CROP AND FESTIVAL OF THANKSGIVING
Text: Ps 104.10-15 27-30
songs available:
Bless the LORD, the Creator LIS 135: 1 +3 6-8
Lord , to the limits of the world LIS 138: 1-4
The God who gave us being LIS 136: 1-5
10 " The Lord led sources to streams that run through the mountains.
11 All wild animals drink from, donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Birds of sky nest on their shores and sing in the trees.
13 From his remains, God waters the mountains. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your labor.
14 It makes the grass grow for cattle and plants for human needs so that the land produce food:
15 wine that gladdens the heart Rights and done, more than oil, his face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart.
16-26 [...]
27 These all look to you so that you give them food when needed.
28 thou givest them, and they take it, you open your hand, and they are full of goods.
29 You're hiding, and they are terrified, you take away their breath, they die, they return to dust.
30 you send forth your breath, and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. "
(Segond 21, 2007)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
children of a Creator so big and so considerate!
The annual Harvest Festival is a celebration of thanksgiving, worship of praise and recognition we give to Him to whom we have "what is necessary to maintenance of this life " (Martin Luther Small Catechism ), to have even more than that, and we give a framework so wonderful.
We no longer live in the rural society there from 2500 to 3000 years, especially here in the Paris area. None of us lives that would crop in their fields or gardens.
But we all depend on the crop that the Lord is raising in this country and around the world. And any business directly or indirectly dependent on weather conditions, therefore the quality of life.
Lean on a world map and see where most of the countries at the highest levels of life ... not the Sahel, even if we mined as uranium.
The author of our Psalm - a psalmist anonymous - is aware of the relationship between the living and climate, in fact between the living and the Master of climate 's 'Lord' .
This psalm is a veritable shower of sparks in praise of our Creator, a formal singing the story of Creation.
We too want to get into his song, because for us, once again, God has done great things. During harvest, the last twelve months, it allowed us to live comfortably and know next to events that are our lot here below, a material life that others envy.
We'll make an exception today, and just let ourselves be carried away by the psalmist in verse after verse of his song
TO PRAISE GOD OF CREATION
X X X
" The Lord led sources to streams that run through the mountains. " (v. 10)
If God works miracles, he nevertheless created the world by subjecting it to precise laws, the laws Nature. And from our vegetable dish or our roast, there's the weather ...!
God has a different conception of the weather than most people. For him, rain is not synonymous with bad weather.
Having grown up and lived almost exclusively in the country's first 55 years of my life, I am always puzzled to say the least when the weather commentators speak of bad weather when it rains. I will always remember the remark of a farmer who said parishioner: "In a wet year is never a peasant starved. "
can not be said of a drought year. Consider the heatwaves of 1975 or the 2003 (our water tables are still not reconstructed), or think of the Sahel countries! No, we have every reason to sing when "the LORD led sources to streams that run through the mountains. " (v. 10)
X X X
" All wild animals drink from,
donkeys to quench their thirst. " (v. 11)
Rain is a blessing. God uses for us fulfill a vital need: thirsty , not only "thirst" animals, also ours.
"Water is the main constituent of the human body. The average amount of water contained in an adult body is 65%, which corresponds to about 45 liters of water for a 70 kg.
"The human body can not store water. Indeed, the body continuously removes water by excretion [...], breathing [...], and especially sweating [...] more heat and / or physical activity are important, more perspiration is abundant. [...]
"To keep the body healthy, water losses should always be compensated by the contributions. "Thirst" is also a mechanism by which the organism "warns" it is in a state of dehydration and therefore it is not good to wait to be thirsty to drink. ( www.cnrs.fr )
The Creator of everything. Do not neglect to listen to what we told us that the body "figured" (Gen 2.7).
X X X
" The nesting birds of the sky on their shores
and sing in the trees. " (V. 12)
Yes, our Creator has thought to beautify our surroundings: birds singing, music, singing humans.
X X X
" From his remains
God waters the mountains.
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your labor . "
(v. 13)
The psalmist puts God on stage. The impression of seeing a watering can in hand!
Also trying to hang on the Christmas tree full of balls of his creation, or, as a grape picker, trying to dump the contents of his bag on the ground.
X X X
" It makes the grass grow for cattle
and plants for needs of man
so that the land produce food: "
(v. 14)
Everything is in our interest. God ensures that there is food for "livestock" , livestock which in turn brings dairy products, eggs, meat but also wool, leather, etc..
"It [also] grow plants" , and again in our interest, because God created our body with its food plant .
"Food" we have on our tables is not falling any cotta sky: there is a whole chain of workers to bring to our tables:
---- producers (farmers, arborists, gardeners, etc..)
---- the "Transformers" (millers, bakers and other food industries)
---- and probably also from traders and other intermediaries carriers,
---- not to mention the dad or mom who cooks.
