It is the end of harvest time.

If you received the letters ‘himnnsy’ in Scrabble, you might think you had been dealt a loser, unless you were second to play and the first word put down before you was ‘groin’. On the other hand ‘harvest’ is full of possibilities, you would stare at the vast array knowing that would not starve for choice as you share the heat with your opponents, just as the pastor demonstrated in his children’s talk today, and when you add a single letter to them the field is fully ripe to harvest. There will be no tares or tears when your turn comes round. But there were two words he did not mention, probably because they were not in line with what he wanted to say today, but do you see them?

‘Have rest’ – which seems to be quite appropriate after the harvest. The summer was long, warm and wet enough; the fields have enjoyed the prolongation of this most suitable of weathers; the work of harvest in the fields was hard, onerous, perhaps dull and tedious also, but ultimately rewarding. The recompense for the work is safely stored away, delivered to the miller, and whatever else needs to be done before the winter falls upon you, and what then? You have rest. Surely, after the harvest you have rest, and there it is in the very word itself.

As we look at this world, we see that the fields are white unto the harvest. Unto – what a word! It is not often used today, but it is familiar in this context. The fields are white ready to harvest. This is the Lord’s saying to his disciples. He described the world as a field in which a crop is growing, and amongst the crop are weeds (often called tares) which are also growing. We find it hard to tell the difference between what is the good growth and the weeds as they look alike until the fruit is produced. One day, when the harvest is ready, he shall send his angels to gather in the harvest. The sickle shall be thrust in; the harvest gathered home; and the tares to be composted shall be sent.

On that day of his harvest, we shall have rest. In this world we toil, struggle, suffer pain, illness, disease and affliction but in the new world that shall follow the harvest God will wipe away every tear from our eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Are you ready for that day? The ancient Latin text, not stated here in full, expresses it well:

Dies iræ, dies illa,
Solvet sæclum in favilla:
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus iudicetur.
Rex tremendæ maiestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Recordare, Iesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
Redemisti Crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Iuste Iudex ultionis,
Donum fac remissionis
Ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
Culpa rubet vultus meus:
Supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.

It speaks of the coming harvest day, the unveiling of the book recording all of our deeds, the judgment that follows, and of the pardon that has been bought for us by the Lord Jesus by, following his incarnation, his death on the cross. Hope of pardon for the guilty is underlined by a reference to the woman taken in adultery (here named as Mary (Mariam)) and one of the two who were crucified with Jesus. The poem goes on to speak of the worthlessness of our own prayers, representing all of our religious devotion and effort, to obtain pardon and salvation for us, it is the gift of God to those who commit themselves to the one who died for them, as the adulteress and the thief did, closing with a reminder that we must prepare for that day.

When the harvest has been brought home, will you have rest?