You Give Them Something To Eat
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
As August 3rd approaches, our government leaders are locked in a struggle over how to keep America from defaulting on its debts. That date, we are told, is the drop-dead point by which Congress must raise the debt limit in order to avoid catastrophic consequences. Yet the president and our representatives are still quarreling over what is the best mix of measures to get our budgetary house in order. While the haggling continues over whether to include tax hikes in addition to spending cuts, it seems that everyone agrees that we have been spending beyond our means. All sides in the debate have conceded that we have a lack of resources available to fund all of the government programs we have become accustomed to and that there are many things we just can't afford. As the saying goes, "There's no free lunch."
In our lectionary gospel text for this week, Jesus confronts an eerily similar challenge. He teaches and heals a crowd estimated at 5,000 -- but when the time for the potluck arrives, his concerned disciples realize that they have nowhere near enough resources to feed the throng (as any decent caterer knows, five loaves of bread and two fishes just won't get the job done). So they advise Jesus to "send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." No one would dispute that the disciples' concerns were legitimate and like many of our budget hawks today, their solution to the obvious mismatch of needs and resources was to point out that people needed to take on the responsibility of caring for their own problems. But Jesus has a different vision. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Roger Lovette notes that Jesus' response to the hunger of the crowd is to tell his disciples that the crowd "need not go away"; instead he gives his worried disciples a challenge, telling them, "You give them something to eat." In other words, even if we don't have enough food, even if we don't know how we can afford it, Jesus challenges us to somehow find a way to share what meager resources we do have and "give them something to eat." The miracle, of course, is that God's blessing does provide a "free lunch" for the crowd -- but Roger reminds us that we misread the meaning of this miracle if we think that God (or our government) is a "sugar daddy" who will always provide everything we want. Instead, Roger tells us, the onus is on us to set in motion the events that allow God to make miracles happen -- for it is only when we share the few loaves and fishes in our lives with others around us that crowds are fed and the needs of the world are met.
Team member Ron Love shares some additional thoughts on the political impasse and Paul's words in our epistle passage that "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." Ron points out that our leaders on all sides seem more concerned with protecting the integrity of the proverbial lines they've drawn in the sand and avoiding negative consequences for their narrow political self-interest than with the anguish that their inability to reach an agreement will cause for the people they claim to represent. While widespread suffering in the form of interrupted government services and higher interest rates looms, the president and congressional leaders of both parties are digging deeper trenches rather than finding common ground. Just as Jesus tells us in the gospel to find a way to reach out to others and "give them something to eat," Ron points out that Paul feels genuine concern for those who have been left out -- and Ron suggests that our leaders ought to feel the same level of urgency for how their actions will affect others. If they did, he posits, they'd remember that pencils have erasers -- and that lines we have drawn can be removed... even those "drawn in the sand."
You Give Them Something to Eat
by Roger Lovette
Matthew 14:13-21
THE WORLD
As the heat wave continues to sweep the country, the debt-ceiling deadline is turning up the heat on our politicians. Even as this serious battle wages on, there seems to be little connection to the mounting problems that surround us. There is $41 trillion on our national credit card -- yet 43 million of our fellow citizens are using food stamps; 14 million Americans are without work; and 2.87 million properties received notices of default, auction, or repossession in 2010. While our leaders in Washington seem to be diverted by power plays and grandstanding, we in the heartland have our own diversions. We wonder where Casey Anthony is staying, watch the True Blood vampire series, are enthralled with the last Harry Potter movie, and keep up with the Murdoch scandal. No wonder one writer wrote, "We play hard to forget that we live in a haunted house." Staring scary reality in the face is the last thing we want to do in this sweltering summer.
THE WORD
Church history tells us that the gospels emerged from a time that would even make our world look rosy by comparison. Rome ruled the day. Violence, injustice, and slavery were rampant. Sickness and death were everyday occurrences. Is it any wonder that the struggling church chose the boat -- a little vessel rocking along on a very stormy sea -- for their central symbol? So one of the lessons we need to keep reminding ourselves as we are barraged by too much dark information is that the little boat called the Church has always bounced along on very troubled waters.
Against a backdrop of the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod, Matthew joins all the other gospels to tell the story of the feeding of the 5,000. This story must have had enormous significance for the early church, as they told it six times in four gospels.
A great multitude found Jesus and he reached out in compassion to those that came. He preached but he also healed a great many on that hillside. They stayed all day and as evening came they grew restless. Most of them had brought little food -- many of them had little to bring. So the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves. Jesus' response? "You give them something to eat." Matthew's version of the story leaves out the disciples' reaction to Jesus' command. In Mark, the disciples threw up their hands: "Lord, do you possibly think we have enough money to provide food for all these people? There are thousands here." Matthew does mention a little boy and his tiny lunch of loaves and fishes. Jesus asked for the boy's lunch. He broke it, blessed it, gave it -- and not only there was enough for the multitude, there was even a great deal left over.
There have been many theories of how this miracle came about. Did people, seeing the boy's generosity, open up their own sacks and in their sharing all were filled? Did Jesus just miraculously multiply that tiny gift until all were fed? We do not know. What we do know is that on that day the church learned a lesson that they would tell over and over in the years to come. In the face of human need, of enormous hunger, Jesus gave his followers a powerful challenge: "You give them something to eat." Christ did not feed that great number without human instrumentality. In Matthew's account of the feeding, the role of the disciples is prominent. The church must have understood that to follow the Lord Jesus always meant compassion and care.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Jesus' command has not changed. We are still to rise to the challenge: we are to give them something to eat. We remember the last parable he gave the disciples: "Inasmuch as you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." We need to tell those who are hungry or fearful or anxious about the future that the people of God have always faced some wilderness, some crisis. Often these problems have seemed insurmountable or impossible. What is the Christian response in the face of so much suffering and pain?
We cannot hide behind "compassion fatigue." Surely this is not God's will. But what are we to do with all these foreclosures, people without work, and millions without health insurance? Can God somehow take our loaves and fishes and work a miracle today? Or is the task hopeless?
Mother Teresa helps me here. Once she was asked by a reporter: "Why do you do what you do? Your job is impossible. All these dying people. All these starving people. What difference do you think you can possibly make?"
She looked at him through those little wire-rimmed glasses and said, "Young man, I do what I can, where I am, with what I have." Isn't this a proper response for us all?
You might remind your congregation that whatever our government leaders do in Washington, we are to be a compassionate people. We cannot let the "least of these" fall through the cracks. All those without jobs, all those without health insurance, all those little children who will have no breakfast and perhaps no lunch without school lunch programs -- the voiceless need someone to speak for them. Perhaps letters to our legislators or letters to the editor of our local paper might be a good way for Christians to respond to some of our needs today.
We must be careful to remind our congregations that Jesus was concerned with the whole person. Many in the pews still think that faith only deals with spiritual concerns. Jesus stretched spiritual matters to include body, mind, and spirit. In fact, a good sermon might ask what it means to be a spiritual person today. Someone has said that you can tell the priorities of our lives by looking at the stubs in our checkbooks or that long list of charges on our credit cards. Remember, Jesus did say that where our treasure is, there we find our hearts.
