In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
When I was a youngster I went to cubs, which meant also attending the obligatory parade Sundays, and harvest was one of my favourite services, I knew most of the hymns, many are the ones we continue to sing even in 2020! and the sight of all the produce that had been brought by people in the congregation was amazing, then after the service, going out to take what had been offered to those who were in need in our neighbourhood. Whether it was an elderly person who struggled to leave the house, or the young family who struggled to make ends meet, and as we saw the warmth of their smile, and the gratitude that they had when they received the gifts was always a blessing.
It’s sad and maybe a sign of our times, that this tradition has fallen by the wayside in many churches, and people have forgotten how precious a gift the harvest can be to those who are in need.
But today as we continue the tradition here, and later as our gifts (after the appropriate quarantine) are sent to Rochdale Foodbank, we are doing our part in ensuring that in this 21st century world that people don’t forget some of the lessons that the past have taught us, thinking today especially of others, and giving of ourselves to help them.
Perhaps now in these pandemic times as so many families are struggling to make ends meet this message of helping one another is one that is at the forefront of all of our minds, as we not only provide support for those in need, but as we also continue to strive to keep one another safe in everyday life.
What we do today, resonates with our gospel reading this morning, Luke is helping us to remember how precious life is, and how when we turn our focus towards God, and place our trust in Him, then he will provide for our needs, whatever they may be.
Now that doesn’t mean that if we ask for the numbers for the lottery next week, we are going to get them, or for that shiny new car that we have seen at the garage, as these are luxuries which we don’t really need, but when we focus on God, and ask him to help us in our real needs, then we can trust that He will in due season provide what we ask for.
We have a God who knows the beauty of this world, because he created it, and he created us.
A few years ago while we were in Italy we stayed in a rural area, and whenever we went out, we were surrounded by amazing views, which made us at times stop and gaze upon them in awe. But as much as we wonder at the beauty of creation, and the amazing sights that we will see, God doesn’t just gaze upon his landscapes, and the animals he created with love, his gaze rests upon each one of us with more love than we could ever conceive of.
Just as it said in our reading this morning, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.’
We have a God, who provides for us in all of our life, if only we look to him as our guide and help, as we walk our road, or journey of life.
Robert Hawker was a priest in the Victorian age who instituted the modern harvest festival in 1843, he was a man who understood the importance of the harvest to his congregation, and he felt that the germination of the wheat was a supernatural event, now this caused deep criticism and opposition from other local clergy in his area, who thought he was a rather peculiar man!
But even in the face of adversity he carried on, because he knew that the harvest was an opportunity for his congregation to say thank you to God for the gifts that he had provided.
Afterward they would have a party with an abundant supply of food and drink, which would inevitably end with the vicar singing silly songs! Although Hawker had first received objection, the service caught on and nearly 180 years after we still celebrate the harvest.
But how does this link with 21st century thinking?
We now buy most of our produce in supermarkets, and we no longer have to ask if there has been a good harvest, whatever we need, is sat on a shelf ready for us to buy.
Today in this country, for the vast majority of us, our thoughts are no longer in our thanks for a bumper harvest, although living where we do, I am sure that the farmers still feel that way, but rather that we re-affirm and re-cultivate the Christian virtue of thankfulness and generosity through the symbolism of the Harvest, and for that we must remember to give thanks.
But, the purpose of today’s service is not to wallow in the nostalgia of Robert Hawker’s first Harvest Thanksgiving, but rather to give thanks.
This year has given us time to pause from our 24/7 fast moving life, and today, we should also pause and say, ‘Thank you! Thank you for all those good things, those unexpected surprises that have come our way this year.’
But just as we have the opportunity, and the freedom to say Thank you, we need to also stop and think of all those who aren’t as lucky as we are, for those in other countries, where the failure of a crop means that a whole community may go hungry, or even worse, where a community cannot even afford to buy the seed to plant a new crop.
We need to continue to support the movements such as fairtrade who ensure that 3rd world farmers receive fair pay, so that their communities can thrive, and continue to grow, and eventually enable equality of all God’s people in the world.
If we can remember that we are celebrating a thanks-giving, and not a thanks-getting; if we can reclaim the attitude and actions expressed in rejoicing in the harvest and remember the needs of the poor and the stranger; perhaps then, and only then, can we honestly say that a simple prayer of ‘thank you’ honestly expressed in word and in deed, is enough. In fact, it will be more than enough.
Abundant and overflowing with grace, our love will be made manifest. So, let us thank God for life; thank God for food; thank God for family and friends; thank God for the opportunity of living our lives in this rich and beautiful land, a land that could be said to be ‘flowing with milk and honey’.
Let us thank God for being able to express our gratitude in acts of love, sharing and giving. Then will we be able to gather as church in body and spirit, stand before God and, offer our thanksgiving to God for all that he provides to us.
Amen.
