Grace in Action: The Call to Go Forth

June 13, 2026

Grace in Action: The Call to Go Forth

The Third Sunday after Pentecost | June 14, 2026

Opening Thought

It is easy to look around our world today and feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of need. We see people who are exhausted, hurting, and longing for direction. In our Gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus looks out at the crowds and sees the exact same thing. He has profound compassion for them, describing them as "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Jesus doesn't just look upon the crowds with pity and move on. He turns to His disciples and tells them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." And then, He does something extraordinary: He empowers them. He transitions them from being simply "disciples" (those who learn) to "apostles" (those who are sent).

This Sunday is a powerful reminder that we are all called to be laborers in the harvest. We aren't just meant to sit in the pews and receive; we are meant to take the healing, love, and grace we find here and carry it out into the world. Jesus gives us a clear directive: "Freely you have received, freely give."

Engaging the Word

Our readings today center on God’s profound care for His people and the call to carry that love into the world.

Exodus (19:2-8a): We join the Israelites at Mount Sinai, fresh from their liberation from Egypt. God reminds them of how He carried them on "eagles' wings" and offers them a beautiful covenant. If they listen to His voice, they will be His treasured possession—a "priestly kingdom and a holy nation." It is a call to be a community set apart for God's purposes.
Psalm 100: We will speak this beloved psalm responsively by half verse. It is a universal call to joyful worship: "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth." It beautifully echoes the Gospel's shepherd imagery, reminding us that "we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."
Romans (5:1-8): Paul offers a profound reflection on the peace we have with God through faith. He writes realistically about the human experience, noting that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Above all, he reminds us of the ultimate proof of God's love: that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
Matthew (9:35-10:8): Jesus is moved with deep compassion for the weary crowds. He summons His twelve disciples, gives them authority, and sends them out with a monumental task: to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near, to cure the sick, and to cast out darkness. He commissions them to give as freely as they have received.

A Journey in Song: Our Musical Guides

Our music today brilliantly traces the arc of our liturgy—gathering us in joyful praise, nourishing us at the table, and boldly sending us out to fulfill Christ's commission.

Opening Voluntary: We are welcomed into worship with Louis Vierne's Préambule. This majestic piece serves as the very first movement of his landmark 1913 collection, 24 Pièces en style libre, Op. 31, No. 1. Written specifically to be accessible for either the pipe organ or the harmonium, Vierne designed these pieces for both liturgical use and concert performance. The Préambule provides a sweeping, grand opening that immediately establishes a reverent atmosphere to prepare our hearts for the liturgy.
Entrance Hymn: We stand to sing Before the Lord's eternal throne. This text is a masterful paraphrase of Psalm 100 originally penned by the great English hymn writer Isaac Watts in 1719, with its opening lines later altered by John Wesley to the beloved version we sing today. Sung to the majestic tune Winchester New—a robust, late 17th-century German melody—this hymn directly echoes the joyful, corporate praise commanded in the Psalm. With its stately, striding rhythm, the tune perfectly captures the bold energy of a community gathering to "make a joyful noise to the Lord," powerfully launching our liturgy and preparing our hearts for the Word.
Sequence Hymn: As we prepare for the Gospel reading, we sing Lord, you give the great commission. Written by Jeffery Rowthorn in 1978, this text is a perfect bridge to Matthew's Gospel, praying for the Church to faithfully answer the call to heal, teach, and serve. We will sing it to the soaring, majestic tune Abbot's Leigh. Composed by Cyril Taylor in 1941 while he was working for the BBC's Religious Broadcasting Department during the height of World War II, the tune takes its name from the English village where the department had safely relocated. Its sweeping, triumphant melody provides a tremendous sense of momentum and strength, perfectly carrying our prayer for the grace to fulfill Christ's commission in the world.
Music at the Offertory: Percy Whitlock's Folk Tune provides a beautiful, pastoral moment of reflection as we prepare the table. Serving as the second movement of his Five Short Pieces composed in 1929, this work is celebrated for its sweetly melodic and deeply nostalgic qualities. Whitlock, a British organist known for his gentle charm and his unique ability to write music suited for both the church and the concert hall, crafts a musical miniature here that possesses a rich, quiet emotion. Its peaceful, unhurried melody acts as the perfect, centering offering before we approach the altar to receive the Sacrament.
Communion Hymn: As we gather at the altar, we sing My God, thy table now is spread. Written in the early 18th century by the English minister Philip Doddridge, the text beautifully captures the profound abundance and grace of the Eucharistic feast. We sing it to the beloved tune Rockingham, a remarkably serene and deeply reverent melody adapted by Edward Miller in 1790. In the midst of a liturgy focused so heavily on going out into the world, this quiet, centering hymn serves as a poignant reminder that before we can be sent out to labor, we must first be fed and sustained by Christ's presence.
Post-Communion Hymn: Having been nourished, we sing O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling. Written in 1868 by Mary Ann Thomson—a mother from Philadelphia who was reportedly moved to pen these words while sitting up at night caring for a sick child—this text burns with a passionate, urgent zeal to share God's love. Sung to the stirring, late 19th-century tune Tidings, the hymn acts as our own commissioning. Its driving refrain urges us to publish the "glad tidings of peace" to a waiting world, perfectly echoing Christ's call for laborers to go out into the plentiful harvest.
Closing Voluntary: We conclude with Healey Willan's magnificent Postlude in D. Willan, a prolific composer and organist who was born in England but spent most of his professional life in Canada, published this majestic work in the late 1950s. With its stately and joyous energy, the piece brilliantly evokes the feeling of a grand procession out into the world at the service's end. It serves as a thrilling and confident send-off, perfectly matching the energy of our call to carry Christ's commission into our city.

A Closing Note on our Journey

It is incredibly humbling to realize that God chooses to work through us. When Jesus saw the helpless crowds, He didn't just snap His fingers and fix everything from afar; He sent His friends. He sends ordinary, flawed, learning people to be His hands and feet in the world.

Sometimes, we might look at our own lives and wonder how we could possibly be worthy of such a profound calling. But as Paul reminds us in our Epistle reading this week, God proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our worthiness to spread the Gospel does not come from our own perfection, from having all the answers, or from having our lives entirely figured out. It comes entirely from the grace of Christ, who calls us, equips us, and deems us worthy to be vessels of His love.

Because we have been made worthy by His grace, we can confidently take the love and communion we experience here at the altar out into the streets of Macon. As our Diocesan Purpose Statement beautifully reminds us, "We challenge ourselves and the world to love like Jesus as we worship joyfully, serve compassionately, and grow spiritually."

This transition from the altar to the world is the very heartbeat of our liturgy. It is why, after we are fed, we pray so fervently: "Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart" (Book of Common Prayer, p. 365). Let us step boldly into this new week, remembering that we have freely received an abundance of grace. Now, with strength, courage, and gladness of heart, let us go out and freely give it away.

A Prayer for the Week Ahead

Let us pray for the grace to be faithful laborers in God's harvest.

For the countless blessings and grace we have already freely received from God's hand, that our hearts may overflow with thanksgiving and our lives may reflect that abundance.