12th July 2025
Let there be no hate in your heart for your neighbour; but make protest to your neighbours, so that they may be stopped from doing evil. Leviticus 19:17
You Lord, are the source of all good things:
We praise you.
You call us to love every neighbour as ourself:
May we strive to do your will.
You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:
May we live together in peace.
A reading from Luke 3: 7 – 14, 18 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptised by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’
And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptised, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
A response that we too may proclaim the good news, speaking truth to power:
Heavenly God, mother and father of all,
Hear our prayers of grief and puzzlement
as we see a world filled with hate and suffering,
a world where speaking truth is condemned,
a world where money and profit hold sway.
In your mercy hear our prayer
and let those in positions of power hear our cry
Heavenly God, mother and father of all,
Soften the hearts of those who inflict evil on their neighbours,
those who withhold food from the hungry,
who withhold water from the thirsty,
who withhold shelter from the homeless,
who withhold medical aid from the injured.
In your mercy hear our prayer
and let those in positions of power hear our cry
Heavenly God, mother and father of all,
Soften the hearts of those who support wrong doing,
those who license armaments that kill and maim,
those who finance military operations that target civilians,
those who facilitate operations that terrorise and displace local populations.
In your mercy hear our prayer
and let those in positions of power hear our cry
Heavenly God, mother and father of us all,
Break down the walls that divide
the world of commerce from the world of life,
that separate the pursuit of profit from the pursuit of wellbeing,
that separate the experiences of those who have from those who do not,
that separate expediency from moral imperatives.
In your mercy hear our prayer
and let those in positions of power hear our cry
Heavenly God, mother and father of all,
Enflame the hearts of those who turn away,
who choose not to see the horror,
who ignore the suffering of their fellow human and creaturely beings,
who disregard the cries for help.
In your mercy hear our prayer
and let those in positions of comfort to hear our cry
Heavenly God, mother and father of all,
Empower our hearts and minds
so that we may always pronounce the good news,
that we may always speak truth to power,
that we may always protest for the rights of the poor and forgotten,
that we may always act out of love and compassion.
Amen.
The Green Tau 