Greeting James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Call to Worship for Harvest Home (inspired by Psalm 100, Deut. 26:9-10)
Shouts of joy!
Songs of praise!
Sounds of hope and love!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
Adonai is our God. Our creator.
We are God’s people, led by God’s love.
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
Enter God’s house thanks giving.
Enter God’s house full of praise!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
God’s love is never ending.
God is good! Alleluia!
On this day of the harvest –
we bring our gifts to you, God.
You have brought us into this place
and shared with us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
a land flowing with good things,
Bless this thanksgiving, offered now to you!
In Christ’s name, we ask it. May it be so.
~ written by Richard Bott, and posted on Sharing Liturgy. http://liturgy.richardbott.com/
Scripture Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
This is the Word of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Morning Message Seeing Christ
Main Point: Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
In his own image. What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image? What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ? Let’s begin a prayer for God’s message today.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus tells of a coming day where the King will separate the people, like a farmer separates the sheep from the goats.
It is said that farmers who keep both sheep and goats do have reason to separate them at times. While they can mingle together throughout the day, at night time they need separated. Sheep, because of their wool, can withstand the cooler night temperatures. Goats cannot, so they have to be herded together to keep warm.
Sheep and goats are used a number of times as illustrations in Scripture.
And, of course, sheep are used as a metaphor for Christians. Jesus’ followers who know the voice of their Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd who knows his followers by name.
This passage foretells of a final judgement: Not a parable, but actual prophecy from Jesus Christ. When Christ returns someday, all nations will gather in his presence, and he himself will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Notice that while the nations are all gathered, he does not separate by nation, but by individuals, implying that people from all over the world will be part of God’s Kingdom. Individuals will not be judged by race, ethnicity, or any other category. They will be sorted out by their righteousness alone.
The sheep representing the righteous will be placed at the right hand of Christ, the goats, representing the unrighteous, will go to his left.
The fate of the unrighteous is made clear in verse 41, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.”
Verses 42-43 continue saying, “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
And the people on Christ’s left are obviously shocked at this charge: “When? When did we see you and not help you, Lord?’ Jesus replies, “When you didn’t help the least of my brother and sisters, you didn’t help me.”
The charge against those who are castaway, separated from God for eternity, centered on one thing: their indifferent attitude toward Jesus (and His people).
If you read all of chapter 25, you’ll find the parable of the ten bridesmaids, the parable of the talents, and now this scene of judgement after Christ’s return. One point has been emphasized: the price of indifference is too high to pay. Doing nothing with what God has given you is not acceptable nor is it excusable.
For the unrighteous on the left, their indifference sealed their doom.
The lesson for us is clear: We cannot afford to be indifferent towards Jesus and His return. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the Holy Spirit who makes us ready for the return of Jesus. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us. And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment.
R. T. France said this: “The ‘guilt’ of the cursed arises not so much from doing wrong things as from failure to do right…to do nothing is seen as the road to condemnation.”
And then there’s the folks to Jesus’ right: the sheep who know him by name. To them, Jesus says, “Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”
I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was in prison and you visited me. And so on and so on and so on……
And the curious thing is this, something I never noticed before: the righteous asked Jesus the very same question that the unrighteous asked: When?
When did we see you and help you, Lord? And Jesus said, “When you helped the least of my brothers and sisters, you were helping me.”
These are the people who DID see those who were struggling: the cold, the tired, the hungry, the imprisoned, the thirsty. They saw them and they gave their time, their money, and their resources to help them through their struggles to get them to the other side. They gave of themselves willingly and generously because they saw the reality of the world around them.
And they didn’t cringe or back away because they were uncomfortable or afraid. They trusted their Shepherd Jesus to guide them. They responded to the voice of the Holy Spirit who dwelled in them. And they pushed through whatever challenged them to help someone else.
And they didn’t even realize that the poor of the world represented Jesus. They, too, missed that connection.
And notice that Christ didn’t say, “You righteous folks go to my right because you spotted me all over the place, in every man, woman, and child.”
No, the righteous are not commended for spying Jesus in the poor, the hungry, the prisoners. Because they didn’t. They just treated all such folks with love. As God had first loved them, they, in turn, chose to love others. “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself” in action.
And their reward was an eternity in the presence of God Himself, in the home their Savior had prepared for them.
For those who know Christ, that is our hope, too. And my question to you today is this: what are you thankful for? How has God blessed you? Are you thankful for your very life? The life that God breathed into you? If you are it will be apparent in how you live that life.
Brene’ Brown is a researcher, author, and professor who has done a lot of research on the connection between joy and gratitude. She says this: "To become fully human means learning to turn my gratitude for being alive into some concrete common good. It means growing gentler toward human weakness. It means practicing forgiveness of my and everyone else's hourly failures to live up to divine standards. It means learning to forget myself on a regular basis in order to attend to the other selves in my vicinity. It means living so that "I'm only human" does not become an excuse for anything. It means receiving the human condition as blessing and not curse, in all its achingly frail and redemptive reality."
Sounds a lot like “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” if you ask me.
Conclusion
Created in God’s own image: What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image? What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ? The mark of a true disciple is the love we show for others, Christ-like love.
Henri Nouwen has said this about the disciplined life of a follower of Jesus, “Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.”
Creating a space in which the unexpected can happen. The elderly man next door who could use help getting groceries: Is there space in your life to help him? The disabled woman down the street who could use some help cleaning up his yard: Is there space for her? For the person you never met who frequents the food bank because they can’t afford groceries for their family: Is there room in your budget to help that person? The person who cuts in front of you at the grocery store: Is there room in your heart to not respond in anger, but to say a prayer for that person instead?
Do you see these people as burdens, or as people God created in his own image?
In John 13:34, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Is there space in your life to pray with someone, pray for someone, share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone?
We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us. And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment someday.
We simply don’t have time. Judgment day will come and those who don’t know the Lord as their Savior will be condemned into darkness, separation from God, and eternal suffering.
Are you willing to share the very thing you say you are most thankful for? That6 is forgiveness and salvation by faith in Jesus through God’s unlimited grace.
If we take Matthew 25 seriously, and more-or-less at face value, then we cannot help but be reminded of the famous line from St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”
We know that we are saved by grace, and not by what we do.
But grace opens our eyes to see things that maybe we would miss otherwise.
Grace opens our hearts to see everyone as people made in the image of God, people Jesus died for just like he did for you and me.
And Grace lets us know that if one day we ask the question, “Lord, when did we see you?” Jesus’ answer will quite probably be, “When not?” Amen.
Prayer of Confession During Harvest
Lord God, as we celebrate your goodness so we confront our own sin,
our greed and insensitivity,
our failure to appreciate what we have
and the opportunities you have given,
our readiness to complain,
our unwillingness to praise.
Father, forgive and renew us.
Food taken for granted,
work unappreciated and poorly rewarded;
self-centered blindness to other’s needs.
Deliberate deafness to the cries of the hungry,
coldness of heart to those deprived of affection,
Father, forgive and renew us.
A landscape threatened and an economy at risk;
a countryside disheartened,
its communities uncertain and confused,
its isolation and exclusion ignored.
Father, forgive and renew us.
May our sins be forgiven,
our blindness, deafness and coldness of heart be healed.
May your renewing spirit rest on us
and fill our nation with your love and hope.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
~ posted in Resources for the Celebration of Harvest Festival,” from the Farming Community Network. http://fcn.ehclients.com/assets/Resources_for_the_Celebration_of_Harvest_Festival.pdf
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
“Come Ye Thankful People, Come” Mormon Tabernacle Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msOzJ6DY7EA
Benediction Prayer
Risen Lord of the harvest,
as the wild flower scatters its seeds far and wide,
so may your people scatter the seed of hope in the soils of despair,
bringing to growth those good things that are your gift and promise.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
rest on us and on all our work and worship done in his name. Amen.
~ Christopher Burkett, Harvest for the World, 2002. Posted at http://www.mothersunion.org/
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Call to Worship for Harvest Home (inspired by Psalm 100, Deut. 26:9-10)
Shouts of joy!
Songs of praise!
Sounds of hope and love!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
Adonai is our God. Our creator.
We are God’s people, led by God’s love.
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
Enter God’s house thanks giving.
Enter God’s house full of praise!
These are moments of thanksgiving –
thanks giving to our God!
God’s love is never ending.
God is good! Alleluia!
On this day of the harvest –
we bring our gifts to you, God.
You have brought us into this place
and shared with us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
a land flowing with good things,
Bless this thanksgiving, offered now to you!
In Christ’s name, we ask it. May it be so.
~ written by Richard Bott, and posted on Sharing Liturgy. http://liturgy.richardbott.com/
Scripture Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
This is the Word of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Morning Message Seeing Christ
Main Point: Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
In his own image. What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image? What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ? Let’s begin a prayer for God’s message today.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus tells of a coming day where the King will separate the people, like a farmer separates the sheep from the goats.
It is said that farmers who keep both sheep and goats do have reason to separate them at times. While they can mingle together throughout the day, at night time they need separated. Sheep, because of their wool, can withstand the cooler night temperatures. Goats cannot, so they have to be herded together to keep warm.
Sheep and goats are used a number of times as illustrations in Scripture.
And, of course, sheep are used as a metaphor for Christians. Jesus’ followers who know the voice of their Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd who knows his followers by name.
This passage foretells of a final judgement: Not a parable, but actual prophecy from Jesus Christ. When Christ returns someday, all nations will gather in his presence, and he himself will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Notice that while the nations are all gathered, he does not separate by nation, but by individuals, implying that people from all over the world will be part of God’s Kingdom. Individuals will not be judged by race, ethnicity, or any other category. They will be sorted out by their righteousness alone.
The sheep representing the righteous will be placed at the right hand of Christ, the goats, representing the unrighteous, will go to his left.
The fate of the unrighteous is made clear in verse 41, “Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.”
Verses 42-43 continue saying, “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
And the people on Christ’s left are obviously shocked at this charge: “When? When did we see you and not help you, Lord?’ Jesus replies, “When you didn’t help the least of my brother and sisters, you didn’t help me.”
The charge against those who are castaway, separated from God for eternity, centered on one thing: their indifferent attitude toward Jesus (and His people).
If you read all of chapter 25, you’ll find the parable of the ten bridesmaids, the parable of the talents, and now this scene of judgement after Christ’s return. One point has been emphasized: the price of indifference is too high to pay. Doing nothing with what God has given you is not acceptable nor is it excusable.
For the unrighteous on the left, their indifference sealed their doom.
The lesson for us is clear: We cannot afford to be indifferent towards Jesus and His return. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the Holy Spirit who makes us ready for the return of Jesus. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us. And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment.
R. T. France said this: “The ‘guilt’ of the cursed arises not so much from doing wrong things as from failure to do right…to do nothing is seen as the road to condemnation.”
And then there’s the folks to Jesus’ right: the sheep who know him by name. To them, Jesus says, “Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”
I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was in prison and you visited me. And so on and so on and so on……
And the curious thing is this, something I never noticed before: the righteous asked Jesus the very same question that the unrighteous asked: When?
When did we see you and help you, Lord? And Jesus said, “When you helped the least of my brothers and sisters, you were helping me.”
These are the people who DID see those who were struggling: the cold, the tired, the hungry, the imprisoned, the thirsty. They saw them and they gave their time, their money, and their resources to help them through their struggles to get them to the other side. They gave of themselves willingly and generously because they saw the reality of the world around them.
And they didn’t cringe or back away because they were uncomfortable or afraid. They trusted their Shepherd Jesus to guide them. They responded to the voice of the Holy Spirit who dwelled in them. And they pushed through whatever challenged them to help someone else.
And they didn’t even realize that the poor of the world represented Jesus. They, too, missed that connection.
And notice that Christ didn’t say, “You righteous folks go to my right because you spotted me all over the place, in every man, woman, and child.”
No, the righteous are not commended for spying Jesus in the poor, the hungry, the prisoners. Because they didn’t. They just treated all such folks with love. As God had first loved them, they, in turn, chose to love others. “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself” in action.
And their reward was an eternity in the presence of God Himself, in the home their Savior had prepared for them.