Here are two stories that you might find helpful. President Lincoln would tell the story of a chaplain during the Civil War who went from battalion to battalion. He always asked pious questions like "Do you believe in the Second Coming?" "Brother, are you saved?" "What do you think of the virgin birth?" One rainy day a soldier was trying desperately to pull a cannon out of the mud. The chaplain laid a hand on his shoulder and asked piously, "Brother, are you saved?"
The mud-splattered man turned in fury and said, "Don't ask me riddles, I'm stuck in the mud!" Perhaps the chaplain would have been better served by simply rolling up his sleeves and helping the man with the cannon.
There is another response to our hard problems. Dr. Wayne Oates told a story about a farmer that got his wagon stuck in the mud after a torrential rainstorm. A friend happened along on a tractor and discovered the man in distress. Offering to help, he hooked the tractor to the wagon and pulled the wagon out of the mud onto solid turf. The grateful farmer tried to express his gratitude, saying, "I don't know how to thank you enough. Just please know that if I ever find you stuck in the mud, I will do everything in my power to pull you out. But if for some reason I can't pull you out, I will get into your wagon and sit with you."
The heart of the gospel is answering Jesus' challenge: "You give them something to eat." Like Mother Teresa, all we are asked is to do what we can, where we are, with what we have. This response is the essence of the gospel.
SECOND THOUGHTS
There Is an Eraser on the Pencil
by Ron Love
Romans 9:1-5
Paul laments that some of his Jewish brethren have not come to know the grace of Jesus the Christ. One can feel his distress in the words he chose to express his feelings of desperation when he wrote, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." He knows that his Jewish friends, living under the legalism and oppression of the Law, do not know the freedom of living under grace. Paul does all that is in his ability to share the Good News with them. He preaches, he visits in the synagogues, he teaches, he dialogues, and he befriends. He does all of this in attempt to show them the beauty of salvation by faith alone. No longer do they need to keep laws and mandates and be measured by deeds but they can be free to live godly lives directed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Paul realizes that he is no better than any other of his Christian brethren but he also realizes that as an apostle, called to service on the Damascus Road, he has a special position in the church to lead. He is to set an example. Paul even writes in another treatise that more is expected of the leaders and teachers in the church. Leaders and teachers will be judged by a higher standard because of the responsibility imposed on one who is to be an example for others. Paul accepts this responsibility, which means that the "great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" is only heightened.
Two of the biggest news stories in recent weeks deal with leaders who seem to be absent of anguish in their hearts. They are not leaders who have great sorrow because others may be left out. They would not pass Paul's test to be an example unto others.
First is the scandal involving the British newspaper The News of the World. Rupert Murdoch, the paper's owner, appeared before the House of Commons and said that it was "the most humble day of my life." The king of the tabloids was humbled because he and his organization were caught invading the privacy of grief-stricken families. And so it seems for The News of the World that there was no anguish whatsoever for destroying the souls of others. The News of the World did not invite people in, it invaded their private lives instead. What if their editors and reporters could express feelings of great sorrow and unceasing anguish? Then possibly they would know the boundary line between decency and debauchery.
Second is the impasse over raising the debt ceiling in Congress. Democrats and Republicans have drawn lines over which neither will step. Each side claims that their position is best for the country. Each side, staunch in their ideology, refuses to compromise with the other. What is missing from the negotiations are feelings of great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the American people, who must live with uncertainty about the resulting effects on employment, investments, taxes, and entitlement programs. Do we balance the budget on the backs of the disabled? Do we refuse to raise taxes to please our Tea Party constituents? Do we deny seniors their Social Security benefits? Do we refuse to close tax loopholes for multibillion-dollar corporations? In their public speeches platitudes are offered for those who may suffer but one does not get the feeling of any real anguish of heart on the part of our leaders. If there was, instead of posturing they would be compromising.
Paul's concern for the Jews, expressed in the words "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart," is applicable in so many situations. It is to express genuine concern for those who are being left out. It is to work diligently, as Paul did, to invite everyone in.
There is an eraser on the pencil. Lines can be removed so that all may become incorporated.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss the major news events of the week and how they are affecting us emotionally and spiritually.
II. Relate how these major news stories are played out each day on a much smaller scale in our homes, workplaces, and churches.
III. Dialogue on how Paul's genuine concern for others can alleviate many of the impasses in our lives.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Some congregations wonder why they do not grow. They have "disciplitus." The disciples were thrilled when a crowd of more than 5,000 showed up to listen to Jesus teach. However, when dinner time came they added up the apparent resources and asked Jesus to send the crowd home to be nourished. The same can be said about many of our churches. We want people to fill the pews and offering plates on Sunday but when it comes to healing the hurt, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the lonely and imprisoned, and caring for children and aging grandparents, we want them to go someplace else. "Call the clinic," says the secretary. "We send our food to the soup kitchens," replies the fellowship chairman. "Check with Goodwill," suggests the civic leader. "Have you tried Human Services?" queries the evangelism committee. There is always someplace to send them, but we wonder why they quit coming to church. Jesus said, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
* * *
Five loaves and two fish -- clearly not enough to feed 5,000 people -- became enough when the power of Christ entered. That same message is true for us today, especially when we are faced with a task that seems overwhelming at the time it occurs. We say, "I can't do that -- I don't have enough" of whatever is needed (usually faith, trust, or love). Yet by including Christ's power, we discover that we do have enough.
A very interesting experiment was done on some rabbits. They were kept in a special cage, fed food high in fat content, surrounded by fluorescent lighting, bombarded with emissions from microwave ovens, and they breathed smoke and other kinds of bad air that was pumped into the cage. Several of the rabbits sickened very quickly and were close to death. Amazingly, one little rabbit with a deformed hind leg survived. He remained fat and healthy in spite of the dreadful environment. The scientists conducting the experiment became very suspicious. They had hired college students to feed the rabbits and they strongly suspected that these students were somehow protecting the little rabbit with the deformed leg. So they set up a video camera to record the students who were coming in to feed the rabbits. Much to their amazement, they discovered that one of the students had a bad leg and wore a brace. Every time she came in to feed the rabbits, she would reach down into the cage, pick up the little rabbit with the bad leg, stroke it, love it, and talk endearingly to it. Who would ever dream that a little love would be enough to make a rabbit thrive in spite of its deadly surroundings? Who would ever dream that the little love we find within ourselves to give could have an amazing impact on our surroundings and our lives?
* * *
After you've eaten a microwavable dinner, what do you have left? The external packaging, the bag it came home from the store in, the plastic wrapper, the cardboard or plastic tray, the residue of the food (juice, gravy, chicken bones, and so forth), a paper napkin or two, an aluminum can or styrofoam cup for your drink, a plastic knife and fork, and paper towels to wipe up after -- and then you put it all in a garbage bag. It's all disposable, after all. We are a disposable society. Manufacturers even plan for it -- many things we used to fix we now throw away, because it's set up to work that way. We have a whole industry built on our disposability -- the garbage industry. We are no longer impressed with something like Jesus' miracle of feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. He had 12 big baskets of leftovers -- by today's methods he'd need 12 garbage trucks to haul away the leftovers! It's all for the sake of convenience. Who'd want to put themselves out, anyway? Sure we pay for the packaging, plastic, and metal we throw away. Give that money to hungry people in a less industrialized society? Well... no. Jesus' encounter with the little boy's lunch and 5,000 hungry people should impress us. The more we give away, the more we have -- and less to throw away, yet more to use again.
* * *
Five loaves + two fish = plenty for everyone + 12 baskets of leftovers.
What sort of arithmetic is that? It's divine arithmetic, of course. In God's way of tallying, things always come out better than our school mathematics classes would lead us to expect. Here are some more examples of divine arithmetic:
* 1 + 1 = 3 (see Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
* 100% - 10% = 110% (see Malachi 3:10)
* 1 wrong + 1 right = perfection (see Matthew 5:44-45)
* 7 x 70 > 490 (see Matthew 18:21-22 RSV)
* 99 + 1 = great joy (see Luke 15:3-7)
* 1 Christian + the Holy Spirit = 3,000 converts (see Acts 2:14-41)
* * *
Terri Mauro writes a weekly column about parenting and schooling children with special needs for About.com. She asked her readers to send her stories about experiences, good or bad, that parents had had in church. One sent this story:
My 16-year-old son with autism entered a talent show at his public high school to sing Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" One of the kids in the youth group came just to hear him and it's not even her high school. The youth pastor came and brought another teen with him. The youth pastor then asked the youth choir director if she could find a place on her program at an upcoming fund-raiser for Daniel to sing his song. She said, "That's what we're all about!" As far as I know, my boy is the only soloist on the agenda... AND our senior pastor asked the congregation at all four services this past weekend to come to the fund-raiser to hear Daniel sing. Wow.
Wow, indeed.
* * *
When my son Ben was seven years old and in the second grade, I went up to tuck him into bed one night and found him crying. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me about how at school that day, during recess, he and his friend Monty were playing with a four-square ball. The ball got away from them and rolled to where the "big kids" were playing and when Monty went to retrieve it one of the big kids kicked the ball -- and it hit Monty in the face, bloodying his nose.
Hurt and embarrassed, Monty ran to a copse of trees near the playground. Ben followed. When Ben found Monty, he was sitting under the trees, crying.
"What did you do?" I asked Ben.
"I cried too," he said.
At seven years old, Ben had, instinctively, understood the essence of the gospel.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
In what has become a classic, the short film Baptism tells the true story of Alfredo, a young Mexican boy who was orphaned by a house fire that left him terribly scarred. He lives on the streets until one day he happens upon an orphanage where the children play and attend school happily under the care of a kindly priest and his staff.
Alfredo watches from a distance for several days. When the priest sees him, he invites Alfredo into the orphanage but tells the other children there that they must decide if Alfredo can stay or not.
There is a long moment while the children, assembled in the schoolyard, look upon Alfredo and his scars. Then one little boy leaves his place in the assembly, walks to Alfredo, takes him by the hand, and says the only word of dialogue in the film: "Hermano" (Brother).
The film ends with a fiesta and fireworks as the children celebrate the arrival of a new brother.
(Baptism: The Sacrament of Belonging, 14 minutes, is available through St. Anthony Messenger Press, Franciscan Communications, 28 Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498; Toll-free phone: 800-488-0488; Website: www.americancatholic.org)
* * *
One wonders how many geniuses and great artists have been lost to humanity because a little effort was not taken to include them into the artistic community. Here are a couple of success stories:
Leila Naylor Morris (1862-1929) was a prolific hymnist who wrote and published more than 1,000 gospel songs, including "Nearer Still Nearer" and "Can the World See Jesus in You?" Her career looked as though it would be cut short when at the age of 50 her eyesight began to fail. To solve the problem, her son built a 28-foot blackboard with oversized staff lines so she could continue to write music, which her husband then transcribed onto paper.
Irving Berlin, one of America's greatest composers of popular music, probably would never have made it today. He didn't know how to read music and he played the piano by ear -- and only in the key of F-sharp. His publisher, however, recognized his talent and had two pianos specially built that could, with a lever, transpose his F-sharp creations into other keys. The pianos are today on display at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American Jewish History. (Just as a side note, it is almost impossible for a person with the gift of "perfect pitch" to play such a piano.)
* * *
In his e-book Customer Empathy: Inspirational Stories of Internal and External Customer Service... From the Heart, Ross Shaffer tells stories that customers have told him about how retail employees have, by their empathy, service, and extra effort, changed bad days into good and even changed people's lives.
Here's one of my favorites:
I don't wear makeup. Neither do my close girlfriends. We are what you would call "natural" girls. When my fiance and I set our wedding date, I knew I wanted to look beautiful on "my day." So about a month before the wedding I went to our local mall to buy a knife for our wedding cake and try to get some tips from someone at a makeup counter. When I got to our largest department store, I didn't know there were going to be ten different makeup counters. It was overwhelming. Then I heard a pleasant voice say, "When's your wedding?" The salesperson pointed at my shopping bag, which bore the logo of the nearby wedding store.
"July 13. I want to look pretty but I don't know what to buy," I answered.
The makeup woman (Sasha) put me in a chair and proceeded to turn me into a princess bride. I couldn't believe it. I also couldn't believe how much it all cost. But Sasha said, "No worries. I'm going to send you home with the basics and samples for the rest. You'll be beautiful."
She was being so kind. Then I started sobbing. "There is no way I can make myself look like this on my wedding day."
Sasha said, "You won't have to. Come and see me a few hours before the wedding and I'll do it for you." I told her I couldn't afford a "makeup artist" and she said, "Who said anything about money? You're going to have your wedding pictures for a lifetime. You have to look gorgeous." My husband nearly forgot his vows when he saw me. Now every time I look at our wedding pictures I think of Sasha, my personal makeup angel.
-- H.Z., Los Angeles
* * *
For our 30th wedding anniversary, our son and daughter-in-law took us out to dinner at a fancy new restaurant near their home in central Pennsylvania. We arrived to discover plates in every geometrical configuration possible and a menu full of entrees we couldn't understand, much less pronounce.
My son directed me to the steak portion of the menu and when the waiter arrived, I asked for one of the steaks and a baked potato. As the words "baked potato" left my mouth I saw my son's face react in embarrassment and horror. He began to correct me: "Dad, they don't have baked potatoes here -- only smashed..."
But the waiter shushed him with a raised hand and addressed me: "Sir, if you would like a baked potato, I will make it my business to get you a baked potato. I trust that butter and sour cream will be satisfactory?"
Oh, more than satisfactory! It was perfect.
I don't know how much extra effort that baked potato required but with his hospitality and effort, that waiter turned what might have been a stiff and uncomfortable dining experience into a lovely evening with our kids. And his tip reflected our gratitude.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
The You That's You
by Dean Feldmeyer
Annabelle Cline wanted to be
Best of friends with Margaret McGee.
But Annabelle found, and it made her sad,
That a friendship with Margaret was hard to be had.
"Unacceptable! Don't fit in!"
Said Margaret to Ann. "You're much too thin."
So Ann, unhappy with such a fate,
Ate some cake and gained some weight.
But Margaret did not care for that.
"Unacceptable! You're too fat!
