God of the past, the future and the now, in John’s gospel, we see that your Son, Jesus, brings abundance now. Here we get wine at the wedding, healing for present community, the raising to life for this world, and the feeding of the body and soul for your glory, today, O Lord. We find that the abundant life you offer us doesn’t start after death, but is experienced through grace, here and now. This is the life we have when we feast on Christ – when we gnaw on your truth, munch on your mercy and crunch on your amazing grace, O God. You are leading us to a place where you can use us for the sake of others and the world that you have made.
Jesus, you love us. Jesus, you challenge us. Jesus, you send us out into the world, only to find there’s nowhere we can go where you’re not already there to welcome us. You feed us heartily, with all that we need. And since you are our God, our whole lives are contained in you, both now and forever. Help me chew on that for awhile. Amen.
This message is excerpted from “Help me to chew.” by Julia Seymour in the May/June 2023 Gather magazine. Today is the Second Sunday after Pentecost.
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