Category: Sunday Reflections

A weekly reflection on the lectionary readings for Sunday

Proper 9, 5th Sunday after Trinity

5th July 2026

Reflection with readings below.

How do we explain wrong doing and sin either in the world at large or in our individual lives?

Is it evil within us? Is it that we live in a system that favours sin, that fosters evil? 

Is it within our control to control or are we powerless on our own to do what is right? Or is it – according to circumstance – sometimes we can act differently and other times we are powerless to act?

Last week I suggested that we might understand sin as ignoring or going against God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom would include God’s word – whether that is from scripture or from a prophetic voice or from the example of Jesus the Living Word – or from the wisdom that comes from study of the natural world (which is also referred to as the Book of Nature), or from prayerful contemplation and discernment. All these are subject to interpretation and error as they come to us through human understanding. 

Our knowledge of God’s wisdom is imperfect and only partial. So to sin is perhaps to be expected. This doesn’t, I think mean that we are born evil: rather that we are born to seek out and grow into the likeness of God. As Paul so eloquently puts it, we have a tendency to be contrari – to do what we shouldn’t and not do what we should – it was there in the beginning with Adam and Eve. It may well be a useful trait encouraging us to explore and learn and thus to grow. Would Paul have been such an ardent evangelist if he hadn’t experienced his earlier opposition to the new faith? If he hadn’t been so aware of his own propensity to act against God?

When we are young or naive we do do things that hurt others or ourselves. Usually we learn from the experience, understand the harm it does, and are forgiven. Mercy and forgiveness are as much part of God’s wisdom as love. It is perhaps why it is often Jesus’s first reaction, when meeting people who were struggling, to pronounce forgiveness. 

But sometimes sin – ignoring God’s wisdom – becomes bad habit and not a lesson learnt. And then we see individuals and communities and nations causing immense suffering to others. Then sin becomes systemic. 

In the Hebrew Testament we hear many stories in which God is bewailing and chastising God’s people for doing what is wrong, and for sinning in such a way that the unavoidable consequence  is self destruction. 

Systemic sin sucks in people against their freewill. Jeremiah for all his opposition to the wrong that Judah was doing, could not escape the consequences of their sin. Citizens in Iran cannot escape the consequences of the war that has arisen because of the systemic sinfulness of both the USA and the Iranian governments. Farmers in Kenya cannot escape the consequences of the systemic sinfulness of the West that has accelerated climate change.  Householders in the UK cannot escape the rising cost of living that comes from the systemic sinfulness that fails to address social inequality. 

Nevertheless that doesn’t mean that individuals are completely powerless. Jeremiah may not have changed the system but he provided a counter narrative prepared the ground for a future era of restoration and that benefited subsequent generations. He gave a counter narrative that sought to better understand and explain God’s wisdom.

Today’s reading from the prophet Zechariah tells us that God doesn’t rely on physical strength or the power of weapons to achieve her aims. The strength of God’s wisdom is that humility and hope are more effective tools for change. The more people and societies and governments learn this, the better.

Our Psalm tells us that the way of God’s wisdom is to be found in compassion, mercy, kindness and faithfulness. The more we learn and embrace this wisdom the better. 

And in our Gospel, we hear Jesus  – the living wisdom of God – offering to share our burden, to make it lighter for us. The more we come alongside Jesus, walking the path he walks, speaking the words he speaks, the less sinful will we be. And rather the better witnesses we will be, living examples of the practice of attending to and following God’s wisdom. We can be the Jeremiahs and the Zechariahs  and the evangelists that provide a counter narrative to systemic sinfulness.

Zechariah 9:9-12

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! 

Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he, 

humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 

He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem; 

and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations; 

his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth. 

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. 

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double. 

Psalm 145:8-15

8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, *
slow to anger and of great kindness.

9 The Lord is loving to everyone *
and his compassion is over all his works.

10 All your works praise you, O Lord, *
and your faithful servants bless you.

11 They make known the glory of your kingdom *
and speak of your power;

12 That the peoples may know of your power *
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; *
your dominion endures throughout all ages.

