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NEW KILPATRICK PARISH CHURCH
open hearts, open minds, open faith
Gathering for Communion
Be here my friends
be here
round the table
be here with all who have ever been here
this is not a lonely place
for surrounding us
in a great witness of love
are the first of the ancients
who journeyed into the unknown
who dared trust the unfamiliarly new voice of love
who spoke words into the world
fresh and unheard before
yet they believed
and the travelled
and so with Abraham the traveller
and Ishmael the forgotten
and Isaac the sacrificed
and Esau the expelled
and Jacob the liar
and Joseph the dreamer
and Moses the barefooted prince
we gather here
at this timeless table
a fixed point in time
that passes through all time
this is not a lonely place
but one where the stories are told
of compassion and love
of grace and renewal
of passion and anger
of redemption and hope
These are wordless stories
they don’t need to be told
by the sound of a voice
but in the heart
that breaks
when bread breaks
and all stories ever told
and sacrifice and giving
of love fulfilled and grace unconditional
are set free
in crumbs
this is not a lonely place
because here we are
and whoever we are
God is
God does not forget the appointment of this hour
God does not the meeting place of love
God does not forget who has been invited
and when they shall be met
It is a unique place
of spectres and ghosts of the past
made real in the saints of today
in the stories told
that raise the dead
into a new place
at this table
as we share their story
in the companionship
of so many
here
seen and unseen
this is not a lonely place
so let us
reflect on what we do
who shares with us
who bread the bread here
and spills open the wine
into the world
and wonder
what could this possibly be
that does so much
with so little
Come let us gather
amid the bread and wine
and all the is yet to be
Joseph 3
Story of Joseph told through Luke 15:11-23
A communion service
The Prodigal
Jesus said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’
Let us pause for the impatient
for a generation that needs what is only immediate
where investment never made by time
that matures
and grows in wisdom
For the immediate opportunities
rather than the slower future ones we need to wait on
SILENCE
“So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country.
Let us pause for the travellers
whose sights are set on things
beyond their dissatisfaction
who leave something behind
before engaging with recreating it
whose dissatisfaction
is enough to leave that which loves him
behind
SILENCE
There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had.
Let us pause for that age
who spends life today
without an eye to tomorrow
who lives only in the moment
the richness of now
and who have no inkling
for tomorrow
who do not look forward to tomorrow
now is the moment
SILENCE
After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt.
Let us pause
for the hungry
those the rich trade off
those the land has forgotten
those who do not experience the justice of creation
SILENCE
He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.
“That brought him to his senses.
Let us pause for the moment of enlightenment
when the puzzle of life
clicks a bit more into place
where injustice’s question
is asked
and the journey towards an answer
begins
SILENCE
He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

Let us pause for the returners
who come back
once they have broken
who find a place they call home
and dare believe it is still there
SILENCE
“When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.
Let us pause
for all parents
whose hearts beat still
to the rhythm of their children’s names
and still make a space
for them to live
SILENCE
The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’
“But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time
Let us pause
for those who do not listen
to those who put themselves down
who have forgotten the excuse
and the reason they left
and find this new moment of return
the place where love is made real
where love can be shared again
after so much time being held onto
within being given away
SILENCE
From the Prodigal
to Joseph
the return is made real
the space is created
where a new thing happens
or re-membering the broken relationship
bring back together
that which has been broken or lost
It is where we meet tonight
as you are invited
quietly
to bring you own brokenness
bring your own relationships
longings
hurts
wounds
here
to be made whole again
at the table
that welcomes brokenness
and promises love
SILENCE