Besides," the surly Margaret said,
"Your hair is much too long, and red."
Ann sighed, but knew how she'd respond.
She'd bleach her hair a honey blonde
And cut it short just like a boy.
Yet none of this brought Margaret joy.
"Unacceptable!" she cried.
"Your clothing is not dignified.
You look too much like you, you see.
You should be looking more like me."
The hair, the weight, the clothes, oh dear.
Now it was becoming clear
To Ann, who finally realized
That with true friends you're always prized
Not for the things you say or do,
But just for being the you that's you.
* * *
Hymn to God's People
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mimi's black and Brian's tan.
Mom's a woman, Dad's a man.
Carrie's brown and James is red.
Dave has no hair on his head.
Cindy's hair is long and brown,
Reaching almost to the ground.
Mary Ann can fix what's broken.
Rich can't hear words that are spoken.
He speaks with his fingers moving,
Giving evidence and proving
God has made and loves us all --
Everybody, short or tall.
Jim is kinda short and round.
Tom can't bend and touch the ground.
Brenda refuses to eat
Anything that touches meat.
Jack won't eat things that are green.
Barbara is always clean.
Tim wears checks, Maria stripes.
Lisa laughs and Harold gripes.
Tonya digs the rock 'n roll.
Robbie grooves to jive and soul.
God made people different, see, so
You don't have to be like me.
All those people, dark or fair,
Walking, riding in a chair.
Big ones, small ones, fat or skinny,
Big groups, small groups, few or many,
Ones with round or narrow eyes,
Ones of every shape and size,
Them what's even, them what's odd,
Every one is made by God.
So open up your arms real wide
And let God's people come inside.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
People: God is good to all and his compassion is over all that he has made.
Leader: God upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
People: God is near to all who call and hears their cry.
Leader: My mouth will speak the praise of God,
People: and all flesh will bless God's holy name forever and ever.
OR
Leader: Come into the presence of the One who feeds the hungry.
People: We come to receive the bread of life.
Leader: God loves you and freely offers you the desires of your hearts.
People: We are truly grateful for the generosity of our God.
Leader: Good, then feed the rest of God's children, whatever their hunger.
People: As God's people and disciples of Jesus, we will feed God's hungry ones with joy.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"For the Beauty of the Earth"
found in:
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELA: 879
"God Will Take Care of You"
found in:
UMH: 130
AAHH: 137
NNBH: 52
NCH: 460
"God of Grace and God of Glory"
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594/595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
Renew: 301
"Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service"
found in:
UMH: 581
H82: 610
PH: 427
CH: 461
LBW: 423
ELA: 712
Renew: 286
"Here I Am, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 593
PH: 525
AAHH: 567
CH: 452
ELA: 574
Renew: 149
"Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life"
found in:
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
"Jesu, Jesu"
found in:
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELA: 708
CCB: 66
Renew: 289
"Cuando El Pobre" ("When the Poor Ones")
found in:
UMH: 434
PH: 407
CH: 662
ELA: 725
"Ubi Caritas" ("Live in Charity")
found in:
CCB: 71
"They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love"
found in:
CCB: 78
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who opens your hand and feeds all creation: Grant to us, your children, the courage to take our place with you as we open our hearts and our hands to feed the hungry; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, to worship and praise you, for you are the Creator and Sustainer of us all. As we raise our voices to you in praise, fill us with your Spirit, that we may raise our hands to feed your people. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we allow our hearts to be hardened to the plight of the poor.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are overwhelmed by the complexity of our own lives. We are often unsure of how we are going to make it ourselves. We hear the news of poverty and hunger around the world. We see the signs of it in our own communities. It is more than we can bear sometimes and we shut our hearts to the suffering of others. Forgive us and so fill us with the compassion of your Christ that we may with joy reach out to those around us who are in need. Amen.
Leader: God desires to satisfy all the needs of creation. God desires to use us in that work. God's love and forgiveness are ours so that we may reach out to others. Know God's love and share it with others.
Prayer for Illumination
Send the light of your Spirit upon us that as your word is proclaimed our hearts may be moved with compassion for those in need, which you give us as an opportunity to serve you. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We offer our praise and adoration to you, O God, for you are the fount of all good and gracious gifts. You open your hand and we are fed.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are overwhelmed by the complexity of our own lives. We are often unsure of how we are going to make it ourselves. We hear the news of poverty and hunger around the world. We see the signs of it in our own communities. It is more than we can bear sometimes and we shut our hearts to the suffering of others. Forgive us and so fill us with the compassion of your Christ that we may with joy reach out to those around us who are in need.
We give you thanks for the abundance of creation. You have given us a world that offers us a wondrous variety of good things. We thank you for all with which you have blessed us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need and especially for those whose poverty makes existence difficult. We think of those who are hungry and those children who have never known a full stomach. We know that you desire all your people to be well fed. Help us to join you in bringing the abundance of your earth to all who are in need.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Show the children a plant that looks like it is dying and explain to them that it needs food. Tell them you are going to put the plant on a window sill where it can get more light. Ask them if that will help feed it. Then suggest giving the plant more water, playing music for it, or talking to it. Talk about how plants need light and water as well as food but that when a plant needs food nothing else will do. It is the same way with people. Food isn't the only thing that people need -- but if they don't have enough it is the most important thing at the moment. You might even want to start a little mission fund with the children.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Do Something
Matthew 14:13-21
Objects: a lunch bag with a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and a drink inside; a first-aid kit
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have heard about the time Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with fives loaves of bread and two fish? (let the children answer) It was a miracle that no one ever forgot. There is another part of the story. This part is about what the disciples wanted to do. The people had been listening and visiting with Jesus all day. As it got closer to evening, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people home so they could eat and go to bed. The disciples knew that the people were getting hungry and when people get tired and hungry they get grouchy. It happens to you and me, doesn't it? (let them answer) When I don't eat at the right times and when I get tired, I begin to talk a little louder and I want a bigger space to be more comfortable. There isn't a lot of space when there are 5,000 people!
When the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away, Jesus shocked them by saying, "No, I don't want to send them home; you give them something to eat." Now, how were they going to feed 5,000 people? We know that they fed all 5,000 with some fish and bread.
I think it is interesting that Jesus told the disciples they should do something. The disciples wanted to send the people home. That's the way we do it when we don't want to handle the problem. Jesus said you must do something for the people.
I brought my lunch bag with me today. Inside it I have a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and something to drink. (show them the items) If you told me that you were hungry, I could do two things. One, I could send you home. If I did it the way Jesus would do, I would give you my lunch. If someone told me they were really cold and felt terrible, I could send them to the Salvation Army or to Goodwill. Jesus teaches us to give them our coats. Let's say that someone is very tired and can hardly walk. You tell them to call a friend to pick them up or you can give them a ride in your car or on your bicycle. If someone is hurt in a fall, you can tell them where the drugstore is or you can use your first-aid kit. (show them the first-aid kit) Remember what Jesus said: "You do something."
