Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost • Year C

Historical Collect

O Lord, mercifully continue to purify and defend your Church. Since she cannot stand firmly without your power, govern her always by your grace; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th Century)

Thematic Collect

Almighty and sovereign God, through the gracious gift of baptism you forgive our sins, give us life in Christ, and grant us a place at your heavenly banquet. By the power of your Holy Spirit create in us humble hearts and an attitude of mutual love; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Common Thread

The Pharisees watched Jesus carefully, hoping to make much of some fault that never came. May we watch Jesus in order to imitate his ways and his faith in the Father. We cannot attain to it; it is too much. But we can try to show brotherly love and humility, and with the Spirit’s help. After all is done, we may rest in Christ’s peace, knowing our hope is in the Lord, not in ourselves: our efforts, our righteousness.

First Reading • Proverbs 25:2-10

Kings and presidents may try to cover up a matter but usually one can see through it. But God is inscrutable; his purposes are often secret, no matter how much effort we put in to discovering them—or explaining them. Our minds try to claw their way into the presence of God. Better to be told by him, “Come up here!”

Sometimes, things seem so clear to us. We just know we are right and the other guys are wrong. How will we feel, in the end of the matter, after we have shouted our opinions, when we find out the other guys were right? More to the point, how will we feel when we discover we have been opposing God all along?

Psalm • Psalm 131:1-3

This brief Psalm, in the context of the other readings, urges us to not be too big for our britches. The next time the church Council meets and things start to heat up, or when things seem to be out of control in the world, I wonder if we can believe that God can take care of things, and that the best thing for us to do is not try to fix stuff that may be broken beyond any effort at repair we might try. It is so difficult, when committees and governments rage, to calm and quiet our souls and put our hope in the Lord. When we are tempted to put on our big-boy pants and fix the problem, it is likely the time to remember a time when we were diapered and depended upon another.

Second Reading • Hebrews 13:1-17

The easy thing is to show some hospitality to strangers in our worship services (even though few seem to do so). After all, in an hour or so, they will be gone. How many, even among pastors, extend an invitation to lunch or call or even visit them the next week? This type of thing is the easier display of love that the scriptures demand. There is a more difficult love, though we rarely get to show it these days.

Times have changed — at least here in “the states.” In the early Church and in the Church in other parts of the world today, the continuance of brotherly love meant and means visiting folks from your congregation who are imprisoned because of their faith. I do not know of anyone here in the USA who is imprisoned because of faith. The result is that we do not have the opportunity to share his love with the brethren during their incarcerations.

The least we can do is be kind to strangers, honor marriage, and love each other more than purse.

Gospel • Luke 14:1-14

A late night talk show featured a clip from the program called “Honey Boo Boo” in which Mama June and Sugar Bear discuss whether to invite such friends as L’il Willie, Pork Chop, Boxcar, Catfish, Corn, Niblet, and Phlegmie. Believe it or not, this got me to thinking.

One of the admonitions pastors give their congregations is to invite their family and friends to worship. The typical response is that they have tried that and it did not work. Certainly, we should invite these folks to worship with us but the teaching of Jesus, as always, goes further. Invite those you probably do not know: “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Each Lord’s Day is a feast, especially if your congregation serves his Supper every Sunday. Invite someone beyond the family this week to behold the wedding feast of the Lamb.