I love leftovers. I think it is a sin to waste food. At

I love leftovers. I think it is a sin to waste food. At my last job, I kept my eyes on the corporate conference rooms when meetings were taking place. I would spread the word about the leftover food, to be sure it was eaten before it spoiled.

 

Psalm 145:8-9 and 14-21

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Matthew 14.13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Spoken words for “Who Wants Leftovers?” by Rev. KellyAnn Donahue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. I have always loved this gospel text. It told a story with a happy ending. People were cured and fed, with the miracle of the loaves and fishes. All problems solved, no one treated unfairly. All ate and were filled. And, there were left overs. Twelve baskets of leftovers. One commentator, Brian L. Harbour, wondered if the twelve baskets were for the twelve disciples of Jesus. A basket for each of them, perhaps, to show them of the abundance of that miracle. This story of feeding is tied to our rite of Holy Communion. The actions that Jesus did, blessing, breaking and passing the bread, are ones we see each month at our communion table. The disciples, like our Deacons, help to pass the bread, and to clean up after the meal.

The Deacon Chair at my South Acton church used to make bread pudding or croutons from leftover Communion bread. I love leftovers. I think it is a sin to waste food. At my last job, I kept my eyes on the corporate conference rooms when meetings were taking place. I would spread the word about the leftover food, to be sure it was eaten before it spoiled. The cleaning crew did not start until 6pm, so breakfast meeting food could sit for hours, if no one acted. When there was more food than our teams had eaten, I made sure the cleaning crews knew what they could take home.

Sometimes my instincts to take left over food are not always in my best interest. Sometimes leftovers should be let go. Our corporate chef used leftover pastry for his bread pudding, which was one of my favorite dishes. So I tried it with Dunkin Munchkins. It was not something I would serve to company. Some of my family holiday meal leftovers came home with me, even the turkey drumsticks, which I don’t really like. They were turned into a turkey salad, similar to tuna salad, another meal I might not serve company. Now that we can compost all our table scraps at the town dump, perhaps I will not always feel bad about discarding leftovers.

It is not my responsibility to eat all the leftovers. It is my responsibility to make healthy decisions about eating, buying and preparing food. Healthy decisions are to take what can be eaten in a few days, safely store or freeze the rest, and then buy less food the next week. With the bounty of leftovers from our church lunches, there is the security of knowing I have food on my shelf, in my fridge and in my freezer. Many thanks to Lois, Julie, Martha, Wendy, Meg, Warren, Winnie and others who cook and bake for us all year long.

Using leftovers is an art, a necessity and now part of the sustainability movement. There is waste in all aspects of the food industry. Attitudes and practices are changing. In 1996 Congress passed the Bill Emerson Samaritan Food Donation Act. Vermont’s version is Chapter 197. These laws allow the distribution of foods that might otherwise spoil to charitable or non-profit organizations. Willing Hands was started in 2004 by a former employee at the Hanover Food Co-op. They pick up and deliver crops to food shelters, and have been working to provide volunteer gleaners or pickers to the 4 Corners Farm. The word “gleaner” is the same one used in the Bible to describe a harvest after the main one is done. This harvest was for those the law labeled “alien, orphan and widow”. Some of these Bible verses are Leviticus 19:9-10, Deuteronomy 24: 19-21, Mark 23-28 and Matthew 12: 1-8. The EPA and USDA have approved the donation of prepared foods from events and restaurants, with proper refrigeration and food handling techniques. We will be seeing more of these activities.

Feeding people is one of my personal missions, and it is one we value here at church, too. Our quiet meditation speaks of feeding one stranger. “He (Jesus) did not feed all the poor, only a few. He did not heal all the lepers, or give sight to all the blind, or drive out all the unclean spirits. Satan wanted him to do all this, but he didn’t. That helps me. If I felt that I had to conquer all the ills of the world I’d likely sit back and do nothing at all. But if my job is to feed one stranger, then the money I give to world relief would be dug down deeper from my pocket than it would if I felt I had to succeed in feeding the entire world”, is from Madeline L’Engle. Sometimes I don’t want to just write a check for strangers. I want to know the folks we are serving, the same way we know those at the July 4th barbeque or chicken pie supper. They are our neighbors. We want them to eat as well as we do.

