Cross View Blog
Come, You Thankful People, Come
November 25, 2020
"Come you thankful people, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin.
God, our maker, does provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God's own temple, come
Raise the song of harvest home."
What shall we say to the skeptics and cynics? How do we answer people who are never satisfied? Those who think they are entitled?
"All the world is God's own field,
Fruit unto his praise to yield
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be."
In the face of all this bounty, how important is it to raise a song of thanksgiving? Does it really matter to thank the Giver for His gifts?
How do we ourselves become part of the harvest?
"For the Lord our God shall come
And shall take his harvest home.
From his field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give his angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In his garner evermore."
From this hymn we see that Thanksgiving is much more than a warm feeling of private gratitude. Thanks need to be expressed and given directly to The Giver of all good gifts. We become part of His abundant harvest which results in "thanks living." That's real thanksgiving.
"Even, Lord, so quickly come
To your final harvest home.
Gather all your people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin.
There, forever purified,
In your garner to abide.
Come with all your angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home."
Joining with you this season in gratitude and praise for all His gracious gifts.
Paul Emmel
Thanksgiving 2020
Minneapolis
Paul Emmel is a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, having served as a parish pastor, a correctional chaplain for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and a hospital chaplain and a community counselor. As a retired pastor, Paul continues to serve the Lord and His people, including establishing the Minnesota South District’s “Pastors to Prisoners” ministry.
All photos by Pr. Roger Moldenhauer, Randolph, Wisconsin
Hymn Text: Henry Alford, 1810-71
Tune: George J. Elvey, 1816-93.