Proper 21 Yr C
The way of faith

Scripture: September 28, 2025 (Proper 21, Year C)—Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 (image); Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 (image); Amos 6:1a,4-7 (image); Psalm 146 (image); 1 Timothy 6:6-19 (image); and Luke 16:19-31 (image). Also The Fourth Sunday of Creation. Creation theme: Advocate.

Additional Creation Reading: A Reading from “Reconciliation: Lament and Hope”, Victoria Marie

The Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie (b. 1945) is a Brooklyn-born Canadian scholar working at the intersection of social science and spirituality. She is a retired community researcher and current local activist, pastor of the inclusive and affirming Our Lady of Guadalupe Tonantzin Community, and co-founder of the Vancouver Catholic Worker.

We seek reconciliation with all life. When we say we believe in the sanctity of all life, that includes non-human life: the creatures of the sea and the birds of the air. It also included human livelihood. Overriding it all is the desire to follow Jesus’ command to love. That is why at the gates of the fossil fuel mega-project we prayed for justice for our indigenous brothers and sisters and for industry workers; we prayed for the eagle pair evicted from their home. We prayed for the earth and her waters. That day, we joined the growing number of people arrested for living into reconciliation. Undeterred, and fighting against apathy and despair, our peaceful protests will continue. We believe, like Martin Luther King Jr., that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’. So, motivated by gospel faith and love, we continue to work to make reconciliation a generally accepted reality.

Additional Creation Reading: A Reading from The Mystic as Prophet, Luther Smith Jr. and Howard Thurman

The Rev. Dr. Luther E. Smith Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He is the author and editor of influential books on Howard Thurman, Christian community, and spiritual practices.

The Rev. Howard Washington Thurman (1899-1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, Christian mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century.

Love makes community. Even nature is involved in this concept of community, for the love-ethic extends to plants, animals, and the rest of creation. Howard Thurman’s analysis of the cause for some cases of mental illness is an excellent example of this conviction of inter-dependence:

“Our atmosphere is polluted, our streams are poisoned, our hills are denuded, wildlife is increasingly exterminated, while more and more humanity becomes an alien on the earth and a fouler of its own nest. The price that is being extracted for this is a deep sense of isolation, of being rootless and a vagabond. Often I have surmised that this condition is more responsible for what seems to be the phenomenal increase in mental and emotional disturbances in modern life than the pressures—economic, social, and political—that abound on every hand. The collective psyche shrieks that it feels as a part of the death cry of a pillaged nature.”

Collect: O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Creation Collect: O Creator God, you are known by your loving embrace of the undeserving and those who suffer: Grant us sight of your justice and conviction to love all creatures; through Jesus Christ the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflection: 

Track 1: Like the prophet Amos, Jesus has harsh words for those who live in luxury and ignore the needs of the poor. The epistle reading warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). What is an appropriate Christian attitude toward wealth? How are we called to treat those who are poor?

Track 2: What is wealth to God?

For families: Study guide & activities (former guide), group activity; snack—see "snack" in group activity, kid video

For children: See family guide/activities (another activity); bulletin; "time for God" clock;

For middlers: See family guide/activities (another activity); bulletin; "time for God" clock;

Coloring:  Rich man and Lazarus; Psalm 91; love God, 1 Timothy

For youth: Here’s an image depicting Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs [click to view]. Now re-read the gospel lesson and the New Testament lesson. How do these lessons fit with Maslow’s Hierarchy. What is uncomfortable about what you read in the two lessons? What gives you comfort? Post your thoughts, if you wish to share

We invite you to be a part of our celebration of Jesus Christ dying and rising in the midst of His people. In the gospel reading today, we hear his parable of Dives and Lazarus with its warning that failure to respond to the gospel in ministry to others can result in losing our place in his Kingdom. Christian living includes care for the poor, the sick and the helpless, actions fully as holy as worship and prayer.

Track 1: In today’s reading from Jeremiah, Judah has reached the time of its destruction. Jeremiah is told to perform an action that reveals a seed of hope. He is to buy land and have deeds saved and preserved by his assistant, Baruch. This is a sign that even though Judah will destroyed as a nation, the time will come when it will be revived and people will return to possess the land.

Track 2: In a similar vein to the gospel reading, the prophet Amos warns the rich of his own day. Their indolent enjoyment of their own riches, combined with lack of concern for the poor and needy, will lead to their exile from God’s land and presence. Amos’s prophecy came true when in 722 B. C. the Assyrians destroyed Israel and the wealthy nobles were the first to go into exile.

Again, today, we read from the first epistle of Timothy. This book of practical advice for Christian living urges that the Christian man or woman remain faithful to Christ’s commandments. Furthermore, the rich within the Christian community are to practice generosity, lest their riches become a barrier to the new life in Christ, which God has given us.

When we celebrate the Eucharist, we gather as one people regardless of our material or social standing. As disciples we respond to God’s love in worship and are sent forth to embody that love of God in concrete acts of care for the poor and helpless.