Church and State 5 
 
2 Samuel 11.27b-12.10 
 
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, ‘There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meagre fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveller to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.’ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
 
Reflection
 
King David had taken sexual advantage of Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite’s wife, and then used his power to cover up the crime by sending Uriah into battle to be killed. Here is the hubris of power, to which Jesus referred yesterday, red in tooth and claw. The belief that secular power should give one sexual privilege recurs in every generation, including our own, and has floored many leaders – although today as in David’s time, they tend to be found out in due course.
 
They are often undone by not just the original misdemeanour, but by the additional crimes involved in the ‘cover-up’. For my generation, this phrase is associated with US President Nixon’s attempted cover-up of the burglary at the Democratic Party’s offices in the Watergate building. It was painstaking investigative journalism by Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post that brought this to light, and led to Nixon’s downfall.
 
In King David’s time there was no free media. But, as in all ages, there was rumour and hearsay. And there were prophets who were willing to confront power with truth. Nathan comes into the king’s presence, and by using an imaginary case of injustice he exposes the king’s hypocrisy. His judgement – “You are the man!” echoes down the ages to all dishonest and corrupt holders of power.
 
One of the most sinister recent developments in democratic countries, including the UK, has been political parties excluding media outlets with which they disagree from their press conferences and events in an attempt to avoid incisive questioning. Many churches are reluctant to intervene in the messy business of party politics, and this is understandable. But when it comes to matters of truth rather than cover-up, and of basic morality, should we not have the courage of Nathan to speak truth to power?

Prayer
 
All-knowing God,
we often think that we can hide our sins from you 
by not mentioning them out loud.
But we are caught out – 
sometimes by others, 
sometimes by our own conscience.
Forgive us for misusing any power 
we might have over others for our own gratification.
Give us the courage to confront those 
who have misused power in Your name,
that, like King David, 
they may think again and seek a better way.
Amen.

Church and State 4 
 
Luke 22.24-30 
 
A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.  You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’
 
Reflection
 
In today’s passage Jesus has to explain to the disciples that authority in the kingdom of God, and even in the church, will look like the diametric opposite of state authority.
 
Jesus’ observation that not only do kings “lord it over” their populations, but also that those in authority end up being called “benefactors” is perceptive. Most rulers – democrats and autocrats – come to believe that they wield power in beneficence. In some cases, they may have come to power with a genuine call – perhaps from God – to serve their people. In other cases, they may have been seeking power for themselves or a particular group of people. But in the end, all tend to end up suffering from the hubris of power. Some examples are egregious – Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was educated at a mission school and great hope surrounded his ascent to power at independence. But he became a bloodthirsty dictator.
 
So, Jesus says, the disciples – and by extension all Christian leaders – must exercise a different form of power, based on service. At the Last Supper, Jesus acted as a servant by washing his disciples’ feet. This was not a ritual, but an act of necessary, genuine service. When I was warden of a Christian residential centre, I was standing in the kitchen one mealtime and a church leader from a CWM partner church came and asked for another bowl for his table. I went to get it and handed it over to him. He was amazed that I, the ‘leader’ of that centre, knew where the bowls were kept!
 
In acts both small and large, Christian leadership is being willing to share in the work of the most junior of our colleagues, and doing it with a smile. In my experience, the best government leaders know this too.
 
Prayer
 
Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you,
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

(Rejoice & Sing 474)

Church and State 3 
 
Romans 13.6-8 
 
For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
 
Reflection
 
Yesterday, we heard what Jesus had to say about paying taxes. Today, we return to Paul’s advice in Romans 13, which tackles the same question. Did he, I wonder, know that Jesus said, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’?
 
Paul’s answer to the implied question from the Christians in Rome is remarkably similar. Taxes should be paid to those to whom they are due. But that is not the end of the story. As well as owing taxes, we owe honour to those to whom honour is due, and we owe love to everyone.
 
Paying taxes is not all bad. In 2016 our family moved house, and the sale went through at the beginning of the 2016-17 tax year. As a result, we paid no Stamp Duty to the UK Government, but the newly introduced Land Transaction Tax to the Welsh Government, becoming one of the first households for well over 700 years to pay taxes directly to the government of Wales.  Never have I filled in a tax form with greater pleasure or pride!
 
For ten years I represented the churches of Wales, including the URC, in their dealings with the Welsh Government and the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). Periodically, I was challenged by those who disagreed with government policies to be more assertive, to “battle against them” as one church official put it. But I always felt on the surest ground when I was able not just to argue, but to point to what local churches were doing in their neighbourhoods. The Welsh Government generally recognised that we did try to pay our debt of love to our neighbours, and that was the basis on which I could assert that we should honour one another in our respective responsibilities.
 
Prayer
 
Loving God,
help me to pay promptly and cheerfully 
what I owe to those to whom it is owed –
taxes to those authorities who can rightly charge them;
bills to those who have given me service and deserve their wage,
honour to those in Church and state to whom honour is due,
and love to all my neighbours, whether I agree with them or not.
Amen.

 
Mark 12.13-17 
 
Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.’ And they brought one. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they were utterly amazed at him.
 
Reflection
 
Even those who generally believe in obedience to the state, may baulk at paying their taxes. We can probably think of things on which that money is spent of which we disapprove – I might suggest subsidies to the arms trade and fossil fuel companies; others would have a different list. At one time there was a ‘peace tax’ campaign where people withheld the portion of their taxes which would be spent on the military, and some were penalised for non-payment. While sympathising with their stance, it does worry me that it might set a trend – sadly, there are many who would happily withhold the portion of their taxes spent on supporting refugees or on protecting the environment.
 
Jesus faces an even more fundamental question. In his time, many in Israel questioned the legitimacy of the Roman state, which had conquered their land and, they believed, suppressed their freedom. How could they pay taxes to it? Jesus answers their question with an assertion – that the emperor’s coins belong rightly to the emperor, but all that is God’s belongs to God.
 
Some theologians, such as Luther, have built on this a ‘Two Kingdoms Doctrine’, in which the state authorities have untrammelled power in their sphere, so long as the church may have its own sphere. This doctrine impeded resistance to oppressive governments in Germany from the Peasants’ Revolt in Luther’s time until the 1930s. There may be a whiff of it in the URC Basis of Union quoted yesterday.
 
But this is to misunderstand Jesus. The question he asks us to ponder is, “What belongs to God?” Psalm 24 is clear – “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Our obedience to the state can only be in the context of everything belonging to the Lord. Ultimately, there is but one Kingdom.

Prayer
 
Sovereign Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth,
when I need to deal with the state – 
whether those interactions be pleasurable or irksome –
may I engage always from the perspective 
that everything in heaven and earth belongs to You.
And when faced with the power of the state,
may Your Church never forget where its true allegiance lies,
King of Kings and Lord of all.
Amen.

Monday, 8 June 2026

Psalm 128 

O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!

By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper;
the wife like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
children like shoots of the olive,
around the table.

Indeed thus shall be blessed
those who fear the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
May you see your children’s children
in a happy Jerusalem!
On Israel, peace!

Reflection

I am focusing on the lovely image of “children like shoots of the olive, around the table” from Psalm 128.

It grieves me to hear about  some of the effects that living in poverty has on children in this country.  

Perhaps you or someone you know has been a child living in poverty and know what it is like  going to bed feeling hungry;  to always wear second hand shoes; to know that the people who love you are worried; to keep moving to different schools; sleeping on a mattress on the floor;  not going on school trips;  feeling cold because the electricity has gone off; wishing Father Christmas would give you the present you wanted and wanting to choose food from a shop, not the food bank.

Perhaps you have been or know someone who is a parent or carer struggling to provide for children and just never seeming to be able to make ends meet.   

I am sure that, as a society, we want all our children to be like “shoots of the olive, around the table”.   We want them to thrive, to have opportunities which they can take, to feel secure and loved. But unless they have their basic needs supplied it is hard for a child to flourish.

Jesus, in his “Manifesto” in Luke 4 says that he is coming to “bring good news to the poor”.

He also affirmed the commandment that we must love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and love our neighbour as ourself.

I believe that, when we worship God and follow Jesus, we are called to be good news to the poor and to love our neighbour.   Christian charities concerned about poverty use the phrase – GIVE, ACT, PRAY

May our giving, our actions and our prayers help children to flourish.

Prayer

Loving God,
We pray for all children today.
Especially for children whose lives are blighted by poverty,
We pray for all who have the care and nurture of children.
We pray for ourselves that we may give with generous hearts,
Act with enquiring minds and pray with love.
We pray in the name of Jesus,
Who blessed the children. Amen.

When the Spring Still Flows: Revelation 21:6 

Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.

Reflection

As I come to the end of these twelve devotions, my heart is filled with gratitude. Writing them has been a way of returning to the source, drawing again from the spring of God’s life. Through each devotion I have come to see that water is never still. It moves, it gives, it takes, and it renews.

I have written about dry ground, about thirst and waiting, about the rain that restores what was lost. But water is not only gentle. Sometimes it floods. It rises beyond our limits and unsettles the ground we trust. It does not always come as comfort. It reveals what we have built on fragile soil.

When I look at the floods of our time, whole communities swept away, I cannot simply call this mystery or mercy. It is also the result of our neglect, the weight of our greed. Yet even in the waters that overwhelm, there is a quiet call to begin again, to live with care, to let creation breathe once more.

I have learnt that faith is not about escaping the storm or trying to explain it. It is about standing within it, holding on to hope, and working with God for the renewal of what remains. Somewhere beneath every ruin, the spring still flows.

So I end with gratitude and longing. The journey of water has shown me that grace is not an answer but a movement. It flows through both sorrow and joy and invites us to move with it, to protect, to restore, and to let the world live again. Even when the waters rise, the voice of God still speaks life.

Prayer

God of life,
You are the beginning and the end,
the source and the stillness in every tide.
When the waters rise and we feel afraid,
hold us in Your mercy.
When the ground breaks beneath us,
let compassion steady our hands
and hope take root again on the earth.
Amen.

When Rain Becomes Praise:  Joel 2:23-24 

O children of Zion, be glad
    and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain[a] for your vindication,
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

Reflection

I remember being in Tanzania. After worship one Sunday, we walked through the heat and dust to a friend’s home for lunch. We washed our hands in a basin outside and waited for the meal. Then the sky began to roar without warning. Thunder moved across the hills, and rain started to fall, heavy and sudden.

For a moment I felt uneasy. I thought about how we would return through the storm, about the paths turning to mud and the clothes that would not dry. Before I could say anything, everyone around me stood up and began to clap. Someone started to sing, and soon the whole room was moving together. We laughed, we danced, we raised our voices in praise. The children ran to the doorway and lifted their faces to the sky. Their joy spread to everyone. The same rain that brought me worry brought them happiness. For them, this rain was a blessing, a promise that the earth would live again.

I joined their song, and something in me changed. I saw how quickly I call something a problem when others call it grace. I forgot that the same rain that interrupts my plans can become an answer to another person’s prayer.
The prophet Joel spoke about rain like this. He said it was a sign of God’s faithfulness, the early and the late rain that bring the harvest and heal the land. But maybe this rain also heals the heart, showing us how to recognise goodness where we once saw only delay.

Not every rain is gentle. Some rains destroy as they give. Still, the promise remains. Mercy comes again and again, calling us to share, to care, and to help the world begin again. Gratitude is another kind of rain. It falls quietly and reaches what was dry. It reminds us that every drop, even the ones we do not expect, is still a gift.

Prayer 

God of rain and mercy,
let Your grace fall gently on us
and wash away our fear.
Let us see each drop as a gift
and share in the joy it brings.
Renew our hearts with Your peace
until new life begins again.
Amen.

When the River Learns to Give: Proverbs 25:21-26   

If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
    and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
    and the Lord will reward you.
The north wind produces rain,
    and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.
It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a contentious wife.
Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
    so is good news from a far country.
Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
    are the righteous who give way before the wicked.

Reflection

“If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.” This proverb speaks of giving to an enemy, but in truth most of those who thirst are not our enemies. They are our neighbours, people we have failed to see, lives touched by our comfort without our knowing. The distance between us is not hatred but forgetfulness. And when we give water, it is not victory over another life but a remembering of our shared thirst.

I once spoke with a fellow Christian who asked with genuine curiosity why developed countries are expected to provide climate finance to developing countries, and why the church should care about the earth. The question was honest, not hostile, and it has stayed with me. Because beneath it, I heard the confusion of people like us who live well and forget how our comfort rests on the suffering of others.

Justice is not a favour offered by the strong. It is a confession that we have taken too much and a willingness to begin again. When we give bread to the hungry and water to the thirsty, we are not rescuing them. We are being restored ourselves. For every gift of compassion is also a small act of repentance, a way of letting grace return to the place it came from.

The proverb invites us to this simple holiness. Not charity that looks down, but mercy that walks beside. It asks us to open our hands and let the river move again through our common life. Perhaps this is how redemption feels, when the giver and the receiver both find themselves renewed by the same stream of love.

Prayer

God of mercy,
teach us to see the ones we forget.
Keep our hearts open
to the quiet work of Your grace.
When we offer water,
let us also be renewed.
Flow through us
until every life is refreshed
by the same stream of love.
Amen.

When God’s Tears Become a River: Amos 5:21–27 

I hate, I despise your festivals,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
    I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images[a] that you made for yourselves; therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

Reflection

I heard a pastor from the Pacific Islands speak. “The water keeps rising and the land is disappearing”. His voice trembled as he spoke of home, of the sea that kept coming closer. I watched his hands shake and felt the weight of a world losing ground and the ache of a God who still loved it.

Some words in scripture fall like soft rain, others like frozen hail. Amos carries both in his voice. He speaks to people who sing beautifully but have forgotten the sound of mercy. Their worship fills the temple, but their streets remain dry. And so the Holy One speaks, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

These waters are not a passing rain. They are the tears of God, wept for the unheard and the unseen. Yet they also carry the weight of our neglect, the forests we have cleared, the seas we have poisoned, the poor left to face the storm first. The flood at our doorsteps is not only nature’s grief; it is creation remembering what we have refused to mend.

Justice is not a word to defend. It is love that learns to move, sorrow that becomes healing. When we step into that river, we walk with the Presence who feels the pain of creation and longs for its renewal.

This calling is urgent. It is for this reason that the World Council of Churches has named this time the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action, a reminder that our worship must now flow into the work of caring for the earth.

Each step is a prayer, each act of care a drop of grace. Together they become a river carrying the promise of new life. Wherever this river flows, something begins to live again. Perhaps holiness begins there too, where divine tears touch the earth, and faith finds the courage to love.

Prayer

God of mercy,
let Your tears become our compassion
and Your love our strength.
When the waters rise,
help us to rise together in hope.
Let Your justice flow through our life as a church,
and Your peace guides the work of our hands.
Keep us walking in the quiet strength of Your grace,
until the world is renewed by Your love.
Amen.