It is very easy to tell someone where to go or what to do but Jesus wants us to be involved with other people. He wants us to do things for others and to help them whenever we can. You will never make a friend for Jesus if you just tell them where to go but if you show them love and do something for them, they will know God's love is inside of you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 31, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
In our lectionary gospel text for this week, Jesus confronts an eerily similar challenge. He teaches and heals a crowd estimated at 5,000 -- but when the time for the potluck arrives, his concerned disciples realize that they have nowhere near enough resources to feed the throng (as any decent caterer knows, five loaves of bread and two fishes just won't get the job done). So they advise Jesus to "send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." No one would dispute that the disciples' concerns were legitimate and like many of our budget hawks today, their solution to the obvious mismatch of needs and resources was to point out that people needed to take on the responsibility of caring for their own problems. But Jesus has a different vision. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Roger Lovette notes that Jesus' response to the hunger of the crowd is to tell his disciples that the crowd "need not go away"; instead he gives his worried disciples a challenge, telling them, "You give them something to eat." In other words, even if we don't have enough food, even if we don't know how we can afford it, Jesus challenges us to somehow find a way to share what meager resources we do have and "give them something to eat." The miracle, of course, is that God's blessing does provide a "free lunch" for the crowd -- but Roger reminds us that we misread the meaning of this miracle if we think that God (or our government) is a "sugar daddy" who will always provide everything we want. Instead, Roger tells us, the onus is on us to set in motion the events that allow God to make miracles happen -- for it is only when we share the few loaves and fishes in our lives with others around us that crowds are fed and the needs of the world are met.
Team member Ron Love shares some additional thoughts on the political impasse and Paul's words in our epistle passage that "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." Ron points out that our leaders on all sides seem more concerned with protecting the integrity of the proverbial lines they've drawn in the sand and avoiding negative consequences for their narrow political self-interest than with the anguish that their inability to reach an agreement will cause for the people they claim to represent. While widespread suffering in the form of interrupted government services and higher interest rates looms, the president and congressional leaders of both parties are digging deeper trenches rather than finding common ground. Just as Jesus tells us in the gospel to find a way to reach out to others and "give them something to eat," Ron points out that Paul feels genuine concern for those who have been left out -- and Ron suggests that our leaders ought to feel the same level of urgency for how their actions will affect others. If they did, he posits, they'd remember that pencils have erasers -- and that lines we have drawn can be removed... even those "drawn in the sand."
You Give Them Something to Eat
by Roger Lovette
Matthew 14:13-21
THE WORLD
As the heat wave continues to sweep the country, the debt-ceiling deadline is turning up the heat on our politicians. Even as this serious battle wages on, there seems to be little connection to the mounting problems that surround us. There is $41 trillion on our national credit card -- yet 43 million of our fellow citizens are using food stamps; 14 million Americans are without work; and 2.87 million properties received notices of default, auction, or repossession in 2010. While our leaders in Washington seem to be diverted by power plays and grandstanding, we in the heartland have our own diversions. We wonder where Casey Anthony is staying, watch the True Blood vampire series, are enthralled with the last Harry Potter movie, and keep up with the Murdoch scandal. No wonder one writer wrote, "We play hard to forget that we live in a haunted house." Staring scary reality in the face is the last thing we want to do in this sweltering summer.
THE WORD
Church history tells us that the gospels emerged from a time that would even make our world look rosy by comparison. Rome ruled the day. Violence, injustice, and slavery were rampant. Sickness and death were everyday occurrences. Is it any wonder that the struggling church chose the boat -- a little vessel rocking along on a very stormy sea -- for their central symbol? So one of the lessons we need to keep reminding ourselves as we are barraged by too much dark information is that the little boat called the Church has always bounced along on very troubled waters.
Against a backdrop of the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod, Matthew joins all the other gospels to tell the story of the feeding of the 5,000. This story must have had enormous significance for the early church, as they told it six times in four gospels.
A great multitude found Jesus and he reached out in compassion to those that came. He preached but he also healed a great many on that hillside. They stayed all day and as evening came they grew restless. Most of them had brought little food -- many of them had little to bring. So the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves. Jesus' response? "You give them something to eat." Matthew's version of the story leaves out the disciples' reaction to Jesus' command. In Mark, the disciples threw up their hands: "Lord, do you possibly think we have enough money to provide food for all these people? There are thousands here." Matthew does mention a little boy and his tiny lunch of loaves and fishes. Jesus asked for the boy's lunch. He broke it, blessed it, gave it -- and not only there was enough for the multitude, there was even a great deal left over.
There have been many theories of how this miracle came about. Did people, seeing the boy's generosity, open up their own sacks and in their sharing all were filled? Did Jesus just miraculously multiply that tiny gift until all were fed? We do not know. What we do know is that on that day the church learned a lesson that they would tell over and over in the years to come. In the face of human need, of enormous hunger, Jesus gave his followers a powerful challenge: "You give them something to eat." Christ did not feed that great number without human instrumentality. In Matthew's account of the feeding, the role of the disciples is prominent. The church must have understood that to follow the Lord Jesus always meant compassion and care.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Jesus' command has not changed. We are still to rise to the challenge: we are to give them something to eat. We remember the last parable he gave the disciples: "Inasmuch as you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." We need to tell those who are hungry or fearful or anxious about the future that the people of God have always faced some wilderness, some crisis. Often these problems have seemed insurmountable or impossible. What is the Christian response in the face of so much suffering and pain?
We cannot hide behind "compassion fatigue." Surely this is not God's will. But what are we to do with all these foreclosures, people without work, and millions without health insurance? Can God somehow take our loaves and fishes and work a miracle today? Or is the task hopeless?
Mother Teresa helps me here. Once she was asked by a reporter: "Why do you do what you do? Your job is impossible. All these dying people. All these starving people. What difference do you think you can possibly make?"
She looked at him through those little wire-rimmed glasses and said, "Young man, I do what I can, where I am, with what I have." Isn't this a proper response for us all?
You might remind your congregation that whatever our government leaders do in Washington, we are to be a compassionate people. We cannot let the "least of these" fall through the cracks. All those without jobs, all those without health insurance, all those little children who will have no breakfast and perhaps no lunch without school lunch programs -- the voiceless need someone to speak for them. Perhaps letters to our legislators or letters to the editor of our local paper might be a good way for Christians to respond to some of our needs today.
We must be careful to remind our congregations that Jesus was concerned with the whole person. Many in the pews still think that faith only deals with spiritual concerns. Jesus stretched spiritual matters to include body, mind, and spirit. In fact, a good sermon might ask what it means to be a spiritual person today. Someone has said that you can tell the priorities of our lives by looking at the stubs in our checkbooks or that long list of charges on our credit cards. Remember, Jesus did say that where our treasure is, there we find our hearts.
Here are two stories that you might find helpful. President Lincoln would tell the story of a chaplain during the Civil War who went from battalion to battalion. He always asked pious questions like "Do you believe in the Second Coming?" "Brother, are you saved?" "What do you think of the virgin birth?" One rainy day a soldier was trying desperately to pull a cannon out of the mud. The chaplain laid a hand on his shoulder and asked piously, "Brother, are you saved?"
The mud-splattered man turned in fury and said, "Don't ask me riddles, I'm stuck in the mud!" Perhaps the chaplain would have been better served by simply rolling up his sleeves and helping the man with the cannon.
