Harvest 2010
Last week you may have heard on the news that the world’s largest wind farm opened off the Kent Coast – The campaign group Friends of the Earth, who are huge supporters of the need for more wind farms, were quoted on the news as saying that the British record on renewable energy was ‘dismal’.
Actually they did say a little more than that but the quote the news picked up was the negative comment and sadly that is so often the case – and in many ways all of us are almost tuned in to look at negatives rather than positives – it is perhaps a sad thing but how many of us look for the catch in every prize we are offered; and how many of us wonder what will go wrong when things seem to be going so well and so on…
Perhaps instead of looking for negatives and disadvantages, we should instead be looking at advantages and gifts and how we can use those things to make life better, both for ourselves and for everyone around us.
At harvest time we celebrate God’s goodness – it is a time of thanksgiving, a time of year when thoughts are focused on praise and worship for all that is good in our lives – we automatically think of food – the very reason the harvest festival services as we know them came into being, and we thank God for providing us with the food we need, but today harvest is also much wider – as we think of other gifts in our lives…. And, very importantly as we give thanks for the gifts we have we remember those who don’t enjoy such gifts and we wonder what we can do for them…
In other words we look at the world as a positive opportunity rather than as a place filled with misery and lacking in hope… Because this is the world, I believe, that Jesus taught us to look at – a world where we see opportunities and where we see hope, and a world where we know, we can make a difference with God’s help…
Think of some of the gospel readings – a few weeks ago we had the story of the farmer who was so successful he had to build bigger barns to store up all his belongings because he had no chance of using it all – and he built the barns, but then he died – and neither he nor anyone else got to enjoy the things he had stored up – this wasn’t a negative story from Jesus, but simply a reminder to look at what we have and think how we can use it for the good of all…
Think of Zaccheus, the tax collector… In the eyes of many people he was beyond hope – he was greedy and selfish and dishonest, but Jesus met him and didn’t begin by criticising him or telling him off – instead he looked at the possibility rather than the reality – he looked at what Zaccheus could be, not what he was…
And that non-judgemental love transformed Zaccheus into a giving man, a man with a desire to make things right and to use what he had to benefit others… And Zaccheus would find that in helping others, he helped himself to become the person God wanted him to become…
And then there was The Parable of the Good Samaritan – again a story of incredibly generous giving by a man who could have allowed all kinds of prejudice and hate to have prevented him from doing what was right… And he didn’t just do what was absolutely necessary – he came back and gave more.
The gospel stories could go on but in every circumstance we find the people that Jesus criticised were those who failed to use the gifts that they were given for good, and in other circumstances he spoke to people with a non judgemental, compassionate, loving invitation to know him better and serve him, and by serving him, to serve others…
There’s a story from a book by an American Methodist bishop writing about Extravagant Generosity: He calls the story ‘Caught Doing Good’ and I want to share just a little bit of that story :-
A congregation in a moderately-sized community had occasional homeless people who would ask for handouts. Often street people would be found sleeping on the front steps of the church. The staff developed rules, guidelines and policies for how to help or how to refer to those who asked for help. They had many discussions about the pros and cons of giving cash,
vouchers, and addresses of other social agencies. One day’s discussion took considerable staff time with few conclusions.
As the pastor was leaving the church later that afternoon, he noticed the part-time caretaker carrying out the rubbish to the large bin in the alley. There was a homeless person sprawled out beside the bin, looking barely conscious. As the caretaker approached the bin, he set down the huge rubbish bag he was
carrying, reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and removed a few dollar bills. Without having been asked, he walked over to the homeless person and gave him the money, and said something, then continued his work, and returned to
the church.
The pastor was amazed and humbled by this extraordinary display of generosity. The part-time caretaker who earned less than anyone else on staff gave generously without even being asked, while the staff had spent several hours tying to figure out policies and procedures.
The pastor asked the man why he gave the money without even being asked and also pressed him about whether he thought the homeless person might misuse the money for alcohol or drugs. “I always do what I can,” the caretaker answered. “I give them a little money and say God bless you, because I figure
that even though they may be pretty messed up, they are some mother’s son and some father’s child, and so I give them something. What they do with the money – well they have to answer to God about that. I just have to answer to God about
what I do with mine.”
