Harvest Thanksgiving

 

Imagine living in a country where you venture to the local supermarket, only to find the shelves empty of products you wanted to buy. No carrots, or fresh meat, no bread or milk, no hand sanitiser or soap, and above all, no toilet paper. Well, you don’t need too vivid an imagination to envisage what that might be like. Just the ability to remember how things were in the UK back in March and April of this year.

The shortages weren’t the result of disastrous crop failures, or the collapse of supply chains. It was panic buying. Some people shoved more fresh produce into their shopping trolleys than they could possibly eat, with the result that mounds of fruit and vegetables were binned. What a waste. You will probably remember the video posted online by a tearful nurse asking people to ‘just stop’ their panicked purchasing. After a busy hospital shift she was unable to get hold of the basic goods she needed for her family.

 Things are better now, thankfully, but what happened back in the spring gave us a glimpse into what life is like in some countries when famine or disaster strikes. It was a reminder not to take a plentiful supply of everyday produce for granted. Harvest Time give us an opportunity to pause and give thanks to God, the ‘giver of every good and perfect gift’.

He not only gives us food and drink, but satisfies the deepest needs of our souls. Jesus warns us of the danger of seeking satisfaction merely on a material level, “Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” Our hearts will only be satisfied in knowing God through Jesus. That is why he came into the world to die for our sins and be raised to life. As he said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Harvest Services Sunday 4 October

Providence Baptist Church 10.30am 

Ebenezer Baptist Church 4.30pm 

Livestreamed Evening Service, 6.00pm 

See our Providence & Ebenezer website for info on attending our Harvest Services.

Thank God for Harvest!

Gratitude is the antidote for grumpiness. People who think that the world owes them a living are always quick to complain about anything and everything. You know the sort. But the fact is that whatever our problems in life, we have a lot for which to be thankful. We live in a beautiful part of the country with green fields, rolling hills and trees decked in their autumn hues. Our local shops are packed with plentiful supplies or food and drinks. It’s easy to take these things for granted. But a moment’s thought should make us grateful for rather than grumpily about our lot in life.

Some of the Psalms in the Bible are full of exuberant thanks to God for his goodness in creating this world and so richly providing for our needs. Psalm 65 pictures valleys clothed with grain shouting for joy. If the very fields proclaim God’s praise, then we should also thank him everything that  comes to us from his hands.

Psalm 65 also speaks of God providing atonement for our transgressions. That was the gift that cost God the most to give. He sent his Son the Lord Jesus Christ into our world of selfishness and ingratitude to die on the cross for our sins. Through faith in Jesus we receive God’s offer of forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. What a giving and forgiving God! Recognising that whatever we may possess is a gift from God should make us grateful to him and generous towards others who are in need. 

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

* From the October edition of News & Views, West Lavington Parish Magazine.
Harvest Thanksgiving Services at the usual times this Sunday. 

All good gifts around us

Autumn is in words the words of John Keats a season of "mists and mellow fruitfulness”. It is a beautiful time of year. Leaves on the trees turn from luscious green to shades of golden brown. Farmers gather in the wheat harvest. Apples ripen to the core. The last of the carrots, potatoes and onions are ready for picking. Every year the earth produces a rich variety of tasty and nutritious foods for us to eat. 

Wouldn't it be boring if we had to exist on some kind of vitamin-laden porridge that always tasted the same? The fact that food is pleasurable to eat as well as beneficial to our bodies is testimony to the goodness of our Creator. He did not make us simply to exist, but to enjoy life in the world he made.

Yet people seldom reflect on the fact that “all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above”. I wonder how many readers of this magazine pause to give thanks to God for their food before eating? One of the reasons why churches hold special Harvest Services is to remind us that all the good things that we have and enjoy are God’s gifts to us. They aren't ours by right. He gives simply because he is kind.

The fact that some people have more than enough and others struggle to keep body and soul together isn't due to a global lack of food. There is always plenty to go round. The problem is often man’s greed and corruption. That is why aid supplies are sometimes prevented from getting through to those who need them most. Christian aid agencies such as Tear Fund work with local partners to help ensure that the needy don’t have to go without life’s essentials.

We live in a world of extraordinary beauty that is also marked by injustice and cruelty. But God has not abandoned us. He continues to provide for our bodily needs. He has also acted to deal with the problem of sin that separates us from him. That is why he sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. He came to die for our sins so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God. Jesus is God’s best gift to us. He is the bread of God who came down from heaven to give life to the world. Those who feed on him by faith will have everlasting life. 

See our church website for the times of our Harvest Thanksgiving Services. 

* For October's News & Views, West Lavington parish magazine 

Thanks for nothing!

Bart Simpson saying grace at the meal table, “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.” I suggest that the attitude of the brattish Bart Simpson is one that is widely shared. Why should we thank God for stuff that we paid for with our hard earned cash? Maybe that is one of the reasons why so few people (other than regular churchgoers) attend Harvest Services these days. The old harvest hymn exhorts us, “Come, ye thankful people, come,/join the song of harvest-home”. We reply, “What? Thanks for nothing.”

But Bart Simpson’s grace, if it can be called that, is rather short sighted. Who is it that gives us the health and strength we need to go out to work and earn our crust? Who is it that causes the sun to shine and rain to fall so that crops grow? Who is it that has blessed this planet with such a wonderful variety of tasty and nutritious foods?  That’s right, it’s God. He created this world and he continues to provide us with every good and perfect gift.

And God has given us much more than our daily bread. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51). Jesus came into our world as Man. He died for our sins and rose again. Those who believe in him will live forever.

Such generous grace demands a grateful response, “God, our Creator and Saviour, thanks for everything!” 

See church website for details of our Harvest Services. 

* For October's News & Views, West Lavington Parish Magazine. 

Giving is Good

The venal Gordon Gekko of Wall Street infamously quipped that “greed is good”. Our acquisitive society agrees. Covetousness makes the world go round. Advertising plays on our desire to accumulate more and more stuff, whether we need it or not. Towards the end of his acute analysis of our current financial woes in his book, Who Runs Britain?, Robert Peston makes an astonishing statement worthy of Gekko himself, "It may not be pretty but, on the whole, greed is good". However, the credit crunch was in part caused by the covetousness of city slickers who took huge risks for quick, easy and lucrative returns.

The problem with greed is that it fails to recognise that material things such as food, clothing and housing are not ours by right. They are God's gifts to us. When we see material goods as gifts rather than simply possessions, the appropriate response is gratitude rather than greed. With Job we will learn to accept without resentment that what the Lord gives, he can also take away, Job 1:21.

Regarding our material wealth as a gift will also enable us to defy the impulse towards greed by prompting us to share with others what the Lord has graciously given to us. For Christians the watchword is not, "greed is good", but "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35). In other words, "Giving is good".

At this time of year many churches hold Harvest Services, an opportunity to give thanks to God and share what he has given to us with others. Yesterday Sarah and I delivered some Harvest leaflets around the delightful village of Great Cheverell, near West Lavington, Wiltshire. Delivering leaflets in a rural setting is a great way of keeping fit, enjoying the countryside, and spreading the gospel at the same time. On Friday evening I'll be off to Newhouse Baptist Church in Devon to speak at at Harvest Supper. See here for our Harvest celebrations.  Harvest Time is a good opportunity remembering that,

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
For all his love.

* An edited version of his post was written for October's  News & Views, West Lavington parish magazine.