There is another response to our hard problems. Dr. Wayne Oates told a story about a farmer that got his wagon stuck in the mud after a torrential rainstorm. A friend happened along on a tractor and discovered the man in distress. Offering to help, he hooked the tractor to the wagon and pulled the wagon out of the mud onto solid turf. The grateful farmer tried to express his gratitude, saying, "I don't know how to thank you enough. Just please know that if I ever find you stuck in the mud, I will do everything in my power to pull you out. But if for some reason I can't pull you out, I will get into your wagon and sit with you."
The heart of the gospel is answering Jesus' challenge: "You give them something to eat." Like Mother Teresa, all we are asked is to do what we can, where we are, with what we have. This response is the essence of the gospel.
SECOND THOUGHTS
There Is an Eraser on the Pencil
by Ron Love
Romans 9:1-5
Paul laments that some of his Jewish brethren have not come to know the grace of Jesus the Christ. One can feel his distress in the words he chose to express his feelings of desperation when he wrote, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." He knows that his Jewish friends, living under the legalism and oppression of the Law, do not know the freedom of living under grace. Paul does all that is in his ability to share the Good News with them. He preaches, he visits in the synagogues, he teaches, he dialogues, and he befriends. He does all of this in attempt to show them the beauty of salvation by faith alone. No longer do they need to keep laws and mandates and be measured by deeds but they can be free to live godly lives directed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Paul realizes that he is no better than any other of his Christian brethren but he also realizes that as an apostle, called to service on the Damascus Road, he has a special position in the church to lead. He is to set an example. Paul even writes in another treatise that more is expected of the leaders and teachers in the church. Leaders and teachers will be judged by a higher standard because of the responsibility imposed on one who is to be an example for others. Paul accepts this responsibility, which means that the "great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" is only heightened.
Two of the biggest news stories in recent weeks deal with leaders who seem to be absent of anguish in their hearts. They are not leaders who have great sorrow because others may be left out. They would not pass Paul's test to be an example unto others.
First is the scandal involving the British newspaper The News of the World. Rupert Murdoch, the paper's owner, appeared before the House of Commons and said that it was "the most humble day of my life." The king of the tabloids was humbled because he and his organization were caught invading the privacy of grief-stricken families. And so it seems for The News of the World that there was no anguish whatsoever for destroying the souls of others. The News of the World did not invite people in, it invaded their private lives instead. What if their editors and reporters could express feelings of great sorrow and unceasing anguish? Then possibly they would know the boundary line between decency and debauchery.
Second is the impasse over raising the debt ceiling in Congress. Democrats and Republicans have drawn lines over which neither will step. Each side claims that their position is best for the country. Each side, staunch in their ideology, refuses to compromise with the other. What is missing from the negotiations are feelings of great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the American people, who must live with uncertainty about the resulting effects on employment, investments, taxes, and entitlement programs. Do we balance the budget on the backs of the disabled? Do we refuse to raise taxes to please our Tea Party constituents? Do we deny seniors their Social Security benefits? Do we refuse to close tax loopholes for multibillion-dollar corporations? In their public speeches platitudes are offered for those who may suffer but one does not get the feeling of any real anguish of heart on the part of our leaders. If there was, instead of posturing they would be compromising.
Paul's concern for the Jews, expressed in the words "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart," is applicable in so many situations. It is to express genuine concern for those who are being left out. It is to work diligently, as Paul did, to invite everyone in.
There is an eraser on the pencil. Lines can be removed so that all may become incorporated.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I. Discuss the major news events of the week and how they are affecting us emotionally and spiritually.
II. Relate how these major news stories are played out each day on a much smaller scale in our homes, workplaces, and churches.
III. Dialogue on how Paul's genuine concern for others can alleviate many of the impasses in our lives.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Some congregations wonder why they do not grow. They have "disciplitus." The disciples were thrilled when a crowd of more than 5,000 showed up to listen to Jesus teach. However, when dinner time came they added up the apparent resources and asked Jesus to send the crowd home to be nourished. The same can be said about many of our churches. We want people to fill the pews and offering plates on Sunday but when it comes to healing the hurt, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the lonely and imprisoned, and caring for children and aging grandparents, we want them to go someplace else. "Call the clinic," says the secretary. "We send our food to the soup kitchens," replies the fellowship chairman. "Check with Goodwill," suggests the civic leader. "Have you tried Human Services?" queries the evangelism committee. There is always someplace to send them, but we wonder why they quit coming to church. Jesus said, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
* * *
Five loaves and two fish -- clearly not enough to feed 5,000 people -- became enough when the power of Christ entered. That same message is true for us today, especially when we are faced with a task that seems overwhelming at the time it occurs. We say, "I can't do that -- I don't have enough" of whatever is needed (usually faith, trust, or love). Yet by including Christ's power, we discover that we do have enough.
A very interesting experiment was done on some rabbits. They were kept in a special cage, fed food high in fat content, surrounded by fluorescent lighting, bombarded with emissions from microwave ovens, and they breathed smoke and other kinds of bad air that was pumped into the cage. Several of the rabbits sickened very quickly and were close to death. Amazingly, one little rabbit with a deformed hind leg survived. He remained fat and healthy in spite of the dreadful environment. The scientists conducting the experiment became very suspicious. They had hired college students to feed the rabbits and they strongly suspected that these students were somehow protecting the little rabbit with the deformed leg. So they set up a video camera to record the students who were coming in to feed the rabbits. Much to their amazement, they discovered that one of the students had a bad leg and wore a brace. Every time she came in to feed the rabbits, she would reach down into the cage, pick up the little rabbit with the bad leg, stroke it, love it, and talk endearingly to it. Who would ever dream that a little love would be enough to make a rabbit thrive in spite of its deadly surroundings? Who would ever dream that the little love we find within ourselves to give could have an amazing impact on our surroundings and our lives?
* * *
After you've eaten a microwavable dinner, what do you have left? The external packaging, the bag it came home from the store in, the plastic wrapper, the cardboard or plastic tray, the residue of the food (juice, gravy, chicken bones, and so forth), a paper napkin or two, an aluminum can or styrofoam cup for your drink, a plastic knife and fork, and paper towels to wipe up after -- and then you put it all in a garbage bag. It's all disposable, after all. We are a disposable society. Manufacturers even plan for it -- many things we used to fix we now throw away, because it's set up to work that way. We have a whole industry built on our disposability -- the garbage industry. We are no longer impressed with something like Jesus' miracle of feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. He had 12 big baskets of leftovers -- by today's methods he'd need 12 garbage trucks to haul away the leftovers! It's all for the sake of convenience. Who'd want to put themselves out, anyway? Sure we pay for the packaging, plastic, and metal we throw away. Give that money to hungry people in a less industrialized society? Well... no. Jesus' encounter with the little boy's lunch and 5,000 hungry people should impress us. The more we give away, the more we have -- and less to throw away, yet more to use again.
* * *
Five loaves + two fish = plenty for everyone + 12 baskets of leftovers.
