Recording from the 9.30am service - with an interactive telling of the story of stone soup.
Text from the 11.15am service - essentially the same but the story telling is slightly different
As I listen to the Gospel reading for today, I am immediately captured by Jesus inviting us not to worry. And this year – maybe more than in previous years – it hits a bit differently. Specifically, when Jesus says not to worry about having something to eat.
Yesterday I received the TLG Make Lunch training pack, whilst I’ve not looked at it in any detail the first page caught my eye – particularly the statistic that there are over 4 million children in the UK living in poverty – assuming an average class size of 30, that’s nearly a third of the class. So, it is hard to hear Jesus saying not to worry about having something to eat. And whilst we might be in the lucky position where we don’t have to worry about having something to eat, we are aware that others are not in the same position. We are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, with some households having to choose between whether to feed or heat their homes. We hear in the news that there are more people relying on foodbanks then were previously, and we might remember during the pandemic the backlash when the government indicated that those who relied on free school meals were not going to be supported. In a recent report from the Trussell Trust. They identified that each time foodbank usage has dipped since April 2022 it has been followed by a spike – why? Because the government issued a one-off cost of living payment, and each time they have done this, the spike that follows has been higher. The use of foodbanks continues to rise. And this isn’t sustainable, not at any time, but especially now when all households are experiencing the effects of the current financial climate – which inevitably means that donations to foodbanks are also down.
But it is not just a financial climate crisis we are facing; we are also experiencing an environmental climate crisis. This means that the availability of food is also being affected. Abnormal weather conditions mean it is impossible to predict yield, a farmer expects to lose some crop each year – and this is worked into their stats – but what they can’t do is predict what the weather will be like, no matter how hard they try. This year we had summer in spring, and autumn in summer. I’m guessing that wasn’t in any farmers plan for sowing and harvest. As Deiniol mentioned in this week’s e-newsletter there are serious questions be asked as to how many harvests there are left. In 2014 the United Nations stated 60 before the soil was completely useless as it takes 1,000 years to produce 3cm of topsoil. And though there has been research since this that suggests this 2014 claim is a myth it doesn’t mean we can ignore it, as we know the effect climate change and intensive farming is having on the planet. And all this effects, not just the availability of products, but also their price. Prices are being pushed up – and that’s even before we start to look at the complexities and effect that Brexit has had……… We face uncertainty but you know – don’t worry about having something to eat.
But … the parable at the start of today’s Gospel maybe gives us a glimmer of hope about what it means to be rich in God’s sight. Here we are told about the man who stores up his plentiful harvest in large barns and keeps it to himself, making himself comfortable for years to come and allowing him the opportunity to eat, drink, and be merry. Only to then be told that he is a fool who is going to die tonight and then everything he has stored up will be wasted. Whilst he was rich in produce, he was poor in God’s sight because he had been selfish and kept all this for himself – supposedly not even sharing it with those who would have actually gathered in the harvest for him. Whereas if he had been rich in God’s sight, he would have shared this and allowed many households to have food to last them all the year – like in the story of Joseph and the 7 years good harvest, followed by 7 years bad harvest. This landowner is not as generous as the vineyard owner we heard of last week.
At Prestwood this morning we made stone soup - Does anyone know the story of stone soup? A quick recap for those who don’t – a weary traveller enters a village looking for a meal, but each house turns him away as they cannot feed an extra mouth as the harvest was poor, eventually he comes up with an idea and says to the villagers that he’s found a magic stone that will help them through a difficult winter as it creates stone soup – and the magic of stone soup is that it not only feeds people but brings them together. They light a fire, and the traveller places the stone in a pot of hot water, as he makes the soup – he comments on various ingredients that would improve the soup – salt, pepper, carrots, beef, potatoes, and lo and behold households in the village are able to provide these ‘missing’ ingredients until a massive soup is produced and villagers are invited to eat until they are full – after which they celebrate and party together. The next morning the traveller goes to leave, and a small child runs after him saying ‘don’t forget your magic stone’ he replies, ‘I was going to leave that for you as a sign of my gratitude, Remember, as long as you make stone soup, you will never have to worry about being hungry’.
Now I’m sure we all know that you can’t make soup with a stone, and that what the traveller did was invite them all to share something small. Individually a household could not feed this weary traveller, but collectively by donating a few small items they could feed the entire village – and though poor were rich in God’s sight. Also at Prestwood, our young people made barns which they filled with random acts of generosity or kindness, small things that they can do or give that will make a big difference. So, this harvest time I invite you to think about a random act of generosity or kindness that you can offer, no matter how small, because together those small acts might just feed a village.
Amen.
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