September 11th, 2022

Sermon By Rev Joel Crouse

We sure do love our opinions. Knowing what we know, and holding to it, is comfortable

– and it is easy. When life was dangerous – and the things we needed to know were

based on day-to-day survival – it was probably pretty helpful, too. But today the world is

complicated and nuanced and noisy. Yet still, our brains are better at processing

information when we agree with it. Once we have an opinion, we are likely to notice all

the ways the opinion is supported – and ignore or miss the counter arguments. Social

media – envisioned as a place of bountiful opinions – has only made it worse. You can

spend all day in that infamous echo chamber, having your opinions bolstered and never

challenged. The algorithm will make it so. This is indeed the tragedy of the commons –

when our minds cannot be changed, we cannot find common ground, we cannot see

when we have got things wrong, and we cannot hold sway when we are right.

And yet we know holding so fiercely to an opinion is wrong, even when we so

desperately want to keep it. We sometimes feel, in the fight for it, that we have lost

focus on the opinion itself – that we have become about winning and not about believing

something. Indeed, we see all sorts of times in society when people have argued

fiercely against something – how many of us had relatives who swore they would never

wear a seatbelt and are now grandparents who would never think of putting their

grandchild in the car without one? They came around. Research over time shows we

often do – about smoking bans, about not using plastic bags at the grocery store, even

when it came to sensible choices we made the during the pandemic. Our minds can be

changed, just sometimes it happens while we are still kicking and screaming.

So isn’t our first lesson a lesson for us? In that reading, God is angry. To Moses, God

announces plans to consume the people, who, having been delivered from their

enslavers in Egypt, appear to have lost their way. But Moses pleads their case: give

them another chance, he says. And what does God do? God’s mind changes. God

takes a pause, listens to Moses, and decides that, yes, maybe those people have been

through a lot, and they do indeed deserve a break. And what does that say to us – who

are fallible in so many ways– that God’s mind can be changed? Should our minds also

not be so open?

In fact, we have many historical examples of great change happening in the world

because people changed their minds. Martin Luther, for one, walked away from one

way of understanding our relationship with God to create another. Many of the disciples

of Jesus were people whose mind were changed when they heard the gospel. In

August, Mikhail Gorbachev died, a figure who would have loomed large among those of

us who remember the cold war. Gorbachev was a member of the Communist Party in

the Soviet Union, and a successful one. But the reason we know who he is, why he is

admired in history – is because he changed his mind. His radical reform of the system

he had once supported led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and an end to communism and

the Soviet Union as we know it.

The Queen, who we honoured this week for her constancy and stability through 70

years on the throne, was, by nature of the job, less knowable to us. But for all those

resolute steps, the Queen who took the throne at 25 was a different thinker from the one

who formally appointed her last Prime Minister two days before she died. If reason

doesn’t change our minds, often life will take care of that for us.

And yet, wouldn’t it be better if it weren’t so hard? If we didn’t first dig in our heels, and

hold our position, and not just listen, or pay attention to the world around us? How does

any change happen? People share their opinions, and you begin to see sense in them.

Or you look around and see the way that what you believe is unsustainable for the

earth, or harmful to others, or selfish, or built on anger and not reflection.

This is what our gospel this morning is ultimately about: Jesus cares about the one

missing sheep because we have the room, the power to change our minds. We can

repent. We can choose to see the world differently. Surely this was true of the tax

collectors, who, having spent their lives taking, came to hear Jesus teach them how to

give. Surely this is true of so many sins of pride and judgement; letting go of them is an

act of changing one’s mind. What is the other side of hate but a mind changed to love?

Changing our minds, as God shows us in our first lesson, is not weakness, but strength.

The journey of being changed lies behind mercy and forgiveness, the two most life-

giving acts we have in our power. To do so, we must listen, and we must pay attention

to the world. We must know that when we plant our heels in the sand and refuse to

budge, we are, in truth, fighting for what matters.

Amen.

September 4th, 2022

Sermon By Rev Joel Crouse

This summer, in Nova Scotia, Erin and I found the simple life on the ocean. Or perhaps,

I should say, it found us. It took a while – human nature tends to look for complexity

even in simplicity. But eventually, we got there – those moments when all the noise and

buzz of life goes quiet, and you find yourself in the world that God must have imagined

for us in Genesis. 

