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phone-in for (audio only) Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome: Welcome to our gathering this evening, as we consider what is enough.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, we gather on this summer evening in joy and in hope. Joy that we are together in one another’s company. And hope that our fellow humans and every created thing will experience the fullness and contentment that comes from having enough.
Opening Song: Gather Us In by Marty Haugen https://youtu.be/ZAxeGOmKE4c
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,
and fresh grain in the ear.
Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."
But his servant objected,
"How can I set this before a hundred people?"
Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."
"For thus says the LORD,
'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.
This is a story by an ancient storyteller. We affirm the wisdom of this story with Amen.
Alleluia: Jan Phillips
Gospel: John 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip,
"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little."
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people recline."
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
This story about Jesus is told to us by the writer we know as John. We affirm the wisdom of this story with Amen.
Shared Homily
I’ve told this story before, so I apologize if it sounds familiar. But I think there is an important lesson in it, which may be worth repeating. When my daughter was four years old and in pre-school, her teacher pulled me aside at pick up time, concerned because Emily refused to play a group game with the rest of the class. In the car on the way home I asked Emily about it. Why didn’t she want to play with the rest of the class? Emily had an immediate response, which I remember to this day: “because there weren’t enough chairs for everyone.” As it turns out, the game was musical chairs. As you know, there is always one fewer chair than players, so that when the music stops and everyone scrambles to find a chair, one person will always be left without one. Emily hated that game. Because there weren’t enough chairs for everyone. Because the children were expected to scramble. Because it was a cut-throat game in which there was a loser in every round. It was a horrible game that taught a horrible lesson. Because there actually were enough chairs, but people kept taking one away every time. It was a lesson in human-created scarcity. Sometimes four-year-olds are the best teachers.
In tonight’s readings, despite all odds, despite all appearances, despite all doubts, it turns out that there is enough for everyone. Everyone has enough. Twenty barley loaves feed 100 people. Five barley loaves and two fish feed a hillside full of people. In both cases there are leftovers. What are these two readings telling us? Are we to take away that Elisha and Jesus have super powers and can multiply food? That makes a good story, and might convince us to believe something about those two individuals. But then where would that leave us? What would we have to learn from that about our own lives?
I would like to suggest that both Jesus and Elisha were a lot like 4-year-old Emily. They knew the world in which they lived. Elisha was prophet during a period of great corruption in Israel, and many people were suffering as a result. Jesus lived during the Roman occupation, and again, many people were suffering. Both men saw the resources that were available, understood that those resources were being consumed and hoarded by the few while the many were left without. They figured out how this game would go, and they refused to play. I think that these are subversive stories about visionary men who knew that all could be fed, against all odds, despite all appearances, despite all doubts. There could be enough for everyone. And there still could be, if only we choose to walk the path they trod. There could be enough. Enough food. Enough chairs. Enough jobs. Enough room. Enough love. Enough. Enough. Even a four-year-old knows this.
What did you hear in tonight’s readings? Please share.
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Prayers of the Community
As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Please join in praying our Eucharistic prayer together:
O Holy One, you have birthed us in goodness, gifted us with life and cherished us in love. In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells; a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.
In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer, invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment, that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with all who sing the ancient hymn of praise:
Holy, Holy Holy: Karen Drucker
Holy One, we see around us the work of your hands, the generosity of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of creation speaks unceasingly to your creative power. We are witnesses to the wealth of that creation which overflows with abundance enough to sustain every one of your creatures.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
Holy One, Your Spirit dwells within the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape. They are gifts of wisdom, light and truth, and remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plate and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
All lift their cup and pray the following:
He then raised high the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives,
As we share communion, we will become communion
Both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Please receive communion with the words: There is enough.
Communion Meditation: God of Abundance By Kit Mills
In faith and hope we are sustained; in grace and dignity reclaimed. In praise, we thank you.
In love we unite our thoughts and prayers, as we seek wisdom and courage:
- to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances of our daily lives;
- to act justly and courageously in confronting the pain and suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples;
- to take risks in being creative and proactive on behalf of the poor and marginalized;
- to love all people with generosity of heart, beyond the labels of race, creed and color.
- to invite all to the table of plenty, where there is enough food, enough drink, and enough love for everyone.
And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things Your Spirit makes possible in us, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty, into the fullness of life to which all are called, participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
Like Jesus, we will open up wide all that has been closed about us, and we will live compassionate lives, for it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, O Holy One, at this time and all ways. Amen.
Let us pray the prayer Jesus: (Miriam Therese Winter)
O Holy One, who is within, around and among us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom come.
Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen
BLESSING
Let us pray together our blessing:
May we walk the path of abundance walked by Elisha and Jesus. May our hands be open and may our hearts be full. May we bestow both blessings and bread. May our lives reflect the extravagant love of our Beloved. Amen.
Closing Song: At This Table by Idina Menzel
