My grandmother was the youngest in a big farm family that ran a dairy and grew vegetables in eastern Minnesota. “As soon as I could stand, I had a dishrag in my hand,” She’d say. “These days they charge you extra for organic vegetables. Why, when I was a kid we just called that ‘Mom’s garden.’”

She’d tell us stories about the Great Depression, and about all the people who were out of work who rode the rails and who’d roam along the roads and through the fields, trying to scratch out sustenance and shelter. For my grandma’s family, milk prices had plummeted, so times were tough, but they still had a market for what they produced and they raised a lot of food, so they always had more than enough to eat. My great-grandmother would cook extra portions for the mid-day meal, so that when hungry strangers came by, which they often did, she’d tell them to wait outside and she’d bring them out a plate.

My grandma told us these stories more than once, and more than twice. And she told it to try to get across to us that this is the kind of people we are, these are our values – we had food enough to eat, therefore when people came by in need of food we shared it with them. This is what it means to be a Christian. (And for my grandma, this is also what it meant to be a “Minnesotan” – My grandmother had a strong sense of a “Minnesotan” ethic where you treat everybody fairly and honestly. Now, I’m glad to say that it’s not only a “Minnesotan” thing, and more than one group of people can claim this as part of their values.)

This is the same ethic that Moses was trying to get across to his people so it would become part of the shared group identity of Israel. This became the ethic of Jesus, and the ethic of anybody since who has earnestly tried to follow the Way of Jesus – “If you have two coats and your neighbor has none, give them one of yours,” John the Baptist said; “Give to any who asks of you,” Jesus said. The Apostles shared what they had and give to all “according to their need.” 

Moses had very specific direction for how to faithfully use the fruits of the harvest, so that the hungry are fed. Moses and the other Hebrew Prophets are always concerned for the groups of people in their society who could end up destitute, who don’t have power or opportunity, or someone to look out for them, folks who can easily get taken advantage of, and suffer from hunger and violence. This is why the Bible has a lot to say about caring for widows, and orphans, people from foreign lands, people who are sick, and folks who just end up poor for whatever reason.

Every time you harvest your fields, Moses said, leave the edges of that field unharvested. Then allow anyone who is in need to come and take the produce for themselves. This is the practice of “gleaning,” as you may have gleaned. (Leviticus 19:9-10).

Then, Moses goes on to say, every three years everyone who owns land should take one-tenth of their harvest for that year and put it in a central public place in town, where any who are hungry can come and get food. (Exodus 23:10-11).

Dare I call this a “tax” for “welfare”?

Then, even more than that, every seven years Moses calls for a Jubilee year. There are a number of important things that are supposed to happen in a Jubilee year, like the forgiveness of debts. But for our purposes today regarding the fruits of the harvest, Jubilee means letting your fields rest for the year, and allowing anyone who needs to come and harvest for themselves what they need. (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).

Honoring Jubilee is part practicing of Sabbath, where we rest from our labors, and remember with gratitude that we are not the true source of the good things we enjoy, but God is, our God in whom we trust, our God whose will is for all God’s children to thrive. This attitude of gratitude and humility allows us to have glad and generous hearts towards others: For what we receive and what we give is not ultimately ours, but from God and for God’s purposes for us.

In the 4th Century the great “Doctor of the Church,” Basil of Caesarea put it in very strong terms:

“It is the bread of the poor which you are holding back; it is the clothes of the naked which you are hoarding; it is the relief and liberation of the wretched which you are thwarting by burying your money away. You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.”

Now, all of this may seem like it’s addressed to people who are not themselves poor. It is in fact addressed to everyone. Of course, those who have more than enough while others have less than enough are particularly convicted. But the wisdom here really is about the basic human condition, where we all are utterly dependent on the goodness of God; and we all can have seasons of plenty and seasons of want and its hubris to assume that abundance now guarantees us abundance in the future.

We are all called to respond to this human condition with gratitude and generosity and justice.

My great-grandparents’ farm was not booming during the Great Depression. They knew just how precarious their position was. Plenty of dairy farmers in the upper Midwest were driven to desperation because of the low milk prices. But my great-grandparents did have enough. And they did not think that this made them worthier than those who were struggling to just put something into their empty bellies for the day.

Research has shown that the folks who respond to others’ needs by giving the greatest proportion of what they have, are themselves poor folks, and are more likely to respond in an altruistic way to someone in need.

I’ll quote from a summary of this research: it suggests that “that there’s something about the specific psychological experience of having less that induces people to give more.”

The researchers “argue that the poor may feel more compassion because they are more connected to those around them, psychologically and socially. They are more dependent on other people to get by, for instance, and previous research has found that, perhaps as a result of that dependency, they display more empathy and are more attuned to other people’s body language than the rich. On the flip side, as people attain higher status, their ability to take others’ perspectives is diminished.”

Now, we, as a community of faith in a generally affluent area, we get to be counter-cultural in this respect. And I want to celebrate how we are counter-cultural in this respect, and lift up the values and the experience and knowledge of God that support us and challenge us in having a less attached and more compassionate relationship with wealth than our general culture teaches us.

For all these reasons, let me sing the praises of our community garden ministry. You all have been able to harvest and donate dozens of pounds of fresh produce to the Great Valley Food Cupboard. We are the only source of fresh produce to them.

There are people who struggle with hunger here in the upper mainline. It’s a smaller percentage than in places with a higher rate of poverty, it may be more hidden from public view, but hunger is here. And it is getting worse. Our neighborhood food pantry has been busier and that’s the experience of other programs in the area.

So, my friends, when it comes to what we do with the harvests we enjoy, let’s all keep on keeping it real, and keep on keeping it faithful.

I for one have gotta do it for grandma. Not to mention doing it for God.

Thanks be to God.

(Delivered August 13, 2023, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg, at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge.)

Image: “Jesus in the Breadline” by Fritz Eichenberg