For those who know Christ, that is our hope, too. And my question to you today is this: what are you thankful for? How has God blessed you? Are you thankful for your very life? The life that God breathed into you? If you are it will be apparent in how you live that life.
Brene’ Brown is a researcher, author, and professor who has done a lot of research on the connection between joy and gratitude. She says this: "To become fully human means learning to turn my gratitude for being alive into some concrete common good. It means growing gentler toward human weakness. It means practicing forgiveness of my and everyone else's hourly failures to live up to divine standards. It means learning to forget myself on a regular basis in order to attend to the other selves in my vicinity. It means living so that "I'm only human" does not become an excuse for anything. It means receiving the human condition as blessing and not curse, in all its achingly frail and redemptive reality."
Sounds a lot like “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as you love yourself” if you ask me.
Conclusion
Created in God’s own image: What would our world be like if we saw every human being as one made in God’s image? What would life be like if we looked at someone, and instead of seeing a demographic, a statistic, or an inconvenience, we saw Jesus Christ? The mark of a true disciple is the love we show for others, Christ-like love.
Henri Nouwen has said this about the disciplined life of a follower of Jesus, “Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.”
Creating a space in which the unexpected can happen. The elderly man next door who could use help getting groceries: Is there space in your life to help him? The disabled woman down the street who could use some help cleaning up his yard: Is there space for her? For the person you never met who frequents the food bank because they can’t afford groceries for their family: Is there room in your budget to help that person? The person who cuts in front of you at the grocery store: Is there room in your heart to not respond in anger, but to say a prayer for that person instead?
Do you see these people as burdens, or as people God created in his own image?
In John 13:34, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Is there space in your life to pray with someone, pray for someone, share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone?
We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the resources that God gives us. We cannot afford to be indifferent towards the needy people all around us. And we cannot afford to be indifferent towards lost humanity that will stand in judgment someday.
We simply don’t have time. Judgment day will come and those who don’t know the Lord as their Savior will be condemned into darkness, separation from God, and eternal suffering.
Are you willing to share the very thing you say you are most thankful for? That6 is forgiveness and salvation by faith in Jesus through God’s unlimited grace.
If we take Matthew 25 seriously, and more-or-less at face value, then we cannot help but be reminded of the famous line from St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”
We know that we are saved by grace, and not by what we do.
But grace opens our eyes to see things that maybe we would miss otherwise.
Grace opens our hearts to see everyone as people made in the image of God, people Jesus died for just like he did for you and me.
And Grace lets us know that if one day we ask the question, “Lord, when did we see you?” Jesus’ answer will quite probably be, “When not?” Amen.
Prayer of Confession During Harvest
Lord God, as we celebrate your goodness so we confront our own sin,
our greed and insensitivity,
our failure to appreciate what we have
and the opportunities you have given,
our readiness to complain,
our unwillingness to praise.
Father, forgive and renew us.
Food taken for granted,
work unappreciated and poorly rewarded;
self-centered blindness to other’s needs.
Deliberate deafness to the cries of the hungry,
coldness of heart to those deprived of affection,
Father, forgive and renew us.
A landscape threatened and an economy at risk;
a countryside disheartened,
its communities uncertain and confused,
its isolation and exclusion ignored.
Father, forgive and renew us.
May our sins be forgiven,
our blindness, deafness and coldness of heart be healed.
May your renewing spirit rest on us
and fill our nation with your love and hope.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
~ posted in Resources for the Celebration of Harvest Festival,” from the Farming Community Network. http://fcn.ehclients.com/assets/Resources_for_the_Celebration_of_Harvest_Festival.pdf
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
“Come Ye Thankful People, Come” Mormon Tabernacle Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msOzJ6DY7EA
Benediction Prayer
Risen Lord of the harvest,
as the wild flower scatters its seeds far and wide,
so may your people scatter the seed of hope in the soils of despair,
bringing to growth those good things that are your gift and promise.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
rest on us and on all our work and worship done in his name. Amen.
~ Christopher Burkett, Harvest for the World, 2002. Posted at http://www.mothersunion.org/
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