HARVEST THANKSGIVING
Donna Joy

Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Psalm 65, Luke 17:11-19

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

This hymn was written by Martin Rinkart (a Lutheran minister) in the year 1636. At the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War he had arrived in Eilenburg which became a place of refuge for political and military fugitives, but sadly, the inevitable result was overcrowding, fatal epidemic disease, and famine. Armies overran this area a number of times.

The Rinkart home became a refuge for the victims, even though Martin himself often did not have the necessary resources to care for his own family. During the height of a severe plague in 1637 he was the only surviving pastor in Eilenburg, where he conducted as many as 50 funerals in a single day. He presided at more than 4,000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife. And yet, while living in a world dominated by death, hardship, and disease, Rinkart wrote this timeless prayer of thanksgiving for his children – a reminder to be grateful to God for all things, at all times. Of course, there is nothing to suggest that he was grateful to God for war, disease, famine, and death. No. Of course not. I think this hymn is a prayer of gratitude to God for his constant presence and love and guidance in the midst of all that.

In our Psalm this morning we were reminded that we’re called to, “Give God thanks; give God praise. For God is kind; God is love. And we give thanks!” In this Psalm, we were reminded that despite the pain, disappointments, hardships we may ever endure in this life, God continues to create and provide what is essential. This mandate to acknowledge God, the creator of all sustenance, and to be thankful is also evident in our first reading from Deuteronomy. This passage offers instruction on a ritual for a harvest festival of thanksgiving. Such a ritual recognizes that while human hands and expertise make harvests possible, God is the source of the produce; the source of all life and sustenance. This ritual includes an opportunity to remember times in the past when God has been present during tough and challenging times: the great escape out of Egypt; wilderness wanderings; entrance into the Promised land… all monumental experiences during which God was present as their guide, strength, sustenance…

This passage is presented as future instruction. That is, when you get to the Promised Land, remember - NEVER forget - that God has made all this possible and led you there. In effect he is saying to them, “Remember to say thank you to God for all that you are about to receive.” You will grow crops; when you harvest them, you will bring them to God & give thanks.

This thanksgiving theme, of course, is also found in our Gospel reading this morning with the story of Jesus healing ten people who have been inflicted with leprosy. While they all receive the gift of healing, only one responds with gratitude, prostrating himself at Jesus’ feet and thanking him. Jesus said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (Some translations, “Your faith has made you whole.”) In other words: the other nine experienced physical healing, while this one (because of his thankful response) has become whole, or well in a deeper (more spiritual) sense.

So, today and every day we are called to give thanks. We are called to take time to acknowledge ways in which we have been blessed and ways in which we are currently blessed. We are called to recognize that God is the one True Source of all blessings, and we are called to be thankful.

For all of us, in countless different ways, this past six months have been tough. And, currently with rising COVID numbers the intensity of this predicament is not becoming resolved any time soon. The disappointments, stresses, sacrifices, heartbreaks intrinsic to this time are legion. It is essential that we identify and name these challenges and bring them to God in prayer. And yet, in the midst of all this we are reminded that God is present in our midst. God has always been – always will be - present in our midst . God is present through the selflessness of front line workers. God is present through all those who reach out to the community (supporting SMCM; making face masks; supporting Grow Hope; remain connected to those who live alone and are particularly isolated during this pandemic time…) God created each of these selfless individuals, and through them is present in our midst. God is present each and every time we worship privately through the week in our homes, and publicly each week as we gather for worship, together. And on this Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, we offer thanks to God for rich harvests for us to enjoy and share generously with those who are in need.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
The Son, and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven—
The one eternal God, Whom earth and Heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

So, today and every day going forward, I encourage each of us to be ever mindful of the many gifts for which we are called to be grateful; thank God who is the One True source of those gifts, and search for concrete ways to be generous with others in the same manner that God is generous.