Wisdom – The Green Tau

Proper 9, 5th Sunday after Trinity

5th July 2026

Reflection with readings below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zechariah 9:9-12

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm 145:8-15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romans 7:15-25a

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

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

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

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

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

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

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

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

Proper 8, 4th Sunday after Trinity

28th June 2026

Reflection with readings below

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeremiah 28:5-9

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

Psalm 89:1-4,15-18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romans 6:12-23

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

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

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

Matthew 10:40-42

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

Listening to the sounds of the world

20th June 2026

I will listen to you, LORD God, because you promise peace to those who are faithful and no longer foolish. Psalm 85:8

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

Reading from 1 Kings 19: 11b – 13a

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

The day is quiet.

It catches my attention.

No murmur of cars, nor drone of airplanes.

No crash or thump of builders.

Silence –

Silence? Are you sure?

I can hear a bird –

no not one but two, maybe three –

singing.

The buzz of a passing insect.

The wind rustling a leaf.

The slight crunch of my shoes on the ground.

The soprano voice of a child –

Mummy, why do ….?

God, creator and companion,

Stay my attention on the sounds of ‘silence’,

on the sounds of life.

Attune my heart to hear

the unabated sound of creation,

to sift out the raucous noise

of the unimportant sounds.

Open my ears just enough to know your presence.

Ever mindful God, be present

with those surrounded with the noise

of guns and bombs.

Bring compassion

into the hearts of those who wage war.

Remove greed and pride from those

who might then make peace.

Ever mindful God, be present

with those surrounded with the noise

of traffic and engines.

Bless the work of those who create green spaces,

those who bring calm to frenzied lives.

Lend strength to those who protect the environment

and those who seek a quieter way of life.

Ever mindful God, be present

with those who seek to tell the truth –

however inconvenient.

Open hearts and minds to hear your word,

to discern your wisdom.

Give grace to all who question,

to all who seek to understand

and to all who are willing to learn –

for you the way, the truth and the life.

Amen.

Proper 6, 2nd Sunday after Trinity

14th June 2026

Reflection with readings below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm 116:1, 10-17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romans 5:1-8

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

The Gospel

Matthew 9:35-10:8-23

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

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

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

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

Prayers for the outpouring of God’s Spirit

13th June 2026

I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. Genesis 17:17

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Deuteronomy 8:6-9

Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you made us in your image

and wrought with us a special bond,

an everlasting covenant of faith and love.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may truly return that love.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you have provided us good rich land,

overflowing with the good things of creation –

plants for food, water to drink.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be generous in caring and sharing this gift.

As at the beginning, Lord God,

you created all manner of creatures

– our kith and kin –

for companionship and teamwork.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be faithful friends with all.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have filled the world with signs

and words of wisdom

so that we may learn and live well.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be attentive to your instruction.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have created a world of harmony

and flourishing

that all may live lives of fulfilment.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may be at one with all creation.

As from the beginning, Lord God,

you have a created your world

as a place for joy and love to thrive

and where happiness will abound.

Continue to breathe your Spirit

into our hearts

that we may ever rejoice and praise your glory.

Amen.

First Sunday after Trinity/ proper 5

7th June 2026

Reflection with readings below

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hosea 5:15-6:6

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

Psalm 50:7-15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Epistle

Romans 4:13-25

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

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

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

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

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

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

Tune our senses to God’s wisdom

30th May 2026

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Job 38:1-2

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Ephesians 5:17

Listen; attune your ears – what do you hear?

The excited chatter of children,

and the chatter of jackdaws,

wind rustling the leaves,

and feet tapping the road.

Or the drone of cars – too much!

Or the whine of planes – too many!

Look; focus your vision – what do you see?

a lacework of branches against the sky,

and curvaceous clouds,

the green patina of leaves,

and the tight curl of a snail shell.

Or traffic crawling bumper to bumper – too much

Or discarded tatters of plastic – too many!

Stretch; bare your skin – what do you feel?

The warm caress of the sun,

the gentle frisson of the breeze,

the prickle of grass,

the textured bark of a tree.

Or the rasp of exhaust in your throat – too much!

Or the scratch of particulates in your eyes – too many!

Sniff; breathe deeply – what do you smell?

The aroma of fresh coffee,

and the zest of orange juice,

the fragrance of the rose,

and the warmth of ground spices.

Or the reek of petrol – too much!

Or the sting of pesticides – too many!

Savour; let it linger on your tongue – what do you taste?

The fresh acidity of an apple,

and the earthy satisfaction of bread,

the squishy sweetness of banana,

and the melting delight of chocolate.

Or the fake sweetness of green wash – too much!

Or the gall of climate injustice- too many !

Merciful God,

bring us to our senses.

Help us rebuild a world

of right experiences.

Amen.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17

Holy God,

in the hour of our stupidity,

guide us with your wisdom.

Help us to understand afresh

the intricacies and interconnectedness

of the world you have given us.

Holy God,

in the hour of our need,

repair the damage we have caused

to your world

so that we might all be saved.

Amen.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

22nd March 2026

Reflection with readings below

We often talk about ‘breathing life’ back into a building or a community. It is as if we can sense that it is not just the physical structures – the bricks and mortar – that makes something real, but that essential ‘something else” that makes them alive. There needs to be a presence of spirit: the spirit of the place, the community spirit.

Ezekiel realises this is what is needed by the exiled community of God’s people. To be who they are, they need to be filled with God’s spirit – perhaps most importantly they need to be open to receiving that spirit. Openness to God’s spirit comes through prayer and worship, through maintaining a daily pattern of life that is focused on God and the community of God’s people.

Refugees – and foreigners – in a new land have to find a balance between maintaining customs and practices that maintain their identity, and between adapting to, and living, within the customs and practices of their new home.

That balance of maintaining traditions and adapting to the new, also applies to each generation. We can’t just stick with the old, traditional ways, just replicating the way things have always been done – refusing to embrace new ideas, new methods, new science. But nor should we disregard traditional practices just because they’re not modern, nor discard old wisdom just because it’s old. We have to consider the needs of the next generation and the generations to com. We need to find the balance that that keeps our communities alive, ensuring that they are lively spaces – not just bare bones.

In John’s Gospel Jesus is trying to present to the people a vision – an understanding – of a new way of living, one that shines through and through with God’s glory. This is a way of living – a kingdom – where it is the best wine that is enjoyed, where all water is life giving, where the blind (physically and spiritually) see, where the hungry (physically and spirituality) are fed and there’s food to spare, where the dead (physically and spirituality) are rejuvenated by God’s spirit.

It is in this aliveness that God’s glory is revealed.

Jesus’s vision – his gospel – is something that still needs to be shared and spread. It needs to declared in our streets and churches, in our places of government and of business, in our farms and in places of commerce. For a different way of life is possible and to be desired. At the moment for too many people life is unjust and unkind, cruel and fearful. At the moment too many of the things we do sap the life out of the natural world, creating places of desertion and hopelessness and death.

The disastrous war in the Middle East is wreaking havoc on a global scale. Is this conflict the result of our global failure to address issues of food and water poverty? Issues of energy monopolies that disadvantage the poor and pollute the environment? Issues of distrust and prejudice towards people who are different? A lack of information and learning that informs us of the truth rather than sowing disinformation and lies? A lack of a desire to seek the common good, to agree and stick to rules and policies that would ensure social and environmental wellbeing across the world?

So many institutions and governments and way of thinking have become stale and introverted. We need to be open to receiving a fresh breath of life, a new inspiration of God’s Spirit, to resurrect life on earth – to establish God’s kingdom here on earth as in heaven.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; *
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2 If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *
O Lord, who could stand?

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *
therefore you shall be feared.

4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *
in his word is my hope.

5 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning, *
more than watchmen for the morning.

6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, *
for with the Lord there is mercy;

7 With him there is plenteous redemption, *
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

Romans 8:6-11

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law– indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Prayers for the ecosystems of South America

7th March 2026

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus Isaiah 35:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to cherish and protect your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A Reading: Daniel 4: 10-12

Upon my bed this is what I saw; there was a tree at the centre of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and it provided food for all. The animals of the field found shade under it, the birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed.

During Lent these prayers focus on a different continent; this week South America.

South America, the fourth-largest continent, extends from the Gulf of Darién in the northwest to the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego in the south. South America can be divided into three physical regions: mountains and highlands, river basins, and coastal plains. Mountains and coastal plains generally run in a north-south direction, while highlands and river basins generally run in an east-west direction.
South America’s extreme geographic variation contributes to the continent’s large number of biomes. A biome is a community of animals and plants that spreads over an area with a relatively uniform climate. Within a few hundred kilometres, South America’s coastal plains’ dry desert biome rises to the rugged alpine biome of the Andes mountains. One of the continent’s river basins (the Amazon) is defined by dense, tropical rain forest, while the other (Paraná) is made up of vast grasslands.
The diversity of animal life in the Amazon rain forest is unsurpassed in the rest of the world. There can be as many as 100 different tree species on a single acre. The rain forest is perfectly suited for arboreal, or tree-living, animals. More than 2 million species of insects are native to the region, including hundreds of spiders and butterflies. Primates are abundant—howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and capuchin monkeys—along with sloths, snakes, and iguanas. Thousands of native birds include brightly coloured macaws, parrots, toucans, and parakeets. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/south-america-physical-geography/

Glory to God

Creator of rivers and oceans:

We praise you for the Amazon, 1725 miles long!

Glory to God,

Creator of mountains and valleys:

We praise you for the Amazon Basin, all 2.7 million squares miles.

Glory to God,

Creator of trees and plants:

We praise you for the 40,000 plants species of the Amazon.

We praise you for biome that supports 350 millions tonnes of life per square kilometre.

Glory to God,

Creator of all that crawls and swims and flies.

