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The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost 
August 31, 2025 
Old Testament:  Jeremiah 2:4-13  NRSV-UE 
 
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus 
says the Lord: 
What wrong did your ancestors find in me 
    that they went far from me 
and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves? 
They did not say, “Where is the Lord, 
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt, 
who led us in the wilderness, 
    in a land of deserts and pits, 
in a land of drought and deep darkness, 
    in a land that no one passes through, 
    where no one lives?” 
I brought you into a plentiful land 
    to eat its fruits and its good things. 
But when you entered you defiled my land 
    and made my heritage an abomination. 
The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” 
    Those who handle the law did not know me; 
the rulers transgressed against me; 
    the prophets prophesied by Baal 
    and went after things that do not profit. 
Therefore once more I accuse you, 
            says the Lord, 
    and I accuse your children’s children. 
Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look; 
    send to Kedar and examine with care; 
    see if there has ever been such a thing. 
Has a nation changed its gods, 
    even though they are no gods? 
But my people have changed their glory 
    for something that does not profit. 
Be appalled, O heavens, at this; 
    be shocked; be utterly desolate, 
            says the Lord, 
for my people have committed two evils: 
they have forsaken me, 
the fountain of living water, 
and dug out cisterns for themselves, 
cracked cisterns 
that can hold no water. 
Psalm 81.1, 10-16 
Sing with joy to God our strength and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.  
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, "Open your mouth 
wide, and I will fill it."  
And yet my people did not hear my voice, and Israel would not obey me.  
So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, to follow their own devices.  
Oh, that my people would listen to me! that Israel would walk in my ways!  
I should soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.  
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last for ever.  
But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat and satisfy him with honey from the rock 
New Testament: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 NRSY- UE 
Service Well-Pleasing to God 
Let mutual affection continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that 
some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as 
though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves 
were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept 
undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the 
love of money, and be content with what you have, for he himself has said, “I will never leave 
you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence, 
“The Lord is my helper; 
I will not be afraid. 
What can anyone do to me?” 
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Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of 
their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and 
forever. 
Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips 
that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices 
are pleasing to God. 
Gospel: Luke 14:1  NRSV-UE 
Jesus Heals the Man with Edema 
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal 
on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely. 
Humility and Hospitality 
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you 
are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case 
someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host, and the host who invited 
both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you 
would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest 
place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will 
be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will 
be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 
He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not 
invite your friends or your brothers and sisters or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they 
may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the 
poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay 
you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 
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