Sunday, August 8th Proper 14

The Collect 

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Old Testament 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

 

The king, David, ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders concerning Absalom. So the army went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. The men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country; and the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword. Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him. Then the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my lord the king! For the Lord has vindicated you this day, delivering you from the power of all who rose up against you.” The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” The Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up to do you harm, be like that young man.” The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 

Psalm 130  

1 Out of the depths have I called to you, 

O LORD; LORD, hear my voice; * 

let your ears consider well 

the voice of my supplication. 

2 If you, LORD, were to note

 what is done amiss, * 

O Lord, who could stand? 

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *

 therefore you shall be feared. 

4 I wait for the LORD; 

my soul waits for him; * 

in his word is my hope. 

5 My soul waits for the LORD, 

more than watchmen for the morning, * 

more than watchmen for the morning. 

6 O Israel, wait for the LORD, * 

for with the LORD there is mercy; 

7 With him there is plenteous redemption, * 

and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

The Epistle Ephesians 4:25-5:2

 Putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 

The Gospel John 6:35, 41-51 

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

A Litany for Sunday, August 8th, 2021

O Wondrous Creator, source of all life

you provide us with bread from the fields

sweet fruit and tender vegetables for health

and send us rain and snow in due season.

Bread of life, help us to believe in you completely.

You offered your life for the whole world

you made us in your image and feed us

in our diversity was are your children all

and you sustain us daily with your love.

Bread of life, help us to believe in you completely.

You reconciled the world through suffering

yet we would worry and suffer needlessly

as we seek our own ways and selfish pursuits

you still call us, you still reach out your hands.

Bread of life, help us to believe in you completely.

The world is broken and afraid

Savior of the world draw near to us.

We are faltering and feeling isolated

Holy One, strengthen us for your service.

Make us your children and your hands here now

Bread of life, help us to believe in you completely. Amen.