Oremus for Saturday, April 22, 2023

Toyohiko Kagawa
Toyohiko Kagawa was born in 1888 in Kobe, Japan. Orphaned early, he lived first with his widowed stepmother and then with an uncle. He enrolled in a Bible class in order to learn English, and in his teens he became a Christian and was disowned by his family. In his late teens, he attended Presbyterian College in Tokyo for three years. He decided that he had a vocation to help the poor, and that in order to do so effectively he must live as one of them. Accordingly, from 1910 to 1924 he lived for all but two years in a shed six feet square (about 180 cm) in the slums of Kobe. In 1912 he unionized the shipyard workers. He spent two years (1914-1916) at Princeton studying techniques for the relief of poverty. In 1918 and 1921 he organized unions among factory workers and among farmers. He worked for universal male suffrage (granted in 1925) and for laws more favorable to trade unions.
In 1923 he was asked to supervise social work in Tokyo. His writings began to attract favorable notice from the Japanese government and abroad. He established credit unions, schools, hospitals, and churches, and wrote and spoke extensively on the application of Christian principles to the ordering of society.
He founded the Anti-War League, and in 1940 was arrested after publicly apologizing to China for the Japanese invasion of that country. In the summer of 1941 he visited the United States in an attempt to avert war between Japan and the Us. After the war, despite failing health, he devoted himself to the reconciliation of democratic ideals and procedures with traditional Japanese culture. He died in Tokyo 23 April 1960. ^{James Kiefer}

Antiphon (https://tinyurl.com/2ve2ux5a)

I am the Good Shepherd,
and I lay down my life for my sheep, says the Lord. John 10

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires, known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Music: https://tinyurl.com/mb6h9xfa

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
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.
Alleluia, alleluia!

HYMN: Bernadette Farrell ©
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/yvbj976h

1 Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.

Refrain:
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts. Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

2 Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has pow’r to save us.
Make us your living voice. [Refrain]

3 Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed. [Refrain]

4 Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone. [Refrain]

5 Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making your kingdom come. [Refrain]

PSALMS

Psalm 108 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/y9us7zs5)
1  O God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready *
 I will sing and give praise with the best member that I have.
2  Awake, thou lute, and harp *
 I myself will awake right early.
3  I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the people *
 I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4  For thy mercy is greater than the heavens *
 and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5  Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens *
 and thy glory above all the earth.
6  That thy beloved may be delivered *
 let thy right hand save them, and hear thou me.
7  God hath spoken in his holiness *
 I will rejoice therefore, and divide Sichem,
and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8  Gilead is mine, and Manasses is mine *
 Ephraim also is the strength of my head.
9  Judah is my law-giver, Moab is my wash-pot *
 over Edom will I cast out my shoe; upon Philistia will I triumph.
10  Who will lead me into the strong city *
 and who will bring me into Edom?
11  Hast not thou forsaken us, O God *
 and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12  O help us against the enemy *
 for vain is the help of man.
13  Through God we shall do great acts *
 and it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
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.

