September is here again. Much as a I don’t want to say it, summer is over (officially September 21) and fall is here now. So it’s time for pumpkin spice everything, apple things, corn stalks, and all things fall.
In Jewish tradition, the fall season is marked by the Festival of Booths (or Tabernacles) officially called Sukkot. The name of this festival comes from a Hebrew word meaning ingathering or harvest. During the celebration of Sukkot, families build a sukkah or booth/tabernacle and spend most of the festival season (which lasts seven days) inside of it. In here they read and study Torah daily, share festive meals, and offer special prayers. It is a celebration of freedom from Exodus, the harvest, being one of God’s own people, and many other things. Interestingly, in chapter seven of the Gospel of John, we hear about Jesus and the Disciples keeping Sukkot.
Interestingly, some Christian traditions still celebrate Sukkot but it’s pretty rare within mainline Christianity. However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t all been celebrating it in a roundabout way.
I can remember as a kid that my town and the towns nearby would often have “Harvest Fest,” “Fall Fest,” “Harvest Dinner,” or some other similarly named gathering. There would be arts and crafts vendors, apple cider (warm and cold), apple fritters, apple dumplings over ice cream, soups and chilis, and any number of yummy fall foods (pumpkin spice hadn’t caught on yet). When my family would attend these gatherings, there was a grand celebration of the harvest foods. You could buy fresh corn, field corn, corn for decorating, apples of all types, pick your pumpkins up for decorating/carving, etc. Where I grew up there were a lot of small family farms and harvest time was very important to all in the communities.
Don’t we too still do this, at least some of us? Sure, it’s all become way too commercialized with pumpkin spiced everything, but isn’t at least a bit of a nod to the gifts of the harvest?
Remembering the harvest can cause us to give thanks to God for the gifts of the earth. It can give us a sense of gratefulness to the farmers who tend the earth and raise crops for our benefit.
It can also remind us of those who don’t have much. And need our assistance to enjoy the fruits of the harvest.
Leviticus 19:9-10 reminds us, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.” Again we hear in Leviticus 23:22, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 24:19-21 takes all of this a step further, “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.”
These passages lift up the biblical tradition of gleaning. In this tradition, the outermost edges of the fields were to be left untouched, vineyards were to be harvested only once, and any produce that fell to the ground was to be left for those most in need. It appears that through such laws God is trying to make a way for those without to be taken care of by the earth that God commands.
So how do we follow through on this tradition? We’re not farmers, so how can we assist with gleaning? Think of all the ways we support feeding programs in this congregation. When you go to the grocery store, don’t spend all your money on food just for yourself (if you’re able) and instead save some to purchase food for others. When you have that spare change or random dollar bill, don’t waste it on something frivolous; instead save it up and give it to a CROP Walker.
While these may seem like small things, they’re large in the eyes of those who have little to nothing. When you buy food at the store, you’re giving another day of hope and life to a fellow human traveler. When you give money to CROP, you are investing in sustainable agriculture, assisting those near and far with obtaining a hot meal, and ensuring that more fellow human travelers can also have a full belly.
When we enact our own versions of Sukkot, we give thanks to God for the gifts of the earth and we ensure that our fellow humans are receiving a basic need: food.
Let’s try to make this year the greatest year for our CROP Walk. Let’s meet…and exceed…our $15,000 goal! Let’s make this a great year from our West Millcreek Food Pantry “Fill That Cart” mission to ensure that we too are joining an ancient tradition of celebrating the harvest by filling the storehouses of others who have so little with even a little something extra.