I am learning about the different food shelf operations in our area. Food donated here in our vestry goes to the New Hope Food Shelf in West Topsham on Fridays, for clients to shop on Friday or Monday. Each family can get about 20 pounds of food per week, and we serve 30 families. Local grocery stores donate lots of food, especially bread and rolls. We also have access to the Vermont Food Bank and to USDA surplus food, too. We buy some food from them for as little as eighteen cents a pound. So dollars spent at a Food Bank are really stretched dollars. The Bradford food shelf lets folks shop once a month. The Upper Valley Haven Food Shelf in White River Junction is also a once a month program. I am on the Board of Directors for the Orange East Senior Center, and much of their work is in preparing and delivering about 1000 meals a month. Corinth gets over 2500 Meals On Wheels in a year. The Senior Center also serves lunch weekdays at noon. I eat there before board meetings, and am getting to know the names of customers.

Folks who feed others in this way are the same the world over. On a business trip to Japan, the women serving lunch in the cafeteria gave me large portions and always pointed to the desserts. They enjoyed seeing me enjoy their food.

Not everyone shares my love of leftovers. Some want more variety or choice. Some foods do not reheat or store well. The word “leftovers” can sound less dignified, less worthy; it can imply a different status, a lower status, about the food and perhaps about the person eating that food. Not everyone wants to use the local food support services, for the same reasons, I think. People are proud. It can sometimes be hard to accept food we did not buy or work for ourselves.

In our first reading, we heard verse 14 and 15 of Psalm 145, “The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season”. We could say, “God will give us the food, it says so right there.” And God does. The earth produces food with help from us, to get it to our tables. Sometimes we need little help from others, like when I eat a tomato from my own garden. Sometimes we need lots of help from others, like when I have a cup of coffee, made of beans grown in warmer places. The Food Shelf and Meals on Wheels are just different levels of help. The verse also says the food will be “in due season”. The word “season” can mean a particular time of year, or a regularly occurring period of time. We need food at regular times in our day, throughout the seasons of our lives. In some times of our life, we do need more help. It takes courage and grace to accept that help.

The crowds in today’s gospel were fed by food that was brought to Jesus by the disciples. His help, his power, worked to somehow feed all of that crowd. Some days we are like the disciples, noticing a need, passing out food and gathering up the leftovers. Other days we are the crowd who patiently waits for someone to feed us, with no pushing, shoving or panic about when the food will get to us. Some days we are like Jesus, making decisions and giving directions to others. We are never completely Jesus, never as powerful, never as divine. Yet as we follow him, we do the work he did. It is the work of caring for others with food; the work of sharing what we have. May we all

my last job, I kept my eyes on the corporate conference rooms when meetings were taking place. I would spread the word about the leftover food, to be sure it was eaten before it spoiled.

 

Psalm 145:8-9 and 14-21

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Matthew 14.13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Spoken words for “Who Wants Leftovers?” by Rev. KellyAnn Donahue

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer. I have always loved this gospel text. It told a story with a happy ending. People were cured and fed, with the miracle of the loaves and fishes. All problems solved, no one treated unfairly. All ate and were filled. And, there were left overs. Twelve baskets of leftovers. One commentator, Brian L. Harbour, wondered if the twelve baskets were for the twelve disciples of Jesus. A basket for each of them, perhaps, to show them of the abundance of that miracle. This story of feeding is tied to our rite of Holy Communion. The actions that Jesus did, blessing, breaking and passing the bread, are ones we see each month at our communion table. The disciples, like our Deacons, help to pass the bread, and to clean up after the meal.

The Deacon Chair at my South Acton church used to make bread pudding or croutons from leftover Communion bread. I love leftovers. I think it is a sin to waste food. At my last job, I kept my eyes on the corporate conference rooms when meetings were taking place. I would spread the word about the leftover food, to be sure it was eaten before it spoiled. The cleaning crew did not start until 6pm, so breakfast meeting food could sit for hours, if no one acted. When there was more food than our teams had eaten, I made sure the cleaning crews knew what they could take home.

Sometimes my instincts to take left over food are not always in my best interest. Sometimes leftovers should be let go. Our corporate chef used leftover pastry for his bread pudding, which was one of my favorite dishes. So I tried it with Dunkin Munchkins. It was not something I would serve to company. Some of my family holiday meal leftovers came home with me, even the turkey drumsticks, which I don’t really like. They were turned into a turkey salad, similar to tuna salad, another meal I might not serve company. Now that we can compost all our table scraps at the town dump, perhaps I will not always feel bad about discarding leftovers.

It is not my responsibility to eat all the leftovers. It is my responsibility to make healthy decisions about eating, buying and preparing food. Healthy decisions are to take what can be eaten in a few days, safely store or freeze the rest, and then buy less food the next week. With the bounty of leftovers from our church lunches, there is the security of knowing I have food on my shelf, in my fridge and in my freezer. Many thanks to Lois, Julie, Martha, Wendy, Meg, Warren, Winnie and others who cook and bake for us all year long.

