2 August - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – Year A

The Faith Action Programme would like to thank the National Stewardship Team writing pool for their thoughts on the tenth Sunday after Pentecost.

Introduction

Many of the lectionary texts throughout August raise themes of God's generosity and our response to it. In preparing material for this month, the national stewardship team held a series of online conversations to discuss how the texts spoke into these themes. We are grateful to Ken Brown, Janet Dick, Jo Love, Douglas Monaghan, Fiona Penny, Lucy Peppiatt, Darren Philip, Katherine Southern and Pauline Wilson for contributing to these discussions. Each week's themes were explored by reading all four texts aloud and inviting each person to respond to the question, "What stood out to you?" One participant then used these observations as inspiration to produce the worship material for each week. This could offer a model for exploring the texts with a small group in your own context and developing worship collaboratively.

Each week's material stands alone, or the month can be followed together as a series unpacking the generous nature of God and our response to it. Additional resources and support for exploring themes of generosity and stewardship are available by contacting stewardship@churchofscotland.org.uk.

This week, Jo Love, Resource Worker with the Wild Goose Resource Group, begins the season by celebrating our dependence on the abundant generosity of God.

Isaiah 55:1-5

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Offers that look too good to be true, usually are. But here is God, with no catches and no conditions and no payback plan, simply a big heart and open hands.

Seriously, how do we react to unconditional generosity on human terms? It is not necessarily easy to accept it. Where does such no-strings-attached giving show up for us? A birthday present is one thing, but how about when we cannot provide for ourselves and a friend steps in with food or money or lodgings? Even as we say thank you, we often insist how one day we'll return the favour, we'll pay it back.

What tone of voice do you hear in Isaiah's proclamation of God's appeal here? I hear warmth with gentle urgency, and I picture a beaming, smiling prophet, eager to communicate what is on offer, as if it is indeed an invitation to a party. Just come! That's it!

The sense of joyful eagerness is highlighted towards the end of the passage too, with the description of God's people extending the invitation to other nations and seeing them running to join the Israelites! This is a remarkable vision in the evolving understanding of God from the tribal God of Abraham to the universal God of all.

Imagine God's side of the offer – waiting to see who will accept all that is freely provided. In a beautiful reversal of the give/take dynamic, the taking from God is a giving to God – a giving of our trust, humility, dependence, thanks. Those who come and eat and drink are allowing God to be who God is! Is that the perennial challenge – in Isaiah's day and since – that people of faith recognise and rest in God as this unconditional Giver.

I am struck by this question – are we able to celebrate our complete dependence on God? Or what gets in the way? In what ways are we affected by cultural pressures to value independence and self-sufficiency? And what claims made about products or services would have us believe they are the answers we need? Why do we spend ourselves, our money, our time, on what is unsatisfying? We spend and spend and still go hungry. Isaiah tells us again the essence and source of true satisfaction – it comes from paying attention to God and acting on God's words.

Listen and come and you will have life, urged Isaiah on God's behalf – a wisdom Jesus repeated as He said, "I have come to give life – life in all its fullness."

Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21

In this psalm we hear very similar themes to Isaiah's prophetic call. Here the Psalmist testifies to the same attributes of God – love, mercy, goodness, compassion, righteousness, protection, patience.

As well as God's character being described, God's actions are named. What a strong cluster of verbs leap out from these verses – God helps, lifts up, gives food, satisfies need, hears, saves, protects.

I find it noticeable how God's generosity is described in both physical provision and emotional provision. There is also a greater expression of relationship. Where Isaiah primarily speaks for God, the Psalmist hints at mutuality, speaking of all living things looking to God, calling on God, praising God – making evident their trust and gratitude.

There is further re-emphasising of what Isaiah has said about God being the one who truly satisfies human need. Most translations begin verse 16: "You open your hand" – such an ordinary, physical gesture, one we can easily picture. For all the abundance of God's goodness, there is something understated in the language of Isaiah and the psalm – a sense of ‘enough'. We have other pictures in scripture of heaven as feasting and banquets. Perhaps here is a balancing picture of God as good steward of all God has made – satisfaction equates with enough.

Looking at the whole psalm, there is a pattern of swapping between addressing God: "I will exalt you, my God…" (v.1) and the third person format such as verse 8 where this passage begins, "The Lord is loving and merciful…"

Reframing the psalm entirely as addressing God in adoration makes a powerful prayer, affirming who God is and what God does. Our response to God in adoration, articulating our acknowledgment of God as God, is an act of stewardship in itself.

What would we add as our own specific testimony about which of God's qualities are known and felt by us in particular current situations, and what we have experienced God doing?

Romans 9:1-5

I could not see any positive connection with the overarching theme of stewardship, as found in the other three passages. This is the opening stanza of a complex section of Paul's letter commonly understood as his attempt to justify ‘the problem of the Israelites,' i.e., why had the Jewish people rejected Jesus?

Matthew 14:13-21

"Begin your preparation with a close reading of the text." I am so grateful to a friend (Doug Gay, for those who know him!) for this gem of advice on the best starting place every time we are preparing to lead worship. A close reading of the scripture passages. A slow, take-in-every-word-carefully reading. See what is there, what is actually there, not what familiarity may gloss over, or even add in! Especially when it is as familiar a story as this – the feeding of the 5,000.

In Matthew's gospel, this is a story given a significant context – Jesus grieving the death of John the Baptist. His gut reaction is to get away from everyone.

Staying with these opening words, I found myself picturing Jesus out on the lake, pausing His rowing, perhaps drifting, perhaps in tears. How long did He actually get to be alone? As Matthew tells it, while Jesus is in the boat, villagers are making their way on foot, so that the chance of wandering off alone is snatched away from Jesus, and the people have not come to comfort Him but are full of their own need. How does this connect with the clash between our own aching for solitude and the demands others place upon us?

I was also really struck by the minimal depiction of what happens in the hours that follow. It is a healing time. Not a teaching time. No parables or preaching. A grieving Jesus moves among those gathered and tends to those who are unwell. What does this say about the generosity of God? It made me think of times when we feel at our lowest ebb and are sure we have nothing to give, yet paradoxically that vulnerability and fragility become the very state that cracks us open for a stream of compassion to flow. Is it possible that Jesus Himself felt drained and depleted by His sorrow, and because of that was moved all the more by the illness and weakness He saw in others?

How does this perspective shape our understanding of what happens next? Unlikely and unpromising as a place where anything good might happen, the remote and desolate region has become a place of healing. Then comes another unpromising scenario – no food!

Again, what are our own stories about being so sure that available resources are hopelessly inadequate? How would we finish the sentence, "We have nothing here but…" what? What is our little that looks so useless? What are the circumstances we have been in that look like everything is against us, just as on that shore side it was getting late and getting dark and it was a desert area, far from any villages?

Yet this crowd was surely a transformed people by then! I hadn't thought of the effect on them of witnessing healing, and for some, experiencing healing. What about the effect on Jesus – exhausted, but also consoled? Reassured that His work can and will continue without John? In light of these possibilities, He takes seriously the paltry loaves and fish, not dismissing them but turning to God for blessing. Here is Jesus as steward of human resources. Seeing the potential in small things, always. Honouring the givers of small things, always. No one goes hungry; everyone is filled. Enough, and this time, more than enough.

It is a moment that strongly connects with the question raised by the call from Isaiah – our complete dependence on God is something to be celebrated.

Sermon ideas

This is the first in a series, so where do we want to go with it? There are three threads that seem strongest to me that could be explored, and a few thoughts are given for each.

Celebrating our dependence on God

We all need each other, yet ‘need' does not tend to be a word we like. Interdependence is key, or so we say, but ‘dependence' too is taken as weakness rather than strength. The world is heading towards so much isolationism and fragmentation, with all the increased aggression and mistrust they bring. So where do we see efforts directed back into relationship building and people getting together? And how do we wholeheartedly look at our total dependence on God and actually celebrate our need of God, which can never be separated from our need of each other?

Could your congregation come up with a new ritual to express this recognition of our reliance on God? What if that was an annual Sunday in our worship plan?

Following God who sets a high bar on generosity

The lectionary readings describe God's giving as abundant, extravagant, unconditional. This is not only a divine attribute for celebrating, but an example for following.

Our stories of the most generous things we do may likely be well-kept secrets, though, and understandably so. Generosity is not something we put on show, but we do love to tell stories of the generosity we have seen in others. Could a couple of people share such a story, or an experience of feeling replenished when they least expected it?

What is the link between trust and generosity? It's easier to give freely when we can trust our needs will still be met. Don't worry about food and clothes, said Jesus, seek first the Kingdom, and these other things will be provided for you.

Addressing the absence of enough

How do these readings sound to those who do not have enough? The inescapable and tough part of the complexity of provision is of course that not everyone has enough. This is neither acceptable nor inevitable, and given the highlighting of divine generosity in the readings, it is clearly against God's will. No wonder Jesus was tested by the possibility of miraculously turning stones into bread. Instead, God's will is demonstrated in trusting and equipping people to be good stewards of food, money, time, attention and all other resources. The good news, and the challenging news, is that our fulfilling this responsibility is God's risky choice for how to address the absence of enough.

