Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say
‘Rejoice’ Philippians 4:4
In those words St
Paul captures the invitation we welcome annually at Harvest Festival.
I can’t
demonstrate as High Weald Dairy will, later on, something of Horsted Keynes’
harvest, or give you a St Giles’ cheese tasting afterwards, but I can pick up
less graphically on the sentiment of gratitude.
The Christian
faith calls for inner eyes of faith that remain open in gratitude.
We come from God. We belong to God. We go to
God.
This means, as
creatures made and loved by God, we live in gratitude towards the one who made
us and provides for us.
What a wonderful
privilege it is for us to live in mid Sussex in a place as beautiful as Horsted
Keynes! I was reminded of this by the feedback on last Saturday’s Quiet Day for
diocesan trainee readers held in the Martindale. The participants were wowed by
the Martindale window and view, by their walk to Church, to the spring at Ludwell
and the Mill. How privileged we are to live in Horsted Keynes and its
surrounds!
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say
‘Rejoice’ Philippians 4:4
You don’t have to
live surrounded by beauty to live in gratitude. Our welcoming of Christ in the
Blessed Sacrament Sunday by Sunday should focus a grateful welcoming of the
Lord in every circumstance that comes our way. God who so generously
comes to us in this eucharist, literally ‘thanksgiving service’ is as ready to
meet us in the circumstances of our life as he is to meet us in the Sacrament
of Bread and Wine.
I will go unto the altar of God, even unto
the God of my joy and gladness we read in Psalm 43v4
To be glad at
heart is more than a passing sentiment linked to harvest as a passing church
season. It is a matter of deep ongoing submission.
This morning we
might ask ourselves ‘Are we really glad, deep down in our heart, in our
situation?’
What would be your answer? What business
might you have to transact this morning at the altar of God?
If we aren't glad
at heart we’re very likely lacking in submission of our circumstances to God. We
only fear those things we have not submitted to God.
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say
‘Rejoice’ Philippians 4:4
As we read in
another Psalm, 112 verses 6,7: The righteous...will not be overthrown by
evil circumstances...they do not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may
happen. For they are settled in their mind that the Lord will take care of them.
To pray the
harvest prayers – and we all struggle with them - is both an expression of and
a seeking after deeper gladness of heart. This is in our interest, and in the
interest of those who live close to us, since if we’re not resigned in a
positive way to the will of God revealed to us in the circumstances of our
daily living we will be people being worn away by anxiety, people seeing their
pride humiliated through that refusal to say, deep down, ‘thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, give us this day our daily bread’
In contrast St.
Paul calls us in our harvest reading to put our focus not on self but on God:
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I
will say ‘Rejoice’. He repeats this advice in
his first letter to the Thessalonians: give thanks in all circumstances for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" 1 Thessalonians
5v16‑18.
Thanksgiving,
joy, gladness are the Christian distinctive in all circumstances and
they centre on the altar of our God of joy and gladness - for the gifts
of bread and wine are offered as a glad expression of our submission to God
this morning. Their transformation to Christ’s body and blood and our receiving
of these is the instrument of our own ongoing transformation into thankful
living. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say ‘Rejoice’
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