What sort of arithmetic is that? It's divine arithmetic, of course. In God's way of tallying, things always come out better than our school mathematics classes would lead us to expect. Here are some more examples of divine arithmetic:
* 1 + 1 = 3 (see Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
* 100% - 10% = 110% (see Malachi 3:10)
* 1 wrong + 1 right = perfection (see Matthew 5:44-45)
* 7 x 70 > 490 (see Matthew 18:21-22 RSV)
* 99 + 1 = great joy (see Luke 15:3-7)
* 1 Christian + the Holy Spirit = 3,000 converts (see Acts 2:14-41)
* * *
Terri Mauro writes a weekly column about parenting and schooling children with special needs for About.com. She asked her readers to send her stories about experiences, good or bad, that parents had had in church. One sent this story:
My 16-year-old son with autism entered a talent show at his public high school to sing Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" One of the kids in the youth group came just to hear him and it's not even her high school. The youth pastor came and brought another teen with him. The youth pastor then asked the youth choir director if she could find a place on her program at an upcoming fund-raiser for Daniel to sing his song. She said, "That's what we're all about!" As far as I know, my boy is the only soloist on the agenda... AND our senior pastor asked the congregation at all four services this past weekend to come to the fund-raiser to hear Daniel sing. Wow.
Wow, indeed.
* * *
When my son Ben was seven years old and in the second grade, I went up to tuck him into bed one night and found him crying. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me about how at school that day, during recess, he and his friend Monty were playing with a four-square ball. The ball got away from them and rolled to where the "big kids" were playing and when Monty went to retrieve it one of the big kids kicked the ball -- and it hit Monty in the face, bloodying his nose.
Hurt and embarrassed, Monty ran to a copse of trees near the playground. Ben followed. When Ben found Monty, he was sitting under the trees, crying.
"What did you do?" I asked Ben.
"I cried too," he said.
At seven years old, Ben had, instinctively, understood the essence of the gospel.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
In what has become a classic, the short film Baptism tells the true story of Alfredo, a young Mexican boy who was orphaned by a house fire that left him terribly scarred. He lives on the streets until one day he happens upon an orphanage where the children play and attend school happily under the care of a kindly priest and his staff.
Alfredo watches from a distance for several days. When the priest sees him, he invites Alfredo into the orphanage but tells the other children there that they must decide if Alfredo can stay or not.
There is a long moment while the children, assembled in the schoolyard, look upon Alfredo and his scars. Then one little boy leaves his place in the assembly, walks to Alfredo, takes him by the hand, and says the only word of dialogue in the film: "Hermano" (Brother).
The film ends with a fiesta and fireworks as the children celebrate the arrival of a new brother.
(Baptism: The Sacrament of Belonging, 14 minutes, is available through St. Anthony Messenger Press, Franciscan Communications, 28 Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498; Toll-free phone: 800-488-0488; Website: www.americancatholic.org)
* * *
One wonders how many geniuses and great artists have been lost to humanity because a little effort was not taken to include them into the artistic community. Here are a couple of success stories:
Leila Naylor Morris (1862-1929) was a prolific hymnist who wrote and published more than 1,000 gospel songs, including "Nearer Still Nearer" and "Can the World See Jesus in You?" Her career looked as though it would be cut short when at the age of 50 her eyesight began to fail. To solve the problem, her son built a 28-foot blackboard with oversized staff lines so she could continue to write music, which her husband then transcribed onto paper.
Irving Berlin, one of America's greatest composers of popular music, probably would never have made it today. He didn't know how to read music and he played the piano by ear -- and only in the key of F-sharp. His publisher, however, recognized his talent and had two pianos specially built that could, with a lever, transpose his F-sharp creations into other keys. The pianos are today on display at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of American Jewish History. (Just as a side note, it is almost impossible for a person with the gift of "perfect pitch" to play such a piano.)
* * *
In his e-book Customer Empathy: Inspirational Stories of Internal and External Customer Service... From the Heart, Ross Shaffer tells stories that customers have told him about how retail employees have, by their empathy, service, and extra effort, changed bad days into good and even changed people's lives.
Here's one of my favorites:
I don't wear makeup. Neither do my close girlfriends. We are what you would call "natural" girls. When my fiance and I set our wedding date, I knew I wanted to look beautiful on "my day." So about a month before the wedding I went to our local mall to buy a knife for our wedding cake and try to get some tips from someone at a makeup counter. When I got to our largest department store, I didn't know there were going to be ten different makeup counters. It was overwhelming. Then I heard a pleasant voice say, "When's your wedding?" The salesperson pointed at my shopping bag, which bore the logo of the nearby wedding store.
"July 13. I want to look pretty but I don't know what to buy," I answered.
The makeup woman (Sasha) put me in a chair and proceeded to turn me into a princess bride. I couldn't believe it. I also couldn't believe how much it all cost. But Sasha said, "No worries. I'm going to send you home with the basics and samples for the rest. You'll be beautiful."
She was being so kind. Then I started sobbing. "There is no way I can make myself look like this on my wedding day."
Sasha said, "You won't have to. Come and see me a few hours before the wedding and I'll do it for you." I told her I couldn't afford a "makeup artist" and she said, "Who said anything about money? You're going to have your wedding pictures for a lifetime. You have to look gorgeous." My husband nearly forgot his vows when he saw me. Now every time I look at our wedding pictures I think of Sasha, my personal makeup angel.
-- H.Z., Los Angeles
* * *
For our 30th wedding anniversary, our son and daughter-in-law took us out to dinner at a fancy new restaurant near their home in central Pennsylvania. We arrived to discover plates in every geometrical configuration possible and a menu full of entrees we couldn't understand, much less pronounce.
My son directed me to the steak portion of the menu and when the waiter arrived, I asked for one of the steaks and a baked potato. As the words "baked potato" left my mouth I saw my son's face react in embarrassment and horror. He began to correct me: "Dad, they don't have baked potatoes here -- only smashed..."
But the waiter shushed him with a raised hand and addressed me: "Sir, if you would like a baked potato, I will make it my business to get you a baked potato. I trust that butter and sour cream will be satisfactory?"
Oh, more than satisfactory! It was perfect.
I don't know how much extra effort that baked potato required but with his hospitality and effort, that waiter turned what might have been a stiff and uncomfortable dining experience into a lovely evening with our kids. And his tip reflected our gratitude.
-- Dean Feldmeyer
* * *
The You That's You
by Dean Feldmeyer
Annabelle Cline wanted to be
Best of friends with Margaret McGee.
But Annabelle found, and it made her sad,
That a friendship with Margaret was hard to be had.
"Unacceptable! Don't fit in!"
Said Margaret to Ann. "You're much too thin."
So Ann, unhappy with such a fate,
Ate some cake and gained some weight.
But Margaret did not care for that.
"Unacceptable! You're too fat!
Besides," the surly Margaret said,
"Your hair is much too long, and red."
Ann sighed, but knew how she'd respond.
She'd bleach her hair a honey blonde
And cut it short just like a boy.
Yet none of this brought Margaret joy.
"Unacceptable!" she cried.
"Your clothing is not dignified.
You look too much like you, you see.
You should be looking more like me."
The hair, the weight, the clothes, oh dear.
Now it was becoming clear
To Ann, who finally realized
That with true friends you're always prized
Not for the things you say or do,
But just for being the you that's you.
