Giving thanks at Harvest
A sermon given by Rev’d Laura Polaine at our Harvest Festival on the 27th September 2026
‘We plough the fields, and scatter’… the beginning of the hymn we have just sang and one often sung at harvest festivals. Today we celebrate the harvest of crops, the food this brings for us, and Gods generosity to us.
Our understanding is that the Harvest Festival was reinvented by a Cornishman in the 19th century, though for centuries there has been tradition long before this, giving gratitude for crops harvested and stored. In the bible there is the Feast of Weeks, collection of the first fruits, and the Feast of Ingathering celebrating the conclusion of the harvest, found in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
We give thanks for the work of the farmers, especially in challenging circumstances where there has been drought, changes in rain patterns.
We all have a role to look after our environment, knowing that are well-being depends on the well-being of the planet.
And we are reminded that God is the creator and provider of our food, and all that sustains us. After the service we will celebrate together the festival in having a harvest lunch.
In Deuteronomy, the people have been given a good land to live on, a land with flowing streams, land of wheat and barley, a land of plenty, and they are called to give thanks to God. They had not earned or deserved it, but it was God’s plan for them. Earlier the people had been in the wilderness, a testing ground to know that they were reliant on God, to learn to do things God’s way, as his way is the best way. He knows what is best for us. They were being reminded of the importance to keep God’s commandments.
Sometimes when we have lots of things that we need, we may forget to thank God. We have skills and when we been successful in our work, in what we do, perhaps we have increased our wealth through a promotion, we can look to ourselves for making it happen through our own hard work, rather than acknowledging it is God who has given us the skills in the first place.
Our pride can get in the way of our focus on God.
In thanking God we keep grounded in him.
In V18 it says….’But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, to confirm his covenant sworn to your [their] ancestors’
The land was given not for the people’s selfish purposes but for God’s establishing of his covenant, for advancing the kingdom of God.
One simple way we may give thanks for his provision, thinking about harvest, today, is saying grace before meals. In vs10….’’You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you’’
Harvest is a reminder of the blessings of food he gives us and of his love for us. Whether we have lots of possessions or few, we are also reminded that our nourishment comes not by bread alone. Our inner hunger can only be satisfied on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
In Luke’s reading, Jesus tells the story of a wealthy businessman who has not understood the inner life. He has accumulated so much wealth through his land he has no place to store his crops, so he builds bigger barns, for him to enjoy in the years to come. But he is building his treasures on earth, rather than building treasures in heaven. He is not rich towards God, and he dies that same evening leaving his earthly treasures behind.
Life is not found in abundance of things. Life is in a person, Christ.
Jesus asks his disciples therefore not to worry about their lives, what they will eat, or about their body, what they will wear, and gives the examples of how God looks after the birds, the flowers.
God says he will clothe us. We are not to strive and worry about these things, for God knows we need them.
It is not easy to not worry,.. in times with cost of living, and making sure there is enough food on the table, but still we are called not to worry.
In ‘Vs 25 it says….can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?…’ Jesus many times said to his followers, do not be afraid and do not worry. Rather we are to trust and obey him, just as the Israelites were to do so in the land of plenty.
We are to save our fear for God. God holds our entire life-body and soul in his hands.
Jesus says that by worrying we miss the point of life. …Life is not defined by what we have. Jesus describes the businessman as fool and a failure… He had false assumption that he had many years to live, He had not seen beyond this life. His life was focused on himself.
It is not wrong to own things as long as they don’t own us.
The businessman failed to understand the way to be truly rich…
Who you are as a person is far more important than what you do as a living…
Food and clothing are important, but life is more than these.
We are called to trust God’s care and provision. Our faith involves trust in God’s care and provision.
We are to seek God’s kingdom. Trust and obedience go hand in hand. Rather than storing up things for ourselves we need to ‘be rich towards God’.
In 2Corinthinas we learn more about how to live through giving…and Paul uses the analogy of sowing and reaping. We store treasures in heaven if we give generously rather than just storing up things for ourselves on this earth. When we give we are blessed. The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
A farmer may feel the loss of seed as it falls from his hand to the ground, and we may feel we are losing when we give. The farmer though sows in anticipation of a future harvest, and we are to give with the same heart.
If a farmer planted only a few seeds, the return on investment would be low, with more seed still in the barn, rather than producing a harvest.
When we give, willingly, we will be enriched, materially and spiritually, trusting we receive in part now and later in eternity. We are never losers when we give to God,…. we can’t out give God.
And God loves a cheerful giver. ‘’God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency (or put another way contentment) in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ‘’
God is generous to us, and we are made in his image, designed to do the same. It is to come from a right heart…The way we spend our money reveals the purposes of our hearts. For where our treasure is there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21).
We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. God wants us to be channels of blessings, and not reservoirs. Whilst things may not be perfect in our lives, we give thanks to God what we do have, acknowledging that it is a gift from Him, and then willingly share with others. Paul recognises God as the great supplier. Whatever we have to give, was first given to us by God.
At harvest, in particular we think about giving, this can include giving food to those who are in need, donating to the Food Bank, sharing a meal, or praying for others.
We glorify God in our obedience to him, in our giving and sharing with others. The word sharing is translated from the ancient Greek word ‘koinonia’. This is the same word used for fellowship.
We are to be a cheerful giver, but how do we become this? Joy and security are our motives for giving. Paul says we give not foremost out of gratitude, but points to God’s grace in our lives that forms the foundation of faith filled giving.
The indescribable gift in the passage is the gift of salvation. Jesus is a gift, salvation is a gift. It is indescribable as it is impossible to adequately describe the amazing gift. We did not earn it, we received it through the unconditional love of God for us. Out of his love for us so we share his love with others.
We therefore give because of what God has done to secure our lives in him, not because of how we feel secure in God’s grace.
We give when we are convinced that God will take care of our tomorrow, just as he has taken care of us in the past, and is now taking care of us in the present.
‘We plough the field, and scatter
The good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand…
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.
Accept the gifts we offer
for all thy love imparts,
and, what thou most desirest,
our humble, thankful hearts’.
Amen