We have an old jalopy sailboat, one passed down from my parents. It is nothing fancy.

We might be able to sell it for a few hundred dollars. The sails are old, the rigging is

loose, the cabin is musty, the lights don’t work, and the 5-horsepower engine on the

back starts when it wants to (and when we remember to bring gas). Usually, our sails

start with lots of chatter – and a little bickering – about the best way to get off the

mooring, what destination we will take, where the best wind lies. But at a certain point,

calm settles on the boat. We listen to the hum of the swing keel. We watch for a chance

encounter with a porpoise. We feel the sun and the wind, and all the stress drifts away.

What matters in life – this peaceful moment, this gift from God – becomes our focus, a

time to think deeply about our place in the world. To find clarity.

And ultimately, this is the point of our gospel this morning. This is the message that

Jesus is trying to impart to the large crowds travelling with him, filled with people who

seek to be his disciples. His words sound harsh; whoever doesn’t hate father and

mother – and the rest of your family – can’t be a good disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry

the cross can’t be a disciple. Whoever doesn’t give up their possessions cannot be a

disciple. The cost of discipleship is certainly high.

But what is Jesus really saying? Certainly the gospel is not asking us to abandon our

families. It is not asking us to give up what we own. It is not asking us to be perpetually

suffering. 

Sometimes, Jesus swings the pendulum far to one side to make a particular point. In

this case, I think it is this: to be a true disciple, you must silence the noise and buzz of

life, and see what truly matters.

And who is often noisier in our lives than our families – who may write a narrative for our

lives even before we have had a chance to write it for ourselves. Even when done out of

love, this can be toxic. Who are the people most able to get under our skin? Even the

most generous families can confuse our own beliefs and stifle our own independence.

The least generous families conscript us into their way of thinking and become a source

of conflict.

Yet to be disciples of the gospel, we must know ourselves. We must be independent

thinkers. We must go against the common narratives. We must be clear about what we

believe.

And what of our possessions, or our desire for them? Surely, they are equally

distracting. We are taught early to want for more, never to be happy with good enough.

But the desire for bigger and better is also a dangerous distraction. It has done great

harm to our natural world. It has corrupted our souls. It is toxic to the gospel. And so

Jesus says you cannot crave bigger and better – at all costs – and be a true disciple. 

So the cost of discipleship is simple. Indeed, it is a simple life requiring strong willpower

and endurance. We must resist the voices of those we love most when they distract us.

We must shed our desire for possessions. We must silence the human world around us

to hear the voice of God. 

It may seem like a paradox: the gospel is a complex creation, requiring wisdom and

nuance, hard to hold and easy to lose. But to find it at all, Jesus says to us, we must

first distill life down to its most simple ingredients: love, kindness, generosity. From that

starting point, we can begin a path of true discipleship.

No sail is ever the same. It is different every time because the ocean is always

changing. Sometimes it is as flat as a shiny plate. Sometimes it is rolling with white

caps. Sometimes the wind blows from the east, and sometimes from the west. And it is

the same with the world, the one that the disciples of the gospel must navigate. It is

always changing, unsteady under our feet. Yet in that complexity, we may find

simplicity. From there, our steps may be more certain, more sure, and more true.

Did we hear the voice of God on the water this summer? I certainly returned to land

after every sail feeling more clear-headed, more at peace. 

In one of our most quiet sails, watching the horizon, we saw a whale crest the water,

splashing back down into the deep. That is not something you see every day. It is

something wonderful we would have missed had we been fussing about human wants

and needs.  

There is indeed a cost to true discipleship, a challenge pressed upon us. But there are

also many gifts. Silence the world of unnecessary noise, and we hear the voice of God.

Clear our view of what blocks us from the gospel, and we may glimpse the beauty of

creation in its truest form. Amen.