Prayers

Call to worship and Gathering prayer
God of Life,
to You we come.
We gather in this place
to taste Your goodness
to lean on Your faithfulness
to remember Your kindness

To You we come,
our Strength and our Song.

Big-hearted God,
brimming with ideas,
what a crafter and grafter You are!
Fruits and flowers,
gardens and green spaces,
Your imagination is on show!
You dreamed up a world, a cosmos,
that is colourful, dramatic, alive,
full of spirit, Your Spirit.

Captivating Creator,
painter of summer skies
sculptor of petals and wings,
catcher of sighs and tears,
You care about detail
and You throw caution to the wind
and all for love's sake
all for goodness' sake.

Soak us in Your beauty, dear God,
and accept our wonder and gratitude
that You call us Your children and Your friends.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Confession / Repentance
Gracious God,
For all Your splendour,
we have to search for You sometimes;
for all Your promises,
we need to be reminded.
This is Your word to us –
as we go walking in the streets,
sitting in our homes,
concentrating on what needs done,
daydreaming for a moment –
You are always near.

So if we have felt far from You,
convinced You have gone
or anxious we are undeserving of Your love
or stuck in spiralling guilt and regret,
help us in our confusion,
release us from whatever is tormenting us,
forgive what needs forgiven,
understand what needs understood.

Keep us bighearted, good God,
come and help us
when we find it hard to forgive;
come and console us
when we meet with disappointment;
come and brighten us
when the colours fade and we get jaded.

Bring us back to ourselves
and to You, Amen.

Thanksgiving / Gratitude

At the time of writing it's too early to know what the news will be in the farming world, but by August in the UK, both vegetables and cereal crops will usually be getting harvested. Reasons for thanksgiving, related to our homegrown food supplies, will be well worth including in prayers of thanks. Any issues of concern could be included in intercessions. It is worth looking at how things are with the global winter wheat harvest too.

Generous God,
we are glad there are days
it's so easy to say thank You.
We are glad You understand the days
when all around seems like bad news.
So whether our thanks come easy today
or it's hard to see the positives,
we know You hear us and love us.

So in quietness, we want to share with You …
(Hold a time of silence after each phrase to allow personal prayer)

How things are in our family; and families close to us …
The uplifting happenings in the lives of our friends …

What is positive around our community …
How things are in our church …
What is changing for the better in our country …
Good news that has happened in countries across the world …

Thank You God,
for all that is going well,
for the determination of good people to keep going,
for every small, surprising joy in each day,
and for Your unfailing love and commitment to us.

Thank You.
And let all God's people say
Amen.

Dedication
Into Your hands
we place what we have and what we are.
We commit to spending our time well,
we commit to good uses of our money,
we commit to doing what is loving,
and all with God's gracious help. Amen.

Prayer for others / Intercession
In writing intercessions, I often try to think of who are the people connected with the focus of the service but who are not obvious, or may be obvious but perhaps not often named in our public prayers!

Generous God,
Source and Satisfier of all that we need,
hear us, in Your mercy and goodness,
as we pray for our world,
so well-resourced by You
and shared in trust with us.

We ask Your blessing today
on those who manage budgets
and take care of financial matters in charities,
and on all who serve as Church Treasurers,
looking after the money given each week.
Thank You for their dedication and skill.

We pray for people whose job it is
to lead decision-making on national budgets.
We pray for our Chief Financial Officer
and Chancellor of the Exchequer
that they will be responsible stewards
acting with sound judgement in all they do.

We pray for those who have more than enough,
that they will not take their comfort for granted
or lose touch with neighbours living on less,
but choose to follow Your example
in quiet and unadvertised giving.
Thank You for all who are habitually philanthropic.

We pray for those who do not have enough,
but are hungry in body
thirsty for affection and company and hope,
anxious because of low income.
Bear them up
and embolden them to speak out
and do not let us rest
as long as inequality persists,
but work for peace and justice to prevail.

These and all our prayers,
spoken and unspoken,
we bring in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

Blessing / Closing prayer
The Creator who made heaven and earth
goes with us
Bless us, God,
with imagination and wonder

Jesus who grieved and healed and fed
goes with us
Bless us, Jesus,
with trusting hearts and open hands

The Holy Spirit who pours out her help
goes with us
Bless us, Spirit,
with courage to be all we can be

May we walk in the strong love of the Trinity,
today and always, Amen.

Musical suggestions

God Welcomes All (GWA) is the new supplement to Church Hymnary Fourth Edition. This exciting new collection features over 200 hymns and songs in a wide range of styles by writers from Scotland and around the world.

The full music and words-only versions are now available; and digital resources, including the expansion of the existing Church of Scotland music website, will be published in due course, with streaming functions and further information on each song; backing tracks; and lyric videos. God Welcomes All is available to order from https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786225573/god-welcomes-all

Our online music resource is on the Church of Scotland website; you can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship. You will also find playlists for this week and liturgical seasons and themes on the Weekly Worship and Inspire Me tabs.

You can find further musical suggestions for this week in a range of styles on the Songs for Sunday blog from Trinity College Glasgow.

• GWA 20 – "We will extol you, God and King (One generation will call to the next)" – a contemporary song giving an alternative way to sing Psalm 145. Could be an opening song or sit next to the Bible readings.

• GWA 165 – "We till the earth, we tend the ground" – this one touches on a few different scripture stories, and might work best in this context using verses 1-4. Great words emphasising relationship with God in our responding to God's goodness.

• GWA 214 – "Christ tells us that we cannot serve (God and money)" – thematically less strong as it touches on a different section of Jesus' teaching, there are nonetheless good things to be singing in this one (and the ‘cannot serve both God and money' passage doesn't come up elsewhere in this series); it could work as a second song, with a word of intro that it speaks of economic justice and that the readings will have further perspectives about stewardship.

For a full list of GWA songs for a Narrative of Generosity, see the Additional Material for this month.

• CH4 100 – "O Lord, thou art my God and king" (Psalm 145) – a sung version of the opening verses of Psalm 145, which would work immediately preceding or following the Bible readings.

• CH4 121 – "In the presence of your people" – a joyful, lively celebration of God's goodness that would work well as the opening song.

• CH4 153 – "Great is thy faithfulness" – a strong, familiar tribute to God's provision faithfully given that could come after the reflection/sermon or to conclude the service.

• CH4 468 – "Son of God, eternal Saviour" – great lyrics touching on freely given gifts and our longing for the reign of peace; best placed between reflection/sermon and prayers for the world.

• CH4 655 – "For your generous providing" – although categorised as a communion song, this one is apt for having so much about provision, earthly things that don't satisfy, and the bread of kingdom living; would work well towards end of service.

• CH4 763 – "God bless to us our bread" – a short song which could work with the Dedication or as a sung response during the prayers for the world.

Reflecting on our worship practice

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the way we worship has changed and we need to reflect on the changing or newly established patterns that emerged and continue to emerge as a result of the disruption.

We can facilitate worship for all by exploring imaginative approaches to inclusion, participation and our use of technologies in ways that suit our contexts. This is not an exhaustive list, but some things we could consider are:

• Framing various parts of the worship service in accessible language to help worshippers understand the character and purpose of each part. This is essential for creating worship for all (intergenerational worship) that reflects your community of faith.
• Holding spaces for reflection and encouraging prayer to be articulated in verbal and non-verbal ways, individually and in online breakout rooms.
• In online formats the effective use of the chat function and microphone settings encourages active participation in prayer, e.g. saying the Lord's Prayer together unmuted, in a moment of ‘holy chaos'.
• While singing in our congregations is still restricted, we can worship corporately by using antiphonal psalm readings, creeds and participative prayers.
• Using music and the arts as part of the worship encourages the use of imagination in place of sung or spoken words.
• Use of silence, sensory and kinaesthetic practices allow for experience and expression beyond regular audio and visual mediums.

The following questions might help you develop a habit of reflecting on how we create and deliver content and its effectiveness and impact, and then applying what we learn to develop our practice.

• How inclusive was the worship?
  Could the worship delivery and content be described as worship for all/ intergenerational?
  Was it sensitive to different "Spiritual Styles"?
• How was the balance between passive and active participation?
• How were people empowered to connect with or encounter God?
  What helped this?
  What hindered this?
• How cohesive was the worship?
  Did it function well as a whole?
  How effective was each of the individual elements in fulfilling its purpose?
• How balanced was the worship?
  What themes/topics/doctrines/areas of Christian life were included?
• How did the worship connect with your context/contemporary issues?
  Was it relevant in the everyday lives of those attending and in the wider parish/ community?
  How well did the worship connect with local and national issues?
  How well did the worship connect with world events/issues?
• What have I learned that can help me next time I plan and deliver worship?

Useful links

You can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship in our online hymnary.

You are free to download, project, print and circulate multiple copies of any of this material for use in worship services, bible studies, parish magazines, etc., but reproduction for commercial purposes is not permitted.

Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.