Category: Sunday Reflections

A weekly reflection on the lectionary readings for Sunday

Proper 21, 15th Sunday after Trinity 

28th September 2025

Reflection with readings below

Jeremiah’s action was made as a visible sign of hope – hope that even though it now looked as if Jerusalem and the land of Judah would be conquered by the Babylonian empire, that this occupation would not be forever. There would be a time in the future when the people would once again know freedom. By buying the field at this most inopportune time – whose land would it be when the Babylonian had invaded – and by burying the title deeds in a jar for their long time safekeeping, that land could be rightly reclaimed by Jeremiah – or more likely his descendants – Jeremiah was saying don’t give up hope there. Even if oir land is taken away from us now, even if we are dispersed to foreign lands, there will at some future date be a restoration and we will return!

Many Palestinians families – both Muslim and Christian – have in their possession keys belonging to the homes from which they were ejected by the Israeli forces in the 1948 Nakba. They hold onto these keys as a sign of hope that one day they will return to their homes. Often images of keys appear on banners and signs to symbolise this hope of returning.  The Right of Return is in fact a binding principle under international law, enshrined in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, adopted on December 11, 1948. It affirms that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date. It applies to all who have been made refugees. Surely they are right to hope that their futures will include restoration and restitution.

In today’s Psalm we are told that God is our shelter and stronghold. That God protects us because we are bound to God by love. If we call out, God will hear us. Whatever happens God is our safe place – even when a physical safe place seems an impossibility. It must be that belief that enables so many Palestinians to continue to pray and not give up on the hope of a better future.

The Letter to Timothy reminds us that we didn’t bring anything into this world and will take nothing out, and that we should seek contentment with what we have rather than being sucked into an endless desire to accumulate evermore  riches and possessions. The writer is focused here on material goods and wealth, for in fact we come onto this world with the gift of God’s love and we take with us all the love that has grown with us through our lives. Not only that, as we come into in this life so we benefit from God’s gift of a bountiful Earth within lean air to breath, water to drink, all manner of fruits and plants to supply our needs – and with their beauty to bring us joy. And it is our responsibility to ensure that we don’t despoil this through greed or stupidity, but rather ensure that all this magnificent wonder of nature is passed on to our children and our children’s children for their wellbeing too. When we leave the Earth we should not leave it in a worse state than when we entered.

Yet when we look at the destruction of land and property, trees, plants and water supplies that is being carried in what was the Holy Land, we are seeing actions that go against God’s will, that destroy the wellbeing of both current and future generations. 

We can see the same thing happening when indigenous people have their land taken away or their forests destroyed.

We can see the same thing happening when people are forced out of their homes because they cannot afford the mortgage payments or rents. And we see this happening to whole communities when their local shops and businesses, their community centres and libraries, are closed because rents are too high, funding to low, and market forces distorted by the monopolistic power of big corporations.

Where today do we see or hear the successors to Jeremiah, Moses and the prophets, calling out what is wrong in our world, drawing our attention to what matters and telling us how we can redeem what is being lost? Surely we as Christians and as church communities that are seeking to following Christ, should be the prophets of this age, calling for righteousness and justice and peace to prevail?

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.

Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 He shall say to the Lord,
“You are my refuge and my stronghold, *
my God in whom I put my trust.”

3 He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with his pinions,
and you shall find refuge under his wings; *
his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *
nor of the arrow that flies by day;

6 Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *
nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.

14 Because he is bound to me in love,
therefore will I deliver him; *
I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
I am with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him to honour.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, *
and show him my salvation.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time– he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house– for I have five brothers– that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”

Proper 20 14th Sunday after Trinity

21st September 2025

Reflection with readings below

This passages from Jeremiah seems to express both the grief and frustration of God and of Jeremiah – and it is not always clear to the listener which of the two is speaking. But that shouldn’t be surprising as a prophet is someone who is tuned into what God feels and desires, and what God is saying. The closeness of the relationship is both a joy and a stress: joy from sharing in God’s presence; stress from knowing God’s grief over the waywardness of humans. For both God and prophet it is not black and white. It is not as simple as God hating and dispensing with the one who sins, nor as God loving and rewarding the one who is righteous.

In last week’s gospel we noticed that the sinner rescued by God was no different from the ones who didn’t need rescuing. They were all sheep of which one had gone astray. They were all coins of which one had been lost. Nor is either sheep or coin discarded: both are retrieved and loved with an overriding passion. We should not then be surprised to read in Letter to Timothy that Jesus ‘gave himself a ransom for all’. Salvation is salvation for all – not just a few, not just most – but for all.

Knowing that salvation – healing – for all has always been God’s desire. Again from the Letter to Timothy ‘God our Saviour … desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’

All and everyone is more than just humankind, but envelopes all that God has created. We should not imagine that salvation in just for humans and that other creatures, other living beings – and even ecosystems – are not part of God’s vision of healing and restoration. Indeed if only humans were rescued, life would be very bleak. What delights would we have to eat? What fresh waters would be there for us to drink? What flowers and trees would be there to delight our eyes? What sounds of bird song would enchant our ear?

