Pentecost 9–July 25
Food for All
Service Prayers for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
July 25, 2021
Food for Fifty: Lentil-Sausage Soup*
Brown in a large kettle 5 lbs. of pork sausage, broken into chunks.
Remove meat and pour off all but 1 cup of drippings.
Add: 10 medium onions, chopped; 5 cloves garlic, minced;
and 20 medium parsnips, cut in chunks (optional).
Cook 5 minutes until onions and garlic are tender.
Then add: 4-4.5 lbs. lentils;
5 Tbsp. salt; 1 Tbsp. marjoram;
6 qt. Cooked tomatoes or juice;
7 qt. water; and browned sausage.
Simmer about 30 minutes. Makes about 4 gallons.
– Doris Janzen Longacre, Living More with Less
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: We join together as hungry eaters
to be nourished by the food that you offer us.
Many: God of sustenance, give us this day our daily bread.
As you care for the wheat fields that turn into bread
and the vineyards that labor to produce sweet wine,
tend to our bodies by feeding us what we need for healthy growth.
God of abundance, give us this day our daily bread.
The rich crops that you have prepared are now ready
to be harvested by our hands and our hearts.
Holy Spirit, come! Give us this day our daily bread.
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
Holy Chef,
may we savor the dishes that you have prepared for us this day.
With each bite of your holy feast,
enliven our senses so that we may delight
in the new and tantalizing flavors you have created.
CONFESSION
Great Provider, we recognize that widespread hunger is no longer necessary.
You have given us humans the resources to feed all people,
yet we are selfish.
While we overfill our bellies with food
and lay to waste the spaces needed for crops to flourish,
others are crying out for crumbs from our tables.
Living God, cultivate within our hearts reckless generosity,
and plant within us spirits of simplicity and balance in body and soul. (Moment of silence and reflection)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Though at times we fail to be generous,
your generosity toward us is never-ending!
By sending Christ and the Spirit to your people,
you have extended generosity beyond measure.
Let us now do the same by greeting each other with a sign of peace.
CALL FOR THE OFFERING
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
As we have been granted great abundance,
let us offer up those blessings in God’s name.
DEDICATION
God of wonders, who enabled Jesus and Elisha to feed the multitudes,
bless these gifts and use them to fill empty stomachs and empty hearts.
May our offerings be multiplied to abundantly nourish all the people.
BENEDICTION
God’s love is overwhelming!
As we have been fed this day,
let us go and offer food and drink to others.
Grant us holy instincts of faith
as we trust in you, O God, to place the final touches
on our culinary masterpieces. Amen.
* This recipe can be utilized as an ’epigraph’ at the beginning of the worship bulletin or as a practical sermon application printed in an insert, along with recipes that may appeal to your own particular community.
Some other ways to practically and creatively use this recipe:
– Giving careful attention to health and safety protocols, create a community supper and invite the “5000”–the whole neighborhood, or a local shelter community, or some local population in need. Who is Jesus inviting your particular congregation to feed at this time?
– This summer Sunday service could be presented in the context of a community lunch or supper, perhaps even outdoors.
Additional Worship/Sermon Resources:
– Living More with Less, Doris Janzen Longacre, Herald Press, 1980 (particularly pp. 245-268)
– The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan, Penguin Press, 2006 (smaller articles on food consumption at www.michaelpollan.com/write.php)
– For They Shall Be Fed: Scripture Readings and Prayers for A Just World, edited by Ronald J. Sider, Word Publishing, 1997
– Proposed Resolution of Witness for General Synod 27: “On the Roles of Church and Government in Addressing Global Food Crisis” submitted by Justice and Witness Ministries and Wider Church Ministries, http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/gs27/gs27-6.pdf
“Food for All”: Service Prayers for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost was written by the Rev. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO.
©Copyright 2021, Faith INFO Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100. Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education. All publishing rights reserved.
