Harvest Sunday

Luke 17:5–10 – Seeds of Faith and Service

I begin today with two stories that I believe flow naturally into our reflection on todays lectionary passage: The first story is our children's story for today -

Once upon a time, in a sunny garden patch, there lived a cucumber who was always smiling. The other vegetables called him the Happy Cucumber.
Every morning, he stretched on the vine and said,
“Good morning, sun! Good morning, rain! I’m so glad to be alive!”
The carrots were busy growing straight, the potatoes were snug under the soil, and the pumpkins were trying to get bigger and bigger. But none of them sang and laughed quite like the Happy Cucumber.
One day the garden grew worried. “Harvest time is coming,” whispered the beans. “What will happen to us when we’re picked?”
The Happy Cucumber just chuckled.
“We’ve been growing to give ourselves away! That’s the joy of being a vegetable. We get to bring smiles and nourishment to others.”
Sure enough, when harvest came, the Happy Cucumber was picked and carried to the big Harvest Feast. Children laughed at his funny smile, and everyone enjoyed a taste of the garden’s gifts.
And as they shared the meal, they felt a happiness as fresh and green as the Happy Cucumber himself.
From that day on, the children always remembered:
true happiness comes when we grow in gratitude,
and when we share what we have with others.

The second story comes from the Salvation Army - 

In the early days of the Salvation Army, there’s a story told about a domestic housemaid who came to faith in Christ. When she gave her testimony, she said that before her conversion, she would sweep the dust under the carpet to make the house look clean. But after her conversion, she could no longer do that. She said, “Now I lift the carpet and sweep the dust from underneath it.” Her faith had changed how she understood service: it was no longer about appearances, or about doing the minimum, but about serving faithfully and honestly, even in the smallest of tasks.

At Harvest, we gather to give thanks for the abundance of the earth—bread from the soil, fruit from the trees, nourishment from field and garden. It is a season that reminds us of both the miracle and the ordinariness of growth: a tiny seed becoming a plant, the work of human hands joined with the generosity of the earth, the sun, and the rain.

Our reading from Luke also speaks of seeds. The disciples ask Jesus for more faith, and he tells them that if they had even the smallest seed of faith—a mustard seed—it would be enough to move mountains, or at least to uproot a tree and plant it in the sea. He then goes on to speak of a servant who, having done their work, does not expect applause, but simply carries on with his or her duty.

How do we hear this on Harvest Sunday? Perhaps as a reminder that in the spiritual life, as in the natural world, growth begins small. The perennial wisdom that runs through the world’s traditions tells us that faith is not primarily about holding correct beliefs, but about opening ourselves to the deeper ground of life—the divine reality from which all things arise. As Aldous Huxley expresses in his book The Perennial Philosophy, there is one universal truth: that beneath all appearances is a sacred source, and our fulfillment comes when we align ourselves with it.

That alignment doesn’t require certainty or heroic effort. It begins with something as small as a seed: a gesture of kindness, a moment of trust, a willingness to forgive, a word of gratitude, a moment of prayerful surrender, an act of serving with integrity. In the great field of life, these are the mustard seeds that, when tended, can grow into a harvest of compassion and love.

And what of the second part of Jesus’ teaching—the servant who does what is required without seeking thanks? In the context of Harvest, this speaks to us of humility. The farmer does not boast that they “made” the crop grow; they plant and tend, but the life force comes from beyond them—from sun, soil, and rain. Likewise, in our own lives of service, we are called to contribute faithfully, not because it will earn us recognition, but because it is our natural participation in the greater life of the Spirit. Service, when it is pure, is an offering rather than a transaction or the desire to get something in return like that housemaid who sense of service and work was transformed by her faith in Christ.

Humanity is slowly becoming more and more aware  that to live in this world is to be part of the interdependent web of existence. Harvest is the season when that truth becomes visible in the very food we eat: each loaf of bread is a communion of soil organisms, sunshine, farmers, millers, bakers, and hands that share it. Faith the size of a mustard seed means trusting and honouring this great web of life, aligning ourselves with it, and playing our part within it—not grandly, not with thought of reward, but with quiet gratitude.

And so today, as we celebrate Harvest, may we remember:
-that the seeds we plant—whether of love, justice, or kindness—are never too small to matter;
-that we live not by our own efforts alone, but by the grace of a universe alive with sacred generosity and sustained by the Invisible Hand of God, the Divine
-and lastly that our calling is simply to play our part, faithfully and humbly, in the great harvest of life.