Psalm 109 (Anglican Chant: https://tinyurl.com/y9dslk3v)
1  Hold not thy tongue, O God of my praise *
 for the mouth of the ungodly, yea,
the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.
2  And they have spoken against me with false tongues *
 they compassed me about also with words of hatred,
and fought against me without a cause.
3  For the love that I had unto them, lo, they take now my contrary part *
 but I give myself unto prayer.
4  Thus have they rewarded me evil for good *
 and hatred for my good will.
5  Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him *
 and let Satan stand at his right hand.
6  When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned *
 and let his prayer be turned into sin.
7  Let his days be few *
 and let another take his office.
8  Let his children be fatherless *
 and his wife a widow.
9  Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their bread *
 let them seek it also out of desolate places.
10  Let the extortioner consume all that he hath *
 and let the stranger spoil his labour.
11  Let there be no man to pity him *
 nor to have compassion upon his fatherless children.
12  Let his posterity be destroyed *
 and in the next generation let his name be clean put out.
13  Let the wickedness of his fathers be had
in remembrance in the sight of the Lord *
 and let not the sin of his mother be done away.
14  Let them alway be before the Lord *
 that he may root out the memorial of them from off the earth;
15  And that, because his mind was not to do good *
 but persecuted the poor helpless man,
that he might slay him that was vexed at the heart.
16  His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him *
 he loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him.
17  He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment *
 and it shall come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
18  Let it be unto him as the cloke that he hath upon him *
 and as the girdle that he is alway girded withal.
19  Let it thus happen from the Lord unto mine enemies *
 and to those that speak evil against my soul.
20  But deal thou with me, O Lord God, according unto thy Name *
 for sweet is thy mercy.
21  O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor *
 and my heart is wounded within me.
22  I go hence like the shadow that departeth *
 and am driven away as the grasshopper.
23  My knees are weak through fasting *
 my flesh is dried up for want of fatness.
24  I became also a reproach unto them *
 they that looked upon me shaked their heads.
25  Help me, O Lord my God *
 O save me according to thy mercy;
26  And they shall know, how that this is thy hand *
 and that thou, Lord, hast done it.
27  Though they curse, yet bless thou *
 and let them be confounded that rise up against me;
but let thy servant rejoice.
28  Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame *
 and let them cover themselves with their own confusion,
as with a cloke.
29  As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth *
 and praise him among the multitude;
30  For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor *
 to save his soul from unrighteous judges.
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.

Psalm 108 (Karl Kohlhase: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-108-KH.mp3)
My heart is ready, O God;
I will sing, sing praises with my glory.
Awake, awake, both harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!

I’ll give thanks to you, O LORD, among the people,
and sing praises to you among the nations.
For your love is great above the heavens,
and your faithfulness unto the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and your glory above all the earth.
Let the one whom you love be delivered;
O save him by your right hand, and give answer.

Our God has spoken in his holiness:
“I’ll rejoice, and Shechem I will portion out
I will measure out Succoth’s Valley:
Gilead and Manasseh are mine.

Also Ephraim is the helmet of my head;
Judah’s my scepter, and Moab is my washbowl;
Over Edom I will throw my shoe;
o’er Philistia I will shout aloud.”

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and your glory above all the earth.
Let the one whom you love be delivered;
O save him by your right hand, and give answer.

Who will bring me into a walled-in city?
And who will lead me into Edom?
Have you not, O God, rejected us?
Will you not lead our armies, O God?

Give us help against our oppressor,
for deliverance by man is in vain.
Through God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and your glory above all the earth.
Let the one whom you love be delivered;
O save him by your right hand, and give answer.
O save him by your right hand,
please save him by your right hand, and give answer.

Psalm 109 (Karl Kohlhase: http://oremus.org/chant/Psalm-109-KH.mp3)
The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

O God of my praise, please do not be silent,
because the mouth of wickedness, and the mouth of deceit,
have opened up to speak against me,
with lying tongues and hateful words.

They have encompassed me round about,
they fight against me for no reason.
and for my love they accuse me,
and yet I am in prayer for them!

Repaying me with evil for my good,
and hatred in return for my love.

The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

You set over him an evil one,
an accuser to stand at his right hand.
So he’ll come out guilty when he is judged,
his prayer is made an offense.

His days are few, another takes his office;
his sons are fatherless, his wife a widow.
His sons always roaming and begging,
and they will ever seek in barren places.

A creditor shall plunder all that he owns,
and strangers shall plunder all he worked for.
He’ll have not a one extending kindness,
nor any showing favor to his orphans.

The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

For his posterity shall be cut off,
his name be erased in coming ages.
His fathers’ sins remembered by the LORD,
his mothers’ sins are not erased.

They are before the LORD continually,
so he will cut them off from earth’s memory.
For he did not remember to show kindness,
and he pursued the poor and the needy,

And those discouraged within their heart,
he sought them out so as to slay them.
He loves to curse and so it comes to him;
he hates to bless and so it is far from him.

