An Attitude Of Gratitude

Today we’re celebrating Harvest Festival. This year, coronavirus restrictions have resulted in a rather muted celebration. We aren’t meeting at church and we don’t have the usual piles of food to give to the food bank, or a beautiful harvest loaf.

I’m going to take a look at some passages and verses in the Old Testament which give us a picture of how the Israelites celebrated harvest. We certainly don’t get a full picture, but they give us SOME picture of what they did and of what God expected them to do, and they give us a lot of food for thought as to how we might celebrate God’s goodness.

I’ve got three main headings: the example we get in the Old Testament, lessons we can draw from that, and what we can do when we don’t feel like thanking God.

THE EXAMPLE

1) The first passage is Psalm 65:9-13. Here it is on the screen. Look at verses 9-13:

[SLIDE]

“YOU visit the earth and water it;

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

YOU provide their corn,

for so you have prepared it.

YOU water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with showers,

and blessing its growth.”

What do you notice? Verses 9, 10 and 11 start with ‘You’ – and ‘You’ clearly means God. God created the world. He specifically gave food for humankind. But God’s work didn’t finish there. This psalm tells us that God is actively at work in the world. Just glance over verses 9 and 10. You, you, you! We really have reason to thank God for the harvest! It’s a gift from God.

Look on to verses 11 and 12a:

[SLIDE]

“You crown the year with your BOUNTY;

your wagon tracks overflow with ABUNDANCE.

The pastures of the wilderness OVERFLOW …”

These three lines end with the words, ‘bounty’, ‘abundance’ and ‘overflow.’ God not only gives; he gives amazingly generously.

Notice the tone of verses 12b and 13:

[SLIDE]

“the hills gird themselves with JOY,

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with corn,

THEY SHOUT AND SING TOGETHER FOR JOY.”

The hills and valleys are full of joy! When we think about harvest, Psalm 65 helps us to recognize God as the giver, and that God blesses and gives abundantly. We can extend the idea of harvest. It doesn’t matter if you’re involved in farming or if you’re in business or you’re a teacher or a church leader. The idea of ‘harvest’ applies equally to every area of legitimate work. God wishes to bless your work and make it fruitful, and when you see fruit, acknowledge God!

Psalm 65 also has a wonderful tone of joy. As Christians we can be joyful! We SHOULD be joyful when we see the results of God’s work! If the meadows and valleys are joyful, WE can be too! If God is blessing and we go around stony-faced then something isn’t quite right.

That’s the only passage I want to look at. Now I'll look at three verses from the Old Testament.

2) Exodus 23:16

[SLIDE]

“You shall keep the FEAST OF HARVEST, of the firstfruits of your labour, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the FEAST OF INGATHERING at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labour.”

This is interesting. Did you notice that God commanded the Israelites to have TWO harvest festivals each year? The first festival was when they took in the firstfruits of the harvest. The second was at the end of the season when they had gathered everything in. Most of us probably lean very much towards celebrating when everything is in. Phrases like ‘Don’t count your chickens’ or ‘many a slip twixt cup and lip’ are deeply ingrained. But I really like the idea of celebrating the firstfruits.

In an agricultural context, getting the firstfruit is already a substantial achievement. Take wheat, for example. What has to happen so the farmer sees a few grains of wheat in his field? The farmer has to have a field. He must prepare the soil. He must plant the seed. The seed must germinate. The plant must grow. It must produce a flower. (Wheat is a grass, but it still has a flower!) The flower must be pollinated. Finally, the flower will produce a seed, a grain. Getting that first grain of wheat is a substantial accomplishment and it’s a strong indication that more will follow. It’s something to celebrate and thank God for.

What’s true of wheat is often true in life. It’s certainly true in business. Priscilla [my wife] and I started a company. There was months of work before we could open our doors to our first customer. I still remember her. She was a firstfruit and we celebrated with some champagne.