Harvest 2022, Sunderland Minster

 

Lectionary readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Philippians 4:4-9 and John 6:25-35

It is good to be with you today. I am tired, perhaps more tired than I recall being in thirteen years of this vocation. And to be here, and to have [a colleague priest] declare the words of absolution over us—‘Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.’—to have these words spoken over me and to receive them, is bread of heaven and water for my soul.

Today we mark our harvest festival. There is much that could, and should, be said concerning food justice; but that is not what I would like to speak about today. Instead, I want to ask, what is the harvest that God is hoping for us? And how might that harvest come to fruition?

The world of Jesus and his disciples was built on grain. Empires rose and fell on account of the success or failure of their harvests. Jesus himself told stories of farmers planting their crops and spoke of the seed that must fall to the earth and die, rising again and bearing fruit, a harvest of seed many times greater than the volume of seed that had been planted. Writing to the believers in Corinth, concerning the growth of the church, Paul says that he planted, and Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.

In our reading this morning from Paul’s letter to the believers in Philippi, we learn that God longs for us to experience a harvest of gentleness and peace. Gentleness, here, means equity, yielding to one another so that all have as each one needs. Peace, here, means welfare, where, again, each one is enabled to flourish.

If you want a harvest of gentleness and peace, you must plant the appropriate seed, which Paul describes as focusing on whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, anything possessing excellence and being worthy of praise.

And having planted the seed, that seed must be watered, in coming together to pray, bringing our needs before God, with thanksgiving for all we have received.

If we plant, and water, God supplies the growth, a harvest of gentleness and peace.

Here at the Minster, we have plenty of needs to bring before God. We have very significant financial challenges. It costs over £100 a day simply to open the doors, and that is before we can make any contribution towards the cost of ministry in this diocese or pay any staff in roles that support the life of this place. Our financial situation is really very serious. We can worry about that, or we can lift our voices in prayer, giving thanks for all that we see God doing in this place, the broken lives lifted-up, the outcasts finding welcome. What else? We need a new Provost, someone who can come and oversee the life and work of this community, whose appointment can unlock resources that are currently unavailable, whose arrival will be a sign of hope for the city. The process is taking far longer than we had hoped, and it is placing too great a burden on others who are carrying additional loads. Again, we can allow this to tear us apart, heart and mind and soul and strength pulled in every which direction, or we can lift our voices to pray. The Lord is near, and his presence guards our hearts and minds so that we are not pulled apart, so that we know that wholeness or welfare.

As we pray, we should expect to hear the voice of Jesus, commanding the storm be still, calling us to follow him, to come away and rest, to go out and make disciples, to sow in tears and reap in joy. For, to draw on a different agricultural metaphor, Jesus’ sheep know his voice, and, hearing his voice, his little flock need not be afraid.

To think about ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable…any excellence and…anything worthy of praise’ is deeply dissonant for us, who are daily shaped by a surrounding culture that focuses on anything but. That is why we do these things together. Pray on your own last thing before you go to bed, by all means; but pray with others too. Give thanks, together; together, present our requests to God. Let us encourage one another, by example. And the God of peace will be with you.