Harvest Festival 2024In the name of our Generous God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

Thank you, Lord, for the Harvest.
Thank you for your goodness
For all the fruit and vegetables
and the wonderful things that grow.

We’re going to sing those words in a little while and our Junior Choir are going to lead that and we’re going to join in! We’ve sung it over the last few years here at Harvest time and we’re all getting better at it – let’s see how us adults, mums and dads etc do today! Can you remember how it starts?

Cabbages and greens, broccoli and beans, cauliflower and roasted potatoes
taste so good to me!
Apricots and plums, ripened in the sun, oranges and yellow bananas,
good for everyone!

And then that very catchy chorus that once you get in in your head you can’t stop singing it!

It’s another Harvest Festival, when we bring our fruit and vegetables, ‘cause we want to share the best of all the good things that we’ve been given.
It’s another opportunity, to be grateful for the things we eat,
with a Samba celebration to say thank you to God the Father.

Now I’m wondering, have any of you been growing fruit and vegetables this year? My husband Chris and I are very proud of our vegetable patch this year – it has brough us much joy because the few rather scraggly plants that we put in a few months back have grown to be so big – rows of potatoes, beetroot, tomatoes, shallots, leeks, carrots and lots and lots of squashes – baby pumpkins!

And the thing is that while we might feel proud of ourselves, really, what did we do? We dug the soil a bit, we pulled up some weeds, we planted the plants sure, and yes lots of watering over the summer – but where on earth did all that growth come from! Its amazing, miraculous and surprising! The growth comes from God – from the sun and rain and soil of course – but the possibility of such huge things coming from such tiny beginnings – like a tiny pumpkin seed that grows up to become such a huge thing. It’s all from God.
God made the seed, and the soil, and the sun and the rain, and me and Chris and you – and we help by planting the seed and caring for it.

And so the gifts of the harvest – they are gifts of God’s goodness to us – gifts that we care and share. In our reading just now we heard Jesus say

‘Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear.’

And in the reading from the Old Testament we heard these words:

‘Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield. O children of God, be glad and rejoice in the Lord.’

Yes, the growth of things is miraculous – but it’s not magic, or luck – it’s all part of God’s loving care for us. It’s God’s promise for all time – like the rainbow we’ve been celebrating in our flower festival – God’s promise to Noah to always be there for us, no matter what.

So at Harvest Time, we are saying thank you to God for all the good gifts – the fruits of the earth. And this is this thing about the gifts God’s gives us – they are for sharing – not to keep just for ourselves. God asks us to share what we have been given with each other. Just like after the service you are all invited to share in our Harvest Lunch. And every week when our Community Support Hub is running, everyone and anyone is invited to share in a meal together, in this special place which isn’t ‘my church’ or even ‘our church’ but God’s church – which means its there for everyone – all people and all creatures and all things that are made – for all things are from God.

So enjoy the fruits of the harvest – share them with each other – there is plenty to go around if we share all we have with each other. We can be generous and share what we have because God has given us SO much, we need to say thank you to God and give generously ourselves.

When we are very little, sharing can be hard, but as we grow up, we get better at it – or we should do! So how will we grow this Harvest and in this year to come? Grow up in God’s love and grow in generosity with each other. And there is always enough, more than we sometimes see. For inside every pumpkin are so many new seeds, every one of which could grow and become another baby pumpkin! How wonderful is that! That’s what Harvest Thanksgiving is all about.

So children of God – let’s sing together our Harvest Samba and rejoice!
Thank you, Lord, for the Harvest.
Thank you for your goodness
For all the fruit and vegetables and the wonderful things that grow. Amen.

Service: Reverend Michelle Dalliston 6th October 2024. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)