1st October 2023
Reflection (readings are below)
Why do the people complain to Moses and not ask/ pray to God? Are they still at the learning stage and don’t yet know God?
It seems that they have not yet learnt that God is with them.
Later the Psalmist, will be able to write ‘Hear my teaching, O my people’. By the time the Psalmist is writing, God’s people have journeyed through the wilderness experiencing God’s presence in all aspects of their daily life. They will have been immersed in a time and space when they were ready and able to learn God’s teaching.
In Philippians we have a wonderful early creed that describes the nature and character of Jesus. Jesus is God-with-us in a unique way. Through our faith in Jesus, God is at work in us, enabling us ‘both to will and to work for his good pleasure’.
Both the Old Testament readings and the epistle are telling us that the source of instruction that we need to enable us to lead good and fulfilled lives, should come from God. God should be the source of authority in our lives – for us as individuals and as a people. If we believe that God is the origin of all that has been created, then it would seem logical that God would be the best source of information – the best authority – to show us how we can live most harmoniously, most profitably with creation. Here I use the word profitably to mean not financial greed but beneficial wellbeing. And that would be well-being not just for some individuals but for everyone, for the whole ecosystem.
Today’s gospel reading is also about authority. More specifically, what is the authority by which Jesus acts? What is the authority that allows him speak of what God wills? What is the authority that allows him to teach others? What is the authority that allows him to heal and to forgive sins? What is the authority that allows him to challenge existing traditions and laws, to contradict what is said by those in positions of power?
Does his authority come from his band of followers, or from family business, or from sponsors, or from a self confident egotism, or maybe – just maybe – from God?
Perhaps, in all honesty, the chief priests and elders are not entirely sure that they know the answer. The miracles and healings might suggest divine links, but how could that be squared with his pointed assertions that they, the public figures of the Law and guardians of God’s Temple, are wrong – that they have become entrapped in a false system that equates their human decisions with those of God? I can imagine it would be hard for them to see through the miasma of centuries old human-made traditions.
When we look at our own social, religious, and business structures, can we be sure that we can always distinguish between human preferences and God’s will, between what is expedient and what God desires?
Licensing new oil wells that will profit shareholders who vote for you, may seem expedient if you are after votes. But is spending money on such destructive projects that could otherwise be invested in climate friendly renewable energy projects, really what God desires? Surely what God desires is that the actions we choose should care for and benefit the planet, should provide for the wellbeing of the poor and the vulnerable in creation?
The people in Exodus quite rightly ask for clean drinking water. Water is essential for life. People need clean water to drink. Birds and animals need clean water to drink. Plants need water to grow. Aquatic creatures need clean water in which to live – if the water becomes polluted, they die. Why then is it that we allow companies to make profits out of selling water whilst at the same time polluting streams, rivers and, ultimately, seas on and in which so many plants and animal species depend? Why is it that farmers can profit from industrial-scale methods of production that release herbicides and pesticides and farm sewage into those same streams, rivers and oceans, without hindrance or reparations? Why is that industrialists can profit from producing aluminium and copper and lithium whilst polluting whole river systems? Or that oil companies can profit from extracting oil whilst polluting both rivers and oceans?
Surely what God desires are clean, biodiverse rich, flourishing streams and rivers, seas and deltas? Surely what God desires is that no one should make profits at the expense of anyone else’s (human or wildlife) wellbeing? That being so, by what authority do businesses and governments promote means of production and extraction and profiteering that kill off wildlife, damage ecosystems, and endanger the lives of millions of people across the world?
Conversely by what authority do climate activists, social reformers, naturalists and ecologist, call for an end of such practices? What motivates their actions? To win votes? For egotist reward? For fun? Or because they cannot stand back, and say and/ do nothing about what seems to be clearly unrighteous?
Exodus 17:1-7
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16
1 Hear my teaching, O my people; *
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; *
I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.
3 That which we have heard and known,
and what our forefathers have told us, *
we will not hide from their children.
4 We will recount to generations to come
the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, *
and the wonderful works he has done.
12 He worked marvels in the sight of their forefathers, *
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He split open the sea and let them pass through; *
he made the waters stand up like walls.
14 He led them with a cloud by day, *
and all the night through with a glow of fire.
15 He split the hard rocks in the wilderness *
and gave them drink as from the great deep.
16 He brought streams out of the cliff, *
and the waters gushed out like rivers.
Philippians 2:1-13
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death–
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Matthew 21:23-32
When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
The Green Tau 