Author: Judith Russenberger

Environmentalist and theologian, with husband and three grown up children plus one cat, living in London SW14. I enjoy running and drinking coffee - ideally with a friend or a book.

Counting on … day 99

6th October 2026

For farmers adaptation may involve building new  reservoirs on their land to store more water  – this is what they did on the Elveden Estate but despite adding a 500,000 cubic metres reservoir to their exit 700,000 cubic metres storage capacity, they still reached a point if no more water for further irrigation. (1)

To help fill reservoirs, farmers may need new permits to allow them to abstract water from rivers during the wetter winter months – rather than doing so in the hotter dryer summer months. Reservoirs can also host floating solar panels! (2)

Some farmers are experimenting with restoring wetlands -such as water meadows, creating or restoring ponds, and re-wiggling rivers to keep more water on their land when it rains which both helps reduce flooding in the winter and keeping ground water levels higher in the summer.(3)

Another approach is to grow different crops that are more drought resistant, or to use different farming methods such as planting shade crops, sylviculture, smart irrigation techniques etc. Another consideration is to shift growing crops dependent on large amounts of water to a wetter region of the country. (4)

We as consumers can be part of the change: be willing to buy and eat different fruits and vegetables; eating more home grown vegetables (rather than relying on the produce of other drought challenged countries); eating less meat and dairy  – both being large consumers of water.

(1) https://www.farmersguide.co.uk/machinery/drainage-irrigation/elveden-reservoir-water-security/

(2) https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2026/08/20/tackling-drought-aquifer-recharging-to-smart-irrigation-trials/

(3) https://www.lancswt.org.uk/blog/what-wetter-farming

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/21/somerset-rewilding-holnicote-estate-wetlands-rivers-resilience?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

(4) https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/sep/27/most-of-uks-essential-food-supply-grown-in-drought-risk-areas-report-warns?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 98

5th October 2026

How do we as a society and as individuals adapt to increasing likelihood of more frequent and longer droughts in the years to come? How should the different industries respond? How should the agriculture sector and farmers in particular adapt? 

The following observation comes from the railway industry. 

“The most important consideration is that we should now distinguish between maintenance and adaptation. Clearing a drain prepares us for the next storm, [but] redesigning or increasing the capacity of that drainage system prepares us for the next 30 years. We need to be doing both.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/21/britains-railway-prepares-for-more-extreme-weather-as-intense-el-nino-develops?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Droughts and floods threaten the stability of the ground on which railway lines have been built – both cuttings and embankments. This summer hot dry weather dried the ground underneath the railway lines (particularly those on embankments) with the risk that the ground might move – laterally or vertically and possibly in different directions at the same time – with the risk of disturbing the alignment of the tracks and this the risk of derailment. To  reduce the risk, many train has to run more slowly over these sections of tracks, disrupting time tables. Flooding can equally undermine stability as well as blocking the line. Strong winds can lead to more trees falling onto the tracks – or blowing other things such as garden gazebos and trampolines onto the tracks. Winds can destabilise trains, dislodge overhead lines etc. Adverse weather can hinder staff – drivers, train crew, signallers etc – getting to work. And hot weather be debilitating for staff especially those who can’t readily access cool spaces, fresh water and toilets. There is a lot of adaptation that is going to be necessary if the railway industry is to operate effectively in an increasingly extreme climate.

Will we as customers have to be more flexible about how and when we travel? More willing to both accept and factor in, adverse weather conditions?

Proper 22, 18th Sunday after Trinity

4th October 2026

Reflection with readings below

Again the teaching from the prophets – in this reading Isaiah – is that we are not aligning our will with God’s; that we are not shaping our lives and lifestyles to conform to God’s expectations – that we are sinners. But there is still the option of turning back to God, allowing God’s wisdom to shape how we live. It might involve accepting radical change, accepting pruning but also gaining from God’s nurturing guidance.

But note too that had the vine been responsive it would have had a flourishing life and would have produced beautiful sweet wine. God truly wants us and all creation to have good and flourishing lives. God’s ways are not random nor arbitrary; they are the means of a bountiful and eternal life.

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul declares that his confidence  – his certainty that he is pursing the right way to live –  comes not from following the Law (an inspired yet still human construct) nor from status, nor from race or class, nor from inherited traditions, but from following Jesus, from becoming more and more Christ-like. The Hebrew understanding of righteousness is to be in a right relationship with God and therefore with one’s fellow creatures. To be righteous is to reflect the face – the image – of God. To pursue righteousness is to become more Christ-like: in John’s gospel we hear Jesus saying that whatever the Father does, the Son does. 

So we come to today’s gospel, again with a parable about a vineyard. But here it is not the vine that is the focus, but the tenants who tend the vine – the ones who are standing in for the owner, ie God. Do the designs and action of these tenants reflect the image of God? No, they are clearly self interested and motivated by the potential for their own gain. Whilst the gospel writers of the day clearly saw the Pharisees as the tenants, in the current day we might rather see the parable as addressed to us as humans in all our roles and guises where we have not tended the vineyard – ie the Earth and all its bounty – in a manner that reflects God’s ways. Like the vineyard tenants, we have sought to impose our own values on how we deal with what has been shared with us, and seek to maximise our own gain at the expense of others. 

Can we yet refocus and discern what is important in how we conduct our lives? Can we seek out the corner stones that will allow us to rebuild a better way of life? Can we identify what are the key components of a thriving ecosystem, a thriving economy, and build on them, setting side our own arrogance and selfishness? 

This does sound like – and in reality is – a huge change of direction. It  will involve systemic change at the highest levels, requiring global cooperation, the de-prioritisation of the rich and wealthy, a genuine sharing of resources between all creaturely beings, replacing destructive economic models, and reforming and reasserting justice for all. But that is not to say that it is impossible, nor is it to say that we as individuals can’t do our bit. 

We are each called to reflect the image of God – to be Christ-like in all that we do. This will involve us in re-examining our relationships with one another – with our human and non human neighbours. It will involve us in re-examining our lifestyles – what we buy, what we eat, how we travel, how we share our gifts and our financial resources. It will involve us in spending time with and rebuilding our relationships with the rest of creation. But we will not be doing this on our own: Christ will be there with us, giving us strength and guidance. And the goal will not be a diminished life nor a diminished world, but a life and a world of beauty and peace in which all flourish.

Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard: 

My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill. 

He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines; 

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it; 

he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes. 

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah, 

judge between me
and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it? 

When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes? 

And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard. 

I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured; 

I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down. 

I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; 

I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it. 

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel, 

and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting; 

he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed; 

righteousness,
but heard a cry! 

Psalm 80:7-14

7 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *
you cast out the nations and planted it.

9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered by its shadow *
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.

11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *
and its branches to the River.

12 Why have you broken down its wall, *
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?

13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.

14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine; *
preserve what your right hand has planted.

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: 

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; 

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’? 

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realised that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

We do not presume to walk on this earth

3rd October 2026

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and not we are ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

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: Deuteronomy 11: 11-17 

But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul—  then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.  I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 

A plea:
We do not presume to walk on this earth,

O merciful Lord,
trusting not in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies
We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the leftover grains 

nor glean the fruits fallen from your trees –
But you are the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to live where you plant us, 

that we may work in harmony with nature 

and  share your rich harvest with all. 

Amen 

Thank you God for trees and fruit, herbs and grasses

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have cut down forests and burnt the scrub, 

when we have prioritised monoculture and marginalised diversity, 

when we have drained rivers and aquifers 

favouring cash crops over native plants. 

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for birds of the air, 

the creatures of the land and the fish of the sea.

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness, 

we have promoted our own livestock and made refugees of  the native wildlife, 

when we enlarged  our own living space and made other creatures homeless.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for soil and water and the fresh air we breathe. 

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we take from the soil but do not give back, 

when we pollute the waters with waste we do not want, 

when we fill the air with an excess of greenhouse gases.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Thank you God for our brothers and sisters, our kith and kin

Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness 

we rob them of their livelihoods, 

when we divert their wealth into our pockets, 

when we ignore their pleas for help.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Lord God, as you made us in your image, 

so that we might live with you

and, as your Son took on our form that he might live among us, 

so you have shown us how to live.

Remake our hearts and minds

and so restore our way of living.

Amen.

Counting on … day 97

2nd October 2026

This summer will hopefully prove the impetus needed for greater adaptation in the face of climate change both within the farming and food industry and for us as consumers.

We will all need to be thinking about eating and therefore growing different crops, and less of some and more of others. For farmers it will also be about different methods of farming. 

Ongoing research and field evidence points to the importance of maintaining good soils. Soils that are full of organic material and active life forms – from worms to mycorrhizal fungi – are soils that retain more moisture and nutrients for crops. 

Shading the soil – and often the crops too – helps reduce moisture loss and sunburn, and creates a micro climate so that moisture returns back into the soil.

Many farmers are increasing water storage, creating ponds, wetlands and reservoirs.  

Trialing different crops is also happening, but is sometimes hindered by the unpredictability of the weather. A hot summer preceded by a dry spring will favour different crops from a hot summer preceded by a wet spring. 

As consumers we will need to be willing to accept different fruits and vegetables in our shopping baskets – and more willing to eat seasonally. We may too want to be adaptive in our gardens, ensuring good soil, using shade to advantage, trying different crops – and different flowering and herbaceous plants. We too can invest in extra water butts to store more water.

Further reading:

Counting on … day 96

1st October 2026

Olive oil is listed as the fifth food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world. Whilst olive trees are a native Mediterranean plant that is adapted to the Mediterranean climate, they do need a certain amount of moisture to grow and produce fruit.  Recent droughts, excessive heat and a proliferation of pests, has reduced the harvest, whilst in Spain wildfires and earlier in late winter,  storms and heavy rain in late winter caused both damage and loss of trees. Reduced harvests like this will lead to increased costs for the consumer. 

Of course there are alternative cheaper oils that we can use such as rapeseed oil. The rapeseed harvest has been better than previous years, benefitting from the large amounts of sunshine. 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/04/price-olive-oil-expected-rise-again-european-crops-heat-drought-wildfires?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 95

30th September 2026

The Conversation(1) identifies bread as the fourth food item whose cost is rising. “Arable farmers growing field crops such as wheat do not irrigate their crops but rely on the right amount of rain at the right time of year. This year’s long summer drought meant that UK wheat yields have fallen significantly below recent averages. But wheat only makes up about 10% of the overall cost of an average loaf of bread. Increases in pricing are also being driven by energy prices and other overheads passed onto bakeries, which need to power huge mills to produce flour and heat ovens to bake bread. This means a poor harvest is one of many factors likely to inflate the price of bread over the coming months.”

Like potatoes, bread is both a staple in our diets but also one of the foods most frequently thrown away. Again this may reflect its relatively low price (more so in the case of sliced pre-packed bread than premium freshly baked loaves) and a general attitude that it is ‘only’ bread. 

Sliced pre-packed is typically full of chemicals that prolongs its life but even so it will go mouldy if not eaten within a certain time frame – yet for small households the economy of buying a large loaf may outweigh the benefits of  a smaller loaf. 

In countries outside the UK it is more usual to buy fresh bread daily – and thus to patronise a local bakery where fresh bread is produced daily. (But even that is a reality that is in decline perhaps because there are fewer people willing to take on the unsocial hours of a baker, and the unwillingness of people to pay a price that reflect a fair wage for the baker when a cheaper option is abating the supermarket). 

All this suggests that we may need to value bread more highly, and appreciate it as a more than a filler but as a tasty nutritious part of our diet.

Here we might want to reflect on the comparisons between the nutritional value of a sliced pre-packed loaf which has been rushed through its production and filled with numerous additives to compensate, and bread that is made by traditional methods using just flour, water, yeast and a little salt. For more information see https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20250704-sourdough-vs-white-sliced-which-breads-should-we-be-eating and through the Real Bread Campaign https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/ourwork/

At the same time, we may need to ensure we store our bread well – https://www.fob.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/FS18-Keeping-Bread-Fresh-03-18.pdf – who don’t using paper bags or – https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/how-to-store-bread/ – who do! I personally store home made bread in cotton bags (washing each before reuse) and freeze bread wrapped in bees wax wrap.

And ensure we make good use of left over or stale bread.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/09/20-recipe-ideas-leftover-bread
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/stale_bread_recipes

NB in many cases where egg is used there will be a vegan option, eg: https://tinandthyme.uk/2021/04/vegan-savoury-bread-pudding/

We might also want to give due credit to the skills of bakers and millers, and support local independent bakers as part of our community: 

“More jobs per loaf

“A small, independent bakery offers meaningful, skilled baking jobs to people from YOUR local community. Very simply put, each time you buy from one, you are helping to support more jobs per loaf.

“Supporting your high street

“As well as supporting meaningful jobs for local people, each time you spend money with locally-owned businesses, far more of that is likely to be reinvested locally. Where would you rather see your money go – supporting your neighbours and keeping your high street alive, or lining the pockets of the shareholders of huge national – or even multinational – corporations?” https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/supermarkets/

As regards millers, you might want to check any that are local to you – https://www.sourdough.co.uk/british-artisan-flour-mills-by-region/ I buy our flour from Fosters Mill in Cambridgeshire which is wind-powered. 

Nevertheless there is still an issue around cost. Good bread should be an affordable food for everyone. Either the cost of making good bread needs to be subsidised or society needs to ensure that everyone has a sufficient biscuits income that makes good bread affordable.

This scheme is one tackling this issue – https://scotlandthebread.org/2021/01/29/solidarity-stories-bread-communities-working-together-for-equal-access-to-good-food/

Maybe this – https://communitychef.org.uk/what-are-bread-clubs/ or this – https://breadtogether.org.uk/

(1) https://theconversation.com/five-foods-that-could-cost-even-more-this-winter-and-why-292419?utm_campaign=the-daily-39638&utm_content=the-daily-39638_uk%7C2%7C39638%7C41ea8a7e&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=Five+foods+that+could+cost+even+more+this+winter+%E2%80%93+and+why

Counting on … day 94

29th September 2026

Leafy greens are the third item listed as a food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world.

Leafy greens need a lot of water – think how much water there is in a lettuce leaf! Many leafy greens are also susceptible to fluctuations in available water: too little water one day cannot be compensated for by extra water the next. Either the plant will die or it may shoot up quickly and go to seed, or its growth will be uneven. Cabbages with thick green leaves cope better than delicate lettuce leaves. Cut-and- come lettuces do better than head forming lettuces. Sprouting broccoli does better than Calabrese, whilst cauliflowers can suffer sunburn! 

Again we can’t necessarily rely on importing leafy greens from Europe when our crops run short – although,  as reported below, countries like Spain already have in place better infrastructure for efficient irrigation. We may have to adapt to eating a different spectrum of green leafy vegetables. Equally we might look to growing some at home – and even without a garden we can grow herbs, sprouting seeds and mustard and cress.

For some leafy greens, there maybe technological alternatives such as vertical growing – https://canadawater.co.uk/latest/news/harvest-london-at-canada-water/ – or – as demonstrated in Germany,  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/11/supermarket-salad-rooftop-garden-berlin?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other – growing salads on top of the supermarket where they are to be sold! 

Alternative drought tolerant vegetables – https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-inspiration/grow-your-own/crops-to-beat-heat-and-drought

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/01/uk-importing-vegetabless-drough-heat-hit-british-crops-price-rises?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/14/how-england-summer-heatwave-affecting-farm-animals-crops?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Counting on … day 93

28th September 2026

The second item listed in the Conversation as one of five foods that are going to cost more this winter as a result of extreme weather events, global conflict etc, as potatoes. Potatoes as a crop need a lot of water – which is perhaps why they became a staple food crop in Ireland with its typically heavier rainfall. Whilst low rainfall over the last few years has caused an increase in prices, this summer’s drought will be impactful. And as the drought has been Europe wide, it will not be easy to import potatoes to make up this year low yield.  Potatoes also need fertile soils. For none-organic farmers, this year’s increased cost of fertilisers, will also be pushing up prices to the consumer. 

However potato is one of the foods most frequently thrown away as waste. This might be because potatoes have typically been a cheap food. If too much is cooked for a meal, it easy to throw away. If a plate is overfull, we probably eat the more interesting foods and leave the potato. And if we don’t store the potatoes well, they can start sprouting or go mouldy. This issue maybe accentuated if we end up buying a larger bag than we need – either because the larger bag is better value or because there are small bags or no option to buy loose potatoes.

It maybe that the increasing cost of potatoes will encourage us to value them more. We can:

Proper 21, 17th Sunday after Trinity 

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. 

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/21/planetary-boundaries-breached-scientists-warn-climate-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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.”