Harvest All Age Service, 2021
Harvest 2021
How many of you worry about things? Or maybe I should put it the other way - how many of you don’t worry about things?
I have to be honest - I’ve been struggling a bit with today’s passage because whilst I’m not a major worrier compared to some, I don’t see how it’s possible to go through life and not worry about some things, and perhaps more controversially – I think at times it is absolutely right to worry about things. Like the current climate crisis, for example.
So how do we understand Jesus’ words in today’s gospel?
Let’s start by putting them into context. Did you notice the passage immediately before is about a rich and foolish man who wants to store up treasure for himself, so he can then sit back and be merry?
Jesus is challenging the whole mindset of greed and storing up wealth. He is challenging the mindset of always wanting more and more – you know, just so we can be sure we will be ok in the future.
And why is he doing this? Well, I think the Deuteronomy reading helps shed light – when he says “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.”
Deuteronomy is rightly reminding us that God has given us an amazing land, which is overflowing with wonderful resources – but he asks us to always remember that this is a gift from God, all we have is a gift, and not something we can say we did ourselves, or take for granted. It is something to be shared and looked after, to be passed on to future generations.
And generally, I think that we are not very good at remembering this. We enjoy our comfortable lifestyles. Many of us are fortunate to be able to fly to amazing places for wonderful holidays. We consume so much, and we don’t always stop to consider the broader impact of our actions.
And it is this that Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin and Ecumenical Patriach Bartholomew have issued a joint statement about. It is a plea to leaders and governments, and also a plea to all “Christians, Believers and People of Good Will” to think about the long term impact of our choices, and take urgent action to care for our world and reduce the impact of climate change.
So, I wonder- what are some of the things that we might want to think about changing? Do you have any ideas of things that we could change to reduce our impact on the environment, and consume less of its resources?
Examples:
- Eat less meat and fish
- Choose organic, local food
- Turn lights off when you leave the room
- Avoid disposable items – use reusable - cutlery, cups, facemasks, containers – nappies, facewipes, even sanitary products
- Use your car less – go electric or hybrid – or give it up completely
- Cycle or walk more
- Buy from second-hand shops
- Avoid plastic – bags, food containers,
- Dry clothes naturally – avoid tumble dryers
- Beeswax wraps for food – no more clingfilm
- Biodegradable dog poop bags
- Ecover, Method, other natural cleaners and use refills
- Part fill kettle – just enough
- Don’t overshop and throw out food
- Cook in bulk and freeze
- Fly less
Now some of these things are quite big asks – they may be uncomfortable, and they might mean we don’t get everything we want. The paper from the Christian leaders quotes Deuteronomy 30 - “Choose Life, that you and your children might live.” They say…..“Choosing Life means choosing sacrifice and exercising self-restraint.”
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at sacrifice and self-restraint – it goes against my very nature – so how do we adjust our thinking so this doesn’t all feel like a massive ask and a denial of our right to a nice life? How do we balance this against Jesus words in John 10 – “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”?
Again, I come back to the words from today’s readings - life is a gift from God – if we can really practice gratitude for all of the amazing things we have in life, then perhaps we won’t feel so entitled to them.
Maybe our current individualistic culture accentuates the feeling that we have a right to whatever we want. We tend to have a sense of entitlement – look at all the rage about being forced to wear facemasks, or stay at home,
to try and protect the most vulnerable and ensure the NHS could cope during the height of Covid.
Whilst I’m not saying I agree with all the government’s decisions, it did seem to me that many people’s objections were not about the wellbeing of the community, but about a challenge to their rights and freedom.
And I think this is where God is asking us to take a different view…..It’s not our right to, for example, produce so many emissions that whole communities experience natural disasters and suffer enormously. It’s not our right to consume resources from our land to such an extent that animals become extinct and the land becomes barren.
We are called to love and care for our land – but that can be hard when the world feels so large, and some of the consequences will reach far beyond our lifetime. So how do we get better at this? I’d suggest, we need to be more thankful for what we have.
Maybe I can ask – what do you love about our planet? My family tease me because I regularly stop to smell flowers – roses especially! How often do you stop and appreciate the beauty of our world? How often do you give thanks for the amazing food and resources we have access to?
Today is Harvest Sunday and we are rightly celebrating all the good gifts the land is giving us, and we are sharing those gifts with others less fortunate, by collecting for the Glass Door Charity. Being thankful is an essential part of making sacrifices, because it reminds us why we are doing it
And we are reminded today, that God knows what we need and has created a world which will supply it…..we are told not to worry – not to store up wealth - and we need to play our part too – we need to be responsible stewards of creation – caring about the entire world and not just our own little corner of it.
As the church leaders write -“Now, in this moment, we have an opportunity to repent, to turn around in resolve, to head in the opposite direction. We must pursue generosity and fairness in the way that we live, work and use money, instead of selfish gain.”
“We call on everyone… to endeavour to listen to the cry of the earth and of people who are poor, examining their behaviour and pledging meaningful sacrifices for the sake of the earth which God has given us.”…..So how will you respond to this call? What can you change today?