The Empty Coffee Cup

A poem inspired by a sermon by Mike Lueken

The empty coffee cup years to be full.
Painted up with lipstick and the name of some place I can't remember.
If I start a new job, I might be embarrassed to bring it in, like the weird user names I had as a kid on some web site or chat app.
But I look around and there are 30 or so in this cabinet, so we'll huddle together for comfort without any coffee to fill us.

Call to Worship: Stars in the Sky (Psalm 147:4)

C: He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

L1: Are there really names for a billion billion stars, O Lord? And yet you know each one. 

L2: Who are you and what are you like, that you can truly see 8 thousand thousand thousand people? The one God, yet fully present with each one, able to answer each who calls out to "you".

L1: The macro and micro, the big picture and tiniest detail, the swirl of the stars in the sky and the orbits of electrons flickering through quantum possibilities...you are there. The ebb and flow of nations, the crush of a crowded subway, the hidden tears of joy and sorrow...you are there.

L2: For in Jesus all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

C: He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!