Harvest Sermon 2026
Deuteronomy 8:7-18
2 Corinthians 9:6-end
Luke 12:16-30
Happy Harvest!
This is a great time of the year – the beauty of changing seasons, the welcome drop in temperature after the summer, the turning of the leaves. Harvest requires us to look around at creation and give thanks to God for the beauty of his world, for the agricultural industry from the farm to the table and everything that happens in between. It is a vital and complex chain that we often forget about until it goes wrong.
All of our readings this morning have agricultural themes: the promised land of milk and honey for the Israelites in Deuteronomy. Paul uses the sowing of seeds as a metaphor to explain the principles for generous giving to the new church in Corinth. Matthew captures Jesus parable of a rich man and his crop storage problems.
Each story features God’s power and generosity to his faithful people when they are faithful. There are also clear consequences when memories are short and God’s instructions are ignored. We are to be aware of our attitudes towards greed, self-reliance, generosity of spirit and the fear of scarcity.
The book of Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book of the Jewish Torah. It is a collection of the farewell speeches of Moses to the new generation of Israelites who are to inherit the promised land. The forty years of desert wandering was ending, the hardships appear to be over as the new homeland was on the horizon. God is going to give the Israelites productive land, a way to make money from mining, and they will eat their fill. They will lack nothing.
Moreover, the danger for the Israelites is that they would quickly forget who gave it to them. Nevertheless, God kept his commandments, ordinances and statues and gave them what had been long promised. The temptation has always been to forget God and take the credit ourselves when things go well and blame him when things are bad. This is not faith. This is a flimsy superstition and has no depth.
Scarcity scares people. Remember shopping habits during Covid and the stockpiling of pasta and loo roll? As a result, greed and scarcity make people selfish.
Paul picks this up in 2nd Corinthians about reaping and sowing. This idea is simple; the more carrots seeds you sow, the more carrots you grow. If you grow too many carrots, you might want to give some away. It is entirely up to you how many carrots to give away and you have to be happy about that amount. No complaining, no fear.
This is not just about carrots. Paul is priming the Corinthian church to be generous to the Jerusalem church who are experiencing much more hardship and persecution. God will provide enough for everyone so that we can be generous to other people.
Generosity that meets physical needs produces thanksgiving to God which brings us closer to Him. Christian generosity is not only about giving away our time, talents and money; it should cultivate an attitude of thanksgivings and deepening of faith. How much you want to give away depends on how much generosity, thankfulness and strong faith you want in return.
So what happens if we decide not to be cheerful givers and decide to keep the carrots for ourselves? Again, that is entirely up to you what to do with your harvest. Jesus has a parable though. It is about a man who has money and riches. He has got some stuff and he is confident in it.
However, he is rich as a consequence of the productivity of the land. He has probably put some work in along the way, sowed some seeds, and looked after it; and still his prosperity has nothing to do with him. He cannot seem to recognize that, we see this in his inner monologue – I will, my barns, my grain, I’ll do, myself.
The inner monologue also tells us something – he was talking to himself. He was alone. He had no one to talk to, to share with. Had his wealth isolated him? His vast wealth is causing him problems and there is seemingly no one to help or support him.
He comes up with a storage solution, ripping down the old and building bigger and better. These are good plans and there is nothing wrong with planning for the future to enjoy oneself.
This man was not wicked or unjust. His major fault was that he had forgotten God. This is why he was called a fool. Pride comes in many forms but the worst is to think that we don’t need God. The man doesn’t acknowledge the source of his blessings.
He is gathering for himself to serve himself. This guy lived on bread alone – all his hope was in things (the land) that did not belong to him. There are only two occasions when Jesus calls someone a fool in Luke’s Gospel. Both times the person has confused temporary earthly riches with eternal divine realities.
And what happens? The man’s life was demanded from him that night. He died.
Leaving behind all the barns and grains and money. To whom?
What does the harvest look like today? We have glanced at many layers today. The need for thankfulness to God for creation and agriculture, for those who produce and provide what is our fridges and pantries. For those suffering at this time from the effects of climate change. The need to rely and remember what God has done and continues to do – love and provide for our every need.
Where are the places in our lives of scarcity and abundance?
Take a few moments to think about today.
Maybe it is about letting Him take control of your life again.
Maybe it is about freeing up some time or money for someone else. Not storing up for ourselves and to ourselves.
Maybe it is about being more fair to others than they deserve or letting go of our sense of entitlement or needing to be right.
Maybe it is about being thankful for all that we have and for those who provide it?
Start with God and don’t worry about the rest – you beautiful lilies.