And yet we humans often live as though all the other parts of creation were of no value and can be ignored, wasted and discarded with no repercussions. We seek to consume ever increasing amounts of the Earth’s resources as if there were no limits to supply. We seek to discard what we don’t want as if  the Earth could endlessly absorb our waste and are surprised when that waste returns to pollute our rivers and coasts! We seek to take more and more land away from wildlife and still expect our fields, hedgerows and gardens to be abounding with wildlife. We seek to fill the atmosphere with more and more carbon dioxide and yet are surprised when this upsets the Earth’s natural balance, triggering rising temperatures and extreme weather events.

Not only that, we also seek to live as if we were the only ones that mattered. That our actions will not affect the lives of others. Bizarrely we seem to believe that if those who are rich get richer, that growing wealth will not make others poorer. Bizarrely we seem to believe that if the rich get to buy more and bigger houses, more and bigger cars, that that will not mean fewer and smaller houses, and  fewer transport options for those who are poorer. Bizarrely we seem to believe that if larger companies take bigger and bigger profits, that smaller companies will not struggle to earn a fair share. Bizarrely we seem to think that if the rich can pay to lobby governments and authorities to shape the world to suit their wants, that those of us who can’t afford to pay lobbyists, will not find their needs excluded from decision making processes.

Yet everything could be so different. 

This week saw the CEO of Barclays calling on the government to curb public sector pay and resist calls to increase taxes in banking profits – this the same Venkatakrishnan, who can ‘earn’ a maximum annual package worth £14.3m, up from £9.8m previously. The average UK income was, in 2024, £37,430 although research suggests that a comfortable income for a family of two adults and one child is around £60,000. 

Would it not be more equitable for everyone to have a sufficiently generous income? 

A report by the Guardian last week revealed that through the privatisation of publication services – such as water, buses, mail, rail and energy – around £200bn has been paid to shareholders, diverting wealth from the common society to a private elite. In effect privatisation has cost £250 per household per year.

Would it not be better for public services to be owned by and run for the benefit of society as a whole? 

We need to use wisdom and discernment, honesty and compassion, if we are to live equally good lives one with another. Truly it is because of God’s wisdom that we are told to love our neighbours as ourselves. Unless we can act with generosity towards one other – both human and non human beings, unless we can work cooperatively with one another, unless we can live within the limits of the Earth’s resources, we are not to find salvation. To live in this way is to truly love God.

This past week the daily reflections from the Centre for Action and Contemplation have been on the theme of love: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-work-of-grief-and-love/

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
my heart is sick. 

Hark, the cry of my poor people
from far and wide in the land: 

“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?” 

(“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
with their foreign idols?”) 

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.” 

For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 

Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there? 

Why then has the health of my poor people
not been restored? 

O that my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears, 

so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of my poor people!

Psalm 79:1-9

1 O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance;
they have profaned your holy temple; *
they have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.

2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the air, *
and the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the field.

3 They have shed their blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, *
and there was no one to bury them.

4 We have become a reproach to our neighbours, *
an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 How long will you be angry, O Lord? *
will your fury blaze like fire for ever?

6 Pour out your wrath upon the heathen who have not known you *
and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your Name.

7 For they have devoured Jacob *
and made his dwelling a ruin.

8 Remember not our past sins;
let your compassion be swift to meet us; *
for we have been brought very low.

9 Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your Name; *
deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your Name’s sake.

1 Timothy 2:1-7

First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

there is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind, 

Christ Jesus, himself human,
who gave himself a ransom for all

— this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?’ He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Proper 19, 13th Sunday after Trinity

14th September 2025

Reflection with readings below

Jeremiah’s message was clear: God’s people needed to know how to do good not evil. For when their behaviour was evil, their fruitful land would become a barren desolation. Prophets don’t so much predict the future, as spell out the consequences of different course of behaviour, highlighting what may happen when the wrong course of action is taken – and this is seldom a message people want to hear. The calling of a prophet was – and is – not easy. No one likes being told they’ve got it wrong. Jeremiah was always outspoken in his role as a prophet – regardless of the consequence for his own safety. He ended up being put down an empty well as well as being taken against his will to Egypt.

Jeremiah’s words and actions however came from his deep closeness to God and  his knowledge of God’s wisdom. This wisdom revealed to Jeremiah that when people lived in opposition to God’s will, in opposition to the ways in which the Earth – God’s creation – worked, the results would be suffering and disaster. 

When we read the words of other prophets such as Isaiah (whose words are expounded in this year theme for the Season of Creation – Peace with Creation – Isaiah 32:14-18) we find the same message: when we humans do not engage with God’s wisdom, when we do not pursue justice, when we do not live in harmony with the world God has created, then suffering and disaster ensues. 

For decades now, we humans have been ignoring the consequences of burning ever greater quantities of fossil fuels. We have turned a blind eye to the unjust systems that mean the poorest suffer the most.   We have failed understand that the Earth can not provide a limitless supply of resources to meet our growing appetite for more and more luxuries. If Jeremiah or Isaiah were here today they would be shouting out from the rooftops, calling us to repent and transform the way we live. They would be disrupting our lives with prophetic actions. They would be challenging the systems of rule and money that perpetuate the disregard for God and planet. 

This week Christian Climate Action launched a document entitled ‘Stop Crucifying Creation’ which calls on the Church to take up that same prophetic role exercised by Jeremiah and Isaiah. In response to the accelerating climate crisis and the growing inequalities between rich and poor – both within and between nations – the Church is being called upon to use its corporate position to speak about the truth of these crises, to challenge those in positions of power who are aiding the unfolding suffering and disaster – governments and corporations. The Church is also being called to renew the vision of the early church which sought to nurture loving, caring  and sharing communities.  

Loving, caring and sharing communities have to be places where everyone is included and valued. In today’s gospel story, the Pharisees want to draw a distinction between themselves and those others who were tax collectors and sinners. So Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep – and then of the lost coin. In each case, the one that is lost is not indistinguishable from the others: the one hundred are all sheep and all to be cared for; the ten coins are all coins to be equally valued. Jesus’s message is a reminder not to ‘other’ the person – or community – that we perceive as not being ‘PLU’s. For those of who are climate activists, we need to remember that fossil fuel directors, insurance brokers and investment bankers are just as important in God’s eyes – not because of what they do but because of who they are: children of God. Indeed as the epistle writer tells us, it is the grace of Jesus that should overflow through us with faith and love. 

And it is the  message of the prophets and the psalmists that God does seek out and care for those who have gone astray so that all may flourish.

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28a

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse– a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.

“For my people are foolish,
they do not know me; 

they are stupid children,
they have no understanding. 

They are skilled in doing evil,
but do not know how to do good.” 

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light. 

I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro. 

I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,
and all the birds of the air had fled. 

I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger. 

For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

Because of this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above grow black; 

for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back. 

Psalm 14

1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” *
All are corrupt and commit abominable acts;
there is none who does any good.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, *
to see if there is any who is wise,
if there is one who seeks after God.

3 Every one has proved faithless;
all alike have turned bad; *
there is none who does good; no, not one.

4 Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers *
who eat up my people like bread
and do not call upon the Lord?

5 See how they tremble with fear, *
because God is in the company of the righteous.

6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, *
but the Lord is their refuge.

7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! *
when the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

1 Timothy 1:12-17

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Proper 18, 12th Sunday after Trinity

7th September 2025

Reflection with readings below 

Today’s gospel has a hard hitting message: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

What does it mean? 

We know from the Book of Acts that for the first Christians it was about sharing what they had in common so that no one in their community went with out. It meant meeting regularly for prayer. It meant healing those who were sick, taking care of the widows – and all those who were particularly vulnerable. It meant preaching the same message that Jesus had preached: honour God and love your neighbour with all your being; release those held captive, free those who are oppressed; don’t hoard your wealth for gain; put your trust in God – share what you have with those in need; challenge those in authority when they make life hard for the vulnerable, when they make doing the right thing impossible; be prepared to put yourself in the firing line when those in authority or those with vested interests, fight back. 

Time and again, the Book of Acts tells us how the disciples did challenge those in authority when they tried to disrupt the gospel message; that the disciples did end up in prison because they would not stop speaking God’s truth; that some of them were rounded up and persecuted; that some of them were killed for the sake of the gospel. But at the same time that Book of Acts tells us that thousands and thousands were drawn to become followers of Jesus because of the gospel message being preached by word and deed. People spoke in admiration of the love and care being demonstrated by the new Christian communities; of their willingness share their resources and hold things in common; that through their actions people were healed and restored to life. The Letters of St Paul reveal to us the growth of new Christian communities across the Mediterranean region, communities that were marked out by their inclusivity; communities that regularly met for worship and to share meals, that sought to learn more about the gospel of Jesus – what it meant and how to put it into practice; communities that prayed for each other and shared their resources, aiding far distant communities when their brethren faced hardships.

When we are asked to take up our cross, Is it a calling to sell up everything? To go and work for a refugee charity or a homeless charity? To put our bodies on the line by walking into a conflict zone? To devote our lives to walking the length and breadth of the country preaching the gospel? For some of us, yes. 

Is it a calling to live counter culturally, to resist buying the next status accessory, to resist flying or driving an SUV, to avoid companies that exploit their employees or their supply chains, that disregard care for the environment, that recklessly emit greenhouse gases?  Yes!

Is it a calling to resist judging people according to their race or faith or wealth or gender or age? To not to joke about or disparage such differences? But rather to welcome and affirm everyone as beloved by God? Yes!

Is it to inform ourselves about the ways in which we can replace unjust systems with ones that care and protect the environment, that care and protect the vulnerable? Yes!

Is it a calling to speak out against injustice, to challenge those in authority, to speak truth to power? Yes!

 Is it a calling to step outside of our comfort zone and take action to support those who are persecuted, the vulnerable and the marginalised? Yes!

Taking up the cross is letting go of all that constrains us or ties us into a state of inaction. Taking up the cross is resisting popularist culture that derides and negates God’s will. Taking up the cross means repeatedly reassessing our thoughts and actions – ‘Are they aligned with God’s will?’ and seeking strength and insight through a prayerful relationship with God. Taking up the cross is to be part of a loving, lively, joyful company of fellow followers of Christ. It is to be part of a loving, caring and nurturing community. It is a calling that offers moments of deep peace.

Earlier this week Christian Climate Action published a vision document calling on the Church to recover its original charisma. Entitled “Stop Crucifying Creation” it is a “call to the Church to exemplify radical and transformative Christian living in the face of climate collapse.”  It is a call to take up the cross! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iDHUJW1RXQmbX1ik_YvkgqowHTnrwqkw/view?usp=drivesdk

Jeremiah 18:1-11

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. 

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

13 I will thank you because I am marvellously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

14 My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.

15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book; *
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.

16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
how great is the sum of them!

17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; *
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.

Philemon 1-21

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love– and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother– especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Luke 14:25-33

Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Proper 17, 11th Sunday after Trinity

31st August 2025

Reflection with readings below 

The metaphor of a banquet – especially a wedding banquet with its focus on a blessing and affirming a bond or union of love between partners – is frequently used in the Bible to signify the fulfilment of God’s will in the establishing of the kingdom of God (whether this is understood as the establishing of God’s kingdom here in earth as in heaven, or as the incorporation of all into the kingdom of heaven at the end of time).

The gospel announced by Jesus is that the kingdom of God is at hand, and his teaching demonstrates how that rule can be recognised and incorporated into daily life here on Earth. However amongst those who heard Jesus’s preaching, there was a diversity of opinion as to who would be eligible to be citizens of this kingdom. Some believed that it was only for those were obedient law abiding Jews – for those who matched their own appearance and class. Others believed that there was a pecking order for those who would be citizens of God’s kingdom with the most righteous at the top table. And many believed that those who were ‘other’ than them whether because of racial origin, religious practice, disability, poverty, would be definitely excluded.

So here in today’s gospel we have a teaching from Jesus about the absolute inclusivity of God’s kingdom. Jesus has been invited to a banquet hosted by some Pharisees. The subtext is that the guest list has been exclusive, excluding those considered as sinners by the Pharisees. Further, that this feast is going to be a test of Jesus’s willingness to adhere to the Pharisees position vis a vis their superiority to such sinners. I wonder how far up the table the Pharisees placed Jesus?

Jesus tells them a parable about social embarrassment. What could be worse than being asked to give up your elevated seat at a feast, so as to make way for someone deemed more important? So suggests Jesus, maybe if one were to exercise notably humility by taking a low status seat, one could then enjoy being publicly elevated to a higher seat? But is that to miss the point that no one is more important than anyone else in God’s eyes, for God loves each and everyone of us regardless of gifts or shortcomings!

Jesus continues his teaching that entering God’s kingdom is not only about not about our worthiness. Entry into God’s kingdom is not transactional; it is not about what we can offer, what we can pay back. 

Jesus tells us to pray daily that God’s kingdom will come on Earth – ie come into the here and now. In the here and now, everyone can be party of that kingdom – can take a seat at the wedding feast. It is not for us to judge some people more eligible for God’s love than others. Nor is is not for us to seek rewards when we live – and love – according to God’s kingdom values.

We are called to love and care for everyone regardless of who they are, regardless of their past history, and regardless of whether or not that love will be reciprocated. We are called to love all asylum seekers and migrants and all those seeking safety. We are called to do so regardless of any differences between us. We are called to do so regardless of any cost to ourselves.

Likewise we are called to love all those who are oppressed by violence, who are persecuted, who are inured, who are frightened, who suffer because of a lack of food, health care, or safe accommodation.

But equally we are called to love  – and not to hate but to try and understand – those who cause such violence, who perpetrate hate and oppression. How? By reading and listening and asking questions to discern the truth. Then we can love by speaking the truth, by praying for all, by  generously supporting those in need, and by nonviolently preventing the actions of those who cause hate and injury.

Jesus’s gospel message that the kingdom of God is at hand, still holds true. It is a work in progress as we humans continue to be less than committed to living according to God’s will, but nevertheless God’s love and wisdom is still there to help us along the way of righteousness.

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

What wrong did your ancestors find in me
that they went far from me, 

and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?

They did not say, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt, 

who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits, 

in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,
where no one lives?” 

I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruits and its good things.

But when you entered you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination. 

The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who handle the law did not know me; 

the rulers transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and went after things that do not profit. 

Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord,
and I accuse your children’s children. 

Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has ever been such a thing. 

Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods? 

But my people have changed their glory
for something that does not profit. 

Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate,

says the Lord, 

for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, 

the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves, 

cracked cisterns
that can hold no water.

Psalm 81:1, 10-16

1 Sing with joy to God our strength *
and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.

10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”

11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.

12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that Israel would walk in my ways!

14 I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, *
and their punishment would last for ever.

16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honour by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid. 

What can anyone do to me?”

Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Luke 14:1, 7-14

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, `Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, `Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Proper 14, 8th Sunday after Trinity 

10th August 2025

Reflection with readings below 

The Book of Isaiah begins with the prophet addressing the people of Judah – for the northern kingdom of Israel has already been destroyed by the Assyrian empire – pointing out God’s disfavour with them for their sinful behaviour. Their religious practices are just that: practices. The people are failing to love as God desires. In God’s eyes their behaviour is no better than that of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

What does God want? Not sacrifices, not solemn assemblies, but a way of life that is  righteous – vis  ‘learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow’. 

Sometimes we are discouraged from doing such things when it seems there are so many people who are hungry, so many people who are homeless, or who have been widowed or orphaned, or who are oppressed. Any actions we may take seem pointless – a useless drop in the ocean. Yet the writer of Hebrews would tell us that it is important to act in faith, ie to act as if that things we hoped for were happening. That is that we should do all these – ‘learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow’ – believing that they will make a difference, that they will bring about the salvation God intends.

In the gospels Jesus’s constant message is of the nearness, of the growing presence, of the kingdom of God. By our actions, our disposition, our allegiance, we become part of that kingdom. We become citizens whose lives are shaped by the ways and rules of that reign.

In today’s gospel we are challenges to relinquish are allegiance to our own private property, to our own personal  priorities. Rather what we have and use, what our aims and priorities are, are determined by our allegiance to God. All that we have – possessions, skills, opinions – are shaped by our desire ‘to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow’. 

So for example, how might what we have and what we can do, alleviate hunger for those dependant on food banks and those suffering starvation in Gaza?
We can contribute to the food banks but also learn more about why we need them, and about what alternative policies the government could pursue to avoid such need – eg a basic national income, a more generous minimum wage etc.

We can pray for the crisis in Gaza, we can find out facts about the whole situation, and we can access prayer resources from groups such as Sabeel Kairos. We can support justice with financial donations to groups such as Oxfam, Christian Aid and Embrace. We can write to our MP, our prime minister and foreign minister and ask them to take action on our behalf. We can join marches and demonstrations. We can write to the press.

Seek justice for those who cannot afford legal aid and for those forced off their land in the West Bank.

We can pursue justice in numerous ways. By rescuing endangered species – such as curlews – facing  extinction (our action might include donations, membership of the RSPB, learning about the habitats they need and humans can destroy or protect those habitatsWe can pray and campaign for Afghan women stranded without food or housing for lack of a male guardian; for children in care lacking the love of a family and for migrants lacking the security of a safe country. We, with our richness, can make a difference. By being generous we can find joy and a sense of of purpose.  For all, this is the way of God’s salvation. 

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom! 

Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah! 

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord; 

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts; 

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats. 

When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more; 

bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me. 

New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation–
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 

Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates; 

they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them. 

When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you; 

even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood. 

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes; 

cease to do evil,
learn to do good; 

seek justice,
rescue the oppressed, 

defend the orphan,
plead for the widow. 

Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord: 

though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow; 

though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool. 

If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land; 

but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 

Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

1 The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken; *
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2 Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty, *
God reveals himself in glory.

3 Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.

4 He calls the heavens and the earth from above *
to witness the judgment of his people.

5 “Gather before me my loyal followers, *
those who have made a covenant with me
and sealed it with sacrifice.”

6 Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause; *
for God himself is judge.

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.

23 Consider this well, you who forget God, *
lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.

24 Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me; *
but to those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God.”

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old– and Sarah herself was barren– because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Luke 12:32-40

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Proper 13, 7th Sunday after Trinity

3rd August 2025

Reflection with readings below

“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions,” said Jesus. It is a warning as relevant today as then.

Over the last few weeks in my blog I have been reflecting in the idea of ‘joy in enough’ – the motto comes from Green Christian. Earth Overshoot Day was 24th July this year – the day when we have globally used up a year’s worth of the Earth’s renewable services and resources. Most developed countries had already used up their fair share months earlier (May 20th for the UK) so that July date reflects the extent to which developed economies thrive at the expense of others. We still live in a world of exploitation.

Such greed also reflects a disregard for God, a lack of gratitude. Creation has been God’s gift and the fact that so much of the natural environment produces renewable services and resources from which we benefit. God has created a creation that carries on reproducing and evolving, adapting and renewing itself. Isn’t this truly amazing! 

But if we can’t be satisfied with enough. If we can’t share. If we can’t ensure that the needs of everyone – and not just a self selecting elite – are met. If we can’t find joy in enough, then we are failing to be the human race that was created in the image of God.

We will suffer – many people already are: mainly the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed. The environment in which we live will suffer – and indeed it already is. Unbelievably for a nation of nature lovers, the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. God will suffer – and indeed is and always has been. God suffers when creatures suffer, when humans suffer, when rivers die of pollution, when oceans are dredged of life, when the atmosphere is over filled with pollution, when soils become lifeless. The prophet Hosea expresses God’s heartfelt sorrow at the plight of the descendants of Abraham. Hosea describes God as a parent teaching a child to walk, like a parent cradling offspring as a babe in arms, as parent pouring out so much love and tender care. And yet the people spurn that love, ignore that guiding hand, reject that care with outright rudeness.

We live in a world of suffering not because God does not care, but because we humans do not care.  We are unwilling to love our enemies, to listen to alternative view points, to empathise with the suffering we with power have inflicted on those without. We humans are unwilling to share, unwilling to put other people’s needs before our own greed. We have a chancellor in the UK who believes the wealthy are paying enough and yet is still willing to take more away from the poor and the disabled. 

We have oil companies who are willing to extract more oil and gas on the basis that  their profits are more important than the damage those carbon emissions will cause to the environment – to our life support system. 

We have banks that will continue to fund polluting companies rather than calling time on such destructive businesses – when they could be funding a green transition.

We have rich people driving oil guzzling SUVs, rich people jetting round the world, rich people having not one by several homes, rich people spending more on a night in a hotel than others earn in a month.  And we have poor people who can’t afford to eat, cannot afford the rent, cannot afford dental treatment, cannot afford a holiday, cannot afford to travel to work. 

How did we end up in such a topsy turvey world? How did we end up failing God on such a massive scale? 

If what we really want is a life of joy, a life abundant with purpose and happiness, then we must transform the way we live, one that embraces joy in enough. Can we as Christians, discuss and share ideas with each other about how we can go about that process of transformation? 

What does enough look like in East Sheen, for example? What does enough look like for a young family or a for a retired couple? What does it look like for someone with a low paid job and what does it look like for a highflying executive? 

How do we go about redistributing wealth more equitably so that there is enough for everyone? How do we curb our consumerist society when ‘more is better’? How do we rebalance decades of social injustice in our country and across the globe? 

How do we put in practice the teachings of Jesus, that we should love God with all our being, and love our neighbour as ourself? 

Hosea 11:1-11

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son. 

The more I called them,
the more they went from me; 

they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and offering incense to idols. 

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.

I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love. 

I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them. 

They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me. 

The sword rages in their cities,
it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes. 

My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all. 

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel? 

How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim? 

My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender. 

I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim; 

for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion; 

when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west. 

They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord. 

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, *
and his mercy endures for ever.

2 Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed proclaim *
that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

3 He gathered them out of the lands; *
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes; *
they found no way to a city where they might dwell.

5 They were hungry and thirsty; *
their spirits languished within them.

6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, *
and he delivered them from their distress.

7 He put their feet on a straight path *
to go to a city where they might dwell.

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy *
and the wonders he does for his children.

9 For he satisfies the thirsty *
and fills the hungry with good things.

43 Whoever is wise will ponder these things, *
and consider well the mercies of the Lord.

Colossians 3:1-11

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things– anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, `What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, `I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Proper 12 sixth Sunday after Trinity

27th July 2025

Reflection with readings below 

Names are important in the first reading because names can have meanings.Hosea means salvation. Gomer means completion. And as we hear, each of Gomer’s children have names with meanings. 

Hosea is a prophet who, rather than passing on God’s message through words spoken to the people, is called to enact God’s message – to demonstrate it in a very physical way. And it would have been a message that took several years to deliver. 

God’s message delivered to the people is a stark reminder that they have been unfaithful. They have not stuck to the promises – to the covenants – made between God and people. They have not been monogamous in their relationship with God. They have not followed the ways of God. Rather they have pursued other gods and other ways of living. And likewise with Gomer. It would seem as if Gomer’s first child is Hosea’s son but the other two children may not. Even though Hosea has rescued Gomer once by marrying her, still she sins. 

The consequence of the people’s unfaithfulness is ruin and destruction. Yet the text suggests that it is not just the people who are caught up in this sinfulness – “for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” The word used does mean land or earth. Is the land, like Gomer’s offspring, an innocent victim? Has the land suffered because of the waywardness of the people who should  – in accordance with God’s will – have been tending and protecting it?

Or would kingdom be a better – if not accurate – translation? The kingdoms of both Jehu and Judah both suffer and will ultimately be taken over by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

This last week the world past Earth Overshoot Day – 24th July – being the day when globally we have used up a full year’s supply of resources and services that the Earth provides. Some countries – the poorest, least developed – will not have used even a half of their share whilst other richer highly developed countries will have used their share many times over. And the latter is even more criminal in that those countries have been able to do this because they have unfairly used resources that belonged to someone else, and because their over consumption is also at the expense of  generations to come.

Have we been unfaithful to God? Has the world failed to follow God’s will? Have we pursued other gods – profit, wealth, capitalism, egotism and self importance?

Are we any different from the recipients of Hosea’s message? Are we failing to hear or to pay attention to the warning of the prophets? Are we not polluting the land by ignoring God’s will? 

Today’s gospel tells how Jesus gave his follower the Lord’s Prayer. It is a prayer which we use frequently. But do we pray it with intent?

Do we see all of humanity as our brothers and sisters, for whom God is Father and Mother? Or do we see some as being less important, not worth treating as God’s children?

Do we honour God’s name? Or do we forget or belittle God as a less than worthy partner?

Do we strive to do what God wills? Often we take ‘your will be done’ as a get out clause. What ever happens for good or ill (and usually this is reserved for the latter) we meekly say that whatever has happened has happened because it was God’s will. The flood that washed away the village; the person who died prematurely; the lightening strike that destroyed a tree – all God’s will. I don’t believe that God wants floods to destroy villages, people to die prematurely or lightening to destroy trees – for God’s nature is love. That these things happen must grieve God. That sometimes they happened because we humans have not done what God would want, must grieve God even more.

‘Your will be done’ is about us undertaking to do that which God desires, to do those things express God’s love, to undertake to live as citizens of God’s kingdom, as subjects of God’s reign – to do God’s will. Thus will the world be healed. Thus will we find salvation. 

I wonder how the listeners of Hosea’s message responded?

Puzzlement, derision, anger, disbelief? Did they listened or did they simply ignored the protest and carry on as before?

