Reflecting on the Twenty-First
Sunday after Pentecost
Year A

Daily Readings for Wednesday
October 28, 2020

Prayer

Almighty God, 

your Son has shown us how to love one another. 

May our love for you 

overflow into joyous service 

and be a healing witness to our neighbors 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Psalm 119:41-48

I will keep God’s law

 

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,

your salvation according to your promise.

Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me,

for I trust in your word.

Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

for my hope is in your ordinances.

I will keep your law continually,

forever and ever.

I shall walk at liberty,

for I have sought your precepts.

I will also speak of your decrees before kings,

and shall not be put to shame;

I find my delight in your commandments,

because I love them.

I revere your commandments, which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes.

 

Deuteronomy 26:16—27:7

The covenant ratified

 

This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances; so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him. Today the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as he promised you, and to keep his commandments; for him to set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

 

Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged all the people as follows: Keep the entire commandment that I am commanding you today. On the day that you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and cover them with plaster. You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over, to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. So when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, about which I am commanding you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall cover them with plaster. And you shall build an altar there to the Lord your God, an altar of stones on which you have not used an iron tool. You must build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn stones. Then offer up burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God, make sacrifices of well-being, and eat them there, rejoicing before the Lord your God.

 

Matthew 19:16-22

Keeping the commandments

 

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

 

 

Prayer

Holy One, 

you planted us by living water, 

that we might be rooted in righteousness. 

You call us to be holy as you are holy. 

Assured of your love, 

help us to cast aside all fear, 

that we may love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.

 

Psalm 119:41-48

I will keep God’s law

 

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord,

your salvation according to your promise.

Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me,

for I trust in your word.

Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,

for my hope is in your ordinances.

I will keep your law continually,

forever and ever.

I shall walk at liberty,

for I have sought your precepts.

I will also speak of your decrees before kings,

and shall not be put to shame;

I find my delight in your commandments,

because I love them.

I revere your commandments, which I love,

and I will meditate on your statutes.

 

Proverbs 16:1-20

It is good to obey

 

The plans of the mind belong to mortals,

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the spirit.

Commit your work to the Lord,

and your plans will be established.

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,

even the wicked for the day of trouble.

All those who are arrogant are an abomination to the Lord;

be assured, they will not go unpunished.

By loyalty and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.

When the ways of people please the Lord,

he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.

Better is a little with righteousness

than large income with injustice.

The human mind plans the way,

but the Lord directs the steps.

Inspired decisions are on the lips of a king;

his mouth does not sin in judgment.

Honest balances and scales are the Lord’s;

all the weights in the bag are his work.

It is an abomination to kings to do evil,

for the throne is established by righteousness.

Righteous lips are the delight of a king,

and he loves those who speak what is right.

A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,

and whoever is wise will appease it.

In the light of a king’s face there is life,

and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

How much better to get wisdom than gold!

To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

The highway of the upright avoids evil;

those who guard their way preserve their lives.

Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall.

It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor

than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper,

and happy are those who trust in the Lord.

 

Matthew 19:16-22

Keeping the commandments

 

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

 

 

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Prayer reprinted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers, © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts. Reproduced by permission.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. Reproduced by permission. No further reproduction allowed without the written permission of Augsburg Fortress.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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