11 Pentecost: First Reading – Genesis 15:1-6
All our Scripture readings today are about faith as the foundation of a right relationship with God.
When Abraham was 75, the Lord promised him an heir and commanded him to settle in a new land. In today’s passage, Abraham is nearly 100. He has endured famine, war and a long sojourn in Egypt – and still he has no heir!
But when the Lord appears to him in a vision, he takes God at his word – and is judged righteous.
. . . A reading from the Book of Genesis . . .
The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.
But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”
But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”
He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.
. . . Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people!
11 Pentecost: Second Reading – Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Hebrews Eleven is a treatise on faith and the nature of faith – and about how it has shaped the lives of the faithful.
Faith is defined as “the assurance of things hoped for” and “the conviction of things not seen.”
Citing the patriarchs – with Abraham as his chief example – the writer paints a picture of how faith has influenced the lives of significant figures from Old Testament history.
. . . A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews . . .
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old– and Sarah herself was barren– because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
. . . Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people!
11 Pentecost: Gospel – Luke 12:32-40
In our Gospel passage today, Luke begins with Jesus’ assurances to his flock – and to us! – that it is “God’s good pleasure” to give us the Kingdom.
He offers us a life that is free of striving – if our treasures are heavenly. And he reminds us that he expects to find us awake and working for the Kingdom when he returns.
. . . The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke . . .Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.
“Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
. . . The Gospel of Christ . . .