We praise you for wildlife of the Amazon –

2 million species of insect, 2000 birds and mammals, 800 amphibians and reptiles.

Merciful God,

Creator of human kind,

Forgive us for the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest, 18% lost and counting.

Forgive our greed that replaces trees with cattle ranches and fields of soy for their fodder.

Forgive our greed that replaces trees with sugar cane, for sweetmeats and bio fuel.

Merciful God,

Creator of air and space,

Forgive our foolishness in destroying the source of 20% of the world’s oxygen.

Forgive our greed that gobbles up the living space of others, endangering the survival of jaguars and blue macaws, poison dart frogs and river dolphins.

Merciful God

Creator of climates and seasons,

Forgive our foolishness that creates droughts and heat waves.

Forgive our greed that fills the air with carbon dioxide and destroys carbon sinks.

Guiding God,

Source of all wisdom,

Transform our hearts and minds, turn the direction of our hands and feet

so that with alacrity and commitment we may reform our lives

and live only in harmony with your creation.

Amen.

The Grace

First Sunday of Lent

22nd February 2026

Reflection with readings below

Life is full of choices: whether to get up or lie in a bit longer; what to have for breakfast; which coffee to have – the skinny decaf latte or the oat flat white; whether to be vegan or vegetarian; to drive or take the bus; which bank to bank with. Most choices are innocuous and inconsequential. But it is surprising how even when the choice is between a safe bet and a dead cert risk, we can still make the wrong choice. That certainly was the case in the story of Adam and Eve. They had all the food they needed but they chose to eat the one fruit destined to kill them!

Yes they were tempted. The snake fed them a slippery line one that as not quite truthless but definitely flawed. Perhaps that snake was a budding marketing executive or maybe a spin doctor.

Would we have been so gullible? So foolish?

Yet for 30 plus years we have know that putting excessive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere causes global warming – causing extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity etc – and yet we have carried on not just putting CO2 into the atmosphere, but increasing the amount we put in!

Have we been duped? Yes. Big businesses – the fossil fuel industry, the meat industry, the plastics industry, the tech industry etc – have all been encouraging us to buy, buy and buy. They have argued against restraint. They have green washed the truth. They have fought and bought themselves the freedoms that they want.

Have we been trapped? Yes. Big business has created a vast network of systems that overshadows the freedom of the individual. We are dependent on transport networks to provide roads and trains. We are dependent on electricity grids and energy companies to heat our homes and power our computers. We are dependent on software updates and mobile signals. We are dependent on supermarkets and their supply chains for our weekly shopping. We’re dependent on investment funds to build homes and schools, hospitals and prisons. And we’re dependent on governments to create workable rules that will constrain the worst of the risks.

The writers of the scriptures knew the compromised state of the world – hence this story today of Adam and Eve. They also knew that the world wasn’t in the state desired by God – both creation stories present a picture goodness and harmony of God’s original making. Yet God doesn’t abandon or give up the world. If we read on we hear that God speaks with Adam and Eve, draws out from them sufficient wisdom that they see their error and can accept forgiveness. God re-equips them to live in the world as it now was. Once more humanity is willing to work with God (and almost as a footnote we hear that God replaces their scanty leaf attire with something more robust).

Jesus too experiences the temptation of being human. He is tempted to do things the human way that ignores God and relies on hearsay and half truths. But Jesus stay true to the word and the wisdom of God. And Jesus – both there in the wilderness – and back on the roads and in the towns, challenges the systems that distort God’s word, that disregard God’s wisdom. Systems that fail. Systems that fail the vulnerable, that do not help the weakest, that do not protect the environment, that do not result in love for our neighbour.

What makes temptation tricky is that it can seem so plausible. That as systems become more complex it is harder to see the truth, to understand where the good lies, to find the path that helps our neighbour.

Last week, starting on Ash Wednesday, Christian Climate Action held a 24 hour vigil outside St Paul’s cathedral, calling on the Church as an institution to speak out prophetically against the suffering of the world, against injustice, and against our tacit crucifying of creation. As each hour past, we prayed for different areas of the world, which within just the first six weeks of 2026, had suffered from the impacts of the climate crisis. Places as far afield as Patagonia and Albania, as Morocco and the UK.

It was a cold, tiring 24 hours, and at times wet! Yet we maintained our quiet presence and continued to pray. But no one, no one from the cathedral, from the institutional church that is seen as a leader of faith in this country, came out to pray with us or even talk with us. Who is going to challenge the systems that distort truth, that aggravate the climate crisis, that persist in rewarding the rich and penalising the poor? The temptation perhaps is to do nothing!

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Psalm 32

1 Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
and whose sin is put away!

2 Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *
and in whose spirit there is no guile!

3 While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *
because of my groaning all day long.

4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *
and did not conceal my guilt.

6 I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” *
Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

7 Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

8 You are my hiding-place;
you preserve me from trouble; *
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

9 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; *
I will guide you with my eye.

10 Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *
who must be fitted with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you.”

11 Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.

12 Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; *
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Romans 5:12-19

As sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned– sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.