A sermon on the 6th Sunday after the Resurrection of the Lord

First Reading (alternate): Judith 15:8–13

⁸Now Joakim the high priest and the council of the people of Israel residing in Jerusalem came in order to see the good things which the Most High had done for Israel and to see Judith and wish her well. ⁹Now when they came to her, they blessed her, all with one accord and they said to her, “You are the exaltation of Jerusalem; you are the great pride of Israel; you are the great boast of our people. ¹⁰You have done all these things by your hand; you have done good for Israel and God is well pleased over them. Be blessed before Shaddai [the Nurturing God], for all time.” And all the people said: “May it be so.” ¹¹Then all the women, children, and men plundered the camp for thirty days and they gave Judith the tent of Holofernes and all the silverplate and the couches and the basins and all his furniture and she took them and placed them upon her mule, and she hitched her wagons and harnessed them upon them.
  ¹²And all the women of Israel gathered together so as to see her and they blessed her and some of them performed a dance for her, and she took olive branches wrapped in ivy in her hands and she gave them to the women who were with her. ¹³And the women crowned themselves with olive [wreaths], she and those with her and she went before all the people in the dance leading all the women and every man of Israel armed, following along with wreaths and they were singing hymns aloud.

Psalm: Psalm 9:1–14, 18–20

 ¹I will give thanks to the God Who Saves with my whole heart;
 I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
 ²I will rejoice and I will exult in you;
 I will sing praise to your Name, Most High.
 ³When my enemies turned back,
 they stumbled and perished before you.
 ⁴For you have done justly for me;
 you sit on the throne judging righteously.
 ⁵You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked;
 you have erased their name for all time.
 ⁶The enemy—they are finished—perpetual ruins;
 [their] cities you have uprooted;
 you have destroyed any remembrance of them.
 ⁷God who is Majesty sits enthroned forever,
 she has established her throne for judgment.
 ⁸She judges the world in righteousness;
 she judges the peoples with equity.
 ⁹She Who is Faithful is a stronghold for the oppressed,
 a stronghold in times of trouble.
 ¹⁰They trust you, they who know your name,
 for you do not forsake those who seek you Redeeming God.
 ¹¹Sing praises to the Holy One enthroned in Zion.
 Declare her deeds among the peoples.
 ¹³Be gracious to me, Gracious One.
 See what I suffer from those who hate me.
 You lift me up from the gates of death,
 ¹⁴so that I may recount all your praises,
 and in the gates of Daughter Zion,
 rejoice in your salvation.
 ¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
 nor the hope of those oppressed by poverty perish for all time.
 ¹⁹Rise up Judge of all the Earth!
 Let not mortal-kind prevail;
 let the nations be judged before you.
 ²⁰Put them in fear Dread God;
 let the nations know that they are mortal. Selah

Second Reading: Titus 3:1–7

¹Now remind the sisters and brothers with regard to rulers and persons in authority, to be submissive, to be obedient; for every good work, to be ready: ²To blaspheme no person; to be gentle, showing every courtesy to all persons. ³For we were once foolish, disobedient, enslaved to all kinds of passions and pleasures, in malice and envy living our lives, and we were hateful, hating one another. ⁴When the graciousness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵God saved us through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to God’s mercy. ⁶This Spirit God poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by God’s grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of life eternal.

Gospel: Luke 18:1–8

¹Jesus told the disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and not be discouraged. ²He said, “There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor respected people. ³There was a widow in that city and she came to him continually and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my accuser.’ ⁴And he was not willing for some time; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I do not fear God or no respect anyone else, ⁵yet because this widow persists in troubling me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not ultimately come to violence against me.’” ⁶And the Messiah said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God grant justice to the elect of God who cry to God day and night? Will God forbear in helping them? ⁸I tell you all, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Woman comes, will he find faith on the earth?”