Proper 20, Closest to September 21

Collect:
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.

First Lesson: Wisdom 1:16-2:1(6-11)12-22
It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death, considered it a friend and pined for it, and made a covenant with it, because they deserve to be in its possession,they who said among themselves, thinking not aright: "Brief and troublous is our lifetime; neither is there any remedy for man's dying, nor is anyone known to have come back from the nether world.

(⁶Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are real and use the freshness of creation avidly.

Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes and let no springtime blossom pass us by; let us crown ourselves with rosebuds ere they wither.

Let no meadow be free from our wantonness; everywhere let us leave tokens of our rejoicing for this is our portion and our lot.

Let us oppress the needy just man; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the old man for his hair grown white with time.

But let our strength be our norm of justice; for weakness proves itself useless.)

Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for our transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.

He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord.

To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like other men's, and different are his ways.

He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He call blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.

Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.

With revilement and torture he let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."

These were there thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them. And they knew not the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense of holiness nor discern the innocent souls' reward.

Second Lesson: James 3:16-4:6
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Psalm: 54

Save me, O God, by your Name; *
in your might, defend my cause.
Hear my prayer, O God; *
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For the arrogant have risen up against me,
and the ruthless have sought my life, *
those who have no regard for God.
Behold, God is my helper; *
it is the Lord who sustains my life.
Render evil to those who spy on me; *
in your faithfulness, destroy them.
I will offer you a freewill sacrifice *
and praise your Name, O LORD, for it is good.
For you have rescued me from every trouble, *
and my eye has seen the ruin of my foes.

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible