In 1932 the German writer Hermann Hesse published a short novel entitled The Journey to the East. It’s about a group of men, members of a religious sect called The League, who set out on a difficult and demanding pilgrimage in search of Ultimate Truth. the travellers make progress because of the presence of a man named Leo. Leo does all the menial chores and, just as importantly, he does his best to keep everyone cheerful. He raises their spirits by his singing and by his very presence.

Then the travellers find themselves in a deep gorge and Leo mysteriously disappears. From that point, everything goes wrong. Disagreements break out among the pilgrims about who is in charge – people wanting status and power, like James and John in today’s Gospel. The travellers blame Leo for leaving them, wrongly accusing him of theft and they abandon their pilgrimage, angry with Leo whom they hold responsible for its failure. 

Years later, one of the travellers finds Leo and discovers that he was and still is the President of the League and that his disappearance was a test which the pilgrims failed because they hadn’t recognised and emulated the leadership that Leo was exercising by taking on himself the form of a servant.

Though Hesse was deeply interested in eastern religions, the influence of today’s Gospel on his story is clear. James and John are ambitious, hungry for glory. They boldly and rashly assert that they are willing to follow Jesus in order to attain that glory. Jesus tells them that his servanthood will involve suffering, the suffering prefigured in today’s passage from Isaiah, taken from a section of that book which is often called “The Servant Song”. The final words that Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel echo the Servant Song, for he says:

“…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The second part of that saying – “to give his life as a ransom for many” – refers to Jesus’ unique vocation. The first part “not to be served but to serve” was the vocation to which Jesus was calling his disciples. For some of them, including James, that would lead to martyrdom. It’s unlikely that our call to Christian servanthood will cost us our lives in a physical sense, though it will involve setting aside our own wishes and desires in order to respond to the needs of others. 

Some people have made the mistake of assuming that when Jesus talks about being a servant, he’s talking about being a doormat – being one of those passive people who always does what others ask and, as a result, lets other people walk all over them. That’s absolutely not what Jesus meant. Rather he point us towards the fulfilment that is to be found in loving service to others.

Nor did he mean that aggressive form of servanthood identified by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters when he wrote of a person “…who lives for others - you can tell the others by their hunted expression”. We’re called to discern the needs of others, not to view them as problems to be solved. And we’re not called to a hyper-active do-goodery. One of the things that makes Leo in Hermann Hesse’s story such an attractive character is that his servanthood is quiet and cheerful. His very presence infuses his fellow pilgrims with love and, once he is absent, they fall out one with another.

We are called to give of ourselves, our energies and abilities as freely as possible. Jesus is urging the disciples to concentrate on that, rather than chasing status and power. James and John wanted to be great men in the kingdom that Jesus was inaugurating, and Jesus’ response was to offer them a radically different view of what true greatness is. 

If servant ministry sounds demanding and difficult, it’s worth remembering what Martin Luther King said in a sermon on this Gospel passage. His point was a simple one - Christian servanthood is something of which all of us, without exception, are capable. The only qualification we need is one that we already possess if only we would cultivate it to the full - our humanity. 

But rather than paraphrase Dr King’s words, I’ll end with an extended quotation from that sermon. As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris contest the final stages of a presidential election and as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick contend for the leadership of the Conservative Party, King’s words seem very topical: 

“If you want to be important - wonderful. If you want to be recognized - wonderful. If you want to be great - wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 

That’s a new definition of greatness. And…the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.

You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of Relativity to serve…You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”

Mark 10, 17-31 

One way or another this morning’s readings are all about righteousness. In the first reading, Amos, the prophet of Northern Israel, sees with deep concern the way of  life of his countrymen. They have turned away from godly living. In those days of walled cities justice was supposed to be dispensed “in the gate”, but this has ceased to happen. Men hate the one who reproves in the gate and abhor the one who speaks truth. They take bribes and push aside the needy. The Israelites as ever did not listen to Amos. It was not long before the Northern Kingdom fell to the invading Assyrians.

The great second reading is from the letter to the Hebrews. It speaks of the power of the Word of God and its insight into all hearts and minds. Then it goes on to praise the purity and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He was in all respects tempted just as we are but remained sinless. We therefore now can approach the throne of grace, the throne of justice, with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us. 

How different is the attitude underlying each of these two readings! The Old Testament reading is fraught with fear and uncertainty. In contrast, the unknown writer of the letter to the Hebrews is confident and positively joyful, urging us – yes, us! – to go boldly before the throne of grace.

And so to our Gospel reading. I find this reading very very moving. The young man comes to Jesus asking what he must do to attain eternal life. He is an attractive young man; Jesus looks at him and loves him. Jesus then challenges him to go and sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. (It is worth noticing that Jesus, so far as we know, never asks anyone else to do this in quite such a blunt manner.) The young man turns away. He cannot bring himself to do it.

The disciples are astounded. They cannot let it rest there. In those days, there was a strong belief in a link between riches and godliness. If you were rich, it followed that you were blessed and favoured of God. You must be righteous. Jesus is upsetting that fixed idea; if you are really wealthy your life is likely to be ruled by your wealth. God does not judge according to human standards. For him all things are possible.

Peter – it would be Peter, wouldn’t it? – is still not satisfied. He points out that he and the other disciples have in practice given up a great deal to follow Jesus, not just possessions but family, friends, lands and livings. Jesus responds gently. He is well aware that his disciples have made great sacrifices in order to become his followers. They will receive their rewards: blessings in this life and in the age to come life eternal. They  have already learned that just being with Jesus day by day is in itself a blessing. They do not want to be anywhere else. And there is the message for us: to follow Jesus day by day and, when our time comes, to go boldly before the throne of grace.

I’d like to end with a coda which I’m afraid will not be accessible to those who aren’t able to come to church this Sunday.

About 5 miles south west of Guildford in Surrey, just north of the village of Compton, there is a picture gallery dedicated to the works of G.F.Watts. One particular painting caught my eye on my first visit and I’ve gone back several time mainly to see it. I had hoped to be able to print off several copies to show you but the computer won’t let me, so I assume it’s under copyright. You can Google it. I have only a single postcard size copy of it, so I’ve mounted it on the font for you to look at over coffee. Please don’t take it away!

The title of the painting is “For He Had Great Possessions”. You will see how well it represents the opening passage of this morning’s Gospel. The young man’s whole attitude reflects  the shame and despair which he must have felt on hearing Jesus’ words: “Go and sell what you have…”

Hebrews 1:1-4 & 2:5-12

Whenever I hear the opening words of this passage:

"Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways ... "

I always think of the Advent hymn; 'Long ago prophets knew Christ would come born a Jew ..." a hymn that takes this bit of Scripture as its inspiration and celebrates the 'Word made flesh' in creation. The unknown author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is at pains to show that Christ is the pinnacle of God's marvellous creation as well as being fully divine as well. Christ is the one bit of creation that shows us men and women the human face of our divinity:

"He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being ... "  1:3a

Personally, I find the words 'the exact imprint' very powerful. For in Christ's humanity we can see the very essence of God, our Creator. What a strong image that is for us humans to recognise and it puts us human beings into a very special place within the creation. It also puts up on us a responsibility to live up to that position as well. For if we share in Christ's human imprint do we not also share in his divine imprint as well? For we share the 'imago dei' (image of God) with him and as such I believe it gives us a responsibility to care for God's creation and not to think ourselves above it.

The writer of the epistle also reminds us that as God's creation we should try to be like Christ and not ashamed to call each other brother or sister. The author is at pains here to emphasise our family relationship to each other. To remember that we are family with all the human race is no bad thing for the human race is not just a branch of creation, it is first and foremost the bit of creation that God chose to be born into and in being related to God through each other puts a responsibility upon all our shoulders to ensure that all God's people are all treated with respect, care and compassion. As Christ tells us we are not to ignore the stranger, the hungry, the sick or those in need but to try and provide for their basic needs when possible. 

As a child, I was awakened to the beauties of nature by walks in the Yorkshire Dales. Later I discovered that I had literally been following in the footsteps of an important philosopher and theologian, William Paley. Paley’s father was the headmaster of a Yorkshire grammar school in the middle years of the 18^th century. 

Paley’s best-known argument for the existence of God begins with him inviting us to imagine walking across the moors and stumbling upon a watch. Surely, he argues, the complexity of the watch and its ability to tell the time accurately are convincing evidence of the existence of a watchmaker. In the same way, the complexity of the natural world cannot be the result of chance. Rather it points to the existence of a creator, to the existence of God. Even the young Charles Darwin was impressed by this line of argument, though he later famously abandoned it.

The watchmaker analogy makes me uneasy because it might encourage us to think of the universe as a mechanism, and of God as a mechanic who sets the whole thing in motion and then steps back. Such a view of God isn’t Christian and doesn’t offer the right grounds for today’s Harvest Festival celebrations. 

Our reading from the prophet Joel suggests that we are part of a creation that is abundant and generous and is an expression of the love of God. The prophet celebrates this in fine, poetic style. 

O children of Zion, be glad

and rejoice in the LORD your God;

for he has given the early rain for your vindication,

he has poured down for you abundant rain,

the early and the later rain, as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain,

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

And there’s a verse which rang a particular bell with me, partly because it challenges the belief that nature is a mechanism, and partly because it points to some important trends in philosophy and theology.

Do not fear, O soil;

be glad and rejoice,

for the LORD has done great things!

But surely, you’re thinking, soil isn’t capable of rejoicing, soil doesn’t feel emotion. That’s just poetic fancy. 

That’s what the mechanistic, materialist view of creation has for a couple of centuries taught that we should think, but now some philosophers such are suggesting that every particle of matter contains a minute amount of consciousness and purpose and some theologians are reminding us of an ancient Christian tradition, most fully preserved in the Orthodox Church, of viewing the whole of creation as charged with the presence of God and therefore with the love of God. From that perspective, everything is sacred and so everyone is sacred too. 

This notion of Creation as a living thing, every particle of which is charged with the presence and the love of God, brings with it three important vocations which we are called to follow.

The first is a vocation to celebration and gratitude, to the thankful rejoicing of which Joel speaks. 

Rejoice in the Lord your God

And our harvest hymns strike that note of gratitude:

All good gifts around us

are sent from heaven above;

then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord

for all his love.

The second is a vocation to trust, and this is emphasised by Jesus in today’s Gospel. 

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

And the basis of our trust is the fundamental goodness and fruitfulness of a creation which is alive and has the capacity to be self-sustaining.

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Jesus is telling his disciples and us to trust in God, but he isn’t inviting us passively to accept God’s creative love and generosity. Trust has, of course, more than one meaning. 

We can trust in God’s creation to sustain us but we also hold that creation in trust. The Creation story in Genesis makes that clear:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

We are called to be active users of creation – to till it – but also to look after it, to keep it, to conserve it. So our third vocation is a vocation to stewardship. If, as some philosophers and theologians are now suggesting, the whole of creation is in some sense conscious, purposive and divine, then looking after it isn’t just a matter of self-preservation. Rather, we are called to look after the natural world just as we are called to care for one another, a calling to which you have responded today by your gifts to the foodbank run by St Salvador’s.

This vocation to the stewardship of creation may involve us in some careful thinking about our lifestyles. Today’s Epistle encourages us to be content with food and clothing and a part of what Timothy writes has a distinct and disturbing contemporary ring to it:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

That reminds us of the uncomfortable but important truth that our levels of energy use and consumption are creating problems for people much poorer than ourselves as temperatures and sea levels rise and weather becomes more extreme. It’s not the place of a preacher to make concrete suggestions as to how individuals should respond to the calling to stewardship, for we all have different needs and challenges. That we have a vocation to the stewardship of creation is an important part of our Christian faith.

So this Harvest Festival is an opportunity to reflect on the three vocations to which the overflowing love and generosity of the Creator calls us. We are called to celebrate and be grateful. We are called to trust in God and we are called to care for a creation shot through with that overflowing love and generosity. 

Why was it that when our boys were growing up you could always guarantee that on a long journey in the back of the car they would start bickering. It was quite often to do with who was best at something. Normal sibling rivalry! I knew it well as I used to bicker with my sisters in the back of my parents car, years earlier. I suspect that you will have similar stories of your own growing up, or of that of your children and grandchildren.

Even good friends can end up bickering when tired and fractious after a long day and in the Gospel reading, we have just heard, we get a good example of it. Jesus and his followers had been traversing Galilee for months, sharing the message of repentance and God’s unconditional love. A message that was a challenge not only to the Roman authorities but also the clerical hierarchy of the day. Jesus and his disciples were marked men. They realised this and in their anxiety they started to bicker with each other as to who was the greatest amongst them.

Jesus hears what is going on and warns his disciples not to argue about who is the most important. Jesus, does not have a hierarchy of favouritism towards his followers - despite selecting some of them to perform specific tasks in the furtherance of the kingdom. Jesus, sees all of his disciples as being equal. He was, however, the first to recognise their individual skills and talents and to make good use of them.

Jesus never says that; ‘Peter is this’ or ‘Bartholomew is that’ or that they are more important than James or John. No! Jesus, charges each of them with tasks according to their gifts, aptitude and ability and sees all of them as having equal worth and necessity. The Kingdom of God is not built upon individual talents but by individuals working collaboratively and corporately to achieve a single goal - the sharing of the Good News of Christ.

Jesus’ treatment of the disciples argument and his recognition of the abilities of his disciples echos what St.James later wrote and what we heard in the Epistle reading:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual and devilish.”    James 3:13-15

In rebuking his disciples for arguing about their greatness, Jesus hammers his point home in their silence by using the seemingly most insignificant person there - a child. (And, I might guess a girl child, to do so.) This child, he says, is as welcome in God’s kingdom as much as anyone else, and as such deserves to be treated with respect - not rejected or looked over because she is only a child.

Remember that under Jewish Law pre- pubescent children, and women were not part of the chosen race, only adult males were of significance! In telling his followers that this child is important to God, Jesus turns Jewish custom and thought upside down, and in doing so teaches his disciples a valuable lesson.

If a child is as much beloved by God as one of the chosen race - a man, then this God, that Jesus speaks of, is a god more loving and accepting than any god previously known. A god of impartiality, unconditional love and acceptance.

God, however, is the same as he has always been, what Jesus tells us though, is that no one has a greater precedence in God’s eyes by virtue of who they are, all are equal in God! Men are not more important than women, adults are not more important than children, no one is more important than anyone else in God’s eyes, despite what we or others might think. Remember what St.James said about the need for true wisdom, that is what we all need to pray for in order to truly understand what Jesus is telling us and what God is showing us to be true.