Light’s abode, celestial Salem,
Vision dear whence peace doth spring,
Brighter than the heart can fancy,
Mansion of the highest King;
O, how glorious are the praises
Which of thee the prophets sing!

O how glorious and resplendent,
Fragile body, shalt thou be,
When endued with so much beauty,
Full of health, and strong, and free,
Full of vigour, full of pleasure
That shall last eternally!

Laud and honour to the Father,
Laud and honour to the Son,
Laud and honour to the Spirit,
Ever Three and ever One,
One in love, and one in splendour,
While unending ages run. Amen

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

Response:

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

From Easter to Pentecost:

Allelulia. Christ is risen!

Response:

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia

In Lent and other penitential occasions:

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins;

Response:

His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord be with you.

Response:

And also with you.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to whom all hearts be open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden: 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.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is omitted during Lent and Advent:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.  Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.  Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

The Collect of the day:

The priest now says the Collect for the day:

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; 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.

Response:

Amen.

Sirach 38:1-4,6-10,12-14

Honor physicians for their services,
for the Lord created them;
for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
and they are rewarded by the king.
The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,
and in the presence of the great they are admired.
The Lord created medicines out of the earth,
and the sensible will not despise them.
And he gave skill to human beings
that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
By them the physician heals and takes away pain;
the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.
God’s works will never be finished;
and from him health spreads over all the earth.
My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.
Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
do not let him leave you, for you need him.
There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,
for they too pray to the Lord
that he grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

The Psalm is now said by the congregation

Psalm 147:1-7

1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honour him with praise!

2 The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

3 He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.

4 He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.

5 Great is our LORD and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.

6 The LORD lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.

2 Timothy 4:5-13

As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

All stand for the Gospel reading.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:

Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Response:

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

After the Gospel reading

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Response:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we mark the commemoration of that great feast day in honour of St. Luke, the Evangelist.

St. Luke was almost certainly a Jew, rather than a Gentile, as has been advocated in some quarters, and the traditional author of both the Gospel which bears his name, and also the Acts of the Apostles. He was a physician, and therefore is closely identified with the church’s ministry of healing.  In his letter to the Colossians, St Paul described him as “the beloved physician.”  Many hospitals bear the name of St. Luke, because he is the patron saint of healing, and the healing professions. His uniqueness is seen in his detailed description of the birth of Jesus, possibly drawing on information given him by Mary, the Lord’s mother.  It is in the Gospel According to Luke that we have the texts of the earliest Christian hymns, Magnificat, Benedictus, and Nunc dimittis.  Only this gospel has the parables about the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.  Luke gives special emphasis to the worth and status of women.  He stresses the inclusivity of the compassion and love of God.  Luke is often symbolized as a winged sacrificial ox holding a gospel book.  This symbolism is taken from his gospel, which begins with Zechariah sacrificing in the temple, and which parallels the sacrifice of Christ himself.  Luke is sometimes pictured as a painter making Christ known through art.  Luke accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey from Troas to Philippi, and hen on the third,  from Philippi to Jerusalem.  He also went with Paul to Rome.  Luke’s life and work as a physician, historian, and evangelist is commemorated in the Anglican/Episcopal calendar of the church’s year today, on October 18.

There exists in the mind of many the idea that Doctors in the days of Jesus were untutored and lacked skill.  The truth is that many were learned men, who were even in those days learning to carry out delicate operations, and instruments have been found that were used for operating on the human skull,  to lift a broken piece of bone and relieve pressure to the brain from an injury.  While much has been discovered today about hygiene and pain control, we need only to look at what has been found from archaeology and the study of ancient writings, to understand that a respected doctor in the first century AD was usually a highly literate and qualified person.

Jerome refers to Luke as ‘Doctor Lucas, Medicus Antioche’!

Tradition tells us that St. Luke was a physician, and so our first reading makes sense.   It is all about physicians, their skills and the gifts they have been given by God to treat the sick.  We are told to “Honour physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king.”  Luke is to be honoured indeed, particularly in this time of the pandemic, when we are even more than usually indebted for their ministrations!

