Collect and Readings for June 20, 2021
Christ on the Sea of Galilee, Eugene Delacroix, 1854
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
COLLECT
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
JOB 38:1-11,16-18
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
PSALM 107:1-3,23-32
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious, and his mercy endures for ever.
Let those whom the Lord has redeemed give thanks, whom he has delivered from the hand of the enemy,
And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Those who go down to the sea in ships, who carry out their business in great waters,
They behold the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.
For at his word the stormy wind arises, which lifts up the waves.
They are carried up to heaven and down again to the deep; their soul melts away because of the trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, he delivers them out of their distress.
For he makes the storm to cease, so that the waves are still.
Then they are glad, because they are at rest,
and so he brings them into the haven where they desire to be.
Oh, that they would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he does for the children of men!
That they would exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the seat of the elders!
He turns rivers into a wilderness and water-springs into thirsty ground.
A fruitful land he makes barren, because of the wickedness of those who dwell there.
Again, he makes the wilderness into pools of water and dry ground into water-springs;
And there he sets the hungry that they may build a city to dwell in,
That they may sow their land, and plant vineyards to yield the fruits of increase.
He blesses them, so that they multiply exceedingly, and does not allow their cattle to decrease.
And again, when they are diminished and brought low, through oppression, through any plague or trouble,
Though he pours contempt on princes and lets them wander in the pathless wilderness,
Yet he helps the poor out of misery and increases their households like a flock of sheep.
The righteous will consider this and rejoice, and the mouth of all wickedness shall be stopped.
Whoever is wise will ponder these things, and shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-21
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
MARK 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”