WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.719 It's harvest. I had a friend, he thought he was a farmer and what he did is he bought himself 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:12.080 a brand new four by four. He bought some hunter wellies, a very nice barber jacket, 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:19.640 a place in the country, four chickens and two goats. He could tell you about European subsidies 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:24.800 and how tough it was to be a farmer. He really was a full-time London financier. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:33.039 I met a man on a beach once in Spain. He wanted to sell me a Rolex watch for £30. That's what he 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:41.000 said. Honestly, a Rolex watch for £30. He had a row of them all up his arm. Now, I'm not a connoisseur 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:47.640 of Rolex watches, but I can tell you that a Cosmograph Daytona costs in excess of £51,000 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:56.980 if you buy a proper one. Our theme this morning is the Christian atheist, is when you believe in God, 00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:04.640 but trust more in money. And it isn't just Donald Trump that talks about faking it. 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:11.400 You see, in the Bible, there's a man called Timothy who gets a letter from his mentor, 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:18.520 Paul. And in the letter, Paul tells him to watch out for people who act holy but don't get their 00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:24.240 holiness from Jesus, but from the stuff that they have and the stuff that they've done. 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:30.900 And Paul called this kind of religious devotion a kind, a form of godlessness, 00:01:32.219 --> 00:01:38.960 meaning it's exactly the opposite of what it's meant to be. It's fake. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:47.839 He was telling Timothy to watch out for people who fake it with their faith. It's like identity 00:01:47.839 --> 00:01:55.339 theft. People who say they are Christians yet live like they don't know him or serve him. And the early 00:01:55.339 --> 00:02:04.139 church was pretty well and down through history very much the same. Christians who fake it day by day. 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:13.599 It's harvest Sunday. And if your head is full of tractors, furrows, plows, wheat sheaves, 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:22.860 I want to introduce you to my gran's front garden. Imagine if you can her small piece of ground 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:30.900 outside the front of her council flat. My gran had flowers in her front garden throughout the year. 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:39.840 It was a joy to see daffodils in November, snow drops in October, and tulips throughout the year, 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:45.180 all courtesy of brands of washing powder in the 1960s. 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:55.920 My gran was a fake gardener. And it didn't fool me as a six-year-old. They didn't smell like the real 00:02:55.920 --> 00:03:01.980 thing. They certainly didn't feel like the real thing. And they certainly didn't look like the real 00:03:01.980 --> 00:03:11.920 thing. The one thing she never had to do was to sow or reap. She just faked it. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:21.139 And Paul, like a wise brother, gives Timothy some advice and says, 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:30.599 Timothy, don't fake it. Because the true way of being authentic and honest and knowing the real thing, 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:40.459 but it starts with a but. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:48.319 If you recognize the words in today's scripture, it's probably because you've been to a funeral or two. 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:56.079 For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. And liturgy adds to it in 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:03.000 the funeral service and the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. You see, the Lord God Almighty doesn't 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:12.300 have to fake anything. What he gives, he gives generously, yet it comes with a warning. And the 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:20.280 warning is here. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap that many foolish and 00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:27.959 harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and to destruction. And people in general, me included, 00:04:29.059 --> 00:04:38.619 often get prickly when the church talks about money. And we take a consumerist view because that's the 00:04:38.619 --> 00:04:47.099 way we live. It's hard-earned and it's mine to choose what I do with it. But under the lens of 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:54.560 scripture and Jesus' teaching, that's faking it. Because that's about as far from the truth of the 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:01.780 gospel truth that you can get. And I think it's true to say that most people in the last few days 00:05:01.780 --> 00:05:07.560 of your life, if you are fortunate enough to know it's the last few days of your life, 00:05:08.820 --> 00:05:16.160 don't talk about money and possessions. They talk about the things that are really, really precious. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:24.939 which is about their faith, their family. They talk about their loving memories. They talk about 00:05:24.939 --> 00:05:31.440 sometimes for peace and forgiveness for the things that have been said and done. 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:40.360 And in many cases, just ending well as they prepare with their face-to-face encounter with God. 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:50.720 They don't have to fake anything. And why would we? Greg, in the book, puts it very much like this. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:57.880 I always told myself that one day, when we have a certain amount saved, then I'll feel secure. 00:05:58.520 --> 00:06:04.280 Yet each time I crossed that imaginary line of security, my line moved. 00:06:06.280 --> 00:06:12.780 What before seemed like more than enough suddenly didn't feel like close to enough. 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:21.000 After serious prayer and reflection, I realized what I was doing. I was placing my trust in money 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:28.019 instead of in God. And I talked to Amy, this is his wife, about it. And she agreed. We have enough. 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:35.179 We have way more than enough. If we can't be happy with that of what we have, there's something 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:45.519 seriously wrong and sick about us. Here's what's surprising. It was easy to do. When my Christian 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:53.000 atheist let go of those false promises of worldly pleasures, it was easier for me to pursue God. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.740 And pursuing God, I became strangely content. And that was enough. 