August 28th, 2022

Sermon by Pastor Ron Nelson

August 28, 2022, Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Turtle Island

Sirach 3:17-29, Psalm 68 3:3-10, Hebrews 12:18-24, Luke 14:1-14

IF YOU LOOK IN THE FRONT OF THE ELW, PAGE 46, UNDER LECTIONARY 22, YEAR C, YOU WILL

SEE SIRACH IS AN “OR” FOR TODAY. I DO NOT KNOW WHY THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT SIRACH

THAN THE ONE I AM USING BUT AT LEAST THEY ARE HONOURING SIRACH. LIKE WISDOM,

WHICH WE USED THREE SUNDAYS AGO, SIRACH IS IN THE APOCRYPHAL DEUTEROCANONICAL

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THIS SECTION IS BETWEEN THE OLD TESTAMENT (OT) AND

THE NEW TESTAMENT (NT). MANY MORE BOOKS THAN WHAT IS IN THE CANON, WHICH WAS

APPROVED IN ABOUT 300 AD, WERE WRITTEN AND THESE HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY MOST

CHURCHES. TODAY’S BOOK’S FULL TITLE IS, ‘THE WISDOM OF JESUS SON OF SIRACH’.

IF YOU HAVE NOT BOUGHT A BIBLE RECENTLY, WHY NOT BUY THE “NEW REVISED STANDARD

VERSION OF THE NEW ANNOTATED OXFORD BIBLE WITH THE APOCRYPHA.” NO, I DO NOT GET

A COMMISSION.

SIRACH WAS WRITTEN IN ABOUT 180 BC AND SEEMS TO BE WRITING AGAINST THE GREEK

PHILOSOPHERS. QUITE FRANKLY, THOSE PHILOSOPHERS WERE/ARE A PROBLEM. THE NT AND

MOST OF OUR THOUGHT PATTERNS TODAY WERE INFLUENCED BY THE GREEKS AND WE LOST

THE ABILITY TO “THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.” AS I SAID NOT TOO LONG AGO, THE HEBREW

WRITERS ALWAYS RECOGNIZED THERE ARE/WERE ALTERNATIVES TO THE WAY WE THINK. SO

AS THE GREEK WRITERS WERE NARROWING DOWN THEIR VIEWS OF GOD, SIRACH WAS

SAYING, LOOK AT THE WISDOM OF ISRAEL LEARNED IN THEIR LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

NOW I KNOW MANY PEOPLE GIVE UP ON THE OT BECAUSE OF THE KILLINGS AND THE

MISTRANSLATIONS OF GENESIS ETC. BUT IN DOING THAT, WE MISS WHAT WAS REALLY BEING

SAID. THE WRITER OF SIRACH IS STRESSING THE ESSENTIAL ROLE THAT HUMILITY PLAYS IN THE

LIFE OF PEOPLE WHO SEEK TRUE GREATNESS. REMEMBER THIS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT EATING

AT THE TABLE.

I JOKE ABOUT THE FACT THAT IT IS, “HARD TO BE HUMBLE WHEN YOU ARE PERFECT IN EVERY

WAY.” THE TROUBLE IS MANY LEADERS DO NOT PRACTISE HUMBLENESS, GENTLENESS,

COURTESY, AND CONSIDERATENESS. SIRACH SAYS, “WHEN CALAMITY BEFALLS SOMEONE

PROUD, THERE IS NO HEALING.” THIS SHOULD BE THE “BACKGROUND MUSIC” FOR OUR LIVES.

DO WE WANT TO HEAR THAT OR DO WE WANT TO HEAR THE MUSIC OF THE “HORN-

HONKERS?”

THE GOSPEL STORY FOLLOWS THIS UP WITH THE BIBLICAL HUMILITY THAT JESUS IS TALKING

ABOUT. “FOR WHOEVER EXALTS HIMSELF WILL BE HUMBLED, AND WHOEVER HUMBLES

HIMSELF WILL BE EXALTED.”

THE LETTER OF HEBREWS FOLLOWS UP ON THAT BY PUTTING OUR SIMPLE CHRISTIAN ACTIONS

ON A LEVEL OF SYMBOLISM ANYONE WOULD ENJOY HEARING. FOR INSTANCE, WE CAN

ACTUALLY “TOUCH” THE GOD AMONG US AND COME INTO CONTACT WITH GOD’S SPIRIT AS

WE INTERACT WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND US. COVID DID NOT ALLOW THAT AND WE ARE STILL

SUFFERING FROM SOMETHING BEYOND THE ACTUAL CAUSES OF THE DISEASE. YES, HEBREWS

HELPS US SEE WHAT A GOOD LIFE CAN BE. SOMETHING WE HAVE BARELY TASTED IN

MOMENTS OF GRACE.

THIS IS THE SORT OF VISION THAT FREED JESUS TO BE JUST EXACTLY WHO HE WAS, WHETHER

OUT ON THE ROAD, OR PRAYING ALONE, OR AT A PARTY. JESUS LOVED PARTIES/BANQUETS.

WE NEVER HEAR THAT HE REFUSED THE OFFER OF A GOOD MEAL. AND ONCE HE WAS AT THE

PARTY, HE WOULD TRANSFORM THE TABLE INTO A SPACE FOR EVANGELIZING REPARTEE. YES,

JESUS HAD A QUICK MIND AND A SPLENDID GIFT OF “REPARTEE.” [I LOVE THAT WORD.] WHEN

JESUS WAS AT A MEAL THERE WAS ALWAYS SOME CONTENTION, “WHY DOES HE LET HER

TOUCH HIM?”, “WHY DOES HE EAT WITH SINNERS?”, “WHY DO THEY NOT WASH THEIR

HANDS?”, AND FINALLY AT HIS “LAST MEAL,” “THE ONE WHO WILL BETRAY ME IS WITH ME AT

THIS TABLE.” BUT JESUS ALSO HAD ENOUGH WIT/REPARTEE IN EACH SITUATION THAT EVEN IN

THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD WHEN IT WAS/IS NOT VERY PEACEFUL, IT WAS/IS NEVER

BORING.

DOING WEDDINGS WAS NEVER MY FAVOURITE MINISTRY BUT WEDDING BANQUETS WERE

FUN UNTIL A COUPLE YOUNG MACHO GUYS HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK. [WATCHING AN OLD

PASTOR DO THE CHICKEN DANCE ALWAYS GOT SOME PEOPLE EXCITED. I AM SURE THERE ARE

SOME HOME MOVIES OF THAT HAPPENING.] WEDDING BANQUETS WERE ONE OF JESUS’

FAVOURITE SYMBOLS FOR THE REIGN OF GOD. SO, JESUS WOULD USE THE OCCASION TO

EXPLAIN WHAT THE REIGN OF GOD COULD/SHOULD BE LIKE. GET OUT OF THE RUT OF ALL

PEOPLE HAVING TO BE THE SAME. REPEATING THE SAME OLD IS LIKE SERVING LEFTOVERS

WEEK AFTER WEEK. SO JESUS SUGGESTED THEY START INVITING NEW PEOPLE TO THEIR

BANQUETS.

BECAUSE OF OUR SANITARY LAWS TODAY, THE RESTAURANT CANNOT TAKE THE LEFT-OVER

FOOD AT A BANQUET TO FEED THE HUNGRY BUT I KNOW OF TIMES WHEN THE GUESTS TOOK

THE LEFTOVERS TO A COMMUNITY FOOD KITCHEN. MAYBE NEXT TIME THEY COULD INVITE

SOME OF THE STREET PEOPLE TO THE BANQUET???

I GUESS THAT IS WHY AT 82+ I KEEP WRITING SERMONS, SO THAT WE CAN LOOK AT THIS

PORTION FROM LUKE TODAY AND SAY IT IS JUST OFFERING US SOME WISE ADVICE. I THINK

THE WRITER OF LUKE GIVES US SOME REASONS THAT HE WANTS US TO SEE MORE THAN JUST

GOOD ADVICE IN THIS TEXT. THIS IS A SABBATH MEAL IN THE HOME OF A PHARISEE WITH

SOME “CHURCH” PEOPLE. JESUS’ ADVICE ABOUT SEEKING A LOWER PLACE AT THE TABLE

SOUNDS LIKE GOOD SHREWD ADVICE. BUT IT HAS TO BE MORE THEOLOGICAL THAN THAT OR

WHY AM I HERE?

LUKE’S GOOD SAMARITAN AND THE PRODIGAL SON PARABLES WERE MORE FASCINATING. BUT

THIS PARABLE IS TOLD IN THE SECOND-PERSON SINGULAR AND WE RECOGNIZE THE TYPICAL

AND THE ORDINARY. THE OTHER TWO PARABLES I JUST MENTIONED SEEMED PRETTY

OBVIOUS BUT THIS ONE HAS TO BE LOOKED AT MORE DEEPLY.

SO LET US AGREE THIS IS NOT A PARABLE ON MANNERS, SOCIAL ETIQUETTE OR THE LIKE. IT IS

NOT TELLING US HOW TO SECURE GOD’S GOOD GRACES AND GAINING SOME HEAVENLY

PAYBACK. YOU SEE JESUS KNEW WHO HE WAS. SO WHEN HE WATCHED/WATCHES PEOPLE

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION, THERE HAD/HAS TO BE A PLAYFUL GLINT, A TWINKLE IN HIS EYES,

WHEN EVERYONE IS FINALLY SETTLED IN THEIR PLACE AND THEN JESUS SAYS, “NEXT TIME YOU

GIVE A BANQUET, INVITE, THE POOR, THE CRIPPLED, THE LAME, AND THE BLIND.”

DINA AND I JUST HAD LUNCH WITH A FRIEND WHO BECAUSE OF A FIRE IN HIS APARTMENT

BUILDING ENDED UP LIVING WITH SOME “EXTREME CHRISTIAN PEOPLE.” WHEN THE GROUP

GETS TOGETHER, THEY LIKE TO EAT. OUR FRIEND MADE THE MISTAKE OF SAYING, “WHY DO

YOU NOT SHARE THIS WITH THE HOMELESS” AND AS THEY SAY, “THAT WENT OVER LIKE A TON

OF BRICKS.”

WHAT COULD HAPPEN AT SUCH A DINNER? THE ENTIRE TENOR OF THE GATHERING WOULD

CHANGE AS THE GUESTS ENTERED INTO THE SACRAMENT OF THE TABLE WHERE EATING

TOGETHER CAN BE A LIVING EXPRESSION OF SHARED HUMANITY. YES, EVEN IF JESUS SAID IT

LIGHTHEARTEDLY, HE WAS SERIOUS ABOUT THE GUEST LIST. EVERY MEAL JESUS SHARED WAS

ABOUT COMMUNION. EXCLUSIVITY IN COMMUNION IS ALWAYS SACRILEGE. IN FACT, IF WE

ARE THOSE WHO ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR CONVERSIONS, THIS IS IT. SEEKING COMMUNION

WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT IS WHAT IT IS REALLY ALL ABOUT. YES, AS OUR VALUES

GET REARRANGED, IT WILL BE UNCOMFORTABLE BUT IT WILL LEAD TO ENJOYING THE PEACE

OF COMMUNION AT THE MEAL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US - - FOR ALL OF US, WITHOUT

DISTINCTION.

WHEN THE ORIGINAL GROUP GATHERS A FEW WEEKS LATER, THEY MIGHT BURST INTO

STORIES ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES, ABOUT IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES THEY HAD NEVER

BEFORE IMAGINED. IT IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE JESUS SAYING, “THIS IS WHAT IT IS LIKE IN

THE REIGN OF GOD.” IN FACT, FOR INSTANCE, BY USING SIRACH TODAY WE ARE TELLING THE

ORTHODOX AND ROMAN CATHOLIC’S THAT WE ARE AT LEAST JUST AS OPEN TO THE WORLD AS

YOU ARE.

TODAY’S READINGS FOCUS ON HUMILITY AND TEACH US HOW TO ATTEND TO THOSE WHO ARE

THE MOST-NEEDY. AFTER ALL THESE CENTURIES LATER, THEY SEEM ESPECIALLY RELEVANT

TODAY. FOR US TO KNOW HOW TO CONDUCT OURSELVES WHEN WE LIVE IN A CULTURE THAT

PROMOTES SUCCESS, POWER, AND SELF-AGGRANDIZEMENT AT EVERY LEVEL, IS SO

IMPORTANT. AWARENESS – BOTH OF SELF AND OTHERS – IS ESSENTIAL. JESUS CALLS US TO

FOREGO OUR OWN WANTS, PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE IN NEED AND EXPECT NO REWARD IN

RETURN. THAT SOUNDS A LOT EASIER THAN IT IS AND SO WE CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT IT.

YES, IN JESUS’ DAY, SHARING A MEAL WAS A PROFOUND ACT OF SOLIDARITY. TO SIT AT A

TABLE WITH SOMEONE IMPLIED THAT YOU WOULD PRAY TOGETHER, AND THAT IMPLIED YOU

SHARED A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER. WHILE NOT EVERYONE

PROBABLY THOUGHT IT THROUGH IN THOSE TERMS, JUST LIKE WE PROBABLY DO NOT DO IT

EITHER, BUT THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT IT WAS/IS ALL ABOUT. THAT WAS WHY THE JEWS COULD

NOT EAT WITH THE GENTILES, THEY DID NOT PRAY IN COMMUNION, AND THEY COULD NOT

EAT WITHOUT PRAYING? THEREFORE, THEY COULD ONLY EAT WITH “THEIR OWN.” SO SAD!

QUITE SIMPLY FOR THEM AND US, ENTERING INTO COMMUNION WITH ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

DOES NOT PUT US ON THE SOCIAL PAGE OR SOCIAL REGISTER BUT ACCORDING TO JESUS, GOD

WOULD BE IN OUR DEBT. AS I SAY, THAT IS BEYOND MY PAY GRADE, MY PURVIEW. BUT IT

SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TO ME. YES, I/WE NEED GOD’S MERCY, AND WHEN WE RECOGNIZE

THAT, WE WILL FIND IT MUCH EASIER TO OFFER MERCY TO OTHERS. I AM SORRY I AM

LITERALLY NOT THERE SO THAT WE COULD BE EATING AND DRINKING AROUND THE TABLE

TODAY.

INCIDENTALLY, THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR’S ROUND TABLE WAS THAT THERE WAS NO

PECKING ORDER AMONG THE KNIGHTS. EVERY KNIGHT WAS EQUAL.

SIMILARLY, THE FAMILY KITCHEN TABLE IS/WAS THE SYMBOLIC, IF NOT A LITERAL PLACE

WHERE THE FAMILY PRAYS, SHARES FOOD, MEMORIES ARE PRESERVED, LAUGHTER REIGNS,

EVERYONE MATTERS AND YES, SOMETIMES WE EVEN CRY TOGETHER.

THE TABLE IS NOT A PLACE OF COMPETITION OR ACCOMPLISHMENT, IT IS ONLY A PLACE OF

FELLOWSHIP AND WELCOME. IS IT ANY WONDER, THEN, THAT THE TABLE IS ALSO THE

CENTRAL PLACE OF GATHERING AND COMMUNION WITH GOD AND WITH EACH OTHER. THIS

TABLE OF THE LORD IS THE HOLY PLACE WHERE THE VISION OF JESUS FOR A NEW WORLD

BEGINS TO TAKE PLACE. AT THIS TABLE, THERE IS NO POSTURING. WE ARE ALL EQUALLY IN

NEED OF FORGIVENESS, OF GRACE, OF GOD. AT THIS TABLE THERE IS NO COMPETITION, THERE

IS ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE. AT THIS TABLE THE ONLY WAY TO COME TO IT, IS WITH HUMILITY,

WITH OUTSTRETCHED HANDS AND BEING OPEN TO ALL. IF IT IS TRUE HERE, AT THIS TABLE,

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, IT IS AND WILL BE TRUE EVERYWHERE ELSE AS WELL. YES, THE MEAL IS

OVER, JESUS STANDS UP FROM THE TABLE, AND HOPEFULLY WE WILL REMEMBER THAT

EVERYWHERE JESUS IS, THERE WILL BE A FEAST/A BANQUET. AND WE WILL REMEMBER THERE

IS ROOM FOR EVERYBODY AT THE TABLE, NOBODY CARES WHO SITS WHERE, AND EVERYBODY

SHARES IN ABUNDANCE.

BUILD A LONGER TABLE,

NOT A HIGHER WALL,

FEEDING THOSE WHO HUNGER,

MAKING ROOM FOR ALL.

FEASTING TOGETHER,

STRANGER TURNS TO FRIEND,

CHRIST BREAKS WALLS TO PIECES,

FALSE DIVISIONS END. [ACS 1062 V. 1]

MAY WE BUILD SUCH A PLACE AMONG US

WHERE ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL IN LOVE.

GOD HAS CALLED US TO WORK TOGETHER

AND TO SHARE EVERY-THING WE HAVE. [ELW 523 V. 3]

LET US GO NOW TO THE BANQUET,

TO THE FEAST OF THE UNIVERSE.

THE TABLE IS SET AND A PLACE IS WAITING,

COME, EVERY-ONE,

WITH YOUR GIFTS TO SHARE. [REFRAIN]

AMEN.