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| Justice and Righteousness: What God Expects |
The Sunday Lectionary Readings
Sunday, August 14, 2022 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Hebrews 11:29—12:2;
Luke 12:49-56
[Lectionary/Ordinary 20, Proper 15]
(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)
Opening Statement
As I read and pray these passages the theme that emerges is expectation. We hear in these passages God’s unquestionable love for us. Through the images of the vine and vineyard we hear God’s expectation of our love and faith. God hopes and expects that we will live lives in such a way that God will be able to provide justice to others through us.
There is passion in all of these passages. We feel the intensity of God’s love for the people of Israel (and for us) in the descriptions of the care of the vine and vineyard. We understand God’s disappointment when the people turn away from God. We recognize the consequences of their decisions and the plea to be restored. There is energy, passion and movement in these passages. They should be read with feeling.
There is a rhythm in the Letter to the Hebrews as the writer recounts, throughout history, the stories of people’s faith in the power of God—people who, without regard for self, lived into God’s desires for them without thought of reward.
And, finally in the Lucan passage there is a reminder of the challenge of believing in God. There is the reminder that one’s commitment to God through Christ will shape our values, priorities, goals and behaviors that might lead to division within our families and communities.
God’s expectations of us are tough. Love is tough.
Opening Prayer
As We Gather Here(Words for the above video)As we gather here in the harbour of your safetyWe thank you for fellowship and family.We ask that you will strengthen us, restore us and inspire us with your love.Lord, would fill us with your peaceSo that as we journey onwardsWe would pour out your love and grace to others.We ask that our souls would catch the wind of your spiritso that we would take your promises to all the earth.Amen.
The Collect (Book of Common Prayers)
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Confession (Isaiah)
O God of all good gifts how generous are your provisions for us! Even before we are aware of our needs, you know what it is that we need. You invite us into community and provide for us out of your steadfast love: nourishment for our bodies, protection from the elements and safety. You ask in return that we respond to your love by working for justice: nourishment and protection for all. You expect that we will seek righteousness as a way of life. But so often O God, we fail to live being mindful of others in a caring, just and righteous way.
When your love and justice do not flow through our lives, our community withers, and so do we. Forgive us, O God! In your loving care, show us again the way to participate in your realm.
Assurance of Pardon
My friends, be assured that God hears our petitions! God continues to expect of us a life in which justice prevails. This is God’s desire for us. We, God’s forgiven people, are free to live into that desire. God loves us still. Amen.
First Reading
Isaiah 5:1-7The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard
5:1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 Qui regis Israel
1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *
shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *
stir up your strength and come to help us.
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *
you cast out the nations and planted it.
9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shadow *
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.
11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *
and its branches to the River.
12 Why have you broken down its wall, *
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?
13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.
14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine; *
preserve what your right hand has planted.
15 They burn it with fire like rubbish; *
at the rebuke of your countenance let them perish.
16 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, *
the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
17 And so will we never turn away from you; *
give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
18 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be
saved.
Second Reading
Hebrews 11:29—12:2The Faith of Other Israelite Heroes
11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
The Example of Jesus
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Gospel
Luke 12:49-56Jesus the Cause of Division
12:49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Time
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Here ends the Lessons
Click HERE to read today's Holy Gospel Lesson message
The Nicene Creed
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; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. 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. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He 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.
Closing Prayer
Lord, thank you that we are a family in Christ. Help us to share his love and legacy with everyone that we encounter this week. May we lavish Christ’s abounding goodness upon our families, friends and colleagues. Holy Spirit, come and equip us in our workplace, guide us in our school life, and inspire us in our neighbourhood. May we be your hands and feet to the needy, your words of affirmation to the oppressed and your arms of comfort to the lonely.Thank you for choosing to use us to bring your kingdom here on earth.Amen.
Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
As I read and pray these passages the theme that emerges is expectation.
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