This sermon was preached on Sunday 24th September 2023 at All Saints Church, Oakham on their Harvest Sunday

If I told you that you had to spend all your money today, how would you spend it?

Cecily and I are getting ready to go on holiday next week. We are off to India for three weeks. And when you go on holiday for that length of time, you need to make sure that you have cleared away the fridge. All the perishables need to go because they will not last the week, let alone three. It becomes this mammoth task to try and eat your way through what is left, but the more you eat in the fridge, the more you discover is hidden at the back. It can feel like a task too great for two people to do.

That has to do with food. But my opening question to you was, ‘If you had to spend all your money today, how would you spend it?’ If you had to use all your money and resources today, how would you spend it?

It reminds of the 1985 Richard Pryor film, Brewsters’ Millions. Have any of you seen it? For those of you who have not seen it, I’ll give you a quick summary.

Pryor’s character, Brewster, discovers he is the only distant relative of an old multi-millionaire who has died. This distant uncle is a grumpy character and hates the money that he has. He says that if Brewster is going to inherit his money, then he wants him to learn to hate money and see it for what it is. He offers Brewster a challenge. In order to inherit the $300 million dollar estate, Brewster must spend $30 million dollars in 30 days and have nothing left at the end of it (that means no assets or property at the end of it). If he completes the challenge, he will receive $300 million. If he fails, he will receive nothing. In addition to this, Brewster must not tell anyone of the challenge, otherwise, he will forfeit the inheritance. If Brewster chooses not to accept the challenge, he may take an inheritance of $1 million dollars without any conditions. The film then journeys Brewster’s difficult challenge to spend $30 million dollars in 30 days. That is a crazy amount of money to spend, especially for one person. The film shows how having the money to spend sends Brewster crazy.

Even if we are not rich, our money and resources are too great for us to spend it all by ourselves in one day. Whether its $30 million or £3000, most of us would feel like Brewster, who would find it crazy to try and spend all that money in a day.

Jesus tells the parable of the man with the barn. He was rich and had lots of resources. In fact, he had to build a bigger barn to contain all of his great resources and wealth. He thought to himself, look at my big barn and all the wealth I have. Now I can relax and enjoy my life. However, that very night, this man dies. All of that wealth he had is now meaningless to him. Jesus tells this story because he wants people to understand that they cannot simply store up wealth and treasures on earth and think that it is going to last in the end. You have seen people or know people who are like this rich man who stores up wealth for the sake of it. They have this wealth, but it lacks meaning in their lives. They have the wealth which they think can make them happy, but just like that, it can all disappear overnight. What lasts is the treasures we store in heaven, and by that, Jesus is referring to things done for God.

At the start, I asked you how you would spend all your money if you had to in one day. I did not ask because I think we should try and spend all our money at once like Brewster. I would not consider that faithful stewardship of our resources. However, I want you to see that keeping our wealth and resources only for ourselves can make us feel empty. It can all go in a day, and even if you had a day to use it all, could you spend it in a way that made it count for something? In the end, have this wealth and resources for ourselves will not satisfy us.

So how do we build up treasures in heaven, a wealth and treasure that has meaning in our lives? Look at this season of harvest. At harvest we gather in the crops and the food and resources that God has given us, and do we store it for ourselves, no. At harvest, we come and share the resources that we have. We bring food donations, we give to those in need. We give to others even if our own pockets might be feeling empty because in doing so we are trading a finite treasure for an infinite treasure. At harvest, as we share our resources, we are sharing in the richness of love for God and for one another. And this love that shares abides with us now and in heaven for all eternity. To have love and to share love is to possession the greatest treasure in all of eternity.

I spoke earlier about how Cecily and I need to eat through our fridge and how it feels impossible for the two of us to do it. I’m sure as I said that, many of you thought of the same obvious solution of how to deal with this problem. Invite people over to come and eat and share it with you. How do you use up all your resources in one day, you share it with others. At harvest we remember that God has given us wealth and resources to share, not to store up for ourselves in some distant bank off-shore bank account where the resources are doing nothing. Harvest is about sharing it out.

This harvest, I want you to ask yourself, how are you going to share your wealth and resources with others? To be clear, I am not asking you to be wasteful with your resources. But I am asking you to consider the value of it just sitting there doing nothing in your bank account. Remember, you cannot take it with you when you die. However, the love of sharing together, especially when we don’t have much, is a beautiful treasure more valuable than any millions we could have stored in the bank. The value of food to the homeless is priceless.

When I was living in the North East, which is historically a fairly poor part of the country, I was always impressed by a saying they had. We don’t have much, but what we have, we share. In that sharing, they were living in the full delight of God’s harvest, big or small, as it shared in love with the people around us. When we share the harvest, we are using our resources in a way that lasts. Sharing love that lasts for all eternity.

This harvest, how are you going to share what you have with others? Its too much to have on your own, and couldn’t be spent all your own if you tried. But wealth shared, that is love that can be fully lived out with those around us.

Amen.

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