14 The Lord is faithful in all his words *
and merciful in all his deeds.

15 The Lord upholds all those who fall; *
he lifts up those who are bowed down.

Romans 7:15-25a

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Proper 8, 4th Sunday after Trinity 

28th June 2026

Reflection with readings below

Today’s reading comes towards the end of the Book of Jeremiah. At the time that Jeremiah lived, there were two competing world powers – Babylon to the east and Egypt to the southwest with Judah in between. For small nations like Judah, but also such as Edom and Moab, the easiest option was to become a vassal state, paying tribute, to which ever world power they felt was strongest. Nowadays we might see this with small nations establishing trade agreements with one or other of the powerful nations of the world. Judah was -maybe temporarily and subject to review – paying tribute to Babylon.

Jeremiah was of the opinion that Judah should knuckle down under the power of Babylon – in fact he symbolically fastens a yoke of straps and bars around his neck – as he senses that this is  God’s will, and that by submitting to God’s will they will ultimately be restored to full nationhood by God. Jeremiah sees Judah’s subjugation by Babylon as the deserved consequences for failing to adhere to God’s laws. 

Judah has already suffered one defeat at the hands of the Babylonians which had led to both vessel from the Temple and senior figures being taken away to Babylon. Now an uneasy settlement existed between Judah and Babylon in which some favoured the status quo whilst others favoured rebellion and the option of siding in favour with Egypt. This latter was a popular view in the  Judean ruling circles, with many prophesying that anytime soon the tables would be turned on Babylon and all Judah’s wealth including the Temple vessels would be restored to Jerusalem. 

One of these prophets was Hananiah, who in the verses preceding today’s readings says “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon”. To make his point, Hananiah breaks the wooden yoke from around Jeremiah’s neck.

Jeremiah’s response to Hananiah as we heard in today’s reading,  is somewhat in the vein of ‘the proof of the pudding will be in the eating!’ Jeremiah persists with his less favourable viewpoint and later, in verse 13, we hear the Lord tell Jeremiah to replace the wooden yoke with one of iron bars, for such it will be to serve the king of Babylon. Being a truthful prophet can be very uncomfortable.

Today the greatest crisis the world faces is that of unrestrained climate change – the discomforts of which we have been feeling this last week. I do not for a moment think that God has created climate change to punish us. But I do think climate change is a natural consequence of human action in burning excessive amounts of carbon fuels. As in the days of Jeremiah there are strong voices on either side of the divide between those who say climate change is not caused by human activities (only this week the so-called Alliance of Responsible Citizens held their annual meeting in London with speakers expounding this view) and those who say the reverse; and between those who say we should address the issue by urgently and at scale cutting emissions to zero, and those who contend that we should worry more about ensuring the economic growth that fossil fuels have so far generated.

Today’s psalm – in line with the message of the entire Bible – reminds us that we only thrive and flourish as God intends when we adhere to God’s wisdom. To ignore or obstruct the ways of God’s wisdom is to sin. And as Paul reminds us, to sin is to be as one who is dead. To seek forgiveness is to be raised to new life and to be bound – enslaved – to the ways of righteousness.

Our gospel reading brings us back to the role of the prophet in speaking of God’s truth. It is a worthy calling. As disciples of Christ we are called to speak the truth, to advocate for God’s  wisdom and to embrace fully the ways of righteousness. 

For our current generation I believe that our prophetic role is to call for the rapid curb in the production and use of fossil fuels, as well as a call for a just and fair sharing of the Earth’s resources that reflects the needs of everyone – humans and creaturely beings alike.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfil the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” 

Psalm 89:1-4,15-18

1 Your love, O Lord, for ever will I sing; *
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.

2 For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever; *
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.

3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; *
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:

4 ‘I will establish your line for ever, *
and preserve your throne for all generations.'”

15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout! *
they walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.

16 They rejoice daily in your Name; *
they are jubilant in your righteousness.

17 For you are the glory of their strength, *
and by your favour our might is exalted.

18 Truly, the Lord is our ruler; *
the Holy One of Israel is our King.

Romans 6:12-23

Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 

What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 

When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 10:40-42

Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple– truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Proper 7, third Sunday after Trinity

21st June 2026

Reflection with readings below

I struggle – not I think unreasonably  – with today’s words from Matthew’s Gospel. Maybe they reflect the situation that prevailed in 1st century Christian communities.  Maybe they were struggling with division and conflict between those who believed and those who didn’t; those eager to speak out and those who preferred discretion; those who felt it was more important to survive as a community within their society and those who felt it was more important to stand apart from the prevailing society. If so, then it seems a if the writer of Matthew’s gospel wants to reassure those whose faith pits them at odds with their families, with their community, with society. 

On the other hand, it is important to consider that for some people their Christian faith – or maybe their understanding of that faith – does put them at odds with family, with friends, with work colleagues, with governments.  Only last week we saw 4 young people imprisoned because their views on the outrageous actions carried out by the State of Israel against Palestinians, put them at odds with our government. They felt that that those manufacturing arms to supply the Israeli Defence Force should be stopped where as the government did not. 

In the Church Times one can read letters and articles that highlight the differing views of Christians on the rights of transpeople, or about the conflicting views about national identity and Christian identities. 

Perhaps what we can learn from today’s gospel is the importance of listening to other people’s viewpoint (even if we don’t agree) and in seeking to understand the situations that lead to conflict, as well as the importance of trying to establish the truth. Today’s gospel also encourages to be willing to let go of long held views when these prevent us living more truthfully as followers of Jesus.

The passage from Jeremiah also makes for a challenging read. To serve God does not guarantee a life of roses. God understands that life is not always straightforward, is not always easy, and that to counter what is going awry can demand vulnerability.  It is not everyone’s vocation to be a prophet, but for those who are, it is a challenging role. Jeremiah’s words express how it can feel to present a counter story or a counter argument to the accepted way of a society. How it feels to be mocked and here’s. How it feels to be the one – apparently – out on a limb. Yet when prophets speak and act in truth for God, they can find consolation in knowing that God understands and values what they are going through.

Paul knew well from his own experience how it felt to be persecuted, to be mocked and derided. He knew how hard it is to stand in opposition to those with whom you have grown up, in opposition with those with whom you had previously shared common beliefs, and how hard it was to strike out on a different path. He also knew how hard it was to challenge – and be challenged by – your fellow believers when points of conflict arise. But I think Paul saw that leaving behind past practices, past ties, was akin to leaving behind an old self, an old body. It was as he describes in the letter to the Romans, a dying to sin. And that conversely stepping away from the old ways and previously held beliefs, to follow the new of Jesus, was – and is! – a form of rebirth. In Christ we enlivened by new life that is without compare.

A few weeks ago we heard from Matthew’s gospel, the Pharisees complaining that Jesus was mixing with tax collectors and sinners – with those they deemed as undesirables. But Jesus sees it as his mission to drink and eat – to socialise – with them. Then he reminds the Pharisees that it is the sick who need a doctor. Do the Pharisees, I wonder, pause to think whether it is the tax collectors and sinners or they, the Pharisees, who are the ones in need of a doctor?

So let’s not be distracted by today’s gospel from following the example of Jesus of mixing and socialising and talking and listening to one and all.

Jeremiah 20:7-13

O Lord, you have enticed me,
and I was enticed; 

you have overpowered me,
and you have prevailed. 

I have become a laughingstock all day long;
everyone mocks me. 

For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” 

For the word of the Lord has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.

If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,” 

then within me there is something like a burning fire
shut up in my bones; 

I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot. 

For I hear many whispering:
“Terror is all around! 

Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble. 

“Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.”

But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail. 

They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed. 

Their eternal dishonour
will never be forgotten. 

O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind; 

let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause. 

Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord! 

For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers. 

Psalm 69: 8-20

8 Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *
and shame has covered my face.

9 I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *
an alien to my mother’s children.

10 Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

11 I humbled myself with fasting, *
but that was turned to my reproach.

12 I put on sack-cloth also, *
and became a byword among them.

13 Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *
and the drunkards make songs about me.

14 But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *
at the time you have set, O Lord:

15 “In your great mercy, O God, *
answer me with your unfailing help.

16 Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *
let me be rescued from those who hate me
and out of the deep waters.

17 Let not the torrent of waters wash over me,
neither let the deep swallow me up; *
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.

18 Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; *
in your great compassion, turn to me.’

19 “Hide not your face from your servant; *
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.

20 Draw near to me and redeem me; *
because of my enemies deliver me.

Romans 6:1b-11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39

Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 

For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Proper 6, 2nd Sunday after Trinity

14th June 2026

Reflection with readings below.

We cannot help but look at the news and feel despair. The news tells us of war and the suffering of innocent individuals. The news tells us of rioting, of violent marches designed to terrify the ‘other’. The news tells us of rising costs of living, of lack of housing, and of stressful employment practices that makes the daily lives of many a misery. Of inadequately funded schools and hospitals, and of inadequate provision for social care that deprives people of the support they need. Of harvests threatened by too much or too little rain, too much or too little sun. Of the spread via social media of misinformation and the lack of counter stories that provide both truth and the vision of a better future. 

How should we as Christians respond? Is there something that we have that can make a difference? Is it that what we have is confidence – assurance through faith: and that faith is of God. 

On the one hand this is to have faith  in God. To believe that God’s word, God’s vision for the world, is always the best – and for the best. And if we have faith in God, then we will know how to order our lives – in theory of not in practice – because we will want to shape our lives to match that best version of the world. (I add the proviso about in practice, because our ability to hear God’s wisdom can be blocked by other less helpful voices – those out to make a profit, those who have no regard for nature, those who been taught to hate the ‘other’).

On the other hand this is to accept the faith that God has in us. This is a faith that we can all be good citizens of creation, that we can be reformed, that we can flourish as God intends, for we were made in the image of God. All that is needful for us to be good is already there. And not only that – God loves us and engages with us even when we are on the wrong path, even when we are sceptical, even when we are hesitant.

Confide and confidence both have similar roots: con meaning being with or through, and fidelity meaning faith. When we confide in someone we trust them to be faithful to us, treating our words with discretion and empathy, not divulging information without our agreement. We are called to build up such relationships that we cane both confide in God and with our neighbours. 

How then might we as Christians respond to the distress we see in the world? With resilience – ie not sinking into an abyss of despair – because we have faith that God has faith in the world. With hope because we have faith that in God’s wisdom there are ways in which the world can become better – can achieve God’s best possibility. With determination because we have faith that we can live a better  life ourselves, putting into practice God’s wisdom. With love because God’s faith in us shows us how to love each other – and because that in practice means we are loved and cherished by our each other as part of the great family of faith.

From today’s collect: Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, 

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.

10 How shall I repay the Lord *
for all the good things he has done for me?

11 I will lift up the cup of salvation *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

12 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people.

13 Precious in the sight of the Lord *
is the death of his servants.

14 O Lord, I am your servant; *
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.

15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

16 I will fulfil my vows to the Lord *
in the presence of all his people,

17 In the courts of the Lord’s house, *
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

Romans 5:1-8

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

The Gospel

Matthew 9:35-10:8-23

Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

First Sunday after Trinity/ proper 5

7th June 2026

Reflection with readings below

 From today’s gospel: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

We have only to look around to see that our world, our societies, our ecosystems, are in need of a physician, are in need of healing – possibly including radical surgery. And not just that, but we ourselves need a physician. We seem unable to change our lifestyles even though we can see the damage they cause. 

The gap between rich and poor, between the haves and have-nots is growing. Those without suffer ill health, discrimination, lack of opportunities, insecurity etc. I’m not entirely sure that the haves – despite their better health, wide ranging opportunities, status and security – are necessarily happier. The more we have, the more we worry about having enough, the more we worry whether what we have may be stolen, the more we worry that we are not keeping up with our peers etc.  Feeling exposed to such fears, people the  build more and more barriers – locked gates, high walls, big cars, private jets – to ‘protect’ themselves. 

The Global Justice Report (1) out this week demonstrates that we would all be happier, more contented, if we redistributed wealth equitably. One advantage the report highlights is that we would all need only to work two days a week – thus having more time to enjoy with family and friends, more time with nature, more time reading and learning etc.  Maybe even more time to spend with God!

Our environment – our living conditions – are critically endangered by climate change and biodiversity loss, yet we seem unable to make the lifestyle changes needed to limit these pressing dangers. Instead we continue with lifestyles thereby increasing the dangers! 

The Lancet Commission has done extensive research to develop an ideal healthy diet that can be adopted by anyone and everyone: the planetary health diet. It doesn’t exclude meat and dairy products but reduces them in favour of more plant based foods. The advantages are multiple: substantially improved health for us as individuals, substantial reduction of carbon emissions, substantially reduced demands  on water supplies and the release of pressure on land such that biodiversity can recover.  And all this would at the same time ensure we could grow enough food to feed the growing world population. 

Why then do we not wholeheartedly adopt the planetary health diet? Why are we so perverse? We need the help of a trustworthy physician!

Both today’s psalm and reading from the prophets, tells us that God longs to help us, longs to heal us, longs to restore our wellbeing. Both tell us that God doesn’t want sacrifices – God doesn’t want us to live as if we were the ones in control, that we were the ones who can do what ever we want provided we placate God. No, God wants us to understand that we live within creation, that we live within an environment where – if we act with with steadfast love for what God has created, if we act with a good understanding of God’s wisdom – then we will be satisfied, our lives will be whole and healthy. 

In today’s gospel passage, the Pharisees want to limit God’s favour to those who they deem are doing the right thing – to divert God’s love to those who they deem are deserving. As in the earlier readings they wish to put limits around God. They want to determine what God should and shouldn’t want. They can’t see the short-comings of their approach – that it doesn’t ensure wellbeing for all, that it fails to acknowledge that many problems are down to the insufficiency of the individual but to the failures of the system. And perhaps most sadly of all, they don’t realise how much they are missing out on, nor how unhealthy their lifestyle is.

In the two healings that Jesus then performs, he demonstrates to them how  putting rules and restrictions before compassion and empathy, destroys life – whereas going the extra mile and  showing love, leads to healing.

How can we use what we learn from today’s readings to find healing for ourselves and our society, for the environment and for justice?

It has to be by – as one writer put it – ‘unwrapping’ ourselves from the systems, from the cultures and  traditions, that are destroying life and perverting justice. It has to be by seeking God’s wisdom to determine how we organise our lives, how we live in peace with the environment, how we establish justice for everyone. 

This will involve prayer, learning and discernment – and already there are lots of resources and communities and networks we can tap into, such as Green Peace and Green Christian, Christians Against Poverty and Just Money etc.

This will involve changing our lifestyles and it will mean accepting – at least on the short term – that such lifestyles will be counter cultural – but isn’t that implicit in the Gospel message? It will mean accepting that there will be both sacrifices and new pleasures. We will have to eat less meat and dairy, but we will discover new flavours and new fruits and nuts and  vegetables to enjoy. We will (particularly those of us who are comfortably off) need to consume less but we will be able to enjoy more leisure, more quality time, and less stress.

Doing this will transform the world. Doing this we will be showing our love for all our neighbours, for not just human environments but all ecosystems. Doing this will ensure sustainability, will ensure that we pass onto the generations to come a better world. Doing this will bring in the kingdom of God here on earth.

So yes we  can – and should – ask Jesus to heal us, and not just us but our rigid, life-destroying systems. We can ask Jesus  – indeed can we learn from what he has already shown us – how to reform our lifestyles, how we can shape them with steadfast love and mercy.

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/world-inequality-lab-equality-academics-planetary-survival?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Hosea 5:15-6:6

Thus says the Lord: “I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favour: ‘Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.’ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” 

Psalm 50:7-15

7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
“O Israel, I will bear witness against you; *
for I am God, your God.

8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; *
your offerings are always before me.

9 I will take no bull-calf from your stalls, *
nor he-goats out of your pens;

10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, *
the herds in their thousands upon the hills.

11 I know every bird in the sky, *
and the creatures of the fields are in my sight.

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, *
for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.

13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, *
or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving *
and make good your vows to the Most High.

15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; *
I will deliver you, and you shall honour me.”

The Epistle

Romans 4:13-25

The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. 

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” 

And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Trinity Sunday 

31st May 2026

Reflection with readings below

Today is Trinity Sunday when, having focused on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus’s relationship with God as Father, and the gift of the Holy Spirit,  the Church celebrates the interconnectedness of these differentiated persons or facets of God. But in fact today’s readings perhaps focus more on the relationship between God, humanity and creation.

The reading from Isaiah is an often overlooked creation story. In this telling humankind is over-egging it’s  importance in the whole process. Through the words given by the prophet Isaiah, God challenges humankind to reconsider their importance as significant agents in the creation of the wonders that constitute Earth. 

The alternative first testament reading given today is that of the creation story in Genesis 1. Like today’s psalm, that passage talks about God giving humankind ‘dominion’ over every living thing – plants and animals – that God had created. This same word also features in Psalm 8 but it is prefaced by words that challenge humankind to reconsider their importance in the far grander scale of creation. 

What might it mean for humanity to be given (given not earnt) dominion of all living things? What is doesn’t do is give any one – or group thereof – human the right to exercise dominion over other humans.  Rather we are commanded (in both first and second testaments) to love our neighbours as ourself.  