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:10.100 What is enough for us? What is being content look like for us? 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:17.519 I used to laugh to myself when scripture talked about a cheerful giver, because I think on the whole 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:25.060 that my attitude as a Christian atheist certainly didn't reflect that joyful attitude about giving. 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:33.180 statistics show that many Christians give less than 2% of their monthly income to their local church. 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:41.500 But I can choose who I give my money to. I can do that. And there's lots and lots of worthy causes out there. 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:53.439 But as it's Harvest Sunday, 2% doesn't buy a lot of seed. And we wonder why many churches see very little harvest. 00:07:55.060 --> 00:08:02.800 Because their congregations haven't been serious about investing in the sowing from their local church. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:13.720 Sadly, it's common for many Anglican and Methodist churches to have less congregation than 30 people this morning in their congregation. 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:21.460 They haven't invested. And in many cases historically weren't challenged to invest in sowing. 00:08:21.460 --> 00:08:27.100 And wonder why there are no young families or real spiritual growth in their fellowships. 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:34.259 Paul is talking to a younger Timothy. And it's clear for him, this is what he is saying. 00:08:34.259 --> 00:08:46.120 You need to sow lavishly into your community. The people that were called to serve, the people that were called to reach. 00:08:46.319 --> 00:08:54.379 It is not about ourselves. And if you need a sharing harvest analogy today, I'll give you one. 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:59.039 Because Jesus used a great one. And it was from Luke 12. 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:02.779 And when he was asked, he said, he told this parable. 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:08.639 The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:11.759 And he thought to himself, what shall I do? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:16.480 I have no place to store my crops. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.980 Then he said, this is what I'll do. 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:24.300 I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.700 And then I will store my surplus grain. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:34.620 And I will say to myself, you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:36.680 Take life easy. 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.620 Eat, drink, and be merry. 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:45.019 But God said to him, you fool. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.940 Because this very night, your life will be demanded from you. 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:58.820 Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:06.420 This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves, which is not rich towards God. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:12.460 What does it look like being rich towards God? 00:10:12.460 --> 00:10:23.139 Craig, in this chapter, when you believe in God but trust in more and money, reminds us that the church is the hope of the world. 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:33.160 And as God's chosen people, us, we are to be called an instrument of blessing for more than 2,000 years. 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.159 And that is our purpose. 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:35.579 And that is our purpose. 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:38.019 To bring people to Christ. 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:40.679 To help them discover their purpose. 00:10:41.179 --> 00:10:45.699 And to work as one body to bring the gospel to every nation. 00:10:45.939 --> 00:10:52.240 And if you know the vision of Christ's church, you will know that's not far from the vision of why we exist and why we live. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:56.100 You see, it's about the local church. 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:06.500 And if that is God's instrument, that is you and me, then we need to start digging deep and realize that sowing, reaping, and harvest, what it's really all about. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:14.659 To embrace, to give thanks for his generosity, and to liken ourselves to that. 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:22.079 Our ministry and our lifestyle should show that which flows out of the local church. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:23.919 Why? 00:11:25.219 --> 00:11:27.459 Because he showed us how it was done. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.279 And we are one body. 00:11:32.299 --> 00:11:35.319 And we should be one body in our giving and our sharing as well. 00:11:36.699 --> 00:11:38.439 We will share communion in a minute. 00:11:38.439 --> 00:11:43.860 We acknowledge we are one, we live as one, and we share as one. 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:46.579 That's what the church is. 00:11:47.939 --> 00:11:52.519 And our giving to him, to his church, and those who we serve should reflect that. 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.399 That we give as one, one pot. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:12:01.679 The local church does what he asks us to do and what is said in scripture in Acts 2. 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:08.240 You see, there is so much going on that we can do and can do, but so much more. 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.539 Transforming lives for good is bringing hope to so many. 00:12:12.539 --> 00:12:17.199 The food bank, Andrew House, is bringing so much to so many. 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:20.179 I don't know whether you've watched Debt Saviors. 00:12:21.079 --> 00:12:24.980 If you did, if you haven't, watch it on iPlayer. 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:34.319 £1.29 is all she had left on her meter on a Friday to see her through to a Monday. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:36.679 £1.29. 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:42.179 And when that ran out, there was no electricity and there was no food in the kitchen. 00:12:43.839 --> 00:12:49.079 If the church is to be the local hope, then as Craig says, we aren't talking about people 00:12:49.079 --> 00:12:51.339 who are just asking to make hens meat. 00:12:52.079 --> 00:12:57.739 We are people who are struggling to pay rent, to buy clothes, feed their children, and even 00:12:57.739 --> 00:12:58.500 feed themselves. 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:02.360 That's who we should be extravagantly serving. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:05.820 And he challenges us in the book. 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:09.919 And if you read it, and it challenges me, how does that fit? 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:12.700 How does that fit with my new kitchen? 00:13:13.419 --> 00:13:15.659 How does that fit with my grand extension? 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:21.840 How does that fit with my data plans, my digital cables, my eating out as a matter of convenience, 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:28.759 my expensive and extensive holidays, they bear no proportion to giving to the body? 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.139 I'm going to be comfortable with that face-to-face conversation. 00:13:36.780 --> 00:13:38.200 I don't think I am. 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:43.000 Which challenges me to do something about it now. 00:13:44.440 --> 00:13:47.480 In my curacy, people would do the Malachi 1.8. 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:51.220 And it says, please don't bling me, your blemished lamb. 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:57.180 People would bring along to the offering to the altar, the lamb that had a leg hanging off. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.560 It was twitching, and it was nearly ready to go. 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:02.759 You are supposed to bring to the Lord your best. 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:10.120 In my curacy, people would say, oh, we've just got a new carpet being laid. 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:11.779 Would the church like the old one? 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.220 We've just got a new TV. 00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:18.680 The old one's a bit on the blink, but would the youth group like it? 00:14:20.180 --> 00:14:20.540 You know? 00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:27.540 The Christian atheist says, sure, I'll give as long as it doesn't lower my personal standard of living. 00:14:28.680 --> 00:14:30.200 And it's a tough call. 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:32.700 It's no point faking it. 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.000 We bring nothing into the world. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:44.240 And my children, no matter how much or how little I accumulate, can't take it out any more than I can. 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:47.139 And if that's what we're saving for. 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:53.139 I looked at the planner for this service series, and I thought, great. 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:57.779 I get the least popular area in which to preach. 00:14:57.779 --> 00:15:04.559 There's no one going to send me cards saying, what a great preach on Sunday, Clive. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:05.959 That was great. 00:15:06.839 --> 00:15:11.819 I've just sold my holiday home, and here's a check for the church to do with it what they like. 00:15:12.819 --> 00:15:18.679 And do with it as the Lord sees fit, just as they did in the book of Acts. 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:31.199 But I'm really sorry this morning if you wanted me to stand here and talk about wheat, tractors, farmers, and nice woolly sheep in a field. 00:15:32.239 --> 00:15:36.000 Because if you wanted me to do that, I'd have faked it. 00:15:37.239 --> 00:15:43.559 And to say that we should all do our own thing and pretend that Scripture doesn't apply to us, 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.719 then comes the but. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.379 I'll end where we started. 00:15:50.920 --> 00:15:54.720 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:59.420 To sow, reap, and sow, sow, and reap. 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:07.399 And I know, I know, because we are the richest people in the world compared with others. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:15.519 And I know what a gracious heart means to a God who gave me so much in the first place. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:21.300 That surely I need to have that contentment in giving it back. 00:16:22.519 --> 00:16:24.500 In seeing others come to Christ. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.879 And in sharing what they do. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:35.139 I will end with a story from the book, which if you're reading and following the series, 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:38.240 probably would have touched your heart as much as it touched mine. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:46.340 Craig goes with a group from his church to Honduras, where they build homes for people in need. 00:16:46.340 --> 00:16:55.480 Our translator took our leaders into the home of a single mum. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.440 To call it a home is really a gross overstatement. 00:16:59.780 --> 00:17:02.899 It was barely a shack, mostly built from cardboard. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:08.380 Five people lived in the space about the size of our en-suite bathroom. 00:17:08.380 --> 00:17:15.980 It had dirt floors, no running water, a hole in the backyard to take care of your business. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:21.740 It was so dirty that it made me nervous when the sweet lady served us lunch. 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:28.820 With a warm smile and more hugs than I'm used to, she placed some food of meat in front of me. 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:35.600 Not wanting to insult her, I ate the meat-like substance, praying with each bite for God's protection. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:44.079 When we finished our sparse meal, my translator asked if I noticed that no one else had meat. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.639 Once he mentioned it, the truth hit me. 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:52.159 Every other plate had been covered with beans and tortillas. 00:17:53.259 --> 00:17:57.139 He explained that she had been told how much I like meat. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:04.079 Tears started to roll down my cheeks as he explained that she never enjoyed meat herself 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:09.179 and that she had saved her money for months to bless me with that meat. 00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:12.899 We Christian atheists are slaves. 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:16.439 The Honduran woman is truly free. 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:22.679 Why is it that those who have so little often seem to have so much? 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:28.939 Why do those with so much seem to have so little that really matters? 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:36.279 This woman who had nothing sacrificed to give a guy who had everything. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:43.700 Although she had none of the things we chase after every day, she had everything we lack. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:48.820 Peace, contentment and true joy in the Lord. 00:18:50.100 --> 00:18:53.220 I'd give all my money to be more like her. 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:55.580 Amen. 00:18:55.579 --> 00:18:55.699 Amen. 00:19:03.699 --> 00:19:03.839 Mei. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:04.480 Here we go. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:05.059 We win. 00:19:05.159 --> 00:19:05.539 We win. 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:05.960 Just wait.