A PARISH CHURCH THAT WORKS FOR THE HARVEST OF ETERNITY
‘Do you not say, "Four months more and then the harvest"? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest’ (John 4v35).
Jesus said these famous words to his disciples as crowds of Samaritans were crossing the fields to go out to him from their city. They had been told that he was the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour King they were waiting for.
Jesus was inviting his disciples to compare the sight of fields ripe for harvest with the sight of those crowds of people coming out to him. It’s a question of timing – just as the whiteness of the fields indicated that it was harvest time, so the fact that the Messiah has come means that now is the time to gather in the harvest of people for eternity.
Now is the time to proclaim the Good News of Jesus’ love and forgiveness and his eternal rule to all the world. Now is the time for men and women of all races, backgrounds and cultures to put their trust in Jesus Christ and so receive God’s gift of eternal life.
The great Harvest hymn – Come, ye thankful people come, raise the song of harvest-home – draws on this comparison between the harvest of crops and the harvest of people: ‘God our maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied……All this world is God’s own field, fruit unto his praise to yield….grant, O Lord of life, that we holy grain and pure may be.’
There is a harvest of people to be gathered in for God’s eternal praise and glory and we as a parish church are to play our part in that as we proclaim the Good News of God’s love in Christ and invite the people of our parish to put their faith in Him.
Harvest Festival is a great opportunity to do that and a good time to remind ourselves of our spiritual responsibility as a Church of England parish church. We are called to serve this parish – we are not a gathering of people who travel in from outside our locality. The problem with that approach is that the people who gather tend to be the same kind of people culturally and educationally, whereas we are called to serve everybody who lives in this parish, irrespective of income, race, background, education or culture. That is the privilege of being an Anglican Parish Church.
On that note, may I commend to us a new service we have recently launched at the Parish Church? Bridgethegap@5 meets at 5pm on the second Sunday of each month – pop & buns are served from 4.30pm. It is a more informal service with more opportunity for interaction though it is still a recognisably Church of England service. This autumn we are looking at God’s Good News for the World - the next bridgethegap@5 is on Sunday October 8th. All are welcome.
With all good wishes in Christ’s service,
Julian Mann
Vicar