Sample Readings

8th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11 – C)

Today’s readings remind us of the surprises related to hospitality and the hidden presence of God. Abraham receives three heavenly visitors who speak of the imminent birth of Sarah’s son. Amos (ALT) condemns the callousness of those who observe rituals but set their hearts on greed and dishonesty. Paul describes the mystery of reconciliation with God and its implications for the Church. Jesus visits the home of Mary and Martha and reminds us of the importance of paying attention to God’s presence and words.

Genesis 18:1-10a

The lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre,
as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
He looked up and saw three men standing near him.
When he saw them,
he ran from the tent entrance to meet them,
and bowed down to the ground.
He said,
“My lord, if I find favor with you,
do not pass by your servant.
Let a little water be brought,
and wash your feet,
and rest yourselves under the tree.
Let me bring a little bread,
that you may refresh yourselves,
and after that you may pass on—
since you have come to your servant.”
So they said, “Do as you have said.”
And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said,
“Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour,
knead it, and make cakes.”
Abraham ran to the herd,
and took a calf, tender and good,
and gave it to the servant,
who hastened to prepare it.
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared,
and set it before them;
and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him,
“Where is your wife Sarah?”
And he said, “There, in the tent.”
Then one said,
“I will surely return to you in due season,
and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”

Psalm 15

O lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly,
and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their friends,
nor take up a reproach
against their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
but who honor those who fear the lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Amos 8:1-12

The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by.
The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
says the lord GOD;
“the dead bodies shall be many,
cast out in every place. Be silent!”
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, “When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
The lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who lives in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
On that day, says the lord GOD,
I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on all loins,
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
and the end of it like a bitter day.
The time is surely coming, says the lord GOD,
when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the lord.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro,
seeking the word of the lord,
but they shall not find it.

Psalm 52

You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness
against the godly all day long?
You plot ruin;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
O worker of deception.
You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth.
You love all words that hurt,
O you deceitful tongue.
Oh, that God would demolish you utterly,
topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling,
and root you out of the land of the living!
The righteous shall see and tremble,
and they shall laugh at him, saying,
“This is the one who did not take God for a refuge,
but trusted in great wealth
and relied upon wickedness.”
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
I will give you thanks for what you have done
and declare the goodness of your Name
in the presence of the godly.

Colossians 1:15-28

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things
in heaven and on earth
were created,
things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or powers—
all things have been created
through him and for him.
He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come
to have first place in everything.
For in him
all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell,
and through him
God was pleased
to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace
through the blood of his cross.
And you who were once
estranged and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds,
he has now reconciled
in his fleshly body through death,
so as to present you
holy and blameless and irreproachable before him—
provided that you continue
securely established and steadfast in the faith,
without shifting from the hope
promised by the gospel that you heard,
which has been proclaimed
to every creature under heaven.
I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
I am now rejoicing
in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh
I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions
for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
I became its servant
according to God’s commission
that was given to me for you,
to make the word of God fully known,
the mystery that has been hidden
throughout the ages and generations
but has now been revealed to his saints.
To them God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles
are the riches of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom,
so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way,
he entered a certain village,
where a woman named Martha
welcomed him into her home.
She had a sister named Mary,
who sat at the lord’s feet
and listened to what he was saying.
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks;
so she came to him and asked,
“lord, do you not care that my sister
has left me to do all the work by myself?
Tell her then to help me.”
But the lord answered her,
“Martha, Martha,
you are worried and distracted by many things;
there is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part,
which will not be taken away from her.”

The commentaries, reflections, and prayer starters, Dr. Steve Mueller, editor, are © 2009 by Morehouse Education Resources. All rights reserved.Preparing for Sunday is a service of Church Publishing, Inc. For more information contact us at info@preparingforsunday.com.

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