“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice . . .
is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:6–7)
Scripture texts
Psalm 65, 145; Luke 12:13–34.
Children’s story
See MCC’s FoodBasket Fun Page for children, available online at mcc.org or by calling 1-888-563-4676.
Prayer of confession (adapted)
Unison: This earth is yours, O God. You created its riches the water, the land, the minerals—sufficient resources for all your children’s needs. We confess that we are not good stewards of all you have placed in our care. Too often we think of ourselves first and only.
Leader: Creator God, forgive us.
Men: We are short-sighted and selfish with your gifts, squandering today what needs saving for tomorrow,
Women: hoarding “ours” instead of sharing what is yours, refusing to use some gifts at all.
Unison: Gracious One, forgive us.
Leader: We seek comfort and security for ourselves at the expense of bare essentials for others.
Unison: Show us your way, Lord, to bring Good News to the poor.
Women: We refuse to be swept into the whirlwind of your Spirit that will challenge and change us. Men:We object, complaining that we have challenge and change enough that disrupts our lives.
Leader: We look for reasons to reject new ways to respond to yourWord. Unison: O Breath of God, breathe fire into us again!
Men: We expect our government to protect us and our basic human rights.
Women: But we do not insist on fulfillment for others of those basic needs.
Unison: Forgive our lack of vigilance. In a country where we have both a voice in government and a responsibility to use it, we have not been good stewards of the gift of citizenship.
Leader: Fill us with the transforming power of your love.
Unison: Show us new ways to respond to your Gospel. Challenge and equip us to turn our compassion into action. Amen.
Benediction
Go forth in peace, and be of good courage; hold fast that which is good, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. And may the God who fills the hungry with good things fill us all with Christ-like love and with a consuming hunger for justice in our land and in our world. Amen.
—Banquet of Praise (Bread for the World, 1990)
Songs and hymns
- I sing the mighty power of God (Hymnal: A Worship Book 46)
- Brothers and sisters of mine are the hungry (Hymnal: A Worship Book 142)
- Let us break bread together (Hymnal: A Worship Book 453)
- As rain from the clouds (Sing the Journey 40)
- My soul cries out (Sing the Story 124)
