It has been a tough year for farmers and grape growers in the Barossa Valley. Poor seasonal rain, a couple of severe frosts and challenging market conditions has made life really difficult. Over the last six months or more I’ve heard stories of people having almost nothing to show for the year’s work as they have invested a lot of time, effort and money into crops and vines which have produced very little or, in some cases, no results for them.
It can be hard then to come to the annual Harvest Thanksgiving services in our parish with joyful celebration. When life gets difficult, when crops fail or when market conditions are against us, it’s a lot easier to blame God for the bad things that are happening than thank him for his goodness. The idea behind Harvest Thanksgiving services is to thank God for his generous provision, for the bountiful crops, and blessing our work. When the yearly harvest isn’t good or fails, how to we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving in a way that is true, authentic and faithful? When life is hard, how do we put into practice Paul’s words of Philippians 4:6 when he writes, ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done’ (NLT)?
Our practice of Harvest Thanksgiving goes back almost 3,400 years, to the time when the Israelites entered the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years led by Moses. God commanded the Israelites through Moses in Deuteronomy 26:1-11 to ‘put some of the first produce from each crop (they) harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship’ (v2 NLT). One of the reasons for doing this was to acknowledge that God had blessed them by providing the crops for them.
Another reason for offering their first fruits to God was to remember the grace that God had shown the Israelites in the past by liberating them from slavery in Egypt and giving them the land in which they were living. God wanted them to look into their past and remember the incredible ways in which he had met them in their misery while they were slaves, sent them Moses to set them free from slavery, and guided them through the wilderness and forty years of trials and testing. Offering the first fruits of the harvest wasn’t just about a good harvest. It was about remembering the ways in which God had kept the promises he made long ago to the Israelites’ ancestors so they could have the confidence and faith in God’s goodness to be generous with what God had given them to the people who were in need around them. Based on what God had done for them in the past, the Israelites could be confident that God would continue to provide for them and bless them into the future.
As we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving this year, we can look further back than these last twelve months as well. Just like God commanded the Israelites to look to their history and remember God’s saving power in their Exodus from slavery in Egypt, he encourages us to look beyond this past year to remember the saving power he showed in Jesus.
When God looked down and saw his people suffering in Egypt, Exodus 2:25 tells us that God knew. God knew their suffering, pain, hardships, and sorrows. That’s why he sent Moses to lead them out of slavery to the Promised Land. In the same way, when we are suffering, facing hardships or in pain, God knows through Jesus. Jesus identified with people who were suffering or in pain. In Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion, God knows what it is like to suffer. When we are struggling or in pain or facing an uncertain future, when everything seems to be against us and we can’t see a way through, Jesus is Immanuel – ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23). God knows and understands what we are going through. We can give thanks that, with all the challenges, difficulties and hardships of this past year, God is with us though Jesus and he knows what we’re going through.
Just like the ancient Israelites gave thanks to God for his saving love through Moses, we can also give thanks to God for his saving love to us through Jesus. Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery to the Promised Land is a picture of the way God saves us in Jesus. When we were slaves to sin, guilt and death, Jesus set us free through his crucifixion and resurrection for us. He has liberated us from the control of sin, fear and guilt and we can look forward to the Promised Land of eternal joy and peace with God forever. Our lives in this world are like the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. Jesus has set us free but we haven’t reached our final destination yet. We can thank God for his saving love to us in the past as we look forward to the future in hope. We can look back to God’s saving love for us in the cross of Jesus and forward with hope to a better tomorrow in his resurrection.
Looking back to God’s saving work through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus for us gives us good reason to give thanks to God. Even though it has been a tough year, we can still give thanks to God for his saving love for us in Jesus and trust him for the future. This faith also gives us reason to be generous with what God has given us. God knows what we are going through. In Jesus he meets us in our struggles and suffering to provide for all our eternal needs through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection for us. He also promises to provide for us for the future and to give us everything we need for life in this world and the next. As we thank him for his grace to us, we can show that thanks by sharing what he has first given to us with the people around us. Being generous towards others is an act of faith. It shows that we trust that every good thing we have is a gift from our God who loves us. Being generous also shows that we trust God to continue to provide for us into the future. We don’t have to hang on to the good gifts with which God has blessed us, but in thanks, joy and hope we can thank God for his good gifts by sharing them with others and passing his blessings on to people who are in need.
As we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving this year, it is important to acknowledge that it has been a rough year for a lot of people. Instead of blaming God for the bad things that have happened, we can give thanks to God for his goodness to us. He knows and understands what we’re going through in the life of Jesus. He has saved us from fear, guilt and despair through Jesus’ suffering and death. He has promised us a better tomorrow through his Son’s resurrection from death. Looking back to God’s saving and liberating grace for us in Jesus gives us good reason to give thanks to him. And as we thank him for his goodness to us, we can also look forward to the future with hope and joy.
More to think about or discuss:
- What have the last 12 months been like for you? In what ways have they been difficult or hard? What are some of the good things that have happened?
- How might looking back to God’s saving love for you in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus help you to be thankful? How might it help you see your current circumstances a bit differently?
- How can giving thanks for the past help us become more hopeful for the future?
Pastor Eugene Online 
Leave a comment