Harvest Thanksgiving (A) 2014

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen +

Text: Luke 17:16
Theme: Giving Thanks

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

In the beginning there were no weeds. There were no droughts. There were no crop failures. There were no famines. While we might not be strangers to crop failures and droughts, we’re certainly not familiar with starvation. But parts of the world are. Starvation is a direct and ugly consequence of sin. We must be nourished-and in a timely manner- or we perish. Food security is understandably a high priority for developed nations, but ingratitude is the consequential danger. Harvest Thanksgiving is an appropriate time to reflect upon the blessings we have from God in Christ. The Scripture says, “Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”1

Harvest Thanksgiving is an observance that has ancient roots. Two of the three major festivals of the Israelites related directly to agriculture. God commands the Israelites through Moses saying, “Take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you…then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name…and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.”2 The created order reflects God’s goodness in this way. In David’s Psalms creation is often personified in praise of the Creator. He says today, “The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.”3

Harvest thanksgiving, therefore, involves a return to the foundations. Adam was made from the dust of the earth. That same earth would sustain him by the sweat of his brow. In a world in which a greater and greater percentage of the world’s population is becoming ignorant of how food is produced our recognition of God’s blessing in this regard is more important than ever. Survival TV shows have been popular in recent years but how may could really manage if they had to fend for themselves? Are we as self-sufficient as we think we are?

Gratitude for our daily provisions is one of the most basic responses of faith. Ingratitude is no trivial transgression. Today’s account of the lepers is a pertinent illustration. One out of ten isn’t a particularly good statistic for an attainable objective. Yet that was the case with ten lepers cured by the Physician of bodies and Healer of souls. Only one was reawakened in faith. Only one returned to give thanks. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet. It’s noteworthy that he was a Samaritan. Christ never missed an opportunity to warn the Jews that their ancestry was no free ticket to heaven. Conversely, the Gentiles were given access to the kingdom by grace through faith.

The teachings of Jesus are replete with agricultural analogies. He makes a petition for daily bread a central part of the Lord’s Prayer. Luther explains how this relates to thankfulness in the Fourth Petition. “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” Why? Lest we become callous and presumptuous!

Greed is one of the most prevalent expressions of sin. What is the limit of material prosperity? Would it ever be enough? Even if we had the whole world under our control we could never experience, understand, or enjoy what it had to offer. It would be far beyond our capacity. If we tried to indulge everything available we would not be happy. Instead we would become riddled with anxiety, lose a sense of purpose, and lament all that we had missed out on. The Scriptures tutor us to be content.

Gratitude is a movement of the heart. For the believer it should also become a priority of the mind and an exercise of the will. That is, we should become habitual paragons of thankfulness. Gratefulness is a particularly becoming fruit of the Spirit. Despite all claims or protests to the contrary, it doesn’t come naturally. The appearance of gratefulness can be self-serving. Hypocrisy often communicates with politeness. The Pharisees were whitewashed tombs, and many people honoured Jesus with their lips while their hearts were far from Him.

But hypocrisy doesn’t exclude exploitation. Sinners don’t necessarily avoid God; they just seek to manage Him. People sought to make Jesus their breadwinner by force. It seemed to be a prudent public policy. If He was willing and able to feed more than 5000 from meager means what other qualifications did He need? How the nation would flourish under His miraculous power! Instead, God mediates our daily bread. He blesses us with the ability to work. And for this we are thankful. Through the vocations God provides we are truly able to serve our neighbour. In our serving we are truly salt and light.

The leper threw himself at Jesus’ feet in heartfelt gratitude. Let us follow his example and cast ourselves upon the mercy of Christ. From Him we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. He has given us His identity in baptism. He has sent to us the Holy Spirit for comfort and counsel. He continues to empower and nourish us with His truth in the bread and wine of His heavenly meal. The fruit of the vine carries the blood of the cross; the bread grown from the soil holds His sacrificed body. The former sustain the life of the body, the latter the life of body and soul.

Adam and Eve could eat fruit from every tree but one. That tree brought death. So, too, we now receive life from only the one tree, the tree on which was hung the Saviour of the world. The Tree of Life was relocated from the Garden of Eden to Calvary. The Bible says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.”4 Christ is the firstborn from the dead, the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”5 He ascended to the throne of the Father victorious over the grave. We share in His victory. Our resurrection awaits us. Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon…Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”6 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endures forever.”7


+ In nomine Jesu +

1 Hebrews 12:28
2 Deuteronomy 26:2, 4
3 Psalm 65:13
4 1 Peter 2:24
5 1 Corinthians 15:20
6 Revelation 22:16
7 Psalm 107:1
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
Harvest Thanksgiving
16 February 2014
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt