Third Sunday after Pentecost                               June 21, 2020

Prayer of the Day
For those who love you, O God, you have chosen and prepared what no eye has seen nor ear heard. Pour into our hearts a loving affection for you, that we may choose you in and above all things. For only then shall we have what you promise, which far exceeds all we can desire; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

First Reading: Jeremiah 20:7-13
⁷O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. ⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. ⁹If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. ¹⁰For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” ¹¹But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. ¹²O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. ¹³Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Psalm 91:1-10 [11-16]
¹He who dwells in the shelter of | the Most High,*
     abides under the shadow of | the Almighty.
²He shall say to the Lord, “You are my refuge | and my stronghold,*
     my God in whom I | put my trust.”
³He shall deliver you from the snare | of the hunter*
     and from the | deadly pestilence.
⁴He shall cover you with his pinions, and you shall find refuge un- | der his wings;*
     his faithfulness shall be a | shield and buckler.
⁵You shall not be afraid of any ter- | ror by night,*
     nor of the arrow that | flies by day;
⁶Of the plague that stalks | in the darkness,*
     nor of the sickness that lays | waste at mid day.
⁷A thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at | your right hand,*
     but it shall | not come near you.
⁸Your eyes have only | to behold*
     to see the reward | of the wicked.
⁹Because you have made the | Lord your refuge,*
     and the Most High your | habitation,
¹⁰There shall no evil hap- | pen to you,*
     neither shall any plague come | near your dwelling.
[¹¹For he shall give his angels charge | over you,*
     to keep you in | all your ways.
¹²They shall bear you | in their hands,*
     lest you dash your foot a- | gainst a stone.
¹³You shall tread upon the li- | on and adder;*
     you shall trample the young lion and the serpent un- | der your feet.
¹⁴Because he is bound to me in love, therefore will I de- | liver him;*
     I will protect him, because he | knows my name.
¹⁵He shall call upon me, and I will | answer him;*
     I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring | him to honor.
¹⁶With long life will I sa- | tisfy him,*
     and show him | my salvation.]

Second Reading: Romans 6:12-23
¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. ¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel: Matthew 10:5a, 21-33
^5aThese twelve {disciples} Jesus sent out, instructing them,
²¹“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²²and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ²⁴A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. ²⁶So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³²So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Next Week’s Readings:
Jeremiah 28:5-9; Psalm 119:153-160; Romans 7:1-13; Matthew 10:34-42