Proper 22 C

As We Gather

We do not live by sight, experience or feeling, nor are we saved by our works. Instead, “the righteous shall live by his faith.” Even though we succumb to the temptation that comes our way, as often as we sin, the Lord turns us to repentance and forgives us. We are His unworthy servants, but He prepares His Supper for us, dresses us and gives us His body and blood to eat and drink. For the Gospel brings “life and immortality to light.”

—www.LCMS.org

Introit (Psalm 119:162, 164-165, 167; antiphon: Psalm 119:166)

P:
I hope for your salvation, | O Lord,* and I do your com- | mandments.
C:
I rejoice | at your word* like one who | finds great spoil.

P:
Seven times a day I | praise you* for your just and righ- | teous decrees.
C:
Great peace have those who | love your law:* nothing can make them | stumble.

P:
My soul keeps your testi- | monies;* I love them ex- | ceedingly.
C:
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit; as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now and will be forever. | Amen.

Collect of the Day

O God, our refuge and strength, the author of all godliness, by Your grace hear the prayers of Your Church. Grant that those things which we ask in faith we may receive through Your bountiful mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Habakkuk 1:1–4, 2:1–4

The Old Testament reading is from Habakkuk, chapters one and two.

The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

This is the word of the Lord.

2 Timothy 1:1–14

The Epistle is from Second Timothy, chapter one.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

This is the word of the Lord.

Luke 17:1–10

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the seventeenth chapter.

[Jesus] said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

Psalm 62

P:
For God alone my soul waits in | silence;* from him comes my sal- | vation.
C:
He only is my rock and my salvation, my | fortress;* I shall not be greatly | shaken.

P:
How long will all of you attack a man to | batter him,* like a leaning wall, a | tottering fence?
C:
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in | falsehood.* They bless with their mouths, but inwardly | they curse.

P:
For God alone, O my soul, wait in | silence,* for my hope is | from him.
C:
He only is my rock and my salvation, my | fortress;* I shall not be | shaken.

P:
On God rests my salvation and my | glory;* my mighty rock, my refuge | is God.
C:
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart be- | fore him;* God is a refuge | for us.

P:
Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a de- | lusion;* in the balances they go up; they are together lighter | than a breath.
C:
Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on | robbery;* if riches increase, set not your | heart on them.

P:
Once God has spoken; twice have I | heard this:* that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs | steadfast love.
C:
For you will render | to a man* according | to his work.

C:
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit; as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now and will be forever. | Amen.