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Writer's pictureIain McLarty

Proper 13A / 10th Sunday after Pentecost


You can find a YouTube playlist here with many of the songs suggested below.

Gathering


The Gospel passage today is an example of Jesus’s hospitality and you could begin with songs with a similar message such as For everyone born a place at the table (CH 685), God welcomes all (WGRG), Welcome everybody (Fischy), Here in this place / Gather us in (CH 623) and Vagabonds (CCLI). One church, one voice (Satellite) and All are welcome (OCP) are less well known but have easy but catchy choruses which congregations should pick up quickly, the latter being a great alternative to “Let us build a house”.


Word


Hear, O Lord, my plea for justice (Hymnary) and Hear me, Lord! My plea is just (Grace) are both very usable metrical versions of the psalm in contemporary language. Another option would be to use the famous Taizé chant O Lord, hear my prayer (GIA / Hymnary) as a response to a reading, with the personal request matching well to the psalm.


Response


You could link to the feeding of the 5000 through songs about sharing food together such as Let us break bread together (MP 414 / Hymnary), Come to the table of grace (Hope) the chorus of Bread of life (CH 663) or Bread (link), which starts with this story and then explores bread throughout scripture and as a metaphor for life. You could also consider songs with a social justice angle such as When the hungry who have nothing / Cuando el Pobre (CH 258), God Bless To Us Our Bread / Bendice, Señor, Nuestro Pan (WGRG) or Until all are fed. This latter song is hard to track down the sheet music for but is worth it if you can as it does specifically reference this passage.


While the reading from the Epistle is just the first five verses of the chapter, the whole chapter really needs consideration in terms of which songs link. By faith (MP 1262 / CCLI / Getty) speaks strongly into the tension between God’s covenant with Israel and Paul’s explanation for this chapter in v32 that it is faith rather than works that is important. You could also consider songs which focus on the Abrahamic story such as The God of Abraham praise (CH 162 / MP 645) or its excellent rewriting The God of Sarah praise (GIA) which is set to the same tune, and To Abraham and Sarah (Hymnary).


Come, O thou Traveler unknown (Hymnary) and Contend with me (GIA) are both inspired by the Old Testament passage. You could also look at songs about meeting God such as Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face (CH 664 / MP 230).


Sending


There are two potential themes you could end with. The Gospel could lead you to songs about the impact Jesus makes in our lives such as Praise the one who breaks the darkness (CH 348) which mentions “feeding thousands”, Canticle of the turning (Wild Goose / PFAS 75B / MV 120), God of all comfort (Resound) and El mensaje que hoy proclamamos / Hear the message we now are proclaiming (H 46). If you’ve focused on other readings then you might want to focus more on the faithfulness of God. Same God (CCLI) and Your grace is enough (CCLI) both link back to Jacob while All my hope on God is founded (CH 192 / MP 16) and Great is thy faithfulness (CH 153 / MP 200) would be some options for classic hymns.


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