The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost ~ The Rev. Brian McGreevy, Preacher (“Words of Life”)
Collect: Traditional (BCP, p. 181)
Grant, we beseech thee, merciful God, that thy Church, being gathered together in unity by thy Holy Spirit, may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Lesson: Ephesians 5:15-33
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Psalm 16
1 Preserve me, O God,
for in you have I put my trust.
2 O my soul, you have said unto the Lord,
“You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
3 All my delight is upon the saints who are on the earth,
and upon those who excel in virtue.
4 But those who run after another god
shall have great trouble.
5 Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
neither make mention of their names with my lips.
6 The Lord himself is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup;
you shall maintain my lot.
7 The boundaries have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
8 I will thank the Lord for giving me counsel;
my heart also chastens me in the night season.
9 I have set the Lord always before me;
he is at my right hand; therefore I shall not fall.
10 Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
My flesh also shall rest in hope.
11 For you shall not leave my soul in the grave,
neither shall you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
12 You shall show me the path of life; in your presence is the fullness of joy,
and at your right hand there is pleasure for evermore.
The Gospel: John 6:60-69
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”