The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

For cursing he wears like a robe,
like water in his innards, oil within his bones.
His clothing with which he hides himself,
the belt with which he always binds himself.

The wage of my accusers from the LORD,
of those who speak against my soul for harm.
O LORD my Lord, deal kindly for your name’s sake;
your love is great, so please deliver me.

For I am poor and needy,
my heart has been pierced within me.
Departing as a shadow when it stretches out,
I have been swept away like a locust.

The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

My knees become feeble from my fasting;
my flesh has been denied of its fatness.
I have become to them as a reproach;
and when they look at me they shake their head.

Please help me, O LORD my God;
and save me, according to your love.
O LORD, may they know it is from your hand;
that you are the one who has done this.

So let them curse while you bless;
they’ll rise to shame while Your servant sings.
My accusers put on shame and are covered,
their shame has become their robe.

I thank the LORD greatly with my mouth,
and in the midst of many I will praise Him,
The LORD is at the right hand of the poor,
to save him from the ones who judge his soul

PRAYER

O God,
your love is wider than all the universe
and your mercy greater than the heights of heaven.
When we are tempted to break faith with you,
put a new song of love on our lips,
that we may sing your praises to all nations on earth,
through your Son, our only hope and defense. Amen. ^BCW

THE WORD OF GOD

Reading: Ezekiel 3:22 – 4:8

The Lord’s power overcame me, and he said to me: Get up! Go out to the valley, and I’ll speak to you there. So I got up and went out to the valley. Suddenly, the Lord’s glory stood there, like the glory that I had seen at the Chebar River, and I fell on my face. When a wind came to me and stood me on my feet, he spoke to me and said: Go, shut yourself up inside your house. Look at you, human one! They’ve now put cords on you and bound you up so that you can’t go out among them. I’ll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth and take away your ability to speak. You won’t be able to correct them, because they are a household of rebels. But whenever I speak to you, I’ll open your mouth, and you will say to them: The Lord God proclaims. Those who hear will understand, but those who refuse will not. They are just a household of rebels.

You, human one, take a brick. Put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Prepare the siege: Build a wall, construct ramps, set up army camps, and place battering rams all around. Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Face it directly. When it is under siege like this, press hard against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

Now, lie on your left side, and set the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For the length of time that you lie on your side, you will bear their punishment. I appoint to you three hundred ninety days, one day for each year of their guilt. So you will bear the punishment of the house of Israel. When you have completed these days, lie on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah. I appoint forty days to you, one day for each year. With your arm stretched out, face the siege of Jerusalem directly and prophesy against it. I’ve now bound you with cords so that you can’t turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

HYMN: Fanny Crosby
Tune: https://tinyurl.com/3vss5jym

1 Here in thy name we are gathered,
Come and revive us, O Lord;
“There shall be showers of blessing”
Thou hast declared in thy word.

Chorus:
Oh, graciously hear us,
Graciously hear us, we pray:
Pour from thy windows upon us
Showers of blessing today.

2 O that the showers of blessing
Now on our souls may descend,
While at the footstool of mercy
Pleading thy promise we bend! [Chorus]

3 There shall be showers of blessings,–
Promise that never can fail;
Thou wilt regard our petition;
Surely our faith will prevail. [Chorus]

4 Showers of blessing,–we need them,
Showers of blessing from thee;
Showers of blessing,–oh, grant them;
Thine all the glory shall be. [Chorus]

Reading: 1 Peter 4:7-19

The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen.

Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you.

Now none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or rebel. But don’t be ashamed if you suffer as one who belongs to Christ. Rather, honor God as you bear Christ’s name. Give honor to God, because it’s time for judgment to begin with God’s own household. But if judgment starts with us, what will happen to those who refuse to believe God’s good news? If the righteous are barely rescued, what will happen to the godless and sinful? So then, those who suffer because they follow God’s will should commit their lives to a trustworthy creator by doing what is right.

