My parents always taught me to clean my plate because there were lots of hungry people in the world. Today we celebrate God's church around the world that gathers and shares communion together. We sometimes have a small view of the church: just the people inside our sanctuary. But scripture reminds us that God's church is not bounded by our limits, but includes those around the world in heaven and earth. Scripture also reminds us that God's gifts are bountiful and that we should be willing to share God's gifts with each other. Paul teaches us that how we view ourselves and our gifts are important. Do we see our gifts as cheap or valuable? Do we see our gifts as scarce or abundant? Do our gifts belong to us or to God?

Mr. Rogers carried a sign around in his pocket that said, "Life is for Service." We are all called to serve God in some way, to give our time and energy and talents to serve the Kingdom of God. But this life of service is far more rich when we serve together. When we work at Manna together, when we feed the hungry together, when we serve other members of our church together, we find service to be a great act of joy. Through those relationships, our acts of service offer us more than we can ever give.