Proper 22
week of the Sunday closest to October 5

Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Habakkuk 1:1-6(7-11)12-13;2:1-4
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.

How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

"Look at the nations and watch--
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
(They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
they all come bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
They deride kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
they build earthen ramps and capture them.
Then they sweep past like the wind and go on--
guilty men, whose own strength is their god.")
O LORD, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

21 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Then the LORD replied:

"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.

"See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright--
but the righteous will live by his faith--

Second Lesson: 2 Timothy 1:(1-5)6-14)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Psalm: 37:(1-2)3-10(11-18)

  1. (Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
    do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
  2. For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
    and like the green grass fade away.)
  3. Put your trust in the LORD and do good; *
    dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
  4. Take delight in the LORD, *
    and he shall give you your heart's desire.
  5. Commit your way to the LORD and put your trust in him, *
    and he will bring it to pass.
  6. He will make your righteousness as clear as the light *
    and your just dealing as the noonday.
  7. Be still before the LORD *
    and wait patiently for him.
  8. Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
    the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
  9. Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
    do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
  10. For evildoers shall be cut off, *
    but those who wait upon the LORD shall possess the land.
  11. (In a little while the wicked shall be no more; *
    you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.
  12. But the lowly shall possess the land; *
    they will delight in abundance of peace.
  13. The wicked plot against the righteous *
    and gnash at them with their teeth.
  14. The Lord laughs at the wicked, *
    because he sees that their day will come.
  15. The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
    to strike down the poor and needy, *
    to slaughter those who are upright in their ways.
  16. Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
    and their bow shall be broken.
  17. The little that the righteous has *
    is better than great riches of the wicked.
  18. For the power of the wicked shall be broken, *
    but the LORD upholds the righteous.)

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

Collect & Psalm from the Book of Common Prayer
Other excerpts from the New International Bible

Sts. Vidicon & Isidore