Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 2026 – June 21

On June 21, we celebrate the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 2026, with Deacon Nate Irvine presiding. This Sunday’s readings do not offer easy comfort — they offer something more enduring. Jeremiah cries out from the depths of persecution and finds he cannot stop speaking God’s word. The psalmist pleads for rescue from those who mock and revile. Paul declares that in baptism we have died to Christ and now walk in newness of life. And Jesus tells his disciples plainly: do not be afraid, even when the cost of following him is high.

Join us for worship in the way that suits you best! You can participate in person, through Live Stream, Video Replay, or Podcast.

If You Cannot Join Us In Person for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 2026!

We understand that you may not always be able to attend in person, so we offer several virtual options.

Livestream/Playback

Join us live at 8:50 AM for the organ prelude, then the service begins at 9:00 AM. After the livestream ends, you can watch the video replay anytime.

Podcast

Did you know that we are available on all major platforms? Our podcast covers everything from the opening hymn to the sharing of the peace.

The Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your lovingkindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

First Lesson: Jeremiah 20:7–13

O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.” But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

Psalm 69:8–11, (12–17), 18–20

Second Lesson: Romans 6:1b–11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: Matthew 10:24–39

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Reflection on the Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 2026

The Burning Fire Within – Jeremiah 20:7–13

Jeremiah is a prophet facing a crisis. God has compelled him to proclaim His messages, overwhelming him with a sense of duty—and the outcomes have been devastating. As a result, he has become a target of ridicule. People mock him constantly. When he speaks, he must declare messages of violence and destruction, which have turned into a source of shame for him, with people deriding him all day long.

In verse 9, Jeremiah expresses one of the most profound spiritual struggles found in all of scripture: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ then within me, there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot.” He wants to give up. He wants to stop. He has tried to contain the message, to keep it locked inside him, but it cannot be contained. It burns. It consumes him. He cannot hold it in.

This is the lived experience of faithfulness to God’s call when the world is hostile to it. Jeremiah is not fighting a distant, abstract God. He is fighting the immediate, unbearable necessity of his vocation. And yet — in the midst of this struggle — he finds something: “But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail.”

The assurance does not come before the struggle; it comes within it. Jeremiah does not first receive comfort and then face persecution. He faces persecution, cries out in anguish, and then discovers that God is present in that very place — not as a gentle comforter but as a dread warrior, a fierce defender. On Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the God who is with us; on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, we begin to learn what that presence costs and what it sustains.

The Reproach of Your Sake – Psalm 69:8–11, (12–17), 18–20

The psalm deepens the portrait of Jeremiah’s suffering. The psalmist has endured reproach for God’s sake. He has become a stranger to his own kindred, an alien to his mother’s children — not because he has committed a crime, but because of his zeal for God’s house. The scorn people direct at God has fallen upon him. He has humbled himself by fasting, yet that very humility has been turned to mockery.

This text highlights the unique pain of being associated with God, especially when others mock Him. The psalmist becomes a figure of ridicule, a target for the songs of drunkards, and the subject of whispers among those gathered at the city gate. Despite this humiliation, the psalm does not succumb to despair. Instead, it turns to prayer: “Answer me, O Lord, for Your love is kind; in Your great compassion, turn to me. Do not hide Your face from Your servant; be quick to answer me, for I am in distress.”

The psalmist does not appeal to his own righteousness, as he has been humbled. Instead, he turns to God’s kindness and great compassion. This prayer stems from a place of desperation; it’s the kind of prayer that has nowhere else to turn but to God. By appealing to God’s compassion, the psalmist not only reminds us but also reminds God of His true nature at the deepest level.

Death and Resurrection as the Christian Reality – Romans 6:1b–11

Paul’s letter to the Romans transforms the struggle into a doctrine. He poses the rhetorical question: Should we continue to sin so that grace may increase? The answer is a resounding “By no means!” He then explains that everyone who has been baptized into Christ Jesus has also been baptized into His death.

This is not metaphorical language; Paul is describing a real spiritual reality. In baptism, we experience death. We are buried with Christ through baptism into death. Because we are buried with Him, we are also raised with Him. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too are raised to walk in newness of life.

What distinguishes Christian ethics from simple moralism is this: we do not avoid sin because we consider ourselves to be good people striving to improve. Instead, we abstain from sin because, in a profound sense, we are dead. As it is written, “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin.”

The logic is clear: if you are dead, you are no longer under the control of sin. If you have been united with Christ in a death like His, you will surely be united with Him in a resurrection like His. The Christian life isn’t about struggling against sin; rather, it’s about recognizing that through baptism, you have already died to sin and been raised to a new life in Christ. Therefore — and this is Paul’s conclusion — “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Do Not Be Afraid – Matthew 10:24–39

Jesus gathers his disciples and clearly explains what lies ahead. “A disciple is not greater than the teacher, nor is a servant greater than the master.” If the master has been called Beelzebul — if he has been accused of being associated with demons — then how much more will those who follow him be slandered?

But then, three times in rapid succession, Jesus says, “Do not fear.”

Do not fear those who speak against you, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. Do not fear those who kill the body, for they cannot kill the soul. Do not be afraid, for you are of more value than many sparrows — even the sparrows themselves are known and counted by your Father.

This is remarkable comfort. Jesus does not promise that his disciples will escape suffering. He promises that their suffering is not the final word. The truth will be revealed. The soul cannot be killed. Most remarkably, they are known. God knows the hairs on their heads. God counts the sparrows. How much more does God attend to them?

Then Jesus makes a statement that appears to contradict everything he has said before: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” He talks about the division that will occur within families and the conflict between parents and children. He urges his disciples to love him more than their own mothers or fathers, sons or daughters, and to take up their cross and follow him.

But this is not a contradiction. It is a clarification. Jesus says: The cost of following me is real. You may lose your family. You may lose your livelihood. You may lose your life. Yet those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. The cost of discipleship is high, but the alternative — saving your life, protecting yourself, refusing the cross — leads to a different kind of loss. Only by losing our lives do we find them.

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Wrap-Up

These four readings provide a cohesive testimony about the cost of being faithful to God in a world that often opposes that faithfulness. Jeremiah cannot stop delivering God’s message, even though it causes him great inner turmoil and leads to mockery. The psalmist cries out in his distress, appealing for God’s compassion while becoming a subject of ridicule. Paul asserts that through baptism, we have already died to sin and been raised to new life; thus, the focus shifts from whether we can live as Christians to recognizing that we must live this way, as we are no longer enslaved to sin. Jesus reassures his disciples not to fear anything—not because they will be spared from suffering, but because their suffering cannot harm their souls, their worth, or their relationship with God.

The season after Pentecost is a time of growth, and the readings during this period illustrate what that growth entails. It is not about growing comfortable or experiencing ease. Instead, it represents a community learning to trust that God is with them like a mighty warrior, that their worth is not defined by the opinions of the world, that they have died to sin and have been raised to new life, and that the cost of discipleship—though high—ultimately leads not to loss, but to discovery and fulfillment.

In this season, we are learning to live as if we have already died and been raised.

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The Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospels readings are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Collect and Psalm are from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.