Reading: Psalm 65
Hymn:
All things praise Thee, Lord most high - YouTube
Prayers:
Heavenly Father, we praise you for our birth, the dawning consciousness of self poised for life; eager for experience, yet ready to dart at a shadow.
We praise you for our first steps in life, the awareness of strength in body and mind- exploring life’s possibilities; yet soon disenchanted and easily hurt.
We praise you for our new birth in Christ, the awakening of your hope beating in our heart, and you life flowing in our veins.
We thank you for the eagerness which knows no fear, and experience which does not pall.
Heavenly Father, you make us in your image; but we indulge ourselves and lose shape.
You command the light to shine, but we prefer to hide in the dark.
You have spoken and offered us life, but to our dismay we find that we have chosen death.
Father, be patient with us; Make us realise that our conceit will let us down, and give us the life which lasts.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Hymn:
For the Beauty of the Earth -with lyrics - YouTube
Reading: Deuteronomy chapter 26: verses 1 to 11
Reading: Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13: verses 24 - 33
Hymn:
Great is thy faithfulness - YouTube
In my lifetime harvest festivals have changed a great deal. When I was a boy, even though I lived in a town, people brought things that they had grown. Often in boxes or baskets decorated with plants and flowers from their gardens or hedgerows around the area. Some gifts were brought by the adults in advance and used to decorate the church, the children brought their gifts to the front during the service, where they were collected by the minister or Sunday School teacher and arranged on a table.
After the services, the produce was divided up. Some was taken round to deserving members of the congregation and local community; some was used to prepare a meal for the harvest supper during the following week; and the rest was auctioned for church funds.
As time went by, the produce gradually changed from what was grown to what could be bought at the local shops, but most of the rest of the arrangements stayed the same.
Later still, there came the thought that in the modern world, much more that was used and produced was factory-made and not agricultural. At the same time, the realisation that God was still in the midst of all of it. This realisation only took about 200 years! Hymns like “God of Concrete” were written about this time. Many harvest festivals were celebrated as “Token Harvests” about this time, so there was nothing to sell or distribute.
Nowadays, many harvest celebrations are used as opportunities to bring contributions to causes which need food or other useful items, and at the same time to celebrate God’s goodness to us in His creation. This is our current custom, whereby we support the work of the St Wilfrid’s Centre.
In doing this, we are really following in the tradition of Deuteronomy. In the passage which we read, people are urged to bring their produce to the temple so that it can be used for the relief of poverty and need.
But, I have often wondered what someone who doesn’t actually make or grow things can bring in to the temple? What do those people give to enable the work of the church to continue? to enable the relief of needs in the community?
Nowadays, the church have changed from the times of Deuteronomy. In those days the state played no, or very little part in health and social care and so the Temple was very occupied in this role. In the early Christian era, this continued and the church ran hospitals, schools and welfare operations.
Nowadays, in many countries, the state has taken on some or all of these responsibilities, and so the church needs less in the way of foods and such to provide services. However, there are still needs which, for whatever reason, the state does not meet, and the church can fill these gaps.
There are many opportunities for relief of need which do not involve the provision of food. The church needs people to enable it to meet needs.
We can all carefully consider what services are needed, and what we can do. Sometimes, we cannot see what the need is. Sometimes we can see what the problem is, but it seems too big for us to be able to do anything about it.
People are often shy or embarrassed to speak out, but our talent might be just what is needed.
There is a hymn “What service shall I render Thee?” It is written as a patriotic hymn, but it can be just as easily interpreted as referring to the spiritual kingdom to which we belong; the kingdom of God. What service can we offer?
There was a church which was encouraging its members to offer their talents in God’s service. One lady was a bit reticent, but eventually said that her talent was that she could make tea. Ever after that, she made the tea after the evening service for the congregation. It may not have seemed important, but she did it for God, and played her part in the mission of that congregation.
Perhaps you have had had an urging to go somewhere, or do something. It may have resulted in something happening that would otherwise not have been done.
Many years ago, I had the opportunity of a job in a town some distance from where I was living. To take it would have meant leaving a job I liked, in a nice place to live. After a while, I became convinced that God wanted me in that place, and that I should take the job. I moved there, convinced that God wanted me in that town. 13 years later I moved on. It was always my conviction that God wanted me in that place, but I never did find out what it was that he wanted me there for!
Our offering of service is our harvest. Our talents are what we need to bring to the church to enable the work of the church to succeed. Along with the tangible representations of God’s goodness which we see before us, we need to remember to offer our God-given talents to the opportunities which God will provide for us to serve him.
Hymn:
O Lord My God! (How Great Thou Art) - YouTube
Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no-one evil for evil;
strengthen the faint-hearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour all people;
love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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