Sunday 20 September — Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

The New Testament: Philippians, chapter 1 verses 21 to 30.

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means

fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed

between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better;

but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I

come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are

standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the

gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is

evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing.

For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The Old Testament: Jonah 3, verses 10 to the end.

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God

changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them;

and he did not do it.

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the

Lord and said,‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?

That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious

God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to

relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is

better for me to die than to live.’

And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’

Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth

for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become

of the city.

The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade

over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about

the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that

attacked the bush, so that it withered.

When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on

the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said,

‘It is better for me to die than to live.’

But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’

Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not

labour and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a

night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which

there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know

their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’