I wonder how we may and our communities, responded to the prophetic warning of Earth Overshoot Day? I wonder how we may and our communities, respond to the daily reports of the effects of climate change, of the impacts of capitalism and globalisation on the poor, the suffering of those treated as being less than human, less than God’s children? 

Rebalancing our global consumption of the Earth’s resources and services will take more than just making major adjustments to what we consume. To overcome inequality we will need a major overhaul  of systems of trade and taxation.  To overcome poverty will need a major focus in redistribution and better distribution of resources.  To over overcome war and oppression, apartheid and genocide will need humility and empathy, discernment and good communication, cooperation and a willingness to seek justice. And we all need to engage with this for we are called to be citizens of God’s kingdom as we pray, with the help of God, ‘your will be done!’ 

Hosea 1:2-10

When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”

She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.”

When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.”

Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

Psalm 85

1 You have been gracious to your land, O Lord, *
you have restored the good fortune of Jacob.

2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people *
and blotted out all their sins.

3 You have withdrawn all your fury *
and turned yourself from your wrathful indignation.

4 Restore us then, O God our Saviour; *
let your anger depart from us.

5 Will you be displeased with us for ever? *
will you prolong your anger from age to age?

6 Will you not give us life again, *
that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your mercy, O Lord, *
and grant us your salvation.

8 I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, *
that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together; *
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth, *
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, *
and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him, *
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

Colossians 2:6-15 

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Luke 11:1-13

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Proper 11, 5th Sunday after Trinity

20th July 2025

Reflection with readings below

In today’s reading from the prophet Amos, we hear of God’s warning to the people of the consequences of pursuing profit whilst ignoring God’s ways: vis suffering and calamity 

Do not the same threats hang over our world, over our economic and social systems today? 

Here in the UK, we  do “trample on the poor” – think of the two child benefit cap, the reduction of benefits for the disabled, the practices that favour landlords over tenants such that rents become unaffordable, those tax breaks that benefit the rich but not the poor, the low wages that benefit the employer not the employee, those subsides that benefit fossil fuels companies not energy consumers etc. And more widely we bring ruin to the poor with international policies that place heavy debt burdens on poor nations from which we benefit, with policies that do not meet the needs of those countries suffering the impact of climate change which we have caused at their expense, with trade policies that are stacked against the smaller nations and smaller companies. Truly the rich and powerful in our world use “false balances” – ie weighing scales – that favour us and not the poor.  

(NB an Ephah is a measure of weight, shekel a unit of currency).

It is not just people but the environment that we wilfully damage and we are already seeing the initial consequences of this with heatwaves and droughts, flash floods and wild fires. The Earth is a delicate ecosystem – a life support system – which is being damaged by our greed and misuse. July 24th will be 2025’s Earth Overshoot Day (last year it was 1st August). That is the day when globally we will have used up a year’s supply of the Earth’s resources. Our extraction of water will exceed the rate of renewal. Our use of the atmosphere to absorb carbon dioxide will exceed capacity (without causing further global temperature rises). Our use of the soil’s capacity to produce food will exceed the rate at which its fertility can be maintained – leading to reduced crops yields in the future. Etc etc. Do check out the Earth Overshoot website to understand more about this situation. Here in the UK, we had used up our share of the Earth’s resources by 20th May, so already our lifestyle choices are being made at the expense of poorer people across the world and future generations. 

The Earth Overshoot website has one section entitled solutions. Here it says “While our planet is finite, human possibilities are not. The transformation to a sustainable, carbon-neutral world will succeed if we apply humanity’s greatest strengths: foresight, innovation, and care for each other.” (1) Here is the invitation to live differently – and for those of us who are Christians, that surely means living according to God’s commands, living according to the values of God’s kingdom. The phrase ‘care for each other’ sharply echoes last week’s gospel story of the Good Samaritan. 

Today’s Gospel reminds us of the importance of spending time and attention on Jesus’s teachings. We can rush around being busy, thinking that being busy will solve the world’s problems, but unless we are     following Jesus – doing God’s will – our efforts may prove fruitless. We also run the risk of burnout. Burnout diminishes our ability to love our neighbours. Jesus set us the example in his own daily life of taking time out to be be in nature, to spend time with God, to be refocus and re-energised. In today’s gospel that is Jesus’s advice for Martha – and it is good advise for us too.

Maybe the extract from the Letter to the Colossians should be a reminder to us that we are not solely responsible for saving the world (a deceit I can be guilty of). Rather it is in and through Christ that salvation is being effected. Our contribution will only ever be but a small part within the the greater whole which is the body of Christ – a fellowship that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. It will be together  in Christ that we will see the salvation of life in Earth being as it is in Heaven.  

  1. https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/solutions/

Amos 8:1-12

This is what the Lord God showed me– a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

“The end has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by. 

The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,”
says the Lord God; 

“the dead bodies shall be many,
cast out in every place. Be silent!” 

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 

saying, “When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain; 

and the sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale? 

We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practice deceit with false balances, 

buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 

The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who lives in it, 

and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 

On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in broad daylight. 

I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation; 

I will bring sackcloth on all loins,
and baldness on every head; 

I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
and the end of it like a bitter day. 

The time is surely coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send a famine on the land; 

not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. 

