Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Chapter 18
God Becomes a Guest.[a] 1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing nearby. As soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the entrance of his tent and bowed down to the ground, 3 saying, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not pass on without stopping to visit your servant. 4 Let some water be brought so that you may wash your feet. Make yourselves comfortable under this tree. 5 Let me go and prepare a bit of food that you may refresh yourselves. Afterward, you can go on your way. It is for this that you have come to visit your servant.”
They answered, “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take three seahs[b] of fine flour, knead it, and make it into rolls.”
7 He ran to the herd, took a choice calf, and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 He then took curds[c] and milk, as well as the veal that had been prepared, and he placed them before his guests. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9 They then said, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He answered, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord[d] said, “I will return this way a year from now, and by that time Sarah, your wife, will have a son.” Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, just behind him.
Psalm 15[a]
The Righteous: Guests of God
1 A psalm of David.
O Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may abide on your holy mountain?[b]
2 [c]The one who leads a blameless life
and does what is right,
who speaks the truth from the heart
3 and does not slander anyone,
who does not harm a friend
and does not scorn a neighbor,
4 who looks with disdain on the wicked
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who abides by his oath,
no matter what the cost,
5 who does not charge interest on a loan
and refuses to accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never fall.
The Supremacy of Christ
In Christ, through Him, and for Him[a]
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
16 For in him were created all things
in heaven and on earth,
whether visible or invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—
all things were created through him and for him.
17 He exists before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
18 He is the head of the body,
that is, the Church.
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that in every way
he should be supreme.
19 For in him
it pleased God
to make all fullness dwell,[b]
20 and through him
to reconcile all things for him,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through his blood of the cross.
21 Christ among the Gentiles.[c]You yourselves were once alienated and hostile in your intent because of your evil deeds. 22 But now, through Christ’s death in his body of flesh, God has reconciled you to himself so that you may stand holy, blameless, and irreproachable in his presence.
23 However, you must persevere in the faith, firmly grounded and steadfast in your belief, and never allowing yourselves to drift away from the hope of the gospel that you accepted and that has now been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, the gospel of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24 Christ’s Suffering in His People. I find great joy at present in suffering for you, and in my own body I am completing the sufferings that still must be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.[d] 25 I was made a minister of that Church, with the commission given to me by God to make fully known to you the word of God, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and from past generations but that now has been revealed to his saints.
27 To these God chose to make known how rich is the priceless glory that this mystery brings to the Gentiles—Christ in you, your hope of glory.[e] 28 It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing and instructing everyone in all wisdom so that we may present everyone to Christ in a state of perfection.
38 Martha and Mary.[a] In the course of their journey, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks. So she came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 The Lord answered her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things, 42 when only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
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