Readings: Joel 2.21–27; Psalm 126; 1 Timothy 6.6–10; Matthew 6.25–33
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.
Harvest Festival.
Do you remember celebrating Harvest Festival as a child?
I can recall as a young schoolboy what a big occasion it was.
We’d line up in class,
and then our crocodiles would march down to the village church,
half a mile away,
each clutching a bag of apples or tin of baked beans
or something else that our mothers had given us to take.
We’d sing one or two harvest hymns
and deposit our produce.
The rector would say a few words and some prayers,
and then we’d traipse back to school.
It’s a memory of quite a long time ago,
over half a century for me,
and obviously made a bit of an impression on the young Simon.
But what I can say is that
I didn’t really make much of a connection with real life.
I mean, “Fair waved the golden corn”
didn’t seem to have very much to do
with buying food from the butcher
or the greengrocer or fishmonger –
let alone from the supermarkets
that were just beginning to appear in our town.
Not until I was a good deal older did I begin to understand.
And there’s a clue to help us understand
on the front of today’s service booklet.
You see, the Church actually calls this
not “Harvest Festival” but “Harvest Thanksgiving”.
Not “Harvest Festival” but “Harvest Thanksgiving”.
What’s in a word, you might ask?
Well, quite a lot perhaps.
You see, rather than celebrating
our own cleverness and skill
and the things that we’ve made at a festival,
what we are doing is giving thanks:
giving thanks for the good things that enable us to have …
(well) life.
At harvest that’s particularly thanks that we have food –
enough food for the coming year so we will not starve.
And thanks that for us
that’s actually a pretty remote possibility
– at least I hope it’s pretty remote –
but coupled with concern
that for many around the world
(and indeed in our own country)
not-enough-food is a very real prospect.
And that’s where I think our readings this morning are taking us.
In the Old Testament, Joel reminds his hearers
that God provided for the animals of the field
and for the trees bearing fruit.
And similarly for his people God will provide plenty.
And Jesus in the gospel reading
makes a similar point, doesn’t he?
That God provides for the birds of the air
and for the flowers of the field.
And, Jesus says, in God’s kingdom we too will be provided for.
Jesus tells his hearers
‘Do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?”
or “What will we drink?”
or “What will we wear?” ’
Instead, Jesus’s instruction, as we heard this morning. is this:
‘Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.’
How does that work, do you think?
How will we be provided for?
I think it comes back to thankfulness
and to remembering how the kingdom of God works.
So here’s a little exercise for us all …
You’ll remember that in the gospels
Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is near, it’s at hand.
I want us to think a little about that.
When, I wonder, do you think
we come closest to living in God’s kingdom?
Do you ever think about that?
Let’s just take a few moments to consider it now:
When do you think we come closest to living in God’s kingdom?
You might want to think about this on your own,
or you might want to turn to the person next to you
and share ideas.
When do you think we come closest
to living in the kingdom of God?
… [[pause for a few brief moments, perhaps 10 seconds;
if people start talking to each other give them a bit longer]]
Okay, how did you do?
Now you can find out
whether your thoughts are anything like mine!
Because I reckon there’s actually quite a simple answer –
though I’m not saying it’s necessarily easy to put into practice!
In the gospels Jesus tells us
that we approach being in God’s kingdom …
whenever we do God’s will –
when we do God’s will here on earth as it is done in heaven
And that means sharing the things that God has given us:
sharing our food,
sharing our wealth,
sharing our skills and our knowledge,
sharing our time and our energy.
And sharing God’s peace.
Of the good things that God has given us
we give back the first fruits.
As God is generous to us,
so we have the opportunity
to be generous with all that we have.
In God’s kingdom, you see,
everyone benefits from generosity –
from God’s generosity to all creation …
and from our generosity to one another.
Jesus calls us to consider what we can give –
what we can give back to God,
and what we can give to one another.
So, as we give thanks today at harvest,
we do well to remember
that God calls us to share
the goodness, the bounty,
that we have been given.
That’s not just good food,
but also things like peace and security,
housing and personal dignity.
This year in St Ives,
Father Mark and Callum have been helping
some of our local schools and other organizations
give thanks at harvest
and to bring gifts that will go to the St Ives foodbank.
For their generosity we can be very grateful.
And we too:
as we bring our gifts
and lay them before God at the altar,
as we give our time and our talents and our wealth,
we are sharing God’s love
with some of those in our community
who desperately need it.
And as we love our neighbours who are in need,
as we are generous to them,
so too we are loving Jesus.
Because – make no mistake –
It is when we serve the least of these
our brothers and sisters …
it is then that we serve Jesus.
It is then that we come near to the kingdom of God.
Thanks be to God.