Deuteronomy 8:7-18.                     Harvest Thanksgiving???                                               22/1/17

⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; ⁸ a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

It is funny isn’t it? Well not really. God is so perceptive of our sinful human nature. He knows what we are like; so he gives us clear instructions so that we can be ever wary as we go through life. He knows the dangers that are there for us, so does all he can to helps us not to fall. But we still do!

Here as we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving there is a very good and important example of both his concern for us and the dangers that we succumb to. God knows what we are like when we have surrounded ourselves with good things. So he lays it on the line for us; very clearly. Now sadly the very next verses, which are not included in this set reading, spell out what God will do to us if we do.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

So his message to us this morning is a very important one as we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving. Remember who you are thanking and why. Do we really believe it; or do we really care. Also take note of what is happening all around us, and be prepared for what lies ahead. God is true to his word.

That does not mean that he is not a loving and forgiving God, and all of that. But in his love for us, as he did for his people all the way down through history, he will bring troubles, hardships, and even disaster if necessary, to wake his people up and get them back on track.

Now there is no doubt as to the fact that God has given us a good land: a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

We have much to be thankful for. This is a great and prosperous nation, that has lifted its standard of living dramatically in just my lifetime. The produce of the land, mineral resources, and the manufacturing industry have enabled us to have much in this country of ours. We have been enabled to have so much. So we have every reason to be ever so thankful.

But are we? I think as a nation we used to be. But in recent times the attitude has changed dramatically. We were an industrious nation that has worked together for the good of others. We were a nation that was built on Christian values. And we prospered. But things have changed.

We now appear to have become far more selfish and self-centred. We have become a people who believe we are entitled to have all that we want, without doing anything to earn it. We work so that we can have ease and pleasure, rather than working for the good of the nation and others. And much more. The attitudes have changed dramatically, and the struggles and heartaches are increasing.

Here let us recall again what God said to his people through Moses all those years ago; and thereby to us today as well. ¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

Is this not what we see today? Just as God had said; as a nation we have not only forgotten God, but in many cases we have also rejected him completely. In fact, more and more we are trying to eradicate him from our thinking. In our affluence we think that we have no need for God. We also want to get rid of him altogether so that we can disregard his Laws and so live as we please. And we think is going to make us happy and fulfilled.

We can see today how we are seeking to produce all kinds of things, without regard for what God’s Word says, so that we can replace him from our lives. Have you noticed these days how there is this desperate attempt through science to enable us to live forever? Not to mention changing our laws to cater for homosexuality, abortion and much more.

Yes, we definitely have forgotten the Lord our God, and failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees. In our affluence we have replaced him and what he says, with ourselves and our wants. Many have made themselves and their desires their idols which they look to and worship.

Here again we need to listen again to those verses that follow on from our text. ¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

What a sobering reminder our Lord thereby has given us today as we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving. What do we do about it? Surely the call is for us here today, to return to the Lord with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind and with all of strength; giving him thanks and praise for all that he is and has done for us.

Surely we here will want to be renewed in our desire to know and recognise that he is the giver of all the good things that we have all around us. We will ever want to come near to our God so that he can remind us that the good things that we have are all only made possible by him who is our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.

We need ever reminding that it is our Lord who has given us the ability to produce all that we have. Not just to produce our crops and stock, and to dig our minerals out of the ground. But it is he who gives us the knowledge and where with all to do all the scientific and technological things that we do. He is the giver of all that we have and do.

That being the case we then also need to look to him for his guidance on how we should use or not use all of the things that we have. What we have and do, needs to be guided by him and his Word, rather than the popular opinion of the day or our feelings and ideas. He after all knows what is good and right; and we by our own devices, always have a tendency to do what in the end becomes harmful rather than good. 

Here again we always need to look to Jesus Christ and his life, death and resurrection as our assurance that God and his will for us is always good and right. He not only has ensured that we have forgiveness, life and salvation, but also that God’s will and Word is that which is good and right for us. His word is reliable and trustworthy. This enables us to hold fast to him and know that everything works out for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus.

So this day may we again give praise, honour and glory to our great God who has brought us into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

Let us also remember the Lord our God, for it is he who gives us the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to our ancestors. To him the be all glory and honour now and always. AMEN

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish