our world. He lived and died.

The date for this Festival, March 25, is set as nine months before Christmas, because humans, like the baby Jesus, are usually born nine months after being conceived. And so, the timing of this celebration is remarkable -- right in the middle of Lent. As we meditate on the passion of our Lord, His humiliation of suffering and death, we also consider the beginning of His incarnation, the humiliation of his leaving the thrown of glory to be conceived in human flesh, so lowly and poor, so ordinary.

But then even more than an ordinary, usual human life, this one was especially humiliated. He was despised, rejected and murdered by evil people. Though the suffering and death of Jesus was carried out with evil intentions, God’s will was hindered but not abolished. God’s work was attacked but not ruined. The death of Jesus, as horrible as it seems, was used by God as His greatest work.  So our Lord Jesus is exalted by His Father. You can hear that exaltation in the Psalm for today:

Psalm 45:7

    You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

    Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

        with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

and again

       I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

        therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Jesus became the object of Spirit given faith for people of all ages. He has become the praise of the nations. Ultimately He is the Judge of the living and the dead.

The humiliation and exultation of our Lord Jesus is our hope and salvation. We can hear and believe that our destiny is tied to His, because He has told us, “that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

When we pray this Evening Prayer, we ask God to be with us like He was with ancient Israel in that pillar of cloud and fire. We have Him with us, even more so. Rely on your faith. Rely on your Baptism. By faith and by baptism you are in Christ. You are with Christ and Christ is with you. So when you go through dark and difficult, even scary times, you can have the peace of knowing that Christ who went through humiliation and darkness is with you.

Also, when you have glorious days and happy times, you can have the tempered perspective of knowing that, “ya, these are happy moments, fleeting as they may be. Thank God He gives such relief and blessings in this life, but the great exultation we look forward to is when we are with Jesus in His glorious kingdom to be fully revealed on the last day.

In a moment we will sing Mary’s song, the Magnificat, as part of this Evening Prayer. It’s a song for the downcast, the troubled, the sorrowful, the repentant. She tells how God works. He lifts up the humble and the humiliated. God exalts the lowly and feeds the poor. As we meditate on the suffering and cross of Jesus, we trust that it was for the forgiveness of our sins and our  deliverance from death. We take hope in the outcome, that God was pleased with Jesus. He was satisfied with His humiliation, suffering and death. So when Jesus takes us with Him, through suffering and death, and on into resurrection and life, God is pleased with us as well.

Amen.

Magnificat                                                      LSB 248

C   My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden.

For behold, from this day all generations will call me blessèd.

For the Mighty One has done great things to me, and holy is His name;

and His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away.

He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.

Glory be 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.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

Litany                                         LSB 249

L  In peace let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For all pastors in Christ, for all servants of the Church, and for all the people, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For President Trump, for all public servants, for the government and those who protect us, that they may be upheld and strengthened in every good deed, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For those who work to bring peace, justice, health, and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For those who bring offerings, those who do good works in this congregation, those who toil, those who sing, and all the people here present who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For favorable weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  For all those who work to provide us with essential services, let us pray to the Lord:

C  Lord, have mercy.

L  Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

Collect For Peace

L  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 Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C  Amen.

Lord’s Prayer                            LSB 251

L  Taught by our Lord and trusting His promises, we are bold to pray:

C  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.

 Benedicamus                              LSB 252

L  Let us bless the Lord.

C  Thanks be to God.

Benediction                                                                                                                                               

P  The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the T Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

C  Amen.

560 Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blessed

1      Drawn to the cross, which Thou hast blessed
With healing gifts for souls distressed,
To find in Thee my life, my rest,
    Christ crucified, I come.

2      Thou knowest all my griefs and fears,
Thy grace abused, my misspent years;
Yet now to Thee with contrite tears,
    Christ crucified, I come.

3      Wash me and take away each stain;
Let nothing of my sin remain.
For cleansing, though it be through pain,
    Christ crucified, I come.

4      And then for work to do for Thee,
Which shall so sweet a service be
That angels well might envy me,
    Christ crucified, I come.

Text: Public domain

Tune and text: Public domain