A transformation of character

Here's the sermon this morning at St Catherine's Wickford and St Mary’s Runwell:

‘In the 1953 film, The Million Pound Note, Gregory Peck is a poor sailor given a £1 million note. Whenever he tries to spend it, people treat him like a king and give him everything for free. Yet in the end the £1million almost costs him his dignity and the woman he loves.

We don’t know why the rich ruler asked about eternal life (Mark 10.17-31). Unhappiness? After all industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie noted long ago that millionaires seldom smile! One of the problems of rising affluence is that ‘enough’ always means just a little more – TV and advertising make sure of that! And money can get in the way of the relationships which are so essential to our happiness.

Whatever the reason Jesus challenges him to give his money to the poor but the price is too high. The rich man walks away, broken-hearted, knowing what he leaves behind. We think of money as opening doors but here it closes the door to life, not just eternal life but to the life of this new community of disciples who put Jesus before their financial choices. He is invited to let go of his money because we can’t travel light with heavy baggage, or engage with others when we are full of ourselves.

This story challenges us about how we live with money, the choices that we make. And the challenge to generosity is one that we cannot duck. A generous heart and a generous lifestyle will open doors for other people in need. It will also open doors for us to new life in Christ and in relationship with his people, his disciples. But following Jesus with our money is not easy. It has to cash out in our day to day living and attitudes. Some years ago Fr John Dresko, an orthodox priest, wrote the following which has not been translated from the original American:

“My gift to God is a genuine reflection of my heart. If I give $400 per month to the bank on my car loan, but think the church is fleecing me for $20 per month, I have a heart problem. If I do my grocery shopping and write a check when I leave for $100 so my family can be fed, but think $20 per month is too much for the Bread of Life, I have a heart problem. If I can go to the package store and drop $20 for a bottle of liquor but gripe about the costs of sharing the Blood of Christ, I have a heart problem. If I cheat the church out of regular giving by pleading about my ‘cash flow’ while ignoring the fact that the church has the same bills and the same ‘cash flow’, I have a heart problem.”’ (Sermon Reflections by Peter Howell-Jones, Vice Dean Chester Cathedral)

The New Testament scholar Tom Wright identifies this heart problem with a call to a transformation of character. He writes that ‘Jesus is challenging the young man to a transformation of character.’ It is worth our while staying with this idea and the way Tom Wright unpacks it in relation to this encounter:

‘The young man has come wanting fulfilment. He wants his life to be complete—complete in the present, so it can be complete in the future. He knows he is still “lacking” something, and he is looking for a goal, a completion. Jesus suggests he needs turning inside out. His life is to become part of a larger, outward-looking purpose: he is to put God’s Kingdom first, and put his neighbour (especially his poor neighbour) before his own fulfilment and prospects. Here is the real challenge: not just to add one or two more commandments, to set the moral bar a little higher, but to become a different sort of person altogether.

Jesus is challenging the young man to a transformation of character.

And the young man isn’t up for it. He turns and goes away, sad. Here is the gap between theory and reality, between command and performance. Jesus has told him how to behave, but the young man doesn’t know how to do it. The question hangs, disturbingly, over the rest of the Gospel story. What is the path to God’s new age, to the new time when God’s Kingdom will flood the world with justice and peace? How are we to be the sort of people who not only inherit that world but actually join in right now to help make it happen?

But what we notice in Mark 10 is something which seems to operate in a different dimension. For a start, it is a call, not to specific acts of behaviour, but to a type of character. For another thing, it is a call to see oneself as having a role to play within a story—and a story where there is one supreme Character whose life is to be followed. And that Character seems to have His eye on a goal, and to be shaping His own life, and those of His followers, in relation to that goal.

All of this suggests that Mark’s gospel, with Jesus Himself as the great Character who stands behind it, is inviting us to something not so much like rule-keeping on the one hand or following our own dreams on the other, but a way of being human to which philosophers ancient and modern have given a particular name. My contention is that the New Testament invites its readers to learn how to be human in this particular way, which will both inform our moral judgments and form our characters so we can live by their guidance. The name for this way of being human, this kind of transformation of character, is virtue.

What does it mean to be virtuous?

The dynamic of “virtue,” in this sense—practicing the habits of heart and life that point toward the true goal of human existence—lies at the heart of the challenge of Christian behaviour, as set out in the New Testament itself. This is what it means to develop “character.” This is what we need—and what the Christian faith offers—for the time, “after you believe.”

When we approach things from this angle, we are in for some surprises. A great many Christians, in my experience, never think of things this way, and so get themselves in all kinds of confusion. Virtue, to put it bluntly, is a revolutionary idea in today’s world—and today’s church. But the revolution is one we badly need. And it is right at the core of the answer to the questions with which we began. After you believe, you need to develop Christian character by practicing the specifically Christian “virtues.” To make wise moral decisions, you need not just to “know the rules” or “discover who you really are,” but to develop Christian virtue. And to give wise leadership in our wider society in the confusing times we live in, we urgently need people whose characters have been formed in much the same way. We’ve had enough of pragmatists and self-seeking risk-takers. We need people of character.’

The fundamental answer to the question what is supposed to happen “after you believe” is that ‘what we’re “here for” is to become genuine human beings, reflecting the God in whose image we’re made, and doing so in worship on the one hand and in mission, in its full and large sense, on the other; and that we do this not least by “following Jesus.” The way this works out is that it produces, through the work of the Holy Spirit, a transformation of character.

This transformation will mean that we do indeed “keep the rules”—though not out of a sense of externally imposed “duty,” but out of the character that has been formed within us. And it will mean that we do indeed “follow our hearts” and live “authentically”—but only when, with that transformed character fully operative, the hard work up front bears fruit in spontaneous decisions and actions that reflect what has been formed deep within. And, in the wider world, the challenge we face is to grow and develop a fresh generation of leaders, in all walks of life, whose character has been formed in wisdom and public service, not in greed for money or power.’

So, Jesus’ challenge here is not simply about our use of money or about our own stewardship - should we give five per cent, ten per cent, or twenty per cent or everything (as with the Rich Young Ruler) – but about developing a generous heart and a generous lifestyle that will open doors for other people in need. It is about becoming like Jesus, who laid down his own life that others might truly live. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Pink Floyd - Money.

A third way, an alternative kingdom

Here's the sermon that I shared at St Nicholas Rawreth and All Saints Rettendon this morning: 

Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was martyred by Roman authorities around AD 156, aged 86. When Polycarp was brought into the stadium at Smyrna to meet his fate the Roman proconsul tried to persuade him to deny Christ, saying, "Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists." Instead, Polycarp declared, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?"

Polycarp was martyred because he refused to deny Christ and swear by the fortune of Caesar. The two went together because the claim of the Caesar’s from the time of Jesus through to the time of Polycarp was a claim to divinity. In the Roman Empire, at that time, “Caesar was the king, the saviour, and demanded an oath by his ‘genius’.” “Polycarp declared that to call Caesar these things would be to commit blasphemy against [Christ], the true, divine king and saviour.” The message of Christianity, in its early phase, was in conflict with the political forces of its day because Christ’s divinity and rule was seen as central by the Church, not Caesar’s.

We see the same kind of conflict occurring in today's Gospel reading about Jesus and the payment of taxes (Matthew 22.15-22). Jesus is asked whether it is against the Law of Moses to pay taxes to the Romans. Before he answers, he asks his questioners to bring him one of the coins used to pay the tax. This coin would have had on it an image of the Emperor Tiberius and a superscription which would have said that Tiberius was the son of the divine Augustus. As all images were prohibited by the Law of Moses and as the superscription proclaimed Tiberius to be a son of a god, these coins were hot property as far as the Jews were concerned. From a strict Jewish perspective, the coins themselves were blasphemous and to have one was compromising.

The trap that had been set for Jesus was a neat one. If he takes the orthodox Jewish position he can be denounced to the Roman authorities as a revolutionary encouraging the Jews not to pay the tax. But if he says that the Jews should pay the tax, then the religious leaders can denounce him as someone who encourages blasphemy.

So how does he respond? Cleverly is the answer. And more cleverly than we have tended to realise in interpreting this story within the Church.

Firstly, he asks for the coin used to pay the tax. This means that those questioning him have to produce the coin. In other words, they have to reveal that they have with them, handle and use these blasphemous coins. By this simple action Jesus makes it much harder for them to then denounce him if he should recommend paying the tax.

Then he says, “pay back to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.” Now, this is an amazing statement because it is one statement that can be understood in two different ways.

The Church has traditionally understood Jesus to be talking about a difference between loyalty to a state and to God. In other words, that the state can make legitimate demands on its citizens like the payment of taxes and that it is right for Christians to meet those obligations. Always recognising, of course, that we have a greater and wider commitment to God that encompasses the whole of our lives and not just those parts to which a state can make a claim. That is one way of understanding what Jesus said and, on that basis, his hearers could have understood him to be that the tax should be paid.

But, with their knowledge of recent Jewish history, Jesus’ hearers would also have realised that his words could be understood in another much more revolutionary sense. “Pay back to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor” could also mean pay the Romans back for all that they have done in oppressing our people. While the second half, “pay God what belongs to God”, could be understood as meaning give to God alone the divine honour that has been blasphemously claimed by Caesar. So, Jesus’ words could be heard as a revolutionary call to arms.

But is that what they were? Well, his hearers couldn’t tell because the phrase he chose to use could be understood in either way. They were amazed, the story tells us, and well they might be because they couldn’t be sure which way his words were to be taken and, therefore, he had eluded their trap. Jesus told his followers to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves and he certainly modelled that approach here.

What can we learn from this? One thing we can see is that Jesus wasn’t trapped in the two camps of revolution or compromise that characterised the politics of his day. He was able to articulate a third way, an alternative kingdom, that countered oppression and that called for justice but which worked for these things through peaceful means. He calls us to do the same. To be people who challenge the oppressions and injustices of our day but with the tools of peace and not the weapons of war.

As a result of his approach, Jesus was a threat to all around him - to the Jewish zealots advocating violent uprising he was a threat because he called for peace; to the religious leaders working with the Roman oppressors, he was a threat because he challenged the hypocrisy of their position; and to the Roman authorities enforcing allegiance to Caesar, he was a threat because he called the Jewish people back to what should have been their sole allegiance, to God.

Because it is in the final part of Jesus’ phrase that we find the most radical of statements whichever way we interpret what he said. We are to pay God what belongs to God and, if God is the creator of all that we have including our lives themselves, then he is calling us to give everything to God. If God is God, then that means not just individual giving but corporate giving too, because everything that the state has has also been given to it by God. There is nothing that cannot be given back to God because everything that exists is ultimately a gift to us from God.

Everything that we have is a gift from God to be given back to him by being used, not for ourselves, but for others. What we have - our money, our time, our talents, our community, our environment - is entrusted to us by God to use wisely in countering injustice and caring for others and for our world. This principle applies to every aspect of stewardship - our time, our talents, our community involvement and our care of the environment. When we do so, like Jesus, we are wanting to see God honoured in thankful recognition of all that he has done in creating life and in countering injustice.

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Rev Simpkins - Sing Your Life.

A God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth

Here's my reflection that I shared at today's Eucharist in St Andrew’s Wickford:

Many of Jesus’ parables are set in the world of work. They concern masters, servants and slaves, as those were the primary work roles at the time and, because Israel was an agrarian culture, they often relate to farming. Ours is a very different context but, despite the many differences between the working life of Jesus’ day and time, the universal nature of the stories that he told, means that they still have much to say to the work practices of our own day and time.

One person who has specifically explored the implications of Jesus’ parables for the workplace is Will Morris who is both PwC’s Deputy Global Tax Policy Leader and a priest in the Episcopal Church. In his book ‘Where is God at Work?’ he devotes five chapters to exploring the Parable of the Talents or Pounds (Luke 19.11-28).

He notes firstly that this is story about workers and work. In the story people at work are ‘entrusted with vast sums of money and expected to use them in commercial ways’: ‘People are given assignments, they have responsibilities, and they have to report back to the boss, who then assesses them and rewards them with further work responsibility – or punishes them with demotion (or the sack). The relationships are business relationships. There is one worker who obviously has real commercial smarts, another who is not quite as high-powered but still does pretty well, and then there is the one who has no commercial savvy at all, and who lets his employer’s money sit in the ground doing nothing. So we have the successful risk-taker and the conservative, risk-adverse colleague who’d much rather do nothing than try anything. And there’s a hierarchy. It really is just like a workplace.’

He makes three key points. The first is that this is not directly a story about God-given abilities (a pound or talent was a measure of money, not a skill or gift). It is ‘rather a story about the entrustment of something of great price to various individuals.’

‘Second, the sums of money – the pounds or talents – are something given, entrusted by the master when he leaves and required to be turned back over when he returns.’ It is about ‘something entrusted to us which we are expected to work with – fruitfully – and then return to the person who gave it to us.’

Third, there is the size of the gifts. One talent is sixteen years’ wages, five is eighty years’ worth. ‘That’s a lot to entrust to a slave ... Slaves, those way down the pecking order, were here entrusted with huge wealth. The master didn’t entrust the talents to his fellow owners or to his friends, but to his slaves.’ In that sense, ‘this parable is more about equality, at least of opportunity, than it is about inequality. Slaves, if they can handle it, are as worthy of being trusted as the leaders of society.’

This parable ‘upholds commercial activity – even ... banking’ and, more specifically, ‘Jesus does indicate that – in the right settings – using money to make money is completely acceptable.’ ‘For Christians in the workplace that is welcome and affirming.’ Despite this, ‘the parable doesn’t tell us that money is good, or that we will be doing God’s work if we earn more talents for Him by any means we wish as long as we end up increasing the amount.’

However, ‘done well, done properly, these activities will validly contribute to the building up of the kingdom. As a result, we must be open to the possibility that God has placed them there for us to use in this way. If we approach the workplace with the idea, the preconception, that good cannot possibly be achieved there, then the chances are that it won’t be. But if, in part thanks to this parable, we are open to the possibility that God can work through instruments such as money and in the workplace, then who know what might happen? ... God can turn up and do amazing things in the most unlikely places.’

The ‘parable of the talents is not about the unequal handing out of skills and about the punishment of the weak. It is about whether we try to be the best we can be, working with God to build His kingdom, heal His creation, including the workplace – which, like everything else, will be perfected at the end of time. It’s about being ourselves, not trying to be people we’re not. It’s about doing only what we are capable of doing, but doing it very well. It’s about a God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth – the possibilities of being His co-workers – and who will love us for what we have done unless (and only unless we hide the gift, don’t ask Him for help using it, and then turn around and tell Him it was all His own fault anyway). Our God loves us. He really does. And all we have to do is love him back.’

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The Call - Let The Day Begin.

Discover & explore - George Griffin Stonestreet

Yesterday's Discover & explore service at St Stephen Walbrook, explored poetry through the writings of George Griffin Stonestreet. The service featured the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields singing Salvator mundi by Tallis, Remember not, Lord by Purcell, the woman with the alabaster box by Pärt and The Lord bless you and keep you by Rutter. 

The next Discover & explore service is on Monday 6 March at 1.10pm when, together with the Choral Scholars, I will explore the theme of sport through the life of Robert Stuart de Courcy Laffan.

In today's reflection I said:

One of the interesting tasks it is possible to give to children when they visit St Stephen Walbrook is to ask them to find the fire engine in the church. I wonder if you would be able to find it yourself. I’ll give you a clue, as it can be found on the memorial to George Griffin Stonestreet who died in1802.

Stonestreet was the Managing Director or Secretary of the Phoenix and Pelican Companies, whose London Headquarters were at 70b Lombard Street, and whose memorial was erected here by proprietors of those two offices. This white marble monument is centred on a worn, high relief figure of a young, fair woman leaning on a pot, holding a scroll in her free hand. The Pelican feeding her young is carved on the plinth above, a tiny fire engine is bottom right, ship and parcels to the left, and

above all is a pot with winged cherub head handles, wreath of flowers, and at its top, a phoenix, thus covering both institutions. The monument is signed by the highly accomplished sculptor John Bacon Junior, and dated 1803.

The company Stonestreet directed was established as the Phoenix Fire Office in 1782 by London sugar refiners discontented with the rates of premium charged by the established fire insurance offices. By 1783 it had 58 agencies, and the early success of the company meant that by 1790 it was able to establish minimum rates for insuring London riverside wharves and warehouses against fire. From 1782 the company started to insure overseas properties belonging to English merchants. Agents were appointed in France, Germany and Portugal in 1786-1787, and in New York and Montreal in 1804.

The Phoenix’s survival and growth depended upon the energy and intelligence of its senior management. Notable in this respect were George Griffin Stonestreet, secretary from 1786 to 1802, and his successor Jenkin Jones, secretary from 1802 to 1837. Under their guidance the Phoenix weathered the depression in the insurance industry in the late 18th century and early decades of the 19th century. By 1815 the Phoenix had overtaken the Sun in premium income.

This period also saw the Phoenix establish the Pelican Life Assurance in 1797, acquire several large provincial operations, set up agencies across Britain, and, perhaps most importantly, penetrate the European market from the Baltic Sea to the Iberian Peninsula. Simultaneously the Phoenix established itself in Canada—in Montreal in 1804—although the War of 1812 and the burning of Washington, D.C., by British troops put an end to its first operation in the United States. These early foreign ventures are indicative of the Phoenix’s foremost place in the overseas expansion of British insurance companies.

In 1797 trustees of Phoenix Assurance established the Pelican Life Office. The firm became the Pelican Life Assurance Company, before merging with British Empire Mutual Life Assurance in 1903 to become the Pelican and British Empire Life Office. Pelican dealt in life assurance, annuities and (from 1847) group schemes, in the U.K., North America (from 1807) and overseas, operating through the country agencies of Phoenix Assurance. Over time Pelican acquired the business of Life Star (1818-1822) and Manchester Fire and Life (1824-1847). By the 1820s it had agents in France, Sweden, Germany and North America, and by the 1840s it had invested in the railways and offered short-term loans to docks and canals. The company also began to invest in foreign railways during the 1850s. Pelican amalgamated with Phoenix Assurance in 1907. Today these companies are part of the Sun Alliance Group.

George Griffin Stonestreet’s business is part of humanity's search for ways to guard against the potentially catastrophic consequences of loss. Paul Mills notes that a 'theme running throughout the book of Proverbs is that prudence and foresight characterise the wise. A mark of such wisdom is abstinence and saving: In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. (Proverbs 21:20)'

'The ability to subjugate current desires in favour of future needs is one that the ungodly often lack – ‘let us eat and drink … for tomorrow we die’ (Isaiah 22:13). Consequently, the adjunct to the Christian suspicion of debt is the prudent saving up for necessary purchases. The most dramatic example of God’s advocacy of prudential provision was in the prompting of Joseph to store the surplus from seven Egyptian harvests (Genesis 41), for these not only enabled Egypt to survive the ensuing famine, but preserved the descendants of Abraham. Truly, saving saved the people of God.'

'Scripture is adamant that the fulfilment of extended family responsibilities is the Christian’s paramount practical religious duty. This is primarily effected through the earning of daily income.
However, there are some circumstances, such as one’s death, where it is hard to envisage how one’s dependents could be provided for without the prior accumulation of wealth or insurance against such risks. Although trust in God’s provision on a hand-to-mouth basis is possible, even admirable, as a single person, the task becomes much more difficult when one has dependants. Indeed, not saving when required by such circumstances could be construed as presuming upon God. Freedom from such concerns is one of the reasons for Paul’s commendation of Christian celibacy (1 Corinthians 7:32-3).'

'While mutual dependence in times of trial among Christians is to be welcomed, it is irresponsible for the spendthrift deliberately to place him- or herself in a position of vulnerability. It runs contrary to the teaching in Paul’s letters that the Christian should work diligently in order to avoid dependence on others and be in a position to assist the needy.'

'In numerous areas of Christian experience (e.g. evangelism, healing) God has chosen to act mainly through, and in response to, the prayerful actions and efforts of his people. Hence, exercising foresight and acting in response does not necessarily betray a lack of trust in Providential oversight.'

'Conversely, however, protecting oneself from every contingency through high levels of savings and insurance, under the guise of ‘prudence’ and ‘self-reliance’, is indistinguishable in practice from resorting to wealth as the ultimate source of one’s security. We must examine our hearts before God. For the Christian is required not only to hold to doctrines in theory, but to embody them in the way he or she lives (e.g. James 2:17).'

Intercessions:

Heavenly Father, your word promises that you know all the material things that we need to live but we find it hard to trust. We pray now for all those who struggle with the burden of personal debt: for those too frightened to face the problem, for couples who cannot talk about it, for children who cannot understand but live with the worry. We pray also for those who are consumed by money worries, anxious about jobs or homes or the future; those who feel they have lost control of money and cannot cope. We pray especially for those we know or love who are struggling. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, on TV, in magazines, in shops and on billboards we are surrounded with adverts telling us how we should look, what we should wear or own, drive or desire. We pray that you will make us aware of these pressures so that we are free to think and feel and act in a godly way around money. Make us wise in our decisions to spend and to save, to borrow and to give, that you may be Lord in all parts of our lives. We pray especially for our children and young people who experience pressures to own and to spend which most of us never knew. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, you want us to be a generous people offering our time, our skills and abilities and our money to your service. In our personal finances, Lord, give us wisdom to manage money well and to practice heartfelt generosity. Guard us, Lord, from holding tight when we should be letting go and honouring you as Lord of all we have. Help us to remember that you are the Giver of all we have and to relinquish pride of ownership and be truly free. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

The Blessing

May Christ who for our sake became poor make us rich in everything – in faith, speech, knowledge, giving and love. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

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The Dixie Hummingbirds (feat. Vickie Winans) - Lead Me, Guide Me.

Bank Churches Lent Course

Is money wealth? Bank Churches Lent Course
Join us we discuss the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2017
Every Tuesday in March
6pm (45mins)
Hosted by: Bank Churches at St Margaret, Lothbury, EC2R 7HH

07/03 - Session 1: What we see we value (Jeremy Crossley)

14/03 - Session 2: What we measure controls us (David Parrott)

21/03 - Session 3: What we receive we treat as ours (George Bush)

28/03 - Session 4: What we master brings us joy (Sally Muggeridge)

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Writz - Luxury.

Discover & explore - Treasure/Gold

Today the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields led our Discover & explore service at St Stephen Walbrook on the theme of Treasure/Gold using the following: O radiant dawn - MacMillan; All I once held dear - Kendrick/Larson; Beati quorum via - Stanford; and Ubi caritas - Durufle.

The next Discover & explore service in the series is on Monday 24 October at 1.10pm. The theme will be Guidance and the service will be led by Revd Sally Muggeridge.

Here is the reflection that I shared today:

The love of money is the root of all evil. We have probably all heard that biblical assertion, although many think the statement is actually that money is the root of all evil. That isn't what is asserted in scripture, however, as a very important distinction is being made when it is said that the love of money is the root of all evil.

Money itself is neutral. It is a means of exchange that can be used for good or evil but which is not inherently evil in and of itself. One key element in the positive use of money is its circulation. It is designed to be exchanged and therefore it moves from one person to another, one account to another. This is one reason why the Bank of England has introduced plastic bank notes, because significant levels of exchange cause significant wear and tear for the notes that are being exchanged.

There is a blockage to this healthy exchange process when greed comes into play and particular people begin accumulating great wealth which is not being exchanged as freely or with as many people. This is one of the reasons why the love of money is the root of all evil, as it interrupts and blocks the healthy free flowing exchange which shares money with the many. Lewis Hyde suggests in his book entitled ‘The Gift’ that "we think of the gift as a constantly flowing river" and allow ourselves "to become a channel for its current." When we try to "dam the river", "thinking what counts is ownership and size," "one of two things will happen: either it will stagnate or it will fill the person up until he bursts."

The antidote to such greed and accumulation is the generosity on which we have focused with our readings in this service. Generosity, the giving away of money, gives additional impetus to the free flow of money and is usually focused on those most deeply in poverty or in need.

The City of London is a place where London’s spirit of enterprise is distilled to the maximum. It was in the City that many forms of charitable activity originated or evolved into business models for others to follow. Making money and giving money are both features of life in the City. What does the Bible say about the way we should use the money we make?

Instead of giving grudgingly, the Bible encourages generosity and cheerfulness in giving. In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul writes, ‘Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ Gratitude is the first fruit of humility and is a response to the forgiveness, freedom, healing and restoration which we find in God. We are precious to him, honoured and loved by him, so give out of thankfulness for this acceptance and love.

That is the prayer for our Stewardship campaign this year; that God will give us a grateful heart. Giving to our church is a tangible, faithful, and accountable way in which we demonstrate our gratitude to God. Of course our lives haven’t in every way turned out how we wanted them to; but God has given us life. Of course the church isn’t perfect; but God has given us Jesus, and forgiveness, and the life everlasting. Of course there are lots of other good causes; but giving to the church is about investing in forever, in striving to live now the companionship God has promised us always.

As a result, this autumn we are encouraging all those who come to St Stephen Walbrook to reflect on the various ways in which we can use their time, talents and treasure in God’s service. Each of us can give from our treasure in ways that benefit others and our Stewardship leaflet explains how to give regularly and consistently to St Stephen Walbrook, so I encourage you to reflect on whether you could give regularly out of gratitude and to help this church.

The Elizabethan poet George Herbert was aware of our natural tendency to think what God has given to us as being ours and to retain as much of it for ourselves as possible. His prayer, therefore, was that he might be given a grateful heart. One that rejoices in all that God has given, recognising it all as a gift, rather than something earnt, and, therefore, generous in the way it is used and given back to God. May our prayer be that of George Herbert:

Thou that hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, a grateful heart …
Not thankful, when it pleaseth me;
As if thy blessings had spare days:
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise.

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George Herbert - Redemption.

Sophia Hubs - New videos

Sophia Hub Redbridge has posted a new video on youtube explaining who we are and what we do ...

A second video explains the way in which the Redbridge Timebank trades with time, not money ...

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Sophia Hub  Redbridge & Enterprise Desk - Timebank.

Start:Stop - Do amazing things in the most unlikely places

Bible reading

‘... a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave ...’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave ... Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master ... I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘... you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.” (Matthew 25: 14-30)

Meditation

In the story people at work are ‘entrusted with vast sums of money and expected to use them in commercial ways.’ One talent is sixteen years’ wages, five is eighty years’ worth. ‘That’s a lot to entrust to a slave ... Slaves, those way down the pecking order, were here entrusted with huge wealth. The master didn’t entrust the talents to his fellow owners or to his friends, but to his slaves.’ In that sense, ‘this parable is more about equality, at least of opportunity, than it is about inequality. Slaves, if they can handle it, are as worthy of being trusted as the leaders of society.’

In the story ‘people are given assignments, they have responsibilities, and they have to report back to the boss, who then assesses them and rewards them with further work responsibility – or punishes them with demotion (or the sack). The relationships are business relationships. There is one worker who obviously has real commercial smarts, another who is not quite as high-powered but still does pretty well, and then there is the one who has no commercial savvy at all, and who lets his employer’s money sit in the ground doing nothing. So we have the successful risk-taker and the conservative, risk-adverse colleague who’d much rather do nothing than try anything.’

The parable ‘upholds commercial activity – even ... banking’ and, more specifically, ‘Jesus does indicate that – in the right settings – using money to make money is completely acceptable.’ ‘For Christians in the workplace that is welcome and affirming.’ Despite this, ‘the parable doesn’t tell us that money is good, or that we will be doing God’s work if we earn more talents for Him by any means we wish as long as we end up increasing the amount.’

However, ‘done well, done properly, these activities will validly contribute to the building up of the kingdom. As a result we must be open to the possibility that God has placed them there for us to use in this way. If we approach the workplace with the idea, the preconception, that good cannot possibly be achieved there, then the chances are that it won’t be. But if, in part thanks to this parable, we are open to the possibility that God can work through instruments such as money and in the workplace, then who know what might happen? ... God can turn up and do amazing things in the most unlikely places.’

So, the ‘parable of the talents is about whether we try to be the best we can be, working with God to build His kingdom, heal His creation, including the workplace – which, like everything else, will be perfected at the end of time. It’s about being ourselves, not trying to be people we’re not. It’s about doing only what we are capable of doing, but doing it very well. It’s about a God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth – the possibilities of being His co-workers – and who will love us for what we have done unless (... unless we hide the gift, don’t ask Him for help using it, and then turn around and tell Him it was all His own fault anyway).

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you entrust us with something of enormous worth; the possibility of being your co-workers in building your kingdom. Enable us to be ourselves; doing only what we are capable of doing, but doing it very well by trying to be the best we can be.

Work through instruments such as money and in the workplace. Do amazing things in the most unlikely places.

Show us how commercial activity and banking done well will validly contribute to the building up of the kingdom of God. You have placed commerce and banking there for us to use in this way, so them and us to heal and perfect your creation, including our workplaces.

Work through instruments such as money and in the workplace. Do amazing things in the most unlikely places.

May those who are way down the pecking order be given equality of opportunity through being entrusted with responsibility. Enable those in this situation to know that, if they can handle it, they are as worthy of being trusted as the leaders of society.

Work through instruments such as money and in the workplace. Do amazing things in the most unlikely places.

Blessing

Entrusted with being co-workers in building the kingdom of God. Given equality of opportunity. Enabled to be ourselves and do what we are capable of doing very well. May these blessings of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon us and remain with us now and always. Amen.

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Michael Been - World On Fire.

Competition & consumerism: The Darwinian narrative of strife

Competition and consumerism are the mantras of Capitalism. Both are critiqued effectively in comment pieces in today's Guardian:

Chibundu Onuzo - '[Namwali] Serpell’s decision points to an arena where it is even more futile to compete: life. Increasingly our existence on this planet is framed as a struggle – for jobs, resources: for oil, water, land.

This Darwinian narrative of strife continues at an individual level. I am not yet halfway through my twenties, and already I am fatigued by the way the world is determined to frame my life. Someone always has more money, a better job, more vibrant social life, more attractive postcode. I am forever to be in competition with this ever elusive someone who is always a stride ahead, their shadow darkening my progress.

At a concert I attended recently, the MC asked who was dissatisfied with their life. More than half of the audience put up their hands. We live in perpetual fear that we have missed out, that just across the road from us, someone is getting more out of life. I watch my friends and family go through the rigmarole of finding school places, assiduously comparing which Ofsted report is more outstanding than the other. No matter how good the school, someone’s child is always in one that is better. Extracurricular clubs and classes thrive, not because of any love for dance or drama, but because one’s children must not fall behind, one’s toddler must begin to make their way through the jungle gym of life. Slowly but steadily, we are banishing contentment from the world.

As individuals respond to this meta-story of competition, we become discontent in a world where there is enough space for everyone to go at their own pace. Serpell said in her acceptance speech: “We don’t want to compete. We all want to be honoured.” There can be no winners as long as life continues to be depicted as a competition. We will all lose.'

Giles Fraser - 'How quaint, sniggers the Tory business minster, Anna Soubry, on the Today programme. Before we were liