Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2025: August 3, 2025

You are invited to worship with us this Sunday at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Burlington at 9:00 AM. You can join us in person at 216 E Chandler Blvd or through our live stream, video replay, or podcast. Everyone is welcome at our table. This Sunday, we will celebrate the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2025.

The theme for this Sunday is “Rich Toward God.”

Join Us As You Can

We invite you to join us in our historic church every day, but you can also worship with us online.

Livestream/Replay

Our livestream begins ten minutes before 9 a.m. with the organ prelude, and then at 9 a.m., we start the service. You can watch it live or view the replay as soon as the service ends.

Podcast

We also have a podcast that is released shortly after the service. The podcast is available on all major, as well as some minor, podcast platforms. Why not search for the St. John the Divine Podcast and follow or subscribe today?

Collect of the Day for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2025

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Readings for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2025 (Proper 13 – Track Two)

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12–14; 2:18–23

The author expresses regret over the futility of human effort—how even our most demanding work may ultimately belong to others.

2Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 

12I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem, 13applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with. 14I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. 18I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me 19—and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.22What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? 23For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Psalm 49:1–11

A call to wisdom: wealth cannot save us, for all die the same. True hope is found in God, not riches.

1 Hear this, all you peoples;
  hearken, all you who dwell in the world, *
       you of high degree and low, rich and poor together.
2 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, *
        and my heart shall meditate on understanding.
3 I will incline my ear to a proverb *
        and set forth my riddle upon the harp.
4 Why should I be afraid in evil days, *
        when the wickedness of those at my heels surrounds me,
5 The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, *
        and boast of their great riches?
6 We can never ransom ourselves, *
        or deliver to God the price of our life;
7 For the ransom of our life is so great, *
         that we should never have enough to pay it,
8 In order to live for ever and ever, *
         and never see the grave.
9 For we see that the wise die also;
  like the dull and stupid they perish *
        and leave their wealth to those who come after them.
10 Their graves shall be their homes for ever,
    their dwelling places from generation to generation, *
        though they call the lands after their own names.
11 Even though honored, they cannot live for ever; *
        they are like the beasts that perish.

Colossians 3:1–11

Focus your thoughts on higher things. In Christ, you are renewed, letting go of old habits like anger, greed, and division.

1So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Luke 12:13–21

Jesus warns against greed through the parable of the rich fool. Living a life filled with possessions but poor in spirit misses what matters most.

13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Reflection for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost 2025

This week, the scriptures challenge us to examine our relationship with wealth, work, and what truly lasts:

• Ecclesiastes explores the futility of accumulating wealth and possessions solely for the sake of leaving a legacy.
• The psalmist reminds us that wealth cannot save us from death.
• Paul encourages us to focus on eternal matters and live as those who have been raised with Christ.
• Jesus encourages us to be “rich toward God” by prioritizing love, generosity, and the things that truly bring life.

Release what burdens you. Come and be rejuvenated in spirit, re-centered in God’s abundance.

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• 216 E Chandler Blvd, Burlington, WI
• Live Stream & Replay Available
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Wherever you are on your journey, there’s a place for you at St. John’s.