Yet it is God who "food product , 'for there to be, he must bless not only the weather, but all necessary work between its rain and sunshine on the one hand, the steaming dish on the table on the other.
X X X
Among the food that God made happen, the psalmist lists
" wine that gladdens the heart of man
and done, more than oil, his face shine,
and bread which strengthens man's heart . "
(v. 15)
God is not a "bad ass" in the list of "food" it "product" it begins with the wine to finish with "bread" short, he begins by "that gladdens the heart of man" : "the wine " . God thinks well of course to get us joy, not to get drunk: the Bible has harsh words for "drunkenness" (1 Pet 4.3)
The psalmist then continues with what "is shining face" : "oil" and today we would speak of beauty products.
God does not think only the utility, he also wants to give us pleasure. And that he was also aware of the year passed. God also has a sense of beauty and pleasure. He also thinks the beauty of our surroundings.
He speaks in the end list of what "fortifies the heart of man" : "bread" . But it has an important place in the organization of God, because God cares about our health and our balance.
When sometimes we feel he is not interested is that we forget that crops and other property that we owe him in material things, are there to enhance our time on earth, a voyage that is not meant to last: the end of the journey, the bliss in heaven, which is made to last without end.
That is why in our religion we speak more often of spiritual and celestial than material goods, but today is the day of material goods!
"Bread" can be extended broadly to designate "all property necessary for the maintenance of our lives" (Martin Luther, Small Catechism ): those, we've had this year.
As for the "wine" and "oil" , they can also be taken broadly to all the pleasures that God has granted more than necessary: a more than adequate salary, comfort, leisure, but also knows that social security coverage, of course, problems like everyone here, but which nevertheless deserves to exist. Let us not be ungrateful.
X X X
" All these animals hope in you
to give them their food
timely . " (v. 27)
Everyone, including plant and animal world, is reaching for the benefits of climate balance. Consciously or not, all wait and hope that God does what is required for this.
But we who are aware that it comes from the Creator, we also know that it is the sole judge of "moment" suitable for rain, snow, sun or mist for hot or cold. It does this "timely" . Fortunately we are not involved in that decision, otherwise it would be a reason for quarrels and wars added.
so doing, God forms us in his school of patience, but also to his school of faith. He wants to teach us to trust him, to show that we know "makes all things work for good for those who love him" (Rom 8.28), days enjoyable as painful.
X X X
It is true that he does not pretty every day. One day the weather may be favorable, another time not, and again this is not the same everywhere. The same variations, we can know them at work, health, life of the country. And we often do not understand much about how to organize themselves to God, his way of organizing our lives.
The psalmist confesses "Things needed to maintain of our lives,
you [the] give them, and they [the] take;
you open your hand,
and they are full of goods . " (v. 28)
X X X
But he also continues:
" You 're hiding, and they are terrified;
you take away their breath, they die
they return to dust . " (V. 29)
Yes, sometimes it seems that God "hiding" , it is conspicuously absent, although he is asleep or the harshness of the elements, much like when Jesus was sleeping on the boat in the middle of the raging sea and his disciples panicked.
Why does he let tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and huge fires ravage entire regions?
To make us understand that we are nothing compared to him. To turn people's attention on him. To bring us to repentance and give us confidence with his goodness. For his first wish is always to do good, and above all to bring us the greatest good that is, happiness supreme eternal bliss.
is what he has amply shown by going to sacrifice himself for us on the cross.
It shows us also with earthly blessings, a tiny foretaste of the bliss that awaits us in eternity.
X X X
While generations leave one after the other this world through the door of death. But this is not the end, neither here, nor in the Hereafter,
" you send forth your breath, and they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth. "
(v. 30)
Down here, it creates new generations to replace those who leave " and renews and the surface of the earth. "
He also renews the world of animals and plants.
One thing that always impressed me is the strength that God has placed in nature, the restorative power. Think of oil spills, even in contaminated soils. What huge natural disasters. Years later, the nature of God took over the top. God has erased the traces of evil.
But where "the breath of God" made even more wonderful is when he revived his family in eternity. There will always be good weather, there we will be sure of nothing out there we do not know more anxiety. Our journey has reached its goal.
X X X
can not remain inert to such goodness, with so many benefits .
Also we confess with Martin Luther "I must, for all these blessings, bless him and thank him, serve him and obey him. That's what I firmly believe. " ( Small Catechism )
"The bless him and give thanks , what we do in worship. But let's do it also in our daily lives. Testify to his goodness in him by honoring our lifestyle, our way of leading us, how we involve ourselves.
us show him our gratitude "the servant" , by giving him service, he and his church so she could continue to spread his praise in the world.
And with the psalmist conclude with spirit:
"I want to sing in honor of the Lord while I live, I want to celebrate my God while I have! " (Ps 104.33)
Amen.
Jean Thiébaut Haessig
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