Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Readings – Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1,7-14

The proper collect for today invites our God to “bring forth in us the fruit of good work”. We regularly remember the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, generosity, and self-control. I think the easiest of the nine to practice is generosity.

Almost every day that I travel into Selinsgrove I see “green bridge” generosity. This is the generosity of people going south at Selinsgrove Ford flashing their lights or waving their hand at people who are attempting to turn left on 522 west. The south going drivers are generous, allowing those turning left to process west onto 522 while they wait. Small town generosity, putting others first.

Jesus in our Gospel reading points to giving a banquet and inviting the poor, the cripples, the lame, the blind, inviting the ignored, the overlooked, the neglected, the strange. Jesus stated that while these invited guests are not able to repay the host, the host “will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”.

What we do here at All Saints—hosting Martha’s Table, Meals for Seals, Meals on Wheels, ingathering for “Souper Bowl”, personal care items for Susquehanna University students, providing through the Clergy Discretionary Fund for school supplies and Mostly Mutts, and supporting the St. Nicholas Fund with grants in 2023 for gift cards for Selinsgrove Area first grade teachers, and in 2024 for children’s library books. Wow, the generosity of All Saints.

I am sure we all expand our generosity through many additional avenues. I seek to be generous through All Saints, and through other local organizations such as our local hospitals, D. & H. Ladder Company, the Selinsgrove Area swimming pool, the Mustard Seed, Susquehanna University, Bucknell University, the Regional Engagement Center, and many more. We also have the opportunity to expand our generosity through national organizations such as the American Red Cross, Disabled American Veterans, Shriners, and many more. We also have the opportunity to expand our generosity through international organizations like Polio Plus of the Rotary, shelter box, Episcopal Relief and Development, Nurses Heart to Heart, and many more. All Saints, local, national, and international generosity are part of my planning. Also, we extend our generosity through our wills and estate plans. I hope we all have those plans complete and in writing.

Our generosity, we will be blessed we are assured; we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Hear again in the words of the prophet Jeremah, do not chase

after worthless things and become worthless [yourself].

Do not squander precious water, pouring it into

cracked cisterns, that cannot hold water.

From the author of Hebrews:

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have…
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for by doing that some have entertained angels without
        knowing it…

Encourage each other in generosity.

Let mutual love continue.

We will be repaid beyond measure.

We will be blessed beyond measure.

From the lips of Jesus: