As Autumn comes to a close, the theme of of “Gathering in” fades from our thoughts- replaced with Winter and Christmas themes. But, let’s pause today to think about this idea of “Gathering in”. It’s important. It’s about life. It’s about church.
I live in a rural area, just outside of Salem, and I pastor a church in Salem, Oregon, state capital and busy city. When I drive into Salem, during these past few months, I have occasionally been sidelined or at least slowed down by farm machinery on the roads. It was harvest time, you see, and everything was being gathered – hops, berries, apples, hay, grass seed and more. I kind of like being slowed down by these machines (though I don’t admit it then) because I enjoy being a witness to the Ingathering of the Plenty all around us. Why don’t we talk about that visual of plenty more?
Since Salem is surrounded by farms and orchards, we hear about agencies like Salem Harvest, that focus on getting food out of the fields and into the mouths of the hungry. It’s pretty impressive. Sometimes the cost of gathering in the crop will not offset the funds that will come from their sale, and so modern day “gleaners” set out to bring in a crop to directly feed people. That really encourages me.
My nephew Beau was raised in a Jewish home, and so we celebrated Sukkot together – originally a thankyou for the harvest that is brought in. Sukkot is celebrated with temporary booths or hut like structures that look back to the shelters the Jews used as they wandered in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. The temporary shelter reminds us that all existence is fragile, and it is good and right to appreciate what shelter we have received from God.
Churches around the world often have an Ingathering this time of year, too, an ingathering of pledges or promises of what funds a person or family plans to give to their church this year. The idea is that a church cannot be a good steward of what they don’t know is coming in. Their budgets cannot reflect the generosity of the people of the congregation without this information. And so, we “Gather them in” as part of an appropriate budget planning cycle. Sometimes churches and church people get antsy about Ingathering, and Pledges – because they feel like their church, which is about Giving, is spending a lot of focus on Getting instead. Just relax. Your church is filled with leaders just like you, who want to share what they have been given, but need your help in making a plan.
This year, at Holy Cross, the church where I service, we are gathering in Piggy Banks we gave the kids too. Kids at Holy Cross have been involved with Gathering In for a long time – we have a summer tradition of Noisy Offering that includes the kids gathering all the loose change people bring to make a gift to a project they choose themselves. But this year, we asked them to give of their OWN money – a nickel here, a quarter there – to help them see and experience the joy of giving.
In church this Sunday, our Gospel is from Luke – the apocalyptic writings about the end of the world! Those words are often hard to hear.About the temple Jesus says – “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down”. Yep, hard to hear. But, then, Sukkot teaches us that this world, this temple that we put so much stock in, is only for now. The world changes quickly. So, we are called to be the church – to be community together – to Gather in together – gathering our friends, our hopes, our vision for tomorrow, and worshipping our Lord in hope and promise along the way. In the words of that prophet, Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Shalom my friends. Don’t miss it.
_Pastor P+