Harvest is a wonderful season because it’s a season when we focus on giving thanks – it’s a time when we focus on the love of God – a love that welcomes all, a love that begins with looking at the positive things in life and in people – a love that never focuses on what is wrong with our lives but focuses on what could be right…
As we give thanks may we always remember the love of the one to whom we give thanks, and may we respond by offering his love to everyone. In the words from the psalm today (Ps.67), ‘Let the peoples praise thee O God, yea let all the peoples praise thee.’ AMEN
Actually they did say a little more than that but the quote the news picked up was the negative comment and sadly that is so often the case – and in many ways all of us are almost tuned in to look at negatives rather than positives – it is perhaps a sad thing but how many of us look for the catch in every prize we are offered; and how many of us wonder what will go wrong when things seem to be going so well and so on…
Perhaps instead of looking for negatives and disadvantages, we should instead be looking at advantages and gifts and how we can use those things to make life better, both for ourselves and for everyone around us.
At harvest time we celebrate God’s goodness – it is a time of thanksgiving, a time of year when thoughts are focused on praise and worship for all that is good in our lives – we automatically think of food – the very reason the harvest festival services as we know them came into being, and we thank God for providing us with the food we need, but today harvest is also much wider – as we think of other gifts in our lives…. And, very importantly as we give thanks for the gifts we have we remember those who don’t enjoy such gifts and we wonder what we can do for them…
In other words we look at the world as a positive opportunity rather than as a place filled with misery and lacking in hope… Because this is the world, I believe, that Jesus taught us to look at – a world where we see opportunities and where we see hope, and a world where we know, we can make a difference with God’s help…
Think of some of the gospel readings – a few weeks ago we had the story of the farmer who was so successful he had to build bigger barns to store up all his belongings because he had no chance of using it all – and he built the barns, but then he died – and neither he nor anyone else got to enjoy the things he had stored up – this wasn’t a negative story from Jesus, but simply a reminder to look at what we have and think how we can use it for the good of all…
Think of Zaccheus, the tax collector… In the eyes of many people he was beyond hope – he was greedy and selfish and dishonest, but Jesus met him and didn’t begin by criticising him or telling him off – instead he looked at the possibility rather than the reality – he looked at what Zaccheus could be, not what he was…
And that non-judgemental love transformed Zaccheus into a giving man, a man with a desire to make things right and to use what he had to benefit others… And Zaccheus would find that in helping others, he helped himself to become the person God wanted him to become…
And then there was The Parable of the Good Samaritan – again a story of incredibly generous giving by a man who could have allowed all kinds of prejudice and hate to have prevented him from doing what was right… And he didn’t just do what was absolutely necessary – he came back and gave more.
The gospel stories could go on but in every circumstance we find the people that Jesus criticised were those who failed to use the gifts that they were given for good, and in other circumstances he spoke to people with a non judgemental, compassionate, loving invitation to know him better and serve him, and by serving him, to serve others…
There’s a story from a book by an American Methodist bishop writing about Extravagant Generosity: He calls the story ‘Caught Doing Good’ and I want to share just a little bit of that story :-
A congregation in a moderately-sized community had occasional homeless people who would ask for handouts. Often street people would be found sleeping on the front steps of the church. The staff developed rules, guidelines and policies for how to help or how to refer to those who asked for help. They had many discussions about the pros and cons of giving cash,
vouchers, and addresses of other social agencies. One day’s discussion took considerable staff time with few conclusions.
As the pastor was leaving the church later that afternoon, he noticed the part-time caretaker carrying out the rubbish to the large bin in the alley. There was a homeless person sprawled out beside the bin, looking barely conscious. As the caretaker approached the bin, he set down the huge rubbish bag he was
carrying, reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and removed a few dollar bills. Without having been asked, he walked over to the homeless person and gave him the money, and said something, then continued his work, and returned to
the church.
The pastor was amazed and humbled by this extraordinary display of generosity. The part-time caretaker who earned less than anyone else on staff gave generously without even being asked, while the staff had spent several hours tying to figure out policies and procedures.
The pastor asked the man why he gave the money without even being asked and also pressed him about whether he thought the homeless person might misuse the money for alcohol or drugs. “I always do what I can,” the caretaker answered. “I give them a little money and say God bless you, because I figure
that even though they may be pretty messed up, they are some mother’s son and some father’s child, and so I give them something. What they do with the money – well they have to answer to God about that. I just have to answer to God about
what I do with mine.”
Harvest is a wonderful season because it’s a season when we focus on giving thanks – it’s a time when we focus on the love of God – a love that welcomes all, a love that begins with looking at the positive things in life and in people – a love that never focuses on what is wrong with our lives but focuses on what could be right…
As we give thanks may we always remember the love of the one to whom we give thanks, and may we respond by offering his love to everyone. In the words from the psalm today (Ps.67), ‘Let the peoples praise thee O God, yea let all the peoples praise thee.’ AMEN
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