15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20C)

Prayers

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

• The See of Canterbury and selection of the next Archbishop of Canterbury
• Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan

Episcopal Church

• The Most Rev. Sean Rowe, XXVIII Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
• Episcopal Church Building Fund, Episcopal Church Foundation
• Dioceses of Kansas, Northwest Texas

Diocese of Olympia

• The Rt. Rev. Philip N. LaBelle, IX Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia
• Episcopal Retirement Communities; Episcopal Mission to Seafarers; Seattle Service Corps

Church of the Redeemer

• The Rev. Theresa Newell, Priest in Charge
• The Wardens and Vestry serving this parish
• All members of this parish

Pray for the welfare of the world

• All victims of the conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Palestine, Israel, and Haiti
• All immigrants and migrants in the United States and around the world
• The victims of earthquake, flood, mass shootings, hurricanes, and wildfire
• Hopelink Kenmore Place
• Heron Haven Kenmore Senior Women’s Shelter
• Camp United We Stand
• All without adequate housing in our community
• All in the military and for their families
• Our enemies

Those in authority

• António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations
• Donald J. Trump, President of the United States
• Robert Ferguson, Governor of Washington
• Teri Gobin, Chair of the dxʷlilap [Tulalip] Tribes
• Cecile Hansen, Chair of the dxʷdəwʔabš [Duwamish] Tribe

Give thanks for the blessings of this life

• Those celebrating the anniversary of their birth
• Those celebrating the anniversary of their baptism
• Those celebrating the anniversary of their marriage
  

Lessons

Lessons appointed for use for this day from the Revised Common Lectionary (Episcopal version).

Amos 8:4-7 (NRSV)

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
   and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
   so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
   so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
   and practise deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
   and the needy for a pair of sandals,
   and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’

The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Psalm 113 (NRSV)

Laudate, pueri

1 Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the Lord; *
     praise the Name of the Lord.

2 Let the Name of the Lord be blessed, *
     from this time forth for evermore.

3 From the rising of the sun to its going down *
     let the Name of the Lord be praised.

4 The Lord is high above all nations, *
     and his glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, *
     but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth?

6 He takes up the weak out of the dust *
     and lifts up the poor from the ashes.

7 He sets them with the princes, *
     with the princes of his people.

8 He makes the woman of a childless house *
     to be a joyful mother of children.

1 Timothy 2:1-7 (NRSV)

First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Luke 16:1-13 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

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The Old Testament, New Testament and Gospel readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Psalm is from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.