Speaker: Pastor Will Starkweather

God’s Promise to Abraham: God promises Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars. Abraham believes.

Creation and Fall: Creation, Garden of Eden, fall into sin.

Week 5 of sermon series on Wisdom literature – This week, Pastor Will discusses the book of Wisdom.

Week 4 of sermon series on Wisdom literature – This week, Pastor Will discusses the book, Song of Songs.

Week 3 of sermon series on Wisdom literature – This week, Pastor Will discusses the book of Ecclesiastes.

Week 1 of sermon series on Wisdom literature – This week, Pastor Will discusses the book of Psalms.

Today is the first of five Sundays with gospel readings from John 6, the first four of which focus on Jesus as bread of life. Today Jesus feeds thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. What we have, what we bring to Jesus’ table, seems like it is not nearly enough to meet all the needs we see around us. But it is not the adequacy of our supplies or our skills that finally makes the difference: it is the power of Jesus working in the littlest and least to transform this world into the world God desires, a world where all the hungry are satisfied.

Mark’s gospel makes clear how great is the press of the crowd, with its countless needs to be met, on Jesus and his disciples. Yet in today’s gospel Jesus advises his disciples to get away and rest, to take care of themselves. Sometimes we think that when others are in great need we shouldn’t think of ourselves at all; but Jesus also honors the caregivers’ need. We are sent from Christ’s table to care for others and for ourselves.

When Amos reports his vision of God judging Israel for its mistreatment of the poor, he becomes a threat to the power of the priests and the king. John the Baptist also speaks truth to power, and Herod has him killed. In Herod’s fear that Jesus is John returned from the dead, we may hear hope for the oppressed: all the prophets killed through the ages are alive in Jesus. We are called to witness to justice in company with them, and to proclaim God’s saving love.