WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.500 Morning everyone. There was this family and they'd had invited the vicar around for lunch. 00:00:10.540 --> 00:00:18.160 And not being a family used to giving thanks, they thought this event was worthy of briefing 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:25.480 their children pretty well before the vicar came. And so they had a quick practice of what was 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:34.820 appropriate to say as a grace. So the vicar, Julie, arrived for dinner and they sat down at the table 00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:42.840 and there was a pause. And dad said to the middle child, would you like to say what we said earlier? 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:51.679 Upon there was a pause. And the mum said, it's what we said earlier in the kitchen. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:01:00.119 And the child sparked into life and said, oh God, that boring vicar is coming tonight. I hope he doesn't stay too long. 00:01:03.539 --> 00:01:11.739 When was the last time we paused to embrace the presence of God and give thanks? 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:24.519 You know, in order for his creation. Or do we view his creation purely through our consumerist eyes? 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:32.319 That it's just all for us. You know, have we seemingly expected God to provide everything 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:38.899 without giving him thanks and the glory that he rightly deserves? 00:01:39.699 --> 00:01:46.479 And also stewarding well what we've been given. You know, do you remember the day maybe 00:01:46.479 --> 00:01:52.259 there were no toilet rolls on the shelves? Do you remember that day? 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.879 Maybe did the world end for you that day? 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:02.099 Maybe you'd just like to share with the person next to you what your alternative arrangements? 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:03.899 No, don't do that. 00:02:05.899 --> 00:02:14.319 But on this Harvest Sunday, we have to give thanks to God for the abundance of what he's given us 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:18.240 and how we use that and how we share that. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:24.620 And how we see and glorify the presence of God in creation itself. 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:31.520 What a wonderful world. I mean, Sir David Attenborough has brought us and to the world 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:37.219 pictures and images that we would never normally see. 00:02:37.980 --> 00:02:42.379 Of a world that is so awesome and so beautiful. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:49.420 And no wonder he gets so passionate about the damage that we're doing to the planet. 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:56.500 Maybe we need to see and embrace the wholeness of the presence of God in creation 00:02:56.500 --> 00:03:02.639 to actually stir us into actually action about doing things. 00:03:02.779 --> 00:03:07.239 But the question I want to ask in this wonderful yet broken world, 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:10.579 is this all for us? 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:14.180 After all, it provides me with food. 00:03:15.380 --> 00:03:16.600 It gives me water. 00:03:17.600 --> 00:03:20.220 It gives me long, hot summer days. 00:03:20.380 --> 00:03:23.560 Eat for crops, birds, animals, bugs, rainbows. 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:25.380 We can all make the list. 00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:28.780 All those lovely harvest hymns. 00:03:28.980 --> 00:03:30.760 We plow the fields and scatter. 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:35.780 We think that God created all this just for us. 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:44.679 It seems to me that creation praises God in itself by simply being his creation 00:03:44.679 --> 00:03:50.599 in its incredible and beautiful diversity and variety. 00:03:51.459 --> 00:03:55.000 And since most of creation is beyond the awareness of humankind, 00:03:55.000 --> 00:04:02.199 and it is, you know, in search of space, the heights of the mountains, the depths of the sea. 00:04:02.419 --> 00:04:07.500 It wasn't created merely to serve the purposes that have to do with us. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:16.540 I think it was created for the enjoyment of God, who created it for himself. 00:04:17.660 --> 00:04:19.139 Who else would do that? 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:21.019 This is my world. 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:26.719 God, this is what I've created in all its beauty for us to share. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.000 That's why it should be precious to us. 00:04:29.699 --> 00:04:33.139 He saw what he had made, and he said it was good. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.459 And we get to join in, as the psalmist has told us this morning, 00:04:39.719 --> 00:04:41.779 and see his presence in creation. 00:04:42.099 --> 00:04:46.240 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:49.000 the moon and the stars that you have set in place, 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.779 I don't know whether you've ever gone to one of those places 00:04:54.779 --> 00:04:57.060 where there is no ambient light around, 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:04.040 and you have laid down, and you have looked at the canopy of stars, 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:05.500 and the beauty. 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:09.759 And that wonderful verse, I think, in that hymn that he says, 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:12.920 and he flung stars into space. 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:20.640 And suddenly the enormity and beauty of the things maybe that we don't even comprehend 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:23.540 suddenly comes into focus. 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:28.140 The beauty of things that we're discovering at the depths of the sea, 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.300 parts of the sea that have never, ever been explored yet, 00:05:31.840 --> 00:05:33.879 but things that are yet to be discovered. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:38.220 The wonder of God, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars. 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:43.480 I heard of a theological professor who made fun of those who talked of finding God in nature. 00:05:43.820 --> 00:05:50.240 He accused them of being pantheists who mistook beauty for divinity. 00:05:50.840 --> 00:05:55.400 And at his worst, he suggested that we only engaged in touchy-feely religion 00:05:55.400 --> 00:05:58.180 that had nothing to do with the Christian story. 00:05:58.380 --> 00:05:59.200 I disagree. 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:02.100 I totally disagree. 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:06.660 Now, I know from years of leading on Alpha and in various settings, 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:11.640 and you would know, that to stand at our glorious seafront here 00:06:11.640 --> 00:06:16.379 and watch that beautiful sunset, as so many people do, 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:21.660 and you stand there and people gather in awe and wonder. 00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:25.580 But like many here, I guess in doing that, 00:06:25.780 --> 00:06:28.280 we are making some kind of faith statement, 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.520 whether we are a Christian or not, 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:36.819 but we capture the awesomeness of creation and what God can do. 00:06:38.039 --> 00:06:43.339 You know, even a non-believer's awe is some form of religious affirmation, 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:50.019 because how else can you explain this amazing, beautiful creation that God has given you? 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:54.759 Maybe God created this foremostly because he is God and we are not, 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.560 and we need to remember that. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:04.379 And the graciousness of God, I always think, is that we get to join in. 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:11.259 We get to partner with God in this amazing creation as stewards to look after. 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:16.040 No wonder our young people are so passionate about this at the moment. 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:20.660 You know, talk to young people, and it is true at the moment in school. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:24.379 One of the main things that they want to talk about is the environment 00:07:24.379 --> 00:07:26.520 and how we work with the planet. 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:32.860 And they believe, many, that because of our age group that we're not interested. 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:38.660 We are, and we should be, and we need to listen more and be active. 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:41.500 What is mankind that you are mindful of them? 00:07:41.820 --> 00:07:44.140 Mere human beings that you care for them. 00:07:44.520 --> 00:07:47.180 He made them rulers over the work of your hands. 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:49.660 You put everything under their feet. 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:51.740 We have a responsibility. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:58.200 It's been given to us, and we are responsible to be good stewards. 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.580 Remember the workers, that story of the workers in the vineyard? 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.580 You know, oh, well, you know, we'll do it our own way. 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:07.080 We'll do it our own way. 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:12.419 And when the sun comes, oh, we'll get rid of that, because no. 00:08:13.259 --> 00:08:16.959 We are responsible, and we get to play our part in creation. 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:20.219 And dare I say it, we are accountable. 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:25.219 It is that word, that we are accountable to God, each and every one of us, 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:27.819 and certainly for us as a church nationally. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.240 You know, and often we show off, don't we? 00:08:31.299 --> 00:08:33.519 Look at what we can do. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:38.179 Oh, you know, it's so small compared with what he does. 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:40.340 God doesn't need to show off. 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:43.039 It's just his character to create wonder. 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:47.399 Wonder after wonder after wonder. 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:57.879 And if I delight in what I've created, surely I want to share it and share what he does. 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:03.199 And as followers, we are called to cherish it too. 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:06.179 Now, there's a word that's gone out of fashion, isn't it? 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:07.459 Cherish. 00:09:08.819 --> 00:09:10.039 Isn't that a shame? 00:09:11.199 --> 00:09:13.379 You have even taken out the marriage service. 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:14.279 What a shame. 00:09:14.359 --> 00:09:15.399 Maybe we'll put it back in. 00:09:16.939 --> 00:09:17.919 But cherish. 00:09:18.959 --> 00:09:23.139 We need to cherish that which has been given. 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:28.199 Cherish his presence in creating something that means so much to him, 00:09:28.439 --> 00:09:31.479 that means so much to us as well. 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:38.840 Maybe like Mandy and I, in the depths of your loft, you have a box, 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.360 if you're a parent or grandparent. 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:47.279 And it's filled with those things that your children brought home from school 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.220 or your grandchildren brought home from school for you. 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:58.899 Maybe it was a toilet roll with a doily for wings and a small halo 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:04.019 that looked better on the top of your tree than any designer thing 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:07.840 because they had made it and they had created it for you. 00:10:08.680 --> 00:10:12.259 Maybe it was that piece of Fimo that they brought home 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:15.660 that really was supposed to look like a dog, 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:20.519 but it was so special because they made it for you. 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:23.879 Maybe two. 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:26.079 Again, there was that thing that, 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.579 that picture that they brought home, 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:33.939 two circles with two legs coming out for sticks. 00:10:34.699 --> 00:10:36.959 It didn't look anything like me. 00:10:38.079 --> 00:10:39.379 But it was. 00:10:39.379 --> 00:10:39.460 It was. 00:10:39.939 --> 00:10:42.919 And it was made specifically for me. 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:45.639 But we treasure it. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.620 We don't throw it away. 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:50.059 We keep it and we treasure it. 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:52.480 And we open the basket now and again 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.419 to remember how much we are loved 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:57.259 and how much we are known 00:10:57.259 --> 00:10:59.759 because somebody created that for me. 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:02.779 We sat there. 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:04.639 We hugged our child. 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:05.860 We held them close. 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:06.779 And we said, 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:08.879 this is so beautiful. 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:12.200 Thank you for creating it for me. 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:16.259 Flip the coin. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.440 When did we last pause and focus on God 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:22.580 in the love of his creation 00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:26.639 that we were given to share with him and others 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.100 and sense the awesomeness of his presence 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:29.620 and said, 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:30.980 thank you, God. 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.840 Thank you for this moment. 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.060 Thank you for this creation. 00:11:37.920 --> 00:11:40.040 Thank you for the things around me. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.800 You know, it's that throwaway line, isn't it? 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.040 The moon and the stars he made also. 00:11:46.800 --> 00:11:49.480 How majestic is your name in all the world. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.360 We're doing a prayer thing at the moment 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:55.019 with our young people. 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:56.780 And it's great. 00:11:57.040 --> 00:11:59.300 Pete Gregg, 24-7 prayer, 00:11:59.400 --> 00:12:00.440 if you've ever heard of him, 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.100 tells this great story 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:04.480 that he's walking to work one day. 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:06.560 And he just gets to the point 00:12:06.560 --> 00:12:08.639 where he feels the Lord say, 00:12:09.540 --> 00:12:11.700 hang on, Pete, just pause. 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.600 I want you to look at this tree. 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:18.240 So he pauses and looks at the tree. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.639 Of course, people are passing by thinking, 00:12:22.180 --> 00:12:24.080 where's that man staring at a tree? 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.400 And he's thinking, 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:27.100 okay, Lord, 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.720 I know you want to say something to me through this. 00:12:30.520 --> 00:12:31.759 Well, you know, what's the message? 00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:32.780 What's the message? 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:35.600 And he just sensed, 00:12:35.800 --> 00:12:37.440 after a few minutes of standing there, 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:38.860 the Lord saying, 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:41.100 that's a great tree, isn't it? 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:45.879 I don't know whether you've been at that point 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.519 of taking your children to school 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:53.379 and that sense of wandering along on the way, 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.060 and especially in the autumn 00:12:55.060 --> 00:12:57.440 with those wonderful cobwebs 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.040 that are actually covered 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:01.240 and look so beautiful in the morning dew. 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:03.980 And you know you're going to be late for school, 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:04.460 don't you? 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.120 Because your child just wants to stand 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:09.860 and drink in the beauty of the thing 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:12.360 that we're going to pass by and take in. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.259 That is the presence of God in creation. 00:13:18.539 --> 00:13:20.519 And maybe we need to grasp it more. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:23.820 In Nehemiah, it says, 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:25.399 you alone are the Lord, 00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:26.580 you have made the heavens, 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:30.159 the heavens of heavens with all their host, 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:33.399 the earth and all is in it. 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:36.039 This morning we sang, 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:37.679 our God is a great big God, 00:13:38.299 --> 00:13:39.019 at fact. 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:40.319 You might have heard it 00:13:40.319 --> 00:13:41.480 if you'd arrived early. 00:13:42.199 --> 00:13:43.539 And it is so true. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:44.759 We won't sing it now. 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:46.899 But it would be so appropriate 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:49.279 that our God is a great big God 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:51.439 and he holds us in his hand. 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:53.039 He's higher than a skyscraper, 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:55.000 he's deeper than a submarine. 00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:57.319 He's wider than the universe, 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:00.339 but he's beyond my wildest dreams. 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:01.799 You know, 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:06.399 maybe we've lost the perspective at Harvest 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.879 that it's all about tractors. 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:10.259 Now, I love tractors. 00:14:10.859 --> 00:14:11.779 Don't get me wrong. 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:14.199 I think it's very romantic, 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:16.759 that idea that we have at Harvest sometimes, 00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:17.919 of, you know, 00:14:17.979 --> 00:14:21.039 the old-fashioned haywain coming in. 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:21.959 The evening, 00:14:22.839 --> 00:14:23.799 the sun is setting. 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.859 The workers are coming home 00:14:26.859 --> 00:14:28.559 for their ployman's lunch 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:29.859 or in the evening 00:14:29.859 --> 00:14:31.319 and a pint of cider. 00:14:32.659 --> 00:14:32.979 You know, 00:14:33.019 --> 00:14:33.959 very romantic 00:14:33.959 --> 00:14:36.519 in the fading light of the sunlight. 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:41.639 But there's so much more. 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:44.679 So much more to thanking him 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:45.639 for the many, 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:47.559 many causes 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:49.500 that are coming out in this world. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:51.779 A world that seeks to pollute, 00:14:52.579 --> 00:14:54.039 a world that seeks to scour, 00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:56.779 a world that seeks to destroy, 00:14:57.559 --> 00:14:59.279 willfully disregard nature 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:00.919 and the ecosystem 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:02.759 that is so beautiful 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.620 but so delicately balanced. 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:13.419 I am beautiful in my creation. 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:15.519 I sensed that word this morning. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.159 I am beautiful in my creation 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.120 and it's not too late. 00:15:21.340 --> 00:15:23.659 I am beautiful in my creation, 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:24.500 says the Lord, 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:26.399 and I am not, 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:28.039 and it's not too late. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.279 Now, I'm not going to give you 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:34.399 three, five, ten or fifty points 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:35.279 of what we can do. 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:37.620 As a church, 00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:38.659 as Christians, 00:15:38.819 --> 00:15:39.740 to save the planet. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:41.919 But I think where it starts 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:43.879 is for each and every one of us 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.659 to catch the awe and wonder of God 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:49.480 and what he has created. 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:51.879 And like the psalmist says, 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:53.939 once we see it through God's eyes, 00:15:55.079 --> 00:15:55.439 then, 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:56.860 then maybe, 00:15:57.419 --> 00:15:59.039 we will be stirred into action. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.939 to be breathless with the awesome presence 00:16:02.939 --> 00:16:04.099 of God in creation 00:16:04.099 --> 00:16:07.500 and ask him to show us what we can do 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:09.839 because we don't want to lose that. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.079 To wake from our complacency 00:16:13.079 --> 00:16:17.299 or is it just another sunset? 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:21.259 So how do you want us 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:22.919 to reverse the mistakes we're making, 00:16:23.099 --> 00:16:23.219 Lord? 00:16:23.599 --> 00:16:24.839 Where does your church seek 00:16:24.839 --> 00:16:26.179 to champion your creation? 00:16:26.699 --> 00:16:27.500 Where do we act? 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:28.419 Where do we speak? 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:29.679 Where are we seeking 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.439 to save this wonderful world? 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.139 Not for our own preservation, 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:35.259 but because of his, 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.620 and it always has been. 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.779 Let's ask God to show us 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:43.959 what to say, 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:45.600 when to say it, 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:47.039 how to act, 00:16:47.579 --> 00:16:48.519 and what to do. 00:16:49.319 --> 00:16:50.579 And he will show us 00:16:50.579 --> 00:16:52.279 because he loves it 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:53.659 and loves us so much. 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:56.039 Amen.