God is great, God is Good

God is great

God is good

Let us thank him for our food

By his hands

We all are fed

Give us Lord

Our Daily Bread

Amen.

I prayed this blessing at the dinner table until I moved away from home.  In fact, every once in a while, when we return to my parents’ house for a meal I will offer to say grace.  I always wonder if I’ll remember it and I am a little surprised when it rolls off my tongue every time.  So many memories fade over time but isn’t it funny what sticks? I can also remember the three main phone numbers I dialed as a child: our house, grandma’s house, and my best friend Whitney’s house.

Both of these examples of memorization point to one thing—connection.  Connection to God and connection to one another.  I remembered those phone numbers because that is how I got in touch with the people who were central to my life.  I remembered that blessing at dinner because that is how I was taught to give thanks to God. 

How often we say liturgies and prayers by rote…the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, a familiar line of scripture. But how often do we stop to ponder the meaning behind our words? 

God IS great! God IS good! By God’s hands we ALL are FED! Give us our DAILY bread! 

God is great and good beyond all measure.  God provides for us, feeding us bodily and spiritually.  We give thanks and ask that God supply us our daily bread, our manna! We ask for just what we need and trust that God will provide for it every day.  We don’t need to hoard the bounty, God is enough. 

As we approach the holiday season, I hope we will remember how it is that God provides food for all.  Manna does not rain down from the heavens every night and lay on the ground like dew before us.  I wish it were that easy.  Instead, God has given us the knowledge and means to provide food for all.  Yes, were we to fairly distribute food—all would be fed.  Instead, our greed and our politics cause some people to have leftovers rotting in the fridge while others starve.  I can’t help but think about the sparsely set tables of some of our neighbors and wonder how this blessing over the meal might sound in their ears. While their bellies rumble, do they wonder, is God great, is God good? Are we being fed? Are we receiving daily bread?

It is intended that we are God’s hands and feet in this world!  By HIS hands we are all fed!  It is our responsibility to care for one another.  When Cain murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy and God asked what became of his brother, Cain said, “am I my brother’s keeper?”  The implication is a resounding yes!

Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, “10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.”

Because God is great, because God is good, we thank him for our food…then we take upon ourselves the task of ensuring that out of our bounty our brothers and sisters are also receiving their daily bread.  Amen.