Altar Guild 

Martha Cross & Penny Curtis

Ushers

Available

Lectors

Jay Wyman (8)

Natalie Rollins (10)

Presenters

Available (10)

Lay Eucharist Ministers

Andy Milligan (8)

Sandi & Don Johnson (10)

Greeters

Louise & Ron Locke (10)

Flower Guild

Cate McMahon

Altar Flower Delivery

Sandi Johnson

Coffee Hour

Barbara O'Connor (8)

Sandi Johnson/Michele Hall (10) 

Dear All Saints and Sinners,

It is said that "We are beggars; this is true," were Martin Luther's last written words. As followers of Jesus, you and I too are "beggars" for God's grace, undeserved but given freely to us. A Christian beggar's faith then is centered not on what we give or say we believe, or even do, but on what is received from God: these gracious things that sustain us, bring healing and wholeness.

In Sunday's gospel, the Canaanite woman is a "beggar" like you and me, desperately longing and in need. She longs and needs Jesus' healing for her daughter. Initially, she is denied a place at the table, but in her hunger and need, she will take even "crumbs" of faith. Jesus' healing power and love are eventually extended even to this "undeserving" Gentile outsider. The good news is that this person on the margins of Jesus' mission finally receives grace and her beggar's faith reveals that the love of God exceeds the people and places we think are deserving.

Marginalized or not, we are all beggars before God, as Paul reminds the Romans-all "imprisoned in disobedience" and dependent on God. Our sense of "insider" and "outsider" crumbles in the face of our common need and God's abundant mercy to all, white or black, Jew or Gentile, looter or police, mentally ill or mentally stable. Instead of dividing people between those who have a place at the table and those who get crumbs, we have an opportunity to share hospitality with our fellow beggars who hunger for healing and wholeness.

It can be challenging to see ourselves living amidst the abundance of America as beggars. So think about the Canaanite woman as our model, as she persists with both humility and audacity. As followers of Jesus and "beggars" for God's grace, we too live the same paradox of humility and audacity, boldly coming to Jesus and humbly acknowledging the need for help with the demons in our lives. Even though crumbs from God's table would be enough for us, we are offered instead the abundance of Jesus' own self in bread and wine and invited to share this abundance with insider and outsider alike.

See you in worship!

Blessings+

Bill

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has urged Episcopalians to observe Sunday, August 17, as a day of prayer for those in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East living in fear of their lives, livelihoods, and ways of living and believing. Her call for prayer is in response to violence in Iraq that has included the slaying of Christians, Yazidis, and other Iraqi religious minorities; the destruction and looting of churches, homes, and places of business; and the displacement of thousands under the threat of death.

to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. 

Amen.