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Sunday,
June 25, 2017
Lectionary 12
First
Reading: Jeremiah 20:7-13
Jeremiah
accuses God of forcing him into a ministry that brings him only
contempt and persecution. Yet Jeremiah is confident that God will be
a strong protector against his enemies and commits his life into
God’s hands.
7O Lord,
you have enticed me,
and I was enticed;
you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8For
whenever I speak, I must cry out,
I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord
has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9If
I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones;
I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10For
I hear many whispering:
“Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
“Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.”
11But
the Lord is with me
like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12O Lord
of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13Sing
to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.
Semicontinuous
First Reading: Genesis 21:8-21
Unable
to conceive a child, Sarah selected Hagar, her Egyptian maid, to be
a surrogate mother. Though Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, Sarah
subsequently gave birth to a son named Isaac, which led to Sarah’s
sending away of Hagar and Ishmael. God, however, heard Ishmael’s
cry and promised to make of him a great nation.
8The child [Isaac]
grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that
Isaac was weaned. 9But
Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to
Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10So
she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for
the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son
Isaac.” 11The
matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12But
God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and
because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she
tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for
you. 13As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a
nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” 14So
Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of
water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with
the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about
in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15When
the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the
bushes. 16Then
she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the
distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the
death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up
her voice and wept. 17And
God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar
from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be
afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your
hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19Then
God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and
filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20God
was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and
became an expert with the bow. 21He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother
got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Psalm: Psalm 69:7-10 [11-15] 16-18
Answer
me, O Lord, for your
love is kind. (Ps. 69:16)
7Surely,
for your sake I have suf- |
fered reproach,
and shame has cov- |
ered my face.
8I
have become a stranger to |
my own kindred,
an alien to my |
mother’s children.
9Zeal
for your house has eat- |
en me up;
the scorn of those who scorn you has fall- |
en upon me.
10I
humbled my- |
self with fasting,
but that was turned to |
my reproach. R
[ 11I
put on |
sackcloth also,
and became a by- |
word among them.
12Those
who sit at the gate mur- |
mur against me,
and the drunkards make |
songs about me.
13But
as for me, this is my prayer to you, at the time you have |
set, O Lord:
“In your great mercy, O God, answer me with your un-
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failing help.
14Save
me from the mire; do not |
let me sink;
let me be rescued from those who hate me and
out of |
the deep waters. R
15Let
not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swal- |
low me up;
do not let the pit shut its |
mouth upon me.
] 16Answer
me, O Lord, for your |
love is kind;
in your great compassion, |
turn to me.
17Hide
not your face |
from your servant;
be swift and answer me, for I am |
in distress.
18Draw
near to me |
and redeem me;
because of my enemies de- |
liver me. R
Semicontinuous
Psalm: Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Have
mercy on me; give your strength to your servant. (Ps. 86:16)
1Bow
down your ear, O Lord,
and |
answer me,
for I am poor |
and in misery.
2Keep
watch over my life, for |
I am faithful;
save your servant who |
trusts in you.
3Be
merciful to me, O Lord,
for you |
are my God;
I call upon you all |
the day long.
4Gladden
the soul |
of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift |
up my soul. R
5For
you, O Lord, are good |
and forgiving,
and abundant in mercy toward all who |
call upon you.
6Give
ear, O Lord, |
to my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my |
supplications.
7In
the time of my trouble I will |
call upon you,
for you will |
answer me.
8Among
the gods there is none like |
you, O Lord,
nor anything |
like your works. R
9All
the nations you have made will come and worship |
you, O Lord,
and glori- |
fy your name.
10For
you are great; you do |
wondrous things;
and you a- |
lone are God.
16Turn
to me and have mer- |
cy on me;
give your strength to your servant, and save the child
|
of your handmaid.
17Show
me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be
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put to shame;
because you, Lord, have helped me and com- |
forted me. R
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Second
Reading: Romans 6:1b-11
In
baptism we were incorporated into the reality of Christ’s death.
Our lives in the present are marked and shaped by his crucifixion,
just as our lives in the future will be marked and shaped by his
resurrection.
1bShould we continue in sin in order that grace may
abound? 2By
no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do
you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? 4Therefore
we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in newness of life.
5For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will
certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We
know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of
sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For
whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead,
will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The
death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives,
he lives to God. 11So
you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in
Christ Jesus.
Gospel:
Matthew 10:24-39
Jesus
warns his disciples that their ministry in his name will meet with
opposition, requiring absolute trust in God and an unswerving
commitment to their Lord.
[Jesus
said to the twelve:] 24“A
disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25it
is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave
like the master. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26“So
have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be
uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What
I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear
whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in
hell. 29Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to
the ground apart from your Father. 30And
even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are of more value than
many sparrows.
32“Everyone
therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge
before my Father in heaven; 33but whoever denies me before others, I also will
deny before my Father in heaven.
34“Do
not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword.
35For
I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36and
one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
37Whoever
loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever
loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and
whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. 39Those
who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for
my sake will find it.”
Copyright
© 2016 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by
permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License
#SAS006405.
New
Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
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