The Collect

Almighty and eternal God, you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints: grant to us the same faith and power of love, that, as we rejoice in their triumphs, we may be sustained by their example and fellowship; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

¶ The Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Isaiah 1.10-18

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation – I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and our appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Psalm 32.1-8

Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven, *and whose sin is covered.
Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *and in whose spirit there is no guile.
For I held my tongue; *my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long.
Your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *my moisture was dried up like the drought in summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you *and my iniquity I did not hide.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ *and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all the faithful make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *in the great water flood, it shall not reach them.
You are a place for me to hide in; you preserve me from trouble; *you surround me with songs of deliverance.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1.1-12

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgement of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marvelled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 19.1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome Jesus. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

Prayers of Intercession

Today Visual Liturgy offers some intercessions of its own:

We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom. You sent your Son to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, freedom to captives and salvation to your people: anoint us with your Spirit; rouse us to work in his name.

Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom.

Send us to bring help to the poor and freedom to the oppressed.

Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom.

Send us to tell the world the good news of your healing love.

Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom.

Send us to those who mourn, to bring joy and gladness instead of grief.

Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom.

Send us to proclaim that the time is here for you to save your people.

Father, by your Spirit bring in your kingdom.

Lord of the Church, hear our prayer, and make us one in mind and heart to serve you in Christ our Lord. Amen.

This Sunday will be celebrated by many as All Saints Day; if this is what you are looking for, may I suggest the intercessions we did last year?

If you are still with me, Jane Williams has a pithy observation on the lectionary:

Their prayers are intended to change God, but they have forgotten than the purpose of prayer is to change the one who prays. God reminds them what they are called for, which is to be a community that demonstrates love and justice, and so bears witness to the nature of God. Until they return to that calling, everything they say to God is empty words. The choice is theirs – God’s forgiveness will be total, but so will his judgment.

¶The Church of Christ

Lord of the Church, make us one in mind and heart to serve you in the name of Christ. We know that we have done little to forward your kingdom and advance your glory. Forgive our shortcomings and renew our zeal to spread the knowledge of your truth and enlarge the boundaries of your kingdom. Grant that we may continue to increase our faith and the love we have for one another so that you may count us worthy of our calling.

 Lord, lift the burdens from our shoulders for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

Lord, we ask you to infuse those in authority and all those who influence the lives of others with the spirit of justice tempered by mercy towards the unprotected and vulnerable. Grant us the imagination and resolution to create in this country and throughout the world a just social order for the family of man. And make us agents of your compassion to the suffering and the persecuted, through the spirit of your son, who shared the sufferings of humanity.

 Lord, lift the burdens from our shoulders for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The local community

Help us to bear one another’s burdens, Lord, along this pilgrim journey. Be with us on every hill and every pass, every valley and every stream. In the trough of the waves, on the crest of the billows, teach us to tread our common path courageously in the company of your faithful people; and grant that as we journey on we may serve all who need our help along the way for the glory of your name.

 Lord, lift the burdens from our shoulders for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶Those who suffer

In the eye of the storm we hear your whisper of mercy, the peace of those who are truly forgiven. Lord of compassion, warm the frozen places of our fears and water the arid parts of our being. Dismantle the wall of pain around our hearts and lift the burdens of our past. And then, through grace, we shall be free to live in the joy of your presence.

 Lord, lift the burdens from our shoulders for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer

¶The communion of saints

Lord, we pray for those who have died, that they may be found worthy of your kingdom. When they are judged, grant them the mercy of Christ. And, when our turn comes, we pray that we may be made fit to receive Christ in our hearts.

 Lord, lift the burdens from our shoulders for the yoke of your love is light: in your mercy, hear our prayer

The illustration is a mural in the Church in Sagritz Großkirchheim depicting Jesus and Zacchaeus via Wikimedia