A Meditation for Trinity 18 – Harvest 2026
Collect
Joel 2: 21-27
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
Reflection
The Prophet is speaking to a people who are living under threat of famine and drought caused by a plague of locusts. The earlier Chapters of Joel’s prophecy are a call for the people to repent, for they have strayed far away from the Lord, and as a result, the locusts have destroyed the land. Joel calls on them to repent, then the evil doers will be punished and the penitent will be saved. With repentance will come the harvest.
However, given the various enemies of Judah; Babylon, the Medes and Persians, not to mention the corruption of some of its leaders themselves, it is reasonable to understand the prophet referring not to insects but humans, and relevant to New Testament stories of persecution by Greeks, Romans and legalistic religious hierarchies.
Going further, and clearly in our own times, the human locust swarm threatens to destroy everything in its way. We live in a time of the growth of extremist political philosophies and associated leadership to an extent reminiscent of the Nineteen Thirties; climate change and ensuing increasingly severe weather; uncontrolled (and possibly uncontrollable) technological ‘progress’; a society driven by ‘money’ rather than ‘wealth’; and the resurgence of sectarian, racist, misogynistic and unaddressed toxic domestic and gender-based violence.
It is hard to see God’s love for His people in all of this – or is it?
Depends on where we look.
We can withdraw into our comfort blankets and pretend that the locusts will just fly away – or we can choose to be grateful that we have a saviour whose ultimate victory is certain, and celebrate our life as free children of our Creator God.
We do so by giving thanks for the gift of our harvest by decorating our churches, by giving thanks for God’s response to our prayers at ploughing and growing, most of all by giving thanks by living as Christ’s body on Earth and refusing to be silent when we see hatred and injustice in the world around us. We choose love, and the locusts will fail in their intention to destroy the beauty of the earth – instead they will wither and perish
Through Christ, we have a harvest of life. Let us use it for His glory.
Praying Together 21st July 2024
It is all too easy to look at the speck in another’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own. We live in God’s created world with many different people; but when it comes down to it, we are all His children, brothers and sisters.
Praying Together 14th July 2024
If there is no laughter, Jesus has gone somewhere else. If there is no joy and freedom, it is not a church.
Praying Together 7th July 2024
Be blessed to (and be prepared for) whatever you are called this day, in His name, however unexpected!
Praying Together 30th June 2024
Jesus’ healing is a signpost pointing to the culmination of His divine mission, that encompasses His suffering and torture, His death, His triumph over sin through His cross, and the defeat of evil in His resurrection.
Praying Together 23rd June 2024
It wasn’t only the wind and sea that will obey Him – the whole of heaven and earth will kneel before Him as Lord.
Praying Together 16th June 2024
The stories used by Jesus to explain the Kingdom of heaven – the ‘parables’ – offer understandable truth to all of them whoever they may be– and through many generations, to us.
Praying Together 9th June 2024
If we just give in and believe that there is nothing we can do to bring about such a change, the dream will never come true. So let’s not.
Praying Together 2nd June 2024
You may remember the song: ‘It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it, that’s what gets results.’ Catchy tune, catchy title. But wrong. Actually, it’s the other way round – ‘It ain’t the way that you do it, it’s what you do…’
Praying Together 19th May 2024
By the power of the same Spirit strengthen us to witness to your truth and to draw everyone to the fire of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Praying Together 12th May 2024
But in Christ, a much more reliable ‘Truth’ can be found. Truth in the ‘Logos’ – the Word. The Word made flesh.
Praying Together 5th May 2024
Collect for Easter 6 God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: Grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through...
Praying Together 28th April 2024
‘If you love God, then you love your brothers and sisters’. You cannot have one without the other. If you do not love your brother and your sister, you cannot claim that you love God. No exclusions.