His telling of the gospel includes many passages not found in the writings of the other Evangelists.  In Luke’s birth narrative, we have the Annunciation, and Mary’s joyful response, the Magnificat.  We have the angels appearing to the shepherds and their visit to the manger.  It is in Luke that Jesus is brought to the temple, and Simeon declares he has now seen the salvation of the Lord in the Nunc Dimittis.  Luke reports miracles and records parables not found in any of the other gospels, and he is also credited with writing the Acts of the Apostles, recording for us the story of how our Christian church was founded.  Yes, Luke is to be honoured indeed!

In today’s Gospel reading, Luke tells us about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee.  Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus teaches in the synagogues and makes a name for himself.  Then, he returns to where he grew up, and is invited to read in his own ‘home’ synagogue in Nazareth.  Whenever I hear this passage, I think always about the response he receives to what he says after the conclusion of the reading.  Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” This is where today’s reading ends, but as Jesus continues to speak, the people who knew him as a child are filled with rage at his apparent conceit, and drive him out of town, intending to the throw him off a cliff.  Jesus narrowly escapes with his life!

This passage then is the message of an evangelist – and whether or not Luke was a physician, he was undeniably an evangelist!

In having Jesus read this passage from Isaiah, Luke is telling us that Christ comes offering us release from what holds us captive, and eyes that we might see God’s love, and freedom from whatever oppresses us.  This is the message, regardless of how it is received.  Jesus offers us the hope of a new life in him.  Today, not some point in the future, but today!   Luke, the evangelist, was also filled by the Spirit of the Lord as he proclaimed the Good News of Christ to the Gentiles.  So, regardless of how the news was received, the message of hope that Jesus brought to the people of Israel, and that Luke then conveyed to the Gentiles, continues to be spread today – here in Pattaya, now!

The job of the evangelist is to spread the Good News, but like the seeds in the parable of the sower, not all the seed falls upon good soil, where it is able to produce fruit at the harvest.  Jesus was ultimately killed for his message, and tradition has it that Luke suffered a similar fate.  Their message, however, took root and changed the lives of enough people, so much so that it altered the whole course of history!

In our society, we are taught not only to expect but even to demand immediate results.  In Christianity though, we are taught to consider the big picture.  In the big picture we plant seeds of faith everywhere we go.  We may well never live to see the fruits of our labour, but we are to trust that, with the Spirit working through us, God’s purpose will be ultimately be accomplished.

Let us pray.

O Almighty God, who by your Holy Spirit has made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may ever be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and may know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.  We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns forever and ever.  Amen.

Please stand for the Nicene Creed.

Let us together affirm the faith of the Church.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Let us pray for the world and for the Church:

Prayers of intercession are now said and at the end of each prayer the priest says:

Lord in your mercy,

Response:

Hear our prayer.

or

Lord hear us,

Response:

Lord graciously hear us

At the conclusion of the prayers the priest says:

Almighty God, who has promised to hear our prayers.

Response:

Grant that what we have asked in faith we may by your grace receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Jesus said: Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

or

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

THE CONFESSION:

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, welcoming sinners and inviting them to the Lord’s table.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do: we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we repent and are sorry for all our sins, Father forgive us, strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Almighty God, who has promised forgiveness to all who turn to him in faith, pardon you and set you free from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE PEACE:

The congregation stands.

We are the Body of Christ.

Response:

His Spirit is with us.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Response:

And also with you.

Please greet each other with a sign of peace.

Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old
Was strong to heal and save;
It triumphed o’er disease and death,
O’er darkness and the grave;
To thee they went, the blind, the dumb,
The palsied and the lame,
The leper with his tainted life,
The sick with fevered frame.

And lo! Thy touch brought life and health,
Gave speech, and strength, and sight;
And youth renewed and frenzy calmed
Owned thee to Lord of light;
And now, O Lord, be near to bless,
Almighty as of yore,
In crowded street, by restless couch,
As by Gennesareth’s shore.

Be thou our great deliverer still,
Thou Lord of life and death;
Restore and quicken, soothe and bless
With thine almighty breath;
To hands that work, and eyes that see,
Give wisdom’s heavenly lore,
That whole and sick, and weak and strong,
May praise thee evermore.

THE OFFERTORY

Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have these gifts to share. Accept and use our offerings for your glory and the service of your kingdom.

Response:

Blessed be God forever.

 Let us pray

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.