13th September 2026
Reflection with readings below
The reading from Genesis talks of the gift of forgiveness – its ability to dispel fear and restore relationships – and the importance and freedom of not holding a grudge. Today’s psalm expands on this by declaring how it is that God bestows benefits on us: forgiving our sins, healing our infirmities (our shortcomings), redeems and gives value to our lives, satisfies our needs, and executes righteousness and judgement for us all. All this is encapsulated in the phrase ‘compassion and mercy’.
God’s character is to show compassion and mercy to all creation. Our calling is to imitate God, or calling on the language of Genesis 1, we who are made in the image of God, are to ‘image’ in our behaviour the behaviour of God. We are to show compassion and mercy to all creation. We are to forgive sins – and not hold grudges. This may mean letting go of privileges or rights or possessions or land, that we previously valued more than our love for our neighbour. We are to heal broken relationships and mend what we have damaged. This includes making peace with those we deem our enemies but also establishing right relationships with those we have abused.
Some of these are inter human relationships such as our failure to ensure our young people have access to loving families, to accessible education, to green spaces, secure homes and safe streets. Or our failure to provide loving homes and attentive care for our elderly citizens. Or our failure to take any responsibility for those in other lands affected by colonial oppression, climate change etc.
Some of these are relationships with wildlife, and here we have clearly failed when we see and measure the extent to which populations have declined and species have become extinct. Only this week did I read that one in in nine migratory birds are threatened with extinction and 45% of migratory species such as cuckoos, turtle doves and Arctic terns are in decline, which are overwhelmingly caused by humans and include the intensification of farming, unsustainable hunting, pollution, invasive species and global heating. (1)
Some of these are relationships with domesticated creatures, hens forced to live severely curtailed lives (often not more than 6 weeks for a bird that could live as many years) in cramped lives devoid of access to the natural world; cows that must give birth annually only to have their baby removed within hours, and who may have their own lives prematurely curtailed after 3 or 4 years.
Some of those are relationships with ecosystems such as soils which we pollute with herbicides and pesticides, and rivers that we pollute with a similar cocktail of chemicals to which we add sewage and industrial waste. Or with ancient woodlands and tropical forest which we have cleared to replace them with monocultures of Sitka fir, palm oil and soya beans for yet more cattle fodder.
We are to redeem life which must include restoring lives that we have damaged – lives not just of people but of plants and animals, of river systems and marine environments, of the air we breath and the water we drink.
We are to satisfy the needs of all our neighbours – ensuring food and homes, and environments within which to thrive. Ensuring provision for health, for education, and opportunities for fulfilling work. Ensuring a fair sharing of wealth and resources.
We are to act righteously and ensure justice for all. And it’s not that we don’t know what is needed!! And it’s not that we can’t do this!! We have the wealth and the resources globally to ensure everyone can live sustainably. We have the knowledge and the skills to effect this. We have enough visionaries and prophets to be able to visualise this as a reality. What we seem to lack is the will! We are so reluctant to share our wealth, to change our lifestyles, to adapt our diets, to forgive and make peace, to pursue justice and ensure restoration.
Here we need to turn again to our faith, to studying and drawing strength from scripture, from the prayer and practice that draws us closer to Jesus, following more closely his way, for studying the book of nature and realising and imbuing the love of our creator. We must let this power is into action – for action is needed!
Action cannot be a nice extra. Actions cannot be what someone else does. Action cannot wait until everyone steps forwards. !
We must make the changes in our own lives, to speak out where God’s will is ignored, where error and damage persist, to help others and to receive their love and help in return – do it now, for that is to act in the image of God.
Genesis 50:15-21
Realising that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
Psalm 103: 1-13
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, *
and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, *
and forget not all his benefits.
3 He forgives all your sins *
and heals all your infirmities;
4 He redeems your life from the grave *
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;
5 He satisfies you with good things, *
and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6 The Lord executes righteousness *
and judgment for all who are oppressed.
7 He made his ways known to Moses *
and his works to the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.
9 He will not always accuse us, *
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, *
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, *
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, *
so far has he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father cares for his children, *
so does the Lord care for those who fear him.
Romans 14:1-12
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
Matthew 18:21-35
Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The Green Tau 