This morning in glorious sunshine we began our worship with St Francis’ words in the Canticle of the Creatures (or Sun) as we included brother sun, the clouds and wind, all were magnificently present in praising God!!

We next took away to benches or wanderings around the park Romans 12 in the Message version. I won’t write it out here – but do look it up – we were all impressed at the slant we got on those old familiar words and I for one will be re-reading it many a time over the next few weeks as it has so much to remind me of.

Last Wednesday night, Pete had shown us the Rob Bell Nooma DVD ‘Dust’ and we had had a long and very interesting discussion as to what it really meant to follow Jesus, our Rabbi, so closely that we were covered in his dust… Debate ranged from old traditions which had made us feel we weren’t trying hard enough or being good enough Christians, to Richard Rohr-type spirituality and what then of activism… Perhaps Romans 12 gives us some of the answers, reminding us not to over-complicate things as we all tend to do.

This week was an especially good week for us in ThirdSpace. Barbara got good news from a biopsy, Pete got a job, his daughter Jo got the all clear for a full term pregnancy after months of uncertainty and panics… Grayden’s recovery from cancer has been wonderful and we all have so much to celebrate. With that in mind we had a thanksgiving offering as part of our Eucharist. Here’s what was said and done:

Zevach Sh’lamim: Peace Offering / Thanksgiving offering
Leviticus 17
11-15 “These are the instructions for the Peace-Offering which is presented to GOD. If you bring it to offer thanksgiving, then along with the Thanksgiving-Offering present unraised loaves of bread mixed with oil, unraised wafers spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour, well-kneaded and mixed with oil. Along with the Peace-Offering of thanksgiving, present loaves of yeast bread as an offering. Bring one of each kind as an offering, a Contribution-Offering to GOD…

The Hebrew term for this type of offering is zebach sh’lamim (or just sh’lamim), which is related to the word shalom, meaning “peace” or “whole.” A peace offering was a voluntary sacrifice given to God in three specific instances. First, a peace offering could be given as a freewill offering, meaning that the worshiper was giving the peace offering as a way to say thank you for God’s unsought generosity. This category of offerings includes thanksgiving-offerings – in Hebrew, Todah, which was obligatory for survivors of life-threatening crises, free will-offerings, and offerings made after fulfillment of a vow.
The peace offering was seen as a meal that was shared with God, the priests, and the people bringing the offering. The fat and entrails of an animal were burned and the remainder was eaten by the priests, who got the choice parts of the meat and by the worshipper and his family who go the rest. The Peace offerings included unleavened cakes of bread which were also shared out after some was thrown onto the altar for God as an act of thanksgiving.

Today we will have our own Todah / sh’lamim, giving thanks  for…
We will remember Christ as our peace offering – as the one who leads us to God where we can be made whole – in whom we find shalom, sh’lamim.

I had baked flatbreads on a griddle beforehand and kept them warm. These were then handed out.

Throw a piece of your bread into the fire and eat the rest, giving thanks.

The Cup of thanksgiving
Jesus took the third cup of wine at the Passover meal, known as the cup of thanksgiving (from which we derive the term eucharist – from the Greek) and declared it to be his blood inaugurating a new covenant (referring back to Jeremiah 31 where God would write his Law not on tablets of stone but on our hearts)

33-34 “This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about GOD. They’ll know me first-hand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” GOD’s Decree.

We drink the wine of thanksgiving – giving thanks ourselves that through Jesus we can have a first-hand relationship with God.

We ended with words Steve had written for the occasion, picking up on some of our themes. He calls it the ‘Crackerjack’ Blessing because every time he said ‘Shalom’ we had to repeat it (That will be lost on the younger generation!!)

Crackerjack Blessing

In our everyday, ordinary life, we say Shalom – Shalom!

In our sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life, we say Shalom – Shalom!

To our brothers and sisters in Creation and to the creatures, we say Shalom – Shalom!

To each other, companions on the journey, holding the hand of Christ, we say Shalom – Shalom!

To those who have gone before us, those who have pointed the way, interceded for us, we say Shalom – Shalom!

To our three-in-one God with whom we have communed, through whom we are blessed, we say Shalom – SHALOM!