Celebrate and Pray for Our Farmers
Psalm 65
May 4, 2025
At the end of this month on the United Church of Christ calendar it says: Rural Life Sunday. It’s the Sunday where we celebrate our rural heritage.
At the heart of this community’s rural heritage is our farmers. This church has been blessed over the years to have many farmers as members. It’s time to celebrate each of our farmers and to pray for them and their work.
This will be a different type of sermon. It will include an opportunity for us to hear from our farmers. We’ll be pausing from time to time to hear from our farmers and pray for different aspects of farming.
My dad grew up on a small family farm in South Dakota. He talked about the positive impact it had on his life. He would always tell us about the important work ethic he learned on the farm. He had to get up early to milk the cows and sometimes would work late in the evening with his day in the fields.
When I was a very young child, we visited the farm where my dad grew up. In addition, one of my dad’s sisters married a farmer and we visited Uncle Jack’s farm often throughout my growing up years. Going to a farm was something we did every year we took a trip to South Dakota. I loved seeing the chickens and collecting eggs.
During my adult life, I’ve also come to appreciate farmers and farm life. My cousin Gordon went into farming and I remember visiting his sunflower farm and getting some sun-butter from his operation.
The first church I pastored by myself was in Casco Township north of South Haven. We lived out in the country in the middle of a corn field for over eight years while raising our two children in the nineties. Most of our church members were farmers or related to farmers. There were the Overhisers who presently have a fruit stand in the country, the Raaks who run the Dutch Farm Market on I-196, the Barden’s, who run the market in downtown South Haven and more…
My first question this morning is this: Who are our farmers?
I’d like for any of you that have been involved in any aspect of farming to stand, say your name and mention what type of farm you have or used to have. This includes farm spouses.
Kay/Ilse Erickson; Roger/Barb Miller; Wayne Miller; Dave/Marilyn Poole; Sandy McLure; Mike/Rita Miller; Brenda/Kevin Kniebes
Let’s thank each of these farmers.
After each question, I’m going to say a brief prayer.
Let’s pray,
God, I thank you for the hard work of each of these farmers. I pray a special blessing on each of them. Bless the work they have done and the work they are doing to bring food to our tables. Bless them in Jesus’ name. And everyone said: Amen.
The second question for our farmers is this one: What makes farming difficult these days?
Lori and I were over at Kay and Ilse’s last year. They were talking about why there are fewer and fewer people going into farming these days. They mentioned many of the difficulties faced by farmers.
Would you, who are or were farmers, mind sharing a few of those difficulties?
Let’s pray: Compassionate God, we’ve talked about the challenges faced by our farmers. We pray you’ll give them the strength they need. Bestow upon them your courage and persistence to keep going. Steadfast God, be their rock in hard times. We ask this in the name of Jesus. And everyone said:
Another question for our farmers today is this: What are the weather challenges you face?
Let’s pray: Creator of the universe, we pray for good weather. We pray for plenty of sunshine and rain in the right amounts. We pray for an absence of killing frosts and devastating heat. We ask this in the name of Jesus. And everyone said:
Our Scripture reading finds God blessing the farmers of the psalmist’s day with a good harvest. God answered their prayers.
In Psalm 65, the psalmist prays this to God:
You take care of the earth and send rain to help the soil grow all kinds of crops.
Your rivers never run dry, and you prepare the earth to produce abundant grain.
You water all its fields and level the lumpy ground.
You send showers of rain to soften the soil and help the plants sprout.
Wherever your footsteps touch the earth, a rich harvest is gathered.
Desert pastures blossom, and mountains celebrate.
Meadows are filled with sheep and goats; valleys overflow with grain and echo with joyful songs.
This is what we pray for and hope for: an amazing and fruitful harvest.
Name some of the crops and produce that you hope to harvest this year or that were grown around here that you hope to take to Market:
Let’s pray: Bountiful God, we pray for this year’s harvest. We pray that you will bless us with plenty of apples and peaches and pears and blueberries, and corn and soybeans and cherries and grapes and so much more. Bless the harvest this year. For we ask this in the name of Jesus. And everyone said:
Last year Ilse sent me this message she had found on Facebook:
It leads me to my final question for you farmers. Why do you do it? Why did you do it? What would you say?
One more prayer for our farmers.
Sustainer of Life, we pray for each and every one of our farmers today. We thank them for their work. We pray you’ll bless each of them during this 2025 season. For we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Let’s stand and sing if you’re willing and able our next hymn: “To You, O God, All Creatures Sing”, #17. We’ll just sing verses one thru four.
