Abraham, Sarah and the Angel, by Jan Provost, 1520s, Oil on Wood at Musée du Louvre, Paris

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, August 11 are from Lectionary Year C, Proper 14: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24 or Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 and Luke 12:32-40. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

¹ The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD,
     you rulers of Sodom;

listen to the instruction of our God,
     you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?”
     says the LORD.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
     of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls
     and lambs and goats.

¹² When you come to appear before me,
     who has asked this of you,
     this trampling of my courts?

¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
     Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
      I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
     I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;
     I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
     I hide my eyes from you;

even when you offer many prayers,
     I am not listening.
     Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
     Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

stop doing wrong.
    ¹⁷ Learn to do right;

seek justice.
     Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;
     plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
     says the LORD.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,
     they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,
     they shall be like wool.

¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
     you will eat the good things of the land;

²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
     you will be devoured by the sword.”
     For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

¹ The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
     speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

² From Zion, perfect in beauty,
     God shines forth.

³ Our God comes and will not be silent;
     a fire devours before him,
     and around him a tempest rages.

⁴ He summons the heavens above,
     and the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵ “Gather to me this consecrated people,
     who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

⁶ And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
     for he is a God of justice.

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
     I will testify against you, Israel:
     I am God, your God.

⁸ I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
     or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

²² “Consider this, you who forget God,
     or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

²³ Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
     and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”

or Genesis 15:1-6

¹ After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,your very great reward. ” ² But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Psalm 33:12-22

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
     the people he chose for his inheritance.

¹³ From heaven the LORD looks down
      and sees all mankind;

¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
     all who live on earth—

¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
     who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
     no warrior escapes by his great strength.

¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
     despite all its great strength it cannot save.

¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
     on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

¹⁹ to deliver them from death
     and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;
     he is our help and our shield.

²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
     for we trust in his holy name.

²² May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
     even as we put our hope in you.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Luke 12:32-40

³² Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak.

³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.