SermonStudio

Season: Fall

Summary: To experience God's created world truly is to give thanks.

Props: One very red, delicious--looking apple, plus an apple for each child*



Somehow, the first apple of the season tastes the best. And the last apple, after we have had lots and lots of apples, doesn't taste nearly as good. Personally, I also enjoy much more the apples I pick myself. Not only is it fun to go to an orchard and see where the apples are growing; you have the advantage of picking the apples that look the best to you. And of all the apples I saw when I went to the orchard last Saturday, this one looked especially delicious. I'm going to put it aside for the moment. But while I was picking, I also had you in mind, so I've brought along an apple for each of you. (Distribute apples.) You may eat it, but I'm going to ask that you eat it in a very special way this morning.

First, I want you to hold the apple in your hands and polish it by rubbing it - give it a good shine. While you're doing this, feel it with your fingertips. Does it feel like anything else, or does it feel like only an apple can feel?

Now that you've polished your apple, hold it up to the light and look at its color. You'll discover that your apple is actually many different colors - not just red. How many different colors can you count? Are the colors unique to an apple?

We have felt the beauty of an apple through our fingertips, and seen it with our eyes. What about our ears? Let's listen to an apple. It's simple to do. Just take a small bite and strain your ears to catch every sound that's made as you sink your teeth into the skin of your apple. Is it a sound you have heard before? Describe the sound to yourself.

I'm wondering if any of you have taken the time to smell your apple. (Children can do this while they are chewing the bite they've taken - which will take a while!) Go ahead: give the apple a good sniff. This will be a test of how good your sense of smell is. Is it like any other smell? Can you describe it?

Finally, we use our last sense - that of taste. Close your eyes this time, take a small bite, and chew it slowly. Is your apple sweet or sour or a delicate balance of both? Keep your eyes closed and enjoy your bite as much as you can.

(Turning to the congregation) I'm sorry I didn't have an apple for each of you, but I'll bet this was the best apple you've ever "tasted."

When God finished creating the world, according to the book of Genesis, "God saw everything that God had made, and behold, it was very good." We don't realize how good until we take the time to discover the fullness of the beauty of each individual thing. I'm going to take this single apple I've been saving and place it on the communion table now. It will be part of my offering this morning. Let us give thanks, in prayer, as part of our offering:

"Dear God - wonderful Creator - we thank you for the beauty of just one apple: for its feel, its color, its smell, its sound, and its taste. Give us lots of apples, God, but let us still marvel at the beauty of just one apple. Amen."


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*Raisins, peanuts, or other seasonal foods would work almost as well.