4th Sunday of the Cross – 7th of Elijah

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

The Essence of the Law

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I command you this day for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; ¹⁵ yet the Lord set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him and cling to him, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹ He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.

 

Isaiah 33:1-14

A Prophecy of Deliverance: The Lord, the Majestic King

33 Woe to you, destroyer,

who yourself have not been destroyed;

you treacherous one,

with whom none has dealt treacherously!

When you have ceased to destroy,

you will be destroyed;

and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously,

you will be dealt with treacherously.

² O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

³ At the thunderous noise peoples flee,

at the lifting up of yourself nations are scattered;

⁴ and spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

as locusts leap, men leap upon it.

⁵ The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness;

⁶ and he will be the stability of your times,

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is his treasure.

⁷ Behold, the valiant ones cry without;

the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

⁸ The highways lie waste,

the wayfaring man ceases.

Covenants are broken,

witnesses are despised,

there is no regard for man.

⁹ The land mourns and languishes;

Lebanon is confounded and withers away;

Sharon is like a desert;

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

¹⁰ “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

¹¹ You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble;

your breath is a fire that will consume you.

¹² And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

¹³ Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;

and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid;

trembling has seized the godless:

“Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

 

1Corinthians 14:1, 3, 12, 20-21, 26, 31-33a

Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

¹ Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

³ On the other hand, he who prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

¹² So with yourselves; since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the Church.

20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be infants in evil, but in thinking be mature. ²¹ In the law it is written, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

Orderly Worship

26 What then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged; ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

 

Matthew 18:1-18

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Temptations to Sin

5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; ⁶  but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! ⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. ¹² What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Binding and Loosing of Sins

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.