HYMN: Thomas Kelly
Tune: St Magnus https://tinyurl.com/3n4jztp5

1 The head that once was crowned with thorns
is crowned with glory now:
a royal diadem adorns
the mighty Victor’s brow.

2 The highest place that heaven affords
is his, is his by right,
the King of kings, and Lord of lords,
and heaven’s eternal Light;

3 The joy of all who dwell above,
the joy of all below,
to whom he manifests his love,
and grants his name to know.

4 To them the cross, with all its shame,
with all its grace, is given:
their name, an everlasting name,
their joy, the joy of heaven.

5 They suffer with their Lord below,
they reign with him above;
their profit and their joy to know
the mystery of his love.

6 The cross he bore is life and health,
though shame and death to him;
his people’s hope, his people’s wealth,
their everlasting theme.

Reading: Matthew 5:13-19

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven.

“Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

CANTICLE Luke 1:46-55
(Brian Moss: https://tinyurl.com/339zmc65)

Who am I to receive this gift?
A child of heaven and earth
How can I give him my kiss?
I have been blessed and I give praise
To him whose song is age to age

Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
I will rejoice in you, my God, the Mighty One
Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
All glory be to you, Immanuel, the Son of Man

Kings will bow to the least of these
The humble lift – ed up
The poor are filled with good things
Mercy extends to those who fear
The Lord, our God, drawing us near

Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
I will rejoice in you, my God, the Mighty One
Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
All glory be to you, Immanuel, the Son of God

Holy is his name. Holy, holy, holy is his name.
Holy is his name. Holy, holy, holy is his name.
Holy is his name.

Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
I will rejoice in you, my God, the Mighty One
Sing out my soul, sing out my soul
All glory be to you, Immanuel, the Son
All glory be to you, Immanuel, the Son of God with us

THE PRAYERS ^BCW18

Almighty God,
who taught us to pray not only for ourselves
but for people everywhere,
hear us as we in the name of Jesus Christ.

For the leaders of the world,
that they may put aside their differences
and seek the peace of Christ, we pray:
Have mercy on us.

For the Church,
that we serve one another with a humility
which sets aside hierarchies of power, we pray:
Have mercy on us.

Release us from the curse of stigma
and labels that cast out the unacceptable, we pray:
Have mercy on us.

That we may long for the day
when all may feast at the table of our Lord,
when no one will be an outsider,
and all will be loved, we pray:
Have mercy on us

Setting by Eric Wyse:²

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Toyohiko Kagawa, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ^BCP79

https://tinyurl.com/rkxkpmc
Go in peace, alleluia, alleluia!
Thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia!

Glory to God whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine:
Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church,
and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.    Ephesians 3:20,21

---

^BCW Book of Common Worship, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 1993.

^BCP79 The Book of Common Prayer (1979), The Episcopal Church

^PWC PRAY WITHOUT CEASING: Morning and Evening Prayer for the Seasons of the Church Year Prepared by The Rev’d Dr Richard Geoffrey Leggett on behalf of The Liturgy Task Force of the Anglican Church of Canada, May 2016.

^{James Kiefer} http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/143.html

The three main scripture readings are © 2011 Common English Bible 

The traditional language psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The modern language versions of Psalms 108 and 109 are in the version sung by Karl Kohlhase http://www.k4communications.com/karl/index.html.

Musical links are usually either to artists’ albums posted on Spotify or to recordings made available at smallchurchmusic.com. Audio stripped from YouTube videos is footnoted accordingly above.

Compilation © 2023 Stephen T. Benner. All links worked at the time they were created, but I cannot accept responsibility for their content or any damage resulting from their use. The linked content is under the control of the respective content creators and is subject to change at any time. Any copyright texts included in this compilation are provided for non-commercial purposes related to study or worship. Please contact the respective copyright holders for permission to use the texts in other contexts.