Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Abrahamic Covenant

15 Some time later, a message came from the Lord to Abram in a vision. “Stop being afraid, Abram.” he said. “I myself—your shield—am your very great reward.”

² But Abram replied, “Lord God, what can you give me since I continue to be childless, and the heir of my household is Eliezer from Damascus? ³ Look!” Abram said, “You haven’t given me any offspring, so a servant born in^[a] my house is going to be my heir.”

⁴ A message came from the Lord to him again: “This one will not be your heir. Instead, the child who will be born to you^[b] will be your heir.” ⁵ Then the Lord^[c] took him outside. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can!” he said. “Your descendants will be that numerous.”^{[d] 6} Abram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

The Meaning of Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about^[a] and the certainty that what we cannot see exists.^{[b] 2} By faith our ancestors won approval.

³ By faith we understand that time was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are invisible.

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, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who also inherited the same promise, ¹⁰ because he was waiting for the city with permanent foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹ By faith Sarah, even though she was old and barren, received the strength to conceive, because she was convinced that the one who had made the promise was faithful. ¹² Abraham^[a] was as good as dead, yet from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹³ All these people died having faith. They did not receive the things that were promised, yet they saw them in the distant future and welcomed them, acknowledging that they were strangers and foreigners on earth. ¹⁴ For people who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking about what they had left behind, they would have had an opportunity to go back. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.

³² Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

³³ “Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close and no moth can destroy anything. ³⁴ Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The Watchful Servants^(A)

³⁵ “You must keep your belts fastened and your lamps burning. ³⁶ Be like people who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding. As soon as he arrives and knocks, they will open the door for him. ³⁷ How blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching for him when he comes! I tell all of you^[a] with certainty, he himself will put on an apron, make them sit down at the table, and go around and serve them. ³⁸ How blessed they will be if their master^[b] comes in the middle of the night or near dawn^[c] and finds them awake!^{[d] 39} But be sure of this: if the homeowner had known at what time the thief were coming, he would have watched and^[e] would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ So be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at a time when you don’t expect him.”