Harvest – God’s good gifts are for everyone

Sunday 3^rd October by Mavis Wilson

Isaiah 61.8-11; Acts 4. 32-37; Luke 6. 20-26

Have you ever had your life turned upside down? What was that experience like? Was it a good or bad event which turned everything topsy turvey? How did it affect the rest of your life? Did you learn and grow? Was there a positive result even if the process was painful? If so then God’s Spirit was at work bringing something new and good out of the upside down shock of whatever it was..

Today we celebrate Harvest at St Peter’s and the Patronal Festival St Francis - to- day is dedicated to St Francis whose life demonstrated that to be rich is not enough. What is vital is to obey God’s call and live a life of generosity towards others.. For Francis this meant leaving behind a life of comfort and security and the approval and love of family and setting out to serve the poorest of the poor first amongst lepers in his locality and then further afield as he established his communities of friars and later their sister communities of the Poor Clares who, during the course of Francis’s life, spread throughout the whole of Christendom serving those in need and preaching the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ. From being a young man with a rich and comfortable life he became a wandering nomad with neither possessions nor money of his own. His life was literally turned upside down.

What would have moved a rich young man to abandon comfort and security and live a life of poverty and service? For Francis as for most of us it was both human and divine encounters which combined to change the course of his life. The human encounter is recalled in the "story of the beggar." Francis was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity. When he got home, his father scolded him in rage. But compassion had been kindled in his heart. He began to see those in need as of much value as the rich and comfortable.

In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken prisoner spending a year as a captive In this time he presumably had time to think and in all probability endured a considerable level of discomfort. It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. When he returned to Assisi, Francis returned to his carefree life but only a year later a serious illness led to a real spiritual crisis. Francis left to enlist in the army but he had a vision which made him return to Assisi, to obey the voice which he had heard saying ‘Go build my church which you see falling into ruin.’ In order to do that Francis had to allow his life to be literally turned upside down - and that is also the call to everyone who would be a disciple of Jesus, because the kingdom which Jesus calls us to build, the kingdom of God, is itself a kingdom of upside down values in which the poor are called blessed and the rich are warned about the dangers they face as the Gospel this morning reminds us. Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God………………….Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation .

Does that mean that it is all down hill then for us who have the privilege of being rich, at least in so far as we can count on God’s faavour. Or recalling the sermon last week when Margaret spoke about God delighting in us, does that mean that God no longer delights in those who have a healthy bank balance. No, it isn’t quite as simple as that.

Isaiah 61 of which we read the last verses begins with the prophecy about the one whom the Lord had anointed to bring good news to the poor. The chapter finishes with a description of the blessings which come to those whom God has rescued from sorrow, poverty and oppression. That same rescue mission is taken on by Jesus who uses the verses from Isaiah as his manifesto in Luke 4, describing his mission of bringing in God’s kingdom. He gathers his disciples for the same mission. They too, and therefore we, must recognize that God wants blessings, freedom and justice for all people . Where that happens there is the kingdom. Where it does not happen the kingdom of God has not yet come. We have many blessings but those same blessings are God’s will and purpose for all. God’s generosity is for everyone to enjoy. None should be deprived.

The dramatic example of how the kingdom will work comes in the reading from Acts where the believers share everything they have and no-one is in need. A specific act of generosity by Barnabas who goes off and sells a field and adds the proceeds to the common purse is not singled out as unusual but rather as an example of what is normal.

This is almost mind blowing for us. We live such individual lives. When you are in need what do you do? Try and get on stoically, not bothering anyone else? Probably! We do not like to show our areas of weakness, need or poverty and we are embarrassed by those who are honest enough to do so and yet…………………if someone we know in the community does express need or poverty then often we are more than willing to share what we have ……….…up to a point. Would we actually go and sell something in order to give to a brother or sister in need. What would we really do? How far would we go?

But the challenge of Jesus and of Francis takes us beyond the circle of those whom we know to the realm of the genuinely poor- those people who may in fact be our near neighbors - about whom we heard about last week and this week at our Harvest Festivals. People helped to survive by the work of the Church Urban Fund; people who are literally on the bread line, desperately trying to keep a roof over their heads and a home for their children; those who actually suffer hunger in this community or not far from it. As we become aware of these realities we also realize that because of our human frailty God’s kingdom has not come even in out own country, supposedly Christian though it is. Whatever your political opinions and allegiances I would urge you to think carefully in the coming weeks as the Governments spending cuts are unveiled this week. I am sure some cuts are needed but who will really bear the brunt? As a nation do we believe that God is generous to all and that therefore we should ensure that everyone is treated justly and in ways which make them feel blessed?

Justice and generosity rather than greed and hoarding are vital too on the international scene if the world is to live at peace, otherwise there will be wars over resources, the balance of power between rich and poor will be changed by violence and unimaginable chaos will result.

How can we follow the example of Jesus and St Francis? Can we ensure harvest time comes for everyone as God intends? Are we willing for our lives to be turned upside down for the sake of the kingdom.?

Sometimes the challenge of bringing in God’s kingdom is just too big. We need to take smaller steps. Try these-

· Allow God to breathe his Spirit into you (remember the sermon three weeks ago)

· Be informed about the reality of poverty and its effects.

· Simplify your life style and release resources for others.

· Be willing to admit your need and learn to receive from others.

· Share whatever you have with someone who needs it when their need becomes known to you.

· Try lending with no necessary expectation of return.

There is a book around at present called The tipping point. It deals with the process of how things change and the basic thesis is that there are a whole lot of small things which need to happen which gradually build to a climax when the ripping pit is reached and things change significantly and suddenly although really it has been coming for a while.

So take small steps and you will be taken by the Spirit to the point of having your life turned upside down for God.

Questions

1. Has your life ever been turned upside down? What happened and what was the long term effect?

2. In what ways do you feel rich and in what ways do you feel poor?

3. Are there any specific ways in which you are involved in caring for the poor?

4. Is there anything you will do differently as a result of your discussion to-day?