They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east; 

they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.

Psalm 52

1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness *
against the godly all day long?

2 You plot ruin;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor, *
O worker of deception.

3 You love evil more than good *
and lying more than speaking the truth.

4 You love all words that hurt, *
O you deceitful tongue.

5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, *
topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling,
and root you out of the land of the living!

6 The righteous shall see and tremble, *
and they shall laugh at him, saying,

7 “This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, *
but trusted in great wealth
and relied upon wickedness.”

8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; *
I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

9 I will give you thanks for what you have done *
and declare the goodness of your Name in the presence of the godly.

Colossians 1:15-28

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him– provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Luke 10:38-42

As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Fourth Sunday After Trinity, Proper 10

13th July 2025

Reflection with readings below

“As we seek to… be faithful to our baptism, let us reflect on what challenges to our faithfulness and integrity the coming hours may bring, and pause respectfully before the many unknowns of our future.” – from the book of Uncommon  Prayer. 

Today’s gospel has the famous story of the Good Samaritan but the story begins not with the Samaritan but with a  lawyer who wants to a) outwit Jesus, and b) to demonstrate his own righteousness. The conversation proceeds – and in this Gospel’s telling of the story, it is Jesus’s protagonist who declares that the Law – the means to eternal life – is summed up in the two commandments that you should love God with all your being and love your neighbour as yourself. The lawyer (perhaps because he is a lawyer) wants to tease out the scope of these commands and so asks ‘Who is my neighbour?’ 

But Jesus, rather than answering the question, invites the young man to consider what it is to be a good neighbour. For what the lawyer must do to be a good neighbour is of more importance that who or who not should merit his love. In the Kingdom of God, ‘everyone is my neighbour’. 

To be a good neighbour is to show mercy – ie loving kindness – to those in need.

This brings is to the questions raised by the above prayer: how might our faithfulness and integrity be challenged by the coming hours? 

The first reading from Amos is all about measuring faithfulness and integrity. A plumb line is a length of string  to which twine end is attached a weight. By holding the top and letting the string hang, weighed down by the weight, you have a perfectly vertical line with which you can judge whether a wall has been built true to the vertical. And if it hasn’t, then like the house built on sand in Jesus’s parable, it is going to fall down! In this passage, Amos is being asked by God to challenge the northern kingdom of Israel as to their faithfulness and integrity in building their nation in accordance with God’s ways, for God has found them to have fallen short. This failure to build properly will lead to the terminal breakdown of the nation with destruction and loss of land and buildings, and death and exile of its people.

As many protesters (modern prophets calling out the lack on integrity and action re the genocide in Gaza, the illegal settlement of Palestinian lands, climate crisis and the injustice which it highlights, biodiversity loss and the misuse of the Earth’s resources…) today know, their’s are voices that those in authority wish to silence, their’s are the causes people want to ignore, they are the individuals wrongly imprisoned, and in some countries, the ones who will be brutally murdered.

So let us pause and reflect whether we will be good neighbours today. And if we feel timid or ill-prepared, let us pray for the empowerment of God’s Spirit and the guidance of Jesus’s example.

Let us pause and reflect whether the institutions we belong to – including the church – will act with integrity. Let us pause and reflect whether our government, our nation, will act with integrity. Let us pause and reflect whether international companies and organisations will act with integrity. 

And if not let us be prophet and call out the injustices we see.

Postscript

Practical ways of expressing our faith and integrity re the awful crisis affecting Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank 

  • Pray 
  • Become better informed about the history of Palestine 
  • Fast in solidarity with Palestinians 
  • Support campaign groups such as Sabeel-Kairos, Christians for Palestine, Christian Aid etc   
  • Writing to your MP, ask for action such as banning the export of any arms to Israel, and the recognition of the Palestinian State
  • Boycott companies linked to the Israeli state and human rights abuses. 
  • Donate to one of the many organisations providing aid for Palestinians, including planting olive trees
  • Buy Palestinian products, eg from Zaytoun
https://www.sabeel-kairos.org.uk/category/about-israelpalestine/
https://embraceme.org/fast-for-gaza
https://balfourproject.eaction.org.uk/RecognisePalestine
https://www.christianaid.ie/our-work/where-we-work/israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territory-iopt
https://www.facebook.com/p/Christians-for-Palestine-UK-61555041637853/
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethical-campaigns-boycotts/palestine-boycott-list
Experience the great taste of palestine

Amos 7:7-17

This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;

the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” 

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very centre of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,

`Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.'” 

And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, `Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

“Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

You say, `Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ 

Therefore thus says the Lord:

`Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land shall be parcelled out by line; 

you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.'” 

Psalm 82

1 God takes his stand in the council of heaven; *
he gives judgment in the midst of the gods:

2 “How long will you judge unjustly, *
and show favour to the wicked?

3 Save the weak and the orphan; *
defend the humble and needy;

4 Rescue the weak and the poor; *
deliver them from the power of the wicked.

5 They do not know, neither do they understand;
they go about in darkness; *
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 Now I say to you, ‘You are gods, *
and all of you children of the Most High;

7 Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, *
and fall like any prince.'”

8 Arise, O God, and rule the earth, *
for you shall take all nations for your own.

Colossians 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, `Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”