This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Luke’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Harvest Sunday 27 September 2026. The Bible Reading’s were Deuteronomy 8:7-18 & 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 & Luke 12:16-30.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen. 

The Promised Land

It’s the dawning of a new age: a golden age of health and prosperity. The land lies before them – the promised land that is to be their home. The people of Israel have survived forty years in the wilderness and now the time has come to prepare themselves at last for their new life.

Before they cross the River Jordan, Moses reminds them of how they came to this point.  He re-tells the story of their exodus from slavery in Egypt and of all that has happened since then.

Central to that story is the relationship between the people of Israel and the Lord their God.  Moses reminds them of all that God has done for them and of all that God requires of them.

During the wilderness years God has been building his relationship with his people, instructing, leading, blessing and often rebuking them. The verses which come just before our reading from Deuteronomy today say this:

2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. … 6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.

And then, as we heard, Moses goes on to describe the wonderful land God is giving them: a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing … The great hope now is that God’s people will live a good life without fear and anxiety because God will protect and bless them as they live according to his word.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

In our gospel reading Jesus tells a parable of the tragedy of trusting in such false security. The rich fool with the bumper harvest is not just guilty of greed, he is labouring under the misguided illusion that his present prosperity has secured his lasting future, which has left him amply supplied for many years to come. His solution is to carry out extensive building work so he can pack everything in, sit back, relax and eat, drink and be merry!

But in the midst of an egotistical conversation with himself about building a better future, about enjoying the fruits of his labours, he is rudely reminded that death is imminently on its way. He is vividly warned against the presumption that affluence can safely secure the future.

But God says to him: “You fool!” and we hear the voice of Moses: “Do not say to yourself, ‘my power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.”

The rich man forgot where his wealth had come from.  He’s so full of his own importance and power (for wealth is power in this world) he’s forgotten God’s commandments:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. Love your neighbour as yourself.

The rich man has no thought for his neighbours; nor his servants who work long hours for little pay and no other benefits; nor the hungry woman and her children in the nearby village who have lost the husband and father on whom they depended; nor the orphans who have been sold to him as slaves because they had no other relatives.

No! The rich man either doesn’t see or doesn’t care, and he’s forgotten the warning Moses gave to the people of Israel: “If you do forget the Lord your God, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.”

“You fool” says God “This very night your life is being demanded from you.  And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God” says Jesus.

The rich man was foolish and guilty – not because he was rich, but because he lost sight of the things of God, things that are far more important than status, power and wealth in this world.

There was a time when Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was earning so much money that he described the amount as “obscene.” He recalled how he would spend his mornings writing checks to charities, simply trying to find a meaningful way to use his enormous wealth. But one day, he decided to go even further. After selling his London home for £4.5 million, Gilmour donated the entire proceeds to Crisis, a charity helping homeless people. “I don’t need that money, and I just thought it would be the right thing to do,” he modestly explained.

Reflecting on life with his characteristic wisdom, Gilmour spoke about the simplicity he had come to value: “You start collecting Ferraris, then you have to buy buildings to put them in, and then you have to employ people to look after the people who look after all your possessions. Life becomes very complicated. And at some point — at least, that’s what happened to me — you find yourself thinking, ‘I don’t need any of this.’ And suddenly, life becomes simpler.”

We can keep ourselves to ourselves, enjoy our own lives, follow our own interests and leave others to look after themselves.  Or we can give some of our time, our attention and our gifts, something of ourselves to our neighbours in need.

Harvest Thanksgiving

Harvest is such a time. A time of giving thanks to God for all the good things in life which we treasure and enjoy. But in our modern 24/7 food supply-chain world, we should do more than just give thanks for all that is ‘safely gathered in.’ We need to be reminded of our responsibility for the world and for its future, and to recognise that we are called not only to give thanks to God, but to accompany those thanks with a commitment to supporting those less fortunate than ourselves.

As our reading from 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 reminded us, those who sow sparingly may reap sparingly. Celebrating Harvest should also bring with it a commitment to share some of what we have with those who lack even the basic necessities that we take for granted. As the collect for today reminded us:

Eternal God, you crown the year with your goodness and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season: grant that we may use them to your glory, for the relief of those in need …

And today, across the parish, we offer our Harvest Gifts to Caritas, The Learning Refuge and the Regional Volunteer Association. These are all are worthy causes within our local community.

In our so-called affluent society, in 2023, 18% of UK households, containing 10 million adults and 4 million children, were classed as facing food poverty or where they could not acquire sufficient quantity, and quality, of food (a figure which has doubled since 2022).  The UK, where there is almost double the number of foodbanks than there are McDonalds restaurants!

Can you believe that in 2025, 4% of the UK population received nearly 3 million emergency food parcels provided by Food Banks to people facing hardship (up by 37% from the previous year). Interestingly, 17.1% of the population in the Republic of Cyprus live in poverty which is why supporting Caritas, The Learning Refuge and the Regional Volunteer Association are such worthy causes.  

Interestingly, the Food Bank in my previous parish began in the Rectory when, after receiving so many requests for help, we had food parcels ready made up – such was the number of people who knocked on our door. We then set up a foodbank in one of our churches on the estate where most people lived. We then moved to larger premises in the High Street, thanks to the generosity of the Town Council and local businesses and supporters. 

It wasn’t long before we became the biggest Food Bank in Essex, regularly supporting over 250 adults and 50 plus children on a weekly basis. You could say it was a successful enterprise, but nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to see it closed down. Because then it wouldn’t be needed.

Interestingly, Billericay was/is an affluent community and features in the top 10% of wealthy communities in the UK. And yet, we had a very significant Food Bank. COVID, of course, increased the number of families needing support as people lost their jobs or were put on furlough on reduced rates. Our support to families doubled for several months during this time. Since I left, the Food Bank has moved to even larger premises on an industrial estate and is still the largest Food Bank in Essex and provides support to Food Banks in neighbouring communities.

In a world of increasing consumerism where no matter how much we acquire, how many possessions we amass, we are encouraged to feel it is never enough, we need to be reminded of the simple message of Jesus to his disciples to stop worrying and to live more simply … so that others may simply live. Security, sharing, simplicity – salvation for our poor broken world is surely to be found in these words from Graham Kendrick’s hymn ‘God of the Poor’ …

Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair.
Lord, in your suffering world this is our prayer.
Bread for the children, justice, joy, peace,
Sunrise to sunset, your kingdom increase!

Rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams
Plundered and poisoned – our future, our dreams.
Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed;
Make us content with the things that we need.

God of the poor, friend of the weak.
Give us compassion we pray.
Melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain come,
Change our love from a spark to a flame.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author provides free sermon resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in building God’s Kingdom and making disciples.