Proper 13, Closest to August 3

Collect
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Ecclesiastes 1:12-14; 2:(1-7,11)18-23
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

(21I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. )

18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

Second Lesson: Colossians 3:(5-11)12-17
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm: 49

  1. Hear this, all you peoples;
    hearken, all you who dwell in the world, *
    you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.
  2. My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *
    and my heart shall meditate on understanding.
  3. I will incline my ear to a proverb *
    and set forth my riddle upon the harp.
  4. Why should I be afraid in evil days, *
    when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
  5. The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *
    and boast of their great riches?
  6. We can never ransom ourselves, *
    or deliver to God the price of our life;
  7. For the ransom of our life is so great, *
    that we should never have enough to pay it,
  8. In order to live for ever and ever, *
    and never see the grave.
  9. For we see that the wise die also;
    like the dull and stupid they perish *
    and leave their wealth to those who come after them.
  10. Their graves shall be their homes for ever,
    their dwelling places from generation to generation, *
    though they call the lands after their own names.
  11. Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *
    they are like the beasts that perish.
  12. Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves, *
    and the end of those who delight in their own words.
  13. Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die;
    Death is their shepherd; *
    they go down straightway to the grave.
  14. Their form shall waste away, *
    and the land of the dead shall be their home.
  15. But God will ransom my life; *
    he will snatch me from the grasp of death.
  16. Do not be envious when some become rich, *
    or when the grandeur of their house increases;
  17. For they will carry nothing away at their death, *
    nor will their grandeur follow them.
  18. Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived, *
    and were praised for their success,
  19. They shall join the company of their forebears, *
    who will never see the light again.
  20. Those who are honored, but have no understanding, *
    are like the beasts that perish.

Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

"Then he said, `This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'

"But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

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