“Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe” (Rev. 14:18).
Our reading from Revelation for this harvest festival is well chosen, as it gives us a vision of two ingatherings: first, the grain harvest that begins the cycle of reaping, and then the harvest of grapes that closes the cycle out. In ancient Palestine, the spring barley harvest was the first to be gathered in, then the wheat harvest a bit later in summer; then in autumn the harvest of fruit: grapes, figs, and such like. When this was done, it was time to sow again, and begin the cycle anew. If the rain came, then the harvest would be good, but if not, the results could be dire.
Our Lord Jesus Christ used this familiar pattern of life as a means of teaching. As it says in Mark’s Gospel, “Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come’” (Mk. 4:26-29).
The kingdom of God is mysterious, Jesus teaches, in this parable of the seed growing secretly: we do not know how it comes. Its mystery is locked up within itself, like the mystery of the seed that sprouts and grows, and somehow becomes a mighty harvest. The farmer plants the seed and returns, day and night, to do the necessary thing; and then suddenly, almost miraculously, the harvest comes.
Jesus comes back again to the harvest in St. Mark’s Gospel when he describes the final judgment. “Jesus said, ‘But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”
Then Jesus says, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates” (Mk. 13:24-29). Here, in Jesus’ teaching, the gathering of the harvest by the angels is a harvest of humanity in the last days; again, God’s kingdom comes suddenly, like the summer growth of the fig tree and the ripening of the fruit.
The vision of the Apostle John in Revelation brings both these teachings from the Gospels together. The angels appear with the sharp sickles of harvest, for both the early harvest of the grain and the late harvest of the grape. The one who presides over the harvest is “seated on the cloud… one like the Son of Man” (Rev. 14:14), as it says in Revelation. It’s the ingathering of humanity in the last days, as God’s kingdom comes suddenly. One angel calls to another and says, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe” (Rev. 14:18). The grain that is gathered and the grapes that are reaped by the angels are humanity itself.
By happy coincidence, the angel hosts are in full force at Barton Turf today. All nine orders are in evidence in your marvelous rood screen: “Ye watchers and ye holy ones, bright seraphs, cherubim, and thrones, raise the glad strain, alleluia! Cry out dominions, princedoms, powers, virtues, archangels, angels’ choirs…” in the words of Athelstan Riley’s familiar hymn for All Saints’.
In particular, the angelic order of virtues is charged with the supervision of the elements, especially fire and storm; and the dominions are given sway over the movement of the stars and planets. They take charge of the universe, and all that makes it up. These colossal powers, represented in the panels of your beautiful screen, remind us of God’s providential care for the whole created order, including seedtime and harvest, from beginning to end.
At harvest festival, at the time of the final ingathering, we give thanks to God for all his mercies, in sustaining our life on earth. We remember with thanksgiving to God the hands that planted and harvested the food that makes life possible. God has planted us in a good place, and continues to bless us.
But we also remember that God’s kingdom is coming, we know not how (cf. Mk.4:27), as Jesus suggests in the parable of the seed growing secretly. At the judgment, we too will be gathered in, from the four corners, by the angel hosts. We will become the fruitful harvest of the Son of Man, who comes again at the end with power and great glory. Then, the purpose of the whole created order will be revealed, as God’s kingdom is established and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Until then, may God’s holy angels continue to look over all of us, and provide his providential care.
