Deuteronomy 26.1-11; Psalm 100; John 6.25-35
Has anyone had a bumper crop of anything this year? …. We have loads of cooking apples from our one tree and a good number of eating apples too and earlier this year we had lots of figs, loads of blackberries - far more than last year - and plenty of blackcurrants which are now in the freezer. In the hedges we notice an abundance of sloes - anyone making sloe gin this year? A good year to do so... Last week Emma and I walked around the estate at Lee Abbey in North Devon and I have never seen so many sweet chestnuts - a great year for making marron glacés - well worth doing if you have the time to do it, they are delicious and very expensive to buy. The squirrels have an abundance of all sorts of nuts from acorns to cob nuts. The warm dry summer has led to an abundance of some fruits and nuts but farmers are reporting a poor harvest in some crops. We are reminded that nature affects things tremendously, and we are very dependent on rain coming at the right time and in the right quantity and each year varies. Yet we are encouraged to thank God in all circumstances.
In times of plenty it is easy to do this, so this year we can give thanks to God for many fruits and nuts and praise him for that. Yet there is a danger of failing to thank when things go well.
In our first reading, Moses was speaking to the Israelite nation just before they were to enter the promised land - a land flowing with milk and honey. It sounded wonderful and he is instructing them to remember that God had brought them to this place, out of the slavery in Egypt, to this place of abundance. They could not have done this without God’s help. And they must give thanks every year to God for his provision lest they forget that it is God who brought them to this land of plenty, and continues to be with them. Similarly we need to thank God in the good times so that we do not rely on our own strength but give the glory to God.
At the same time we need to pray that God will come alongside our farmers and others who have struggled because of the variable weather. There is something important about giving thanks to God, even when things do not turn out quite as we hoped or expected. Giving thanks shifts our attention from our own sorrows to the one who created everyone and everything and holds us in the palm of his hands. When life is challenging this requires a discipline and determination to hand it all to God and acknowledge that he is in control and to trust him for that.
This last week I listened to a number of lectures by two prominent Christian scientists. One spoke of the Big Bang and the laws of nature that all the Universe is bound by. These laws all point to life being possible on earth. If there was a minor variation in these laws then the universe would not have happened and there would not be life on earth and we would not exist. God has planned the whole universe just so we can be alive. That is awesome and holding on to that fact makes me appreciate even more the extravagant generosity and love of God and to seek a deeper trust that he has a purpose for us, that he has not abandoned us, that he has created us for a reason.
So part of how thankfulness is to remember and celebrate that Jesus has redeemed us, rescued us from darkness and opened the door to heaven for us and that he always walks with us. We forget these truths at our peril and our Gospel reading reminds us of what Jesus gives us when he said that he is the bread of life. He is the one who feeds us spiritually. Our deepest needs are met in him. Not in the physical food we eat but in drawing close to him and allowing him to feed us with his love, his presence, his light, his joy, his salvation, his rescuing us from sin. So when we despair, turn to him, tell him what you are feeling, pour out your soul to him, allow him to comfort you, to come alongside you. Then call to mind the good things that have happened in your life, give thanks to him for them. Allow those good memories to nurture you, to shift your focus, from despair to hope, to trust. Satan wants to keep us in despair, and the more God is at work in our lives and the lives of those around us, the more Satan will work to distract us, to knock us off course, to make us stumble, to turn away and forget what God has done and continues to do for us. So persevere in seeking God’s will, knowing God’s delight in you, giving thanks in all circumstances. This is our calling especially at harvest. To give thanks in all things. I pray that this harvest, you are able to give thanks for all that God has done in your life and the lives of those you love.
Amen.