Using leftovers is an art, a necessity and now part of the sustainability movement. There is waste in all aspects of the food industry. Attitudes and practices are changing. In 1996 Congress passed the Bill Emerson Samaritan Food Donation Act. Vermont’s version is Chapter 197. These laws allow the distribution of foods that might otherwise spoil to charitable or non-profit organizations. Willing Hands was started in 2004 by a former employee at the Hanover Food Co-op. They pick up and deliver crops to food shelters, and have been working to provide volunteer gleaners or pickers to the 4 Corners Farm. The word “gleaner” is the same one used in the Bible to describe a harvest after the main one is done. This harvest was for those the law labeled “alien, orphan and widow”. Some of these Bible verses are Leviticus 19:9-10, Deuteronomy 24: 19-21, Mark 23-28 and Matthew 12: 1-8. The EPA and USDA have approved the donation of prepared foods from events and restaurants, with proper refrigeration and food handling techniques. We will be seeing more of these activities.

Feeding people is one of my personal missions, and it is one we value here at church, too. Our quiet meditation speaks of feeding one stranger. “He (Jesus) did not feed all the poor, only a few. He did not heal all the lepers, or give sight to all the blind, or drive out all the unclean spirits. Satan wanted him to do all this, but he didn’t. That helps me. If I felt that I had to conquer all the ills of the world I’d likely sit back and do nothing at all. But if my job is to feed one stranger, then the money I give to world relief would be dug down deeper from my pocket than it would if I felt I had to succeed in feeding the entire world”, is from Madeline L’Engle. Sometimes I don’t want to just write a check for strangers. I want to know the folks we are serving, the same way we know those at the July 4th barbeque or chicken pie supper. They are our neighbors. We want them to eat as well as we do.

I am learning about the different food shelf operations in our area. Food donated here in our vestry goes to the New Hope Food Shelf in West Topsham on Fridays, for clients to shop on Friday or Monday. Each family can get about 20 pounds of food per week, and we serve 30 families. Local grocery stores donate lots of food, especially bread and rolls. We also have access to the Vermont Food Bank and to USDA surplus food, too. We buy some food from them for as little as eighteen cents a pound. So dollars spent at a Food Bank are really stretched dollars. The Bradford food shelf lets folks shop once a month. The Upper Valley Haven Food Shelf in White River Junction is also a once a month program. I am on the Board of Directors for the Orange East Senior Center, and much of their work is in preparing and delivering about 1000 meals a month. Corinth gets over 2500 Meals On Wheels in a year. The Senior Center also serves lunch weekdays at noon. I eat there before board meetings, and am getting to know the names of customers.

Folks who feed others in this way are the same the world over. On a business trip to Japan, the women serving lunch in the cafeteria gave me large portions and always pointed to the desserts. They enjoyed seeing me enjoy their food.

Not everyone shares my love of leftovers. Some want more variety or choice. Some foods do not reheat or store well. The word “leftovers” can sound less dignified, less worthy; it can imply a different status, a lower status, about the food and perhaps about the person eating that food. Not everyone wants to use the local food support services, for the same reasons, I think. People are proud. It can sometimes be hard to accept food we did not buy or work for ourselves.

In our first reading, we heard verse 14 and 15 of Psalm 145, “The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season”. We could say, “God will give us the food, it says so right there.” And God does. The earth produces food with help from us, to get it to our tables. Sometimes we need little help from others, like when I eat a tomato from my own garden. Sometimes we need lots of help from others, like when I have a cup of coffee, made of beans grown in warmer places. The Food Shelf and Meals on Wheels are just different levels of help. The verse also says the food will be “in due season”. The word “season” can mean a particular time of year, or a regularly occurring period of time. We need food at regular times in our day, throughout the seasons of our lives. In some times of our life, we do need more help. It takes courage and grace to accept that help.

The crowds in today’s gospel were fed by food that was brought to Jesus by the disciples. His help, his power, worked to somehow feed all of that crowd. Some days we are like the disciples, noticing a need, passing out food and gathering up the leftovers. Other days we are the crowd who patiently waits for someone to feed us, with no pushing, shoving or panic about when the food will get to us. Some days we are like Jesus, making decisions and giving directions to others. We are never completely Jesus, never as powerful, never as divine. Yet as we follow him, we do the work he did. It is the work of caring for others with food; the work of sharing what we have. May we all

 

©Rev. KellyAnn Donahue