St Nicholas & Emmanuel
6/10/24
Matthew 6:25-33
When you came into church today you were given a leaf. I would like you to take that leaf in your hand now. Harvest is a time of year for us to stop and notice. We live in a different time from our ancestors whose lives would have been dominated by harvest. Today we hardly notice it except for seeing some combine harvesters in the fields around Charlwood and Sidlow Bridge. We carry on with our lives as if nothing is changing although the creation all around us is. Harvest is there in the calendar to make us stop and notice.
We move into autumn and the leaves are falling from the trees. Look at the leaf in your hand. What colour is it? Can you trace the veins on it? Does it have any unsightly marks or is it nearly perfect?
Now I want you to think back over the last year. How has it been for you this year? What have been the highlights, the best bits? What have been the difficult things?
Just like these leaves, all of us have had different experiences, different challenges this past year. Just like these leaves, each one of us is unique and each one is beautiful. God has written His beauty into creation. In our reading today we heard Jesus tell us that we should look at the flowers of the field. Stop and notice. See how God has made these leaves so beautiful, even though they will end up on the bonfire soon.
Matthew 6 is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It is clear that worry was of great concern to people 2000 years ago and it still is today. It is likely that we worry about similar things too. Jesus is speaking to the practical needs of food, drink, clothing and housing. Jesus is trying to give his listeners some perspective on their worries, and give them a bigger picture of life. Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. We are of value to God, we are special to Him. More than the birds and he looks after them.
Can you add any hours to your life by worrying? Jesus says, if God cares that much to make something as insignificant as a leaf on a tree so beautiful, how much more does God care for you? So Jesus says we shouldn’t be rushing around worrying about everything. We need to stop, notice, stay calm and remember that as sure as the seasons are coming and changing, we can trust that new life will come out of death. We know that all our trees will soon look dead but in the new year, new life will come. This is God’s promise to us.
Today is an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for all the good things in our lives. Especially the way in which the earth produces food for us to eat. We can give thanks to all those who work to produce food and drink for us to enjoy. We can say sorry for the times we are not grateful, when we do not notice God’s work in the world, and do not look after the things God has given us.
Look at your leaf again. I want you to think of one thing that you are grateful for. Hold that thought and thank God in your heart. In this season we see the trees letting go of their leaves, letting them fall to the ground. What we are going to do now is pass around a basket in which you can place your leaf. When you do this I want you to think of one thing that you need to let go of.
It might be a resentment against a person or situation, or something that you have been worrying about too much. Let us take a moment of quiet again.
By giving it to God as we remember that he knows the number of hairs on our head, he knows all the things we’re worried about.