* * *
Hymn to God's People
by Dean Feldmeyer
Mimi's black and Brian's tan.
Mom's a woman, Dad's a man.
Carrie's brown and James is red.
Dave has no hair on his head.
Cindy's hair is long and brown,
Reaching almost to the ground.
Mary Ann can fix what's broken.
Rich can't hear words that are spoken.
He speaks with his fingers moving,
Giving evidence and proving
God has made and loves us all --
Everybody, short or tall.
Jim is kinda short and round.
Tom can't bend and touch the ground.
Brenda refuses to eat
Anything that touches meat.
Jack won't eat things that are green.
Barbara is always clean.
Tim wears checks, Maria stripes.
Lisa laughs and Harold gripes.
Tonya digs the rock 'n roll.
Robbie grooves to jive and soul.
God made people different, see, so
You don't have to be like me.
All those people, dark or fair,
Walking, riding in a chair.
Big ones, small ones, fat or skinny,
Big groups, small groups, few or many,
Ones with round or narrow eyes,
Ones of every shape and size,
Them what's even, them what's odd,
Every one is made by God.
So open up your arms real wide
And let God's people come inside.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
People: God is good to all and his compassion is over all that he has made.
Leader: God upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
People: God is near to all who call and hears their cry.
Leader: My mouth will speak the praise of God,
People: and all flesh will bless God's holy name forever and ever.
OR
Leader: Come into the presence of the One who feeds the hungry.
People: We come to receive the bread of life.
Leader: God loves you and freely offers you the desires of your hearts.
People: We are truly grateful for the generosity of our God.
Leader: Good, then feed the rest of God's children, whatever their hunger.
People: As God's people and disciples of Jesus, we will feed God's hungry ones with joy.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"For the Beauty of the Earth"
found in:
UMH: 92
H82: 416
PH: 473
NNBH: 8
NCH: 28
CH: 56
LBW: 561
ELA: 879
"God Will Take Care of You"
found in:
UMH: 130
AAHH: 137
NNBH: 52
NCH: 460
"God of Grace and God of Glory"
found in:
UMH: 577
H82: 594/595
PH: 420
NCH: 436
CH: 464
LBW: 415
ELA: 705
Renew: 301
"Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service"
found in:
UMH: 581
H82: 610
PH: 427
CH: 461
LBW: 423
ELA: 712
Renew: 286
"Here I Am, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 593
PH: 525
AAHH: 567
CH: 452
ELA: 574
Renew: 149
"Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life"
found in:
UMH: 427
H82: 609
PH: 408
NCH: 543
CH: 665
LBW: 429
ELA: 719
"Jesu, Jesu"
found in:
UMH: 432
H82: 602
PH: 367
NCH: 498
CH: 600
ELA: 708
CCB: 66
Renew: 289
"Cuando El Pobre" ("When the Poor Ones")
found in:
UMH: 434
PH: 407
CH: 662
ELA: 725
"Ubi Caritas" ("Live in Charity")
found in:
CCB: 71
"They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love"
found in:
CCB: 78
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who opens your hand and feeds all creation: Grant to us, your children, the courage to take our place with you as we open our hearts and our hands to feed the hungry; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, to worship and praise you, for you are the Creator and Sustainer of us all. As we raise our voices to you in praise, fill us with your Spirit, that we may raise our hands to feed your people. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we allow our hearts to be hardened to the plight of the poor.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are overwhelmed by the complexity of our own lives. We are often unsure of how we are going to make it ourselves. We hear the news of poverty and hunger around the world. We see the signs of it in our own communities. It is more than we can bear sometimes and we shut our hearts to the suffering of others. Forgive us and so fill us with the compassion of your Christ that we may with joy reach out to those around us who are in need. Amen.
Leader: God desires to satisfy all the needs of creation. God desires to use us in that work. God's love and forgiveness are ours so that we may reach out to others. Know God's love and share it with others.
Prayer for Illumination
Send the light of your Spirit upon us that as your word is proclaimed our hearts may be moved with compassion for those in need, which you give us as an opportunity to serve you. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We offer our praise and adoration to you, O God, for you are the fount of all good and gracious gifts. You open your hand and we are fed.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are overwhelmed by the complexity of our own lives. We are often unsure of how we are going to make it ourselves. We hear the news of poverty and hunger around the world. We see the signs of it in our own communities. It is more than we can bear sometimes and we shut our hearts to the suffering of others. Forgive us and so fill us with the compassion of your Christ that we may with joy reach out to those around us who are in need.
We give you thanks for the abundance of creation. You have given us a world that offers us a wondrous variety of good things. We thank you for all with which you have blessed us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need and especially for those whose poverty makes existence difficult. We think of those who are hungry and those children who have never known a full stomach. We know that you desire all your people to be well fed. Help us to join you in bringing the abundance of your earth to all who are in need.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Show the children a plant that looks like it is dying and explain to them that it needs food. Tell them you are going to put the plant on a window sill where it can get more light. Ask them if that will help feed it. Then suggest giving the plant more water, playing music for it, or talking to it. Talk about how plants need light and water as well as food but that when a plant needs food nothing else will do. It is the same way with people. Food isn't the only thing that people need -- but if they don't have enough it is the most important thing at the moment. You might even want to start a little mission fund with the children.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Do Something
Matthew 14:13-21
Objects: a lunch bag with a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and a drink inside; a first-aid kit
Good morning, boys and girls! How many of you have heard about the time Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with fives loaves of bread and two fish? (let the children answer) It was a miracle that no one ever forgot. There is another part of the story. This part is about what the disciples wanted to do. The people had been listening and visiting with Jesus all day. As it got closer to evening, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people home so they could eat and go to bed. The disciples knew that the people were getting hungry and when people get tired and hungry they get grouchy. It happens to you and me, doesn't it? (let them answer) When I don't eat at the right times and when I get tired, I begin to talk a little louder and I want a bigger space to be more comfortable. There isn't a lot of space when there are 5,000 people!
When the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away, Jesus shocked them by saying, "No, I don't want to send them home; you give them something to eat." Now, how were they going to feed 5,000 people? We know that they fed all 5,000 with some fish and bread.
I think it is interesting that Jesus told the disciples they should do something. The disciples wanted to send the people home. That's the way we do it when we don't want to handle the problem. Jesus said you must do something for the people.
I brought my lunch bag with me today. Inside it I have a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and something to drink. (show them the items) If you told me that you were hungry, I could do two things. One, I could send you home. If I did it the way Jesus would do, I would give you my lunch. If someone told me they were really cold and felt terrible, I could send them to the Salvation Army or to Goodwill. Jesus teaches us to give them our coats. Let's say that someone is very tired and can hardly walk. You tell them to call a friend to pick them up or you can give them a ride in your car or on your bicycle. If someone is hurt in a fall, you can tell them where the drugstore is or you can use your first-aid kit. (show them the first-aid kit) Remember what Jesus said: "You do something."
It is very easy to tell someone where to go or what to do but Jesus wants us to be involved with other people. He wants us to do things for others and to help them whenever we can. You will never make a friend for Jesus if you just tell them where to go but if you show them love and do something for them, they will know God's love is inside of you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, July 31, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
