27th September 2026
Reflection with readings below
“‘The ways of the Lord are unfair!’ Are they?” replies God.
Ezekiel then takes the viewpoint of God to expose to the people how it is their unrighteousness, their iniquity, their failure to live according to God’s ways, that have brought them into such dire straights. It is not God’s ways that are at fault, but the people’s inability to live by them. Yet there is still the option of repentance and a fresh start with ‘a new heart and a new spirit.’
I believe we are in the same position as those hearing Ezekiel’s accusations. This week it is reported that ‘The planetary life support systems relied upon by humans have deteriorated to their worst levels ever recorded amid ongoing pollution and habitat destruction, according to a key yet grim annual update by scientists. Of the nine “planetary boundaries” that help determine whether life can flourish on Earth, seven are being breached at their highest ever levels of transgression, according to the latest planetary health check, a process that was established in 2009.
‘The seven key indicators in the danger zone include climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities and, for the first time last year, ocean acidification.’ (1)
Yet despite all the evidence we are not, as global community, addressing this crisis. Rather it is seen as unfair to press fossil fuel corporations and states to end fossil fuel production. It is unfair to diminish their profits. It is unfair to encourage eating less meat and dairy, to encourage a switch to a much healthier plant-rich diet. It is unfair to end the use of private jets and to shrink the air industry. It is unfair to curb the individuals right to choose even if that choice destroys the choice of a healthy life for others. It is unfair to restrain the expansion of AI, to limit the artificial creation of cute cats videos or to expect people to write their own essays. It is unfair to tax and redistribute the wealth of those who earn more in an hour than others earn in a year. It is unfair to redistribute wealth between nations – but it is not unfair for rich nations to spend more on weapons than they do on aid.
And so the global economy continue to do all the same things that have pushed, and continue to push, us into the danger zone that exists beyond safe planetary boundaries. And we continue to experience at an ever increasing rate the consequences – extreme weather events, rapidly declining biodiversity, growing water shortages, plastic pollution, disease and conflict.
When will we repent? When will we listen and look, reflect and learn, the ways of God – the only ways that leads to the flourishing of all life? Just as was offered to the people of the days of Ezekiel, God will reinvigorate us with a new heart and spirit, if we but cast off our sinful lifestyles.
Looking into the etymology of the word ‘authority’, in the 1300s one understanding was of the “author whose statements are regarded as correct.” And in the 1400s “power derived from good reputation; power to convince people, capacity for inspiring trust.” In our present age we are well aware of the scope for fake news, for disinformation and misinformation spread by disingenuous news channels, by discreditable individuals and by social media, to know that you cannot always trust the authority behind their stories. We know too how easily those fake or disingenuous view points are funded and spread by large, wealthy -often shady – third parties.
So maybe the Jewish authorities were right to question the authority behind Jesus’ words. But it seems as if they had not done their homework. If they are now questioning Jesus’s authority one presumes they have made previous inquiries of other people in similar circumstances, of whom John the Baptist would have been an obvious candidate. Back in chapter 11 of Matthew’s gospel, John the Baptist asks this very question of Jesus: ‘Who are you? Are you God’s expected one?’ To which Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor”. (Matthew 11:4-5) In other words Jesus is saying, Look at the things I do, and you will know who I am; pay attention to my actions and you will know who sent me.
It seems as if the Jewish authorities have neither done this with reference to John the Baptist nor with reference to Jesus. The gospels record multiple examples of deeds and actions that point to Jesus’s intimate relationship with God. Indeed Jesus has given this very teaching in chapter 7 “By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.” (Matthew 7:16-20)
Jesus then presents the Jewish authorities with a telling parable: It is what you actually do, rather than what you say you will do, that matters. In a sense it is immaterial on whose authority you are given an instruction – what counts is whether you fulfil that instruction. Have the authorities fulfilled the instructions given to them by God? Do their deeds reflect their words? Having heard God’s word, have they followed through with action?
The letter to the Philippians reminds us that we are called to be like Christ: to have the same mindset as Christ, to have the same love for one another, to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but to act in humility, to look not to our own interests, but to the interests of others.
And that takes us back to the plight of life on earth. Those who have discerned and know God’s wisdom, those who have studied the Book of Nature, those who have a grounded and robust scientific understanding, all tell us that we are at a crisis point. Do we hear and respect the authority they have? They also tell us what it that we must to do if we are to dial down this disaster, how we must reform our lives – be less greedy, live in harmony with nature, restore what has been damaged and share equitably what remains. Do we act on what they tell us? Sadly it seems as if many nations, businesses and institutions, say ‘yes’ but do ‘no’.
The challenge for those of us who follow Christ is to be the ones who both say ‘yes’ and do ‘yes’! And not only that, we must also, just as Jesus did, just as Ezekiel did, stand up and tell truth to those in power, demand repentance – ie a complete change of direction – and press for a new, genuinely enacted, God-led, approach to living our lives on earth.
Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32
The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.
Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.
Psalm 25:1-8
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you; *
let me not be humiliated,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
3 Show me your ways, O Lord, *
and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
for you are the God of my salvation;
in you have I trusted all the day long.
5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *
for they are from everlasting.
6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; *
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
8 He guides the humble in doing right *
and teaches his way to the lowly.
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.”
