The Sunday Lectionary Readings
SUNDAY, June 21, 2020 — Father's Day
[Ordinary 12, Proper 7]
(Revised Common Lectionary Year A)
Growing in the Wilderness
Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69:7-10 [11-15] 16-18; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39
Opening Statement
The first event in this country honoring only fathers was held on July 5, 1908, as a result of a tragedy in West Virginia. A mine had exploded and killed 362 men the previous December. A church in a nearby town held a special service in memory of the men who had lost their lives. However, this was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday.
The next year, across the country in the state of Washington, another unfortunate situation was a catalyst for the pursuit to establish an official day to honor fathers. Sonora Smart Dodd and her five siblings were raised by their father after their mother died in childbirth. Sonora thought fathers should be honored, just as mothers were.
On June 19, 1910, Father’s Day became an official celebration across the state of Washington. The holiday slowly began to spread to other states. However, 62 more years passed before President Nixon signed a proclamation to make it a permanent federal holiday.
During the 1920s and 1930s, a national movement arose to stop celebrating Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and to replace them with one celebration, called Parents’ Day. People rallied every year on Mother’s Day in support of Parents’ Day.
The celebration of Father’s Day may not resonate with everyone, but we should show appreciation to the fathers and father figures who have blessed our lives. Of course, no father/father figure is perfect, and neither are all fathers/father figures evil. If we think we are deprived of things when our relationships do not live up to expectations, we should present them to God in prayer. God is present with us in all situations. We should praise and give God thanks for those who bless our lives and pray for the transformation of those who do not.
Opening Prayer
Our relationships with our fathers are complicated.
For some of us, our father's love is like God's love—too deep, too long, too wide, too strong to measure.
Some of our dads are here; some were never here.
For some of us, God's love fills in the empty spaces our fathers left behind.
All of us are shaped by the relationship or lack of relationship with our fathers.
On this day when we remember what it means to have a father or be a father, we recognize the importance of fathers in our communities. We pledge to love and nurture the fathers among us so that they will manifest the love of God in all that they do.
Loving God, you who are our father and our mother, we thank you that you have shown us how important it is to follow your example as we grow in faith. Teach us to be obedient to your will, respecting you as children ought. Thank you for your mercy despite our disobedience. Strengthen us to stand up against the challenges of this world, honoring your name and trusting your grace. In the Name of your Son, we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
O God, Father that you are, you know what is right for us, but too often we only want our way or no way, instead of your way.
Have mercy upon us when we turn from you. Forgive us when we do not realize your fatherly love and direction for us.
Have mercy upon us indeed, and teach us anew how to follow you, Father that you are. We pray this through your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Words of Assurance
(based on Psalm 103)
The Lord is like a father to us, compassionate and merciful, filled with endless love. He is not easily angered, nor does he remain angry forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, or punish us as harshly as he could. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so strong is his love toward us. And as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us. So be at peace: you are forgiven! Thanks be to God!
The Collect
(from the Book of Common Prayers)
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your lovingkindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of the Day
Teach us, good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Crist, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
First Reading
The prophet must speak
7 You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.
Draw near to me
7 For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.
8 I am a foreigner to my own family,
a stranger to my own mother’s children;
9 for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
10 When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;
[11 when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.
12 Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But I pray to you, Lord,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.]
16 Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
18 Come near and rescue me;
deliver me because of my foes.
Second Reading
Buried and raised with Christ in baptism
6:1b Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia.Jesus says, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father will testify about me, and you also are to testify.Alleluia.
The Gospel
The cost of discipleship
10:24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Here end the Readings
Click HERE to read today’s Holy Gospel Lesson message
- I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
- I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
- I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
Holy Communion
A nondenominational serving of bread and wineMany churches around the world are working hard to adapt to online worship, and one challenge is how our members can celebrate communion from home. Though no video can truly replace the experience of celebrating together in our places of worship, we know that where two or more are gathered, the Lord is present.
Benediction
(based on Luke 12, The Voice)
Do not worry about anything in life—what you’ll eat, or what you’ll wear. Look at the birds of the air, or the flowers in the field. If God takes such good care of such transient things, how much more can you depend on God to care for you? For you have a Father who loves you, a Father who knows all your needs. So don’t be afraid. Instead, live lives of love and generosity, storing up your treasure in heaven instead of here on earth.
Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]The Daily Lectionary for SUNDAY, June 21, 2020 — Father's Day
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Growing in the Wilderness
Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69:7-10 [11-15] 16-18; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39
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