The question of dominion as humanity’s role as expressed in Genesis 1 or as servant and guard as expressed in Genesis 2 was the subject of much email discussion within Green Christian. The conclusion seemed to be that in being given the role of dominion, humankind was being asked to enact dominion in the way that God does – for humans were created in the image of God for this purpose. Dominion is therefore not about imposing our will on all living things  but God’s will. It is to honour the role that the ground and the waters play in bringing forth life. It is not about controlling gather human beings, nor is it about creating boundaries that divide the earth – no ‘This is my land’, no ‘This is my gold mine’, no ‘This is my water.’

The words from Isaiah, ‘Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand’ brings to mind Deborah Colvin’s description of the Thames drainage basin as a soup bowl. (This was at the Rivers of Spirit: Spirit of Rivers conference which I wrote about earlier). The Thames basin is like soup bowl with the South Downs and the Cotswolds forming the rim, while the bowl itself is filled with layers of different geological material channelling and absorbing water. The water derives from rain (and snow) that has fallen over the millennia. This bowl is vast unseen reservoir. The water comes to the surface via springs and rivers or can be tapped into via wells. As humans we extract water from the Thames basin for domestic use – washing, drinking etc – for agricultural irrigation and livestock, and for various industrial uses – something that in the future will expand if more data centres are built. Although we have had some drought years, the Thames  basin has supplied our needs. However it is estimated that as our use of water expands we are likely to see a 5 billion litre per day shortfall by 2055.

Globally we are consuming fresh water at faster rate than rainfall, ice melt etc can replenish. 

Humans may have been given dominion but it is not a licence to consume Willy-nilly nor is a magic wand with which to conjure up endless supplies of whatever we want. 

Isaiah’s words suggest we humans need to show greater humility in the position we adopt vis a vis the earth’s resources and vis a vis God. Julian Allwood in his talk to Green Christian (1) about his book, Promise the Earth: A safe planet in good faith, spoke against the oft touted vision of new technology as the solution to climate change – it will not be available either in time or at scale to be of any use. His recommended solution is to show restraint and consume less. Simple, practical advise that reminds us that we humans part of, and are called to live responsibly within, God’s creation. 

As Paul writes, “Put things in order … agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” 

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_iw6flpNxc&list=PLdHb4RRseikMboKuqbw5M8qpL9iahsKo8

Isaiah 40.12-17,27-31

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

    and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,

    and weighed the mountains in scales

    and the hills in a balance?

Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,

    or as his counsellor has instructed him?

Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,

    and who taught him the path of justice?

Who taught him knowledge,

    and showed him the way of understanding?

Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

    and are accounted as dust on the scales;

    see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.

Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,

    nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.

All the nations are as nothing before him;

    they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
    and crowned them with glory and honour.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,

all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Feast of Pentecost 

24th May 2026

Pentecost feels like a time of great anticipation, excitment,  and new opportunities. At Pentecost we should expect to be surprised!

Echoing the words of the prophet Joel, Pentecost is a time to ask each other ‘What dreams do you have? What is you vision for the future? 

Sometimes it feels as if all we want for the future is for things to continue as they are – that we can keep on with life as it is: the same type of shops in the high street, the same sorts of food for our meals, the same pattern of holidays – sun or snow in winter, sun and beaches in summer etc. Or maybe this is only so for those of us whose lives already feel comfortable. 

Or maybe we do want a different future but can’t imagine how it could become a reality. Maybe we dream of a world where everyone has enough to eat, where everyone has the safety and comfort of a home, where the health service delivers equally to all, where everyone can access a good education, where war is no more and know one lives in fear of violence.

Maybe our vision for the future is smaller, more local. A vision of wildlife friendly green space. A friendly cafe where friends and strangers can meet and chat. A church roof covered with solar panels. A community vegetable patch.

To have a vision or a dream may lead to a prophetic role as God urges us to speak out, to inspire others, to draw out the skills and resources that will make the dream a reality. 

Sometimes God summons us to take on a prophetic role that calls us to challenge those who say that a different future is impossible, to challenge those who cling to the status quo. God may gives us different ways of expressing that message – different tongues mean that more people will hear the message in the language or medium that they are most attuned to. 

In terms of action how do we have agency? 

Talking with and enthusing others to share the vision: the more who are committed to effecting change methods more likely it will happen. Share it with your church – perhaps your vision could  be part of your church’s Mission Action Plan.

Talking with and/ or writing to people in positions of power and authority – such as your MP, your local councillor, the CEO of relevant businesses etc.

Making changes in your own lifestyle which can influence others to do the same and be a means of exerting consumer power.

Take practical action. If you want less litter, do a litter pick. If you want more trees, plant some. 

Support other groups who similar aims. Make donations to relevant causes.

What ever the vision, what ever the message, those inspired by God’s Spirit will be enthused and enliven by that same Spirit. With all our differences, with our different modes of communication, with the different focus of our dream, if we can come together and work together like the parts of a body, we will be effective agents of growth in God’s kingdom here on Earth.  

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs– in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 

and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams. 

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy. 

And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 

The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 

Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “

Psalm 104:25-35, 37

25 O Lord, how manifold are your works! *
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

26 Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number, *
creatures both small and great.

27 There move the ships,
and there is that Leviathan, *
which you have made for the sport of it.

28 All of them look to you *
to give them their food in due season.

29 You give it to them; they gather it; *
you open your hand, and they are filled with good things.

30 You hide your face, and they are terrified; *
you take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.

31 You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; *
and so you renew the face of the earth.

32 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; *
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

33 He looks at the earth and it trembles; *
he touches the mountains and they smoke.

34 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; *
I will praise my God while I have my being.

35 May these words of mine please him; *
I will rejoice in the Lord.

37 Bless the Lord, O my soul. *
Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body– Jews or Greeks, slaves or free– and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 

Seventh Sunday of Easter

17th May 2026

Reflection with readings below 

“Lord is this the time when you will restore the kingdom” ask the disciples. It is a question I’m sure we are often tempted to ask, as we look around the world and despair. Couldn’t Jesus just wave wand or blow a trumpet, and with a flash and a bang establish instantly God’s kingdom here on Earth?

But it’s not like that. The kingdom of God has been edging its way in slowly and steadily, little by little. Prophets, like Isaiah and John the Baptist, have been calling on us to be part of process. Jesus himself announces that the kingdom is at hand, and throughout his ministry we see it emerging as the sick are healed, the possessed are freed, the hungry fed, the mournful comforted, the outcast empowered, the selfish challenged, the self righteous exposed, the greedy reformed. Act by act, step by step, we see the kingdom of God growing here in Earth. Like creation, it is an ongoing process.

This week we had the State Opening of Parliament when the King read out a speech outlining what the Government will do in this term of Parliament to ensure the wellbeing of the kingdom of Britain. Achieving that wellbeing – typically measured in GDP which is not really a measure of how well we are as individuals or as a society- is likewise an ongoing process. Whether all that is proposed will happen, is a moot point, and equally it is questionable whether all that is proposed is what is needed to ensure the common good of us all rather than the just a few. Since the King’s speech was made on Wednesday other alternatives have been put forward by, among others, Lord Blunkett and Kemi Badenoch. I’m not sure that any of these speeches and manifestos match with the bringing in of the kingdom of God. 

For a manifesto for that kingdom we have, in the gospels, the Magnificat and the Beatitudes- and from more contemporary sources we have such as R S Thomas’s poem The Kingdom

It’s a long way off but inside it

There are quite different things going on:

Festivals at which the poor man

Is king and the consumptive is

Healed; mirrors in which the blind look

At themselves and love looks at them 

Back; and industry is for mending 

The bent bones and the minds fractured 

By life.  It’s a long way off, but to get

There takes no time and admission

Is free, if you will purge yourself

Of desire, and present yourself with

Your need only and the simple offering

Of your faith, green as a leaf.

Or in the writings of John Ruskin. Just today a friend sent me these words summarising his outline for the wellbeing of  ‘the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain’ 

  • to turn wasteland into food-producing plots
  • to protect wildlife 
  • to educate all people in schools according to their specific needs
  • to open public libraries and galleries as a ‘national cultural store’ for all people.

Maybe the Church should issue its take on the King’s speech, for we as Christians are called by Jesus to be kingdom builders and to this end, are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

  • Welcome the refugee and the migrant, ensure they become part of society and are able to make their contribution to our shared wellbeing 
  • End the sale of weapons to the State of Israel and other states that abuse their power
  • Ensure all church investment, including banking, is proactively aligned with the values of the kingdom of God
  • Continue to promote net zero by 2030 and press the government to do likewise
  • To promote food security and biodiversity through example and teaching and press the Government to do likewise
  • Continue to redistribute wealth within the church and press the government to do likewise across society
  • Continue to provide and advocate for the needs of people within our local communities and across the globe, and press the government to do likewise, so that everyone’s needs are met before the wants of a few
  • Continue to worship and learn from the source of all true wisdom.

Acts 1:6-14

When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. 

Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

1 Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *
let those who hate him flee before him.

2 Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *
as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *
let them also be merry and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his Name;
exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *
YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!

5 Father of orphans, defender of widows, *
God in his holy habitation!

6 God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; *
but the rebels shall live in dry places.

7 O God, when you went forth before your people, *
when you marched through the wilderness,

8 The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain,
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, *
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9 You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *
you refreshed the land when it was weary.

10 Your people found their home in it; *
in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.

33 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; *
sing praises to the Lord.

34 He rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; *
he sends forth his voice, his mighty voice.

35 Ascribe power to God; *
his majesty is over Israel;
his strength is in the skies.

36 How wonderful is God in his holy places! *
the God of Israel giving strength and power to his people!
Blessed be God!

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. 

John 17:1-11

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Sixth Sunday of Easter

10th May 2026

Reflection with readings below

Earlier in the discourse that is recorded in John’s Gospel (chapter 13:4) Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment that they love one another, and this is presumably why Jesus is referring to in today’s reading when he says, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments.’ 

We are called to love Jesus who is God, and we are called to love one another  – and if we hear the words of Paul in Acts, one another becomes not just the person next to me, nor just fellow human beings, but all of creation. For in all that has been created, dwells God. If we love God, we cannot but love all God has created and in whom we have our being.

To love is surely the totality of Christianity. 

Yet we seem to live in a world full of hate. And if I am honest, loving everyone all the time is a hard challenge. In the letter of Peter we hear that baptism is not about washing away dirt – sins – but about creating within us a good conscience, a reminder – an alarm system even – that will prompt us to do what it right, to inhabit love. I guess like all alarm systems, we can ignore it. We can with practice, blank it out and not hear it. But conversely we can practice paying attention to our conscience so that inhabiting love becomes the norm. And we don’t do this alone. We have the Holy Spirit as our advocate – the one who can help us see the problem, can help us choose the best response, can strengthen our actions. 

Equally we should not forget that far outweighing our efforts to love, is God’s love for us. That love encompasses all that exists. That love cares deeply for every single being including those of us who still have hate within us. And God’s love will always far exceeds what we need for its is endless and eternal.

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, 

‘For we too are his offspring.’ 

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Psalm 66:7-18

7 Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;

8 Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.

9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.

10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.

11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.

13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.

14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.

15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.

16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;

17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you– not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. 

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Fifth Sunday of Easter

3rd May 2026

Reflection with readings below

The season of Easter lasts 40 days (if you count Ascension tide as a separate season) or 50 days if you see Pentecost as the culmination of Easter. But it seems hard – either way – to maintain that joy and freshness of Easter Day.

What is the ongoing impact of Easter and the resurrection on our lives? Is it that in Jesus whom we know both as someone who has experienced the fullness of human life – including death and what lays beyond that – and who has a full experience of divinity? Is it that Jesus invites us to be an intimate part of his life – to share in his vision of the world? 

At times it can be hard to grasp what this means – and perhaps especially the both human and divine aspects of Jesus. Is this perhaps what we see underlying the conversations in today’s gospel reading?  The disciples are struggling to see in the human Jesus the totality of the divine. Equally there is a tension that we experience in Christianity today as to whether we should be focused on worshipping God as part of our journey to heaven, or whether we should  be focused on taking action – doing things – to transform this life so that it is heaven on earth?

Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. He also says that it is through his works – and if we follow Jesus, through our works – that God the Father can be seen.

So maybe the season of Easter is about our ongoing journey following Jesus, following his example both in how we relate to God and how we relate to our neighbours. To love God and to love our neighbour is to be active. In the current global climate that is to be active in consoling those who are distressed, to support those who feel marginalised, to stand up for those being abused, and to seek peace and justice for all. If we can bring to that the joy and freshness of Easter so much the better! 

And remember that half of the command we sometimes forget, to love our neighbour as ourself. Being aware of our shortcomings and our need for love – from God and from our neighbours – will equip us better  in following Jesus. 

Acts 7:55-60

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. 

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

1 In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame; *
deliver me in your righteousness.

2 Incline your ear to me; *
make haste to deliver me.

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold; *
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.

4 Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me, *
for you are my tower of strength.

5 Into your hands I commend my spirit, *
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.

15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.

16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me.

1 Peter 2:2-10

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner”,

and

“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;

once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

John 14:1-14

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”