Week beginning 1st October

 

Harvest celebrations:

Song: Come you thankful people come

Come, Ye Thankful People Come (with Lyrics) - YouTube

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

Have you ever driven a combine harvester? Have you taken part in any harvesting activities? Perhaps on a farm, in your garden, or by the roadside? All harvests have things to be careful of, all have their hazards.

Some harvests are difficult, for various reasons;

Saffron, is expensive (Worth its weight in gold!) because it is very fiddly to pick.

Dates, can involves a high climb, and there are frequent accidents due to falls.

In the U.K., agriculture and fishing are the most dangerous industries.

Grapes can be a difficult harvest in some locations, especially in countries which are not very safe, or on steep slopes.

Harvesting space rocks such as from the moon, or asteroids is very difficult and expensive.

To obtain rocks from an asteroid took NASA 7 years, a much harder harvest than blackberries.

Reading: Psalm 126

Are hard harvests worth it? The writer of psalm 126 thought so. The joy and celebrations which accompany the harvest make the effort of the process worthwhile. A NASA scientists wept with joy when he saw the parachutes open, which meant that the samples had safely returned.

Song: For the fruits of His creation

For the fruits of all creation (Hymn) - YouTube

Aside from the physical harvests mentioned above, are you involved in the harvest of souls? Taking the hopeless and confused and celebrating in the joy.

The book of Proverbs is about living by the rules. On the other hand, the book of Ecclesiastes is about living by the rules, and finding that they have not worked.

Reading: Ecclesiastes, chapter 11. verses 1 to 6.

A recent holiday in Northern Ireland started by visiting the Giants’ Causeway, and turned into a race to see how many National Trust properties could be visited in a week! It is hard to make such a visit without being aware of the difficult history of the area, especially with regard to the sectarian violence over recent decades.

Visiting a church in Derry/Londonderry was instructive. The First Presbyterian church had a window with the quote from Ecclesiastes 11, verse 1 “Cast your bread on the waters” The church is inside the walls, facing the Bogside. Over the years it has suffered fires, and broken windows which have been repaired and renovated many times. Good relations were developed with the nearby Roman Catholic Church, and has a window depicting this church.

Sadly, dry-rot was discovered in the building, and it was beyond their means to solve the problem. The congregation wanted to keep going, but could not see a way forward.

Then a latter was received from the USA, asking whether the church was still going. Apparently, in the 1920s, the church had helped a widow in straitened circumstances. After emigrating to Michigan, a fortune had been made and the fortune had been left to the Salvation Army and the First Presbyterian church in Derry. Talk about an answer to prayer! The first performers in the refurbished community space were the “3 Priests” a Roman Catholic group.

Cast your bread on the waters.!

Song: We plough the fields and scatter

We Plough the Fields - YouTube

Casting your bread on the waters sounds like a messy and pointless activity. Making bread in the ancient world would have been hard work, and this would make bread valuable. You certainly would not have been using it to feed ducks!

It is possible that this apparently soggy mess, is actually a poetic way of sending grain, or food abroad on ships. But even then, it would have been a potentially risky activity. Your generosity might be wasted.

When we give offerings to churches or other charities, we hope that they will bring blessing to people. Of course some will, but others might not.

Unfortunately in the U.K. food banks are becoming increasingly necessary. There are many deserving cases, who will benefit from the donations, but of course, there will always be a small number which get sold in the car park, and then the money misused.

Sometimes we can wait for years between sowing and reaping in this context. It is a principle not a formula. Don’t keep markers on your generosity, because that is the way to harbour resentment if nothing is returned.

Ecclesiastes tells us that if we wait for the perfect time, we do nothing. Surprises show us that God is in charge, and we are not.

When we consider giving that is costly; without expectation; we remember that seed that falls, dies. This reminds of of Golgotha, the ultimate giving without expectation.

The giving of love,

reaps,

reaps,

reaps.

Song: Praise God for the harvest of orchard and field

Praise God for the Harvest of Orchard and Field (Singing the Faith 126 / StF126) - YouTube