Sunday 20 August, 2017
- General:
- Lectionary
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings are laid out as for the continuous form of the lectionary. Alternative related readings (OT and psalm only) are below. Hymns marked with an asterisk (*) are suggested for more than one reading.
Genesis 45: 1-15
As we gather, Father, seal us (StF 570)
Brother, sister, let me serve you (StF 611)
God! When human bonds are broken (StF 649)
Jesus, Lord, we look to thee (StF 686)
Let us build a house where love can dwell (StF 409)
Lord, we come to ask your healing (StF 652)
O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace (StF 392)
Psalm 133
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
All praise to our redeeming Lord (StF 608)
Thanks for friends who keep on loving (StF 619)
Thou God of truth and love (StF 620)
Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! (StF 11)
I'm accepted, I'm forgiven (StF 427)
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy) (StF 750) (Ukranian Russian Orthodox ver.)
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy) (StF 751)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world (StF 790)
There's a wideness in God’s mercy (StF 416)
You showed us mercy when we were in darkness (StF 488)
Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28
Amazing grace - how sweet the sound (StF 440)
Empty, broken, here I stand, Kyrie eleison (StF 421)
Father, whose everlasting love (StF 320)
He came to earth, not to be served (StF 445)
In Christ there is no east or west (StF 685)
Lord, you have my heart (StF 559)
My heart is full of Christ (StF 506)
My song is love unknown (StF 277)
We do not presume to come to this table (StF 601) (Communion hymn)
We have a gospel to proclaim (StF 418)
Alternative related readings:
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8
Great is our redeeming Lord (StF 683)
* It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)
The kingdom of God is justice and joy (StF 255)
Psalm 67
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
* It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
Lord of life, we come to you (StF 651)
May the road rise up to meet you (StF 772)
May the Sending One sing in you (StF 472)
We come from the mountains, the valleys and plains (StF 417)
The Revd Phillip Poyner writes:
Jesus faces increasing persecution and leaves Galilee for the region of Tyre and Sidon. There he finds affirmation of his ministry from a Canaanite. How Jesus’ heart must have been lifted by that!
Some commentators have suggested that even Jesus at this time was not fully aware that he had a mission beyond the Jews. Compare this with readings from Isaiah 56 and Psalm 67 which both suggest the beginnings of an understanding within the Old Testament that God’s love was for all nations.
In the Genesis passage Joseph in a strange way pre-figures Christ. He was badly treated by his brothers, and has to go to another country. When his brothers come, he tests them, as Jesus did the Canaanite woman. Then, like Jacob, Jesus’ love overflows. In both continuous and related readings from Romans, Paul speaks of his mission to the Gentiles. He explains how he became convinced that it would be the Gentiles who would lead the Jews to faith, as the faith of the Canaanite woman was to inspire the disciples, the gospel-writer Matthew and the Jews for whom he wrote his gospel.
Readings are laid out as for the continuous form of the lectionary. Alternative related readings (OT and psalm only) are below. Hymns marked with an asterisk (*) are suggested for more than one reading.
Genesis 45: 1-15
As we gather, Father, seal us (StF 570)
Brother, sister, let me serve you (StF 611)
God! When human bonds are broken (StF 649)
Jesus, Lord, we look to thee (StF 686)
Let us build a house where love can dwell (StF 409)
Lord, we come to ask your healing (StF 652)
O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace (StF 392)
Psalm 133
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
All praise to our redeeming Lord (StF 608)
Thanks for friends who keep on loving (StF 619)
Thou God of truth and love (StF 620)
Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! (StF 11)
I'm accepted, I'm forgiven (StF 427)
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy) (StF 750) (Ukranian Russian Orthodox ver.)
Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy) (StF 751)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world (StF 790)
There's a wideness in God’s mercy (StF 416)
You showed us mercy when we were in darkness (StF 488)
Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28
Amazing grace - how sweet the sound (StF 440)
Empty, broken, here I stand, Kyrie eleison (StF 421)
Father, whose everlasting love (StF 320)
He came to earth, not to be served (StF 445)
In Christ there is no east or west (StF 685)
Lord, you have my heart (StF 559)
My heart is full of Christ (StF 506)
My song is love unknown (StF 277)
We do not presume to come to this table (StF 601) (Communion hymn)
We have a gospel to proclaim (StF 418)
Alternative related readings:
Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8
Great is our redeeming Lord (StF 683)
* It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
Show me how to stand for justice (StF 713)
The kingdom of God is justice and joy (StF 255)
Psalm 67
Hymns echoing the psalmist’s theme
* It is God who holds the nations in the hollow of his hand (StF 705)
Lord of life, we come to you (StF 651)
May the road rise up to meet you (StF 772)
May the Sending One sing in you (StF 472)
We come from the mountains, the valleys and plains (StF 417)
The Revd Phillip Poyner writes:
Jesus faces increasing persecution and leaves Galilee for the region of Tyre and Sidon. There he finds affirmation of his ministry from a Canaanite. How Jesus’ heart must have been lifted by that!
Some commentators have suggested that even Jesus at this time was not fully aware that he had a mission beyond the Jews. Compare this with readings from Isaiah 56 and Psalm 67 which both suggest the beginnings of an understanding within the Old Testament that God’s love was for all nations.
In the Genesis passage Joseph in a strange way pre-figures Christ. He was badly treated by his brothers, and has to go to another country. When his brothers come, he tests them, as Jesus did the Canaanite woman. Then, like Jacob, Jesus’ love overflows. In both continuous and related readings from Romans, Paul speaks of his mission to the Gentiles. He explains how he became convinced that it would be the Gentiles who would lead the Jews to faith, as the faith of the Canaanite woman was to inspire the disciples, the gospel-writer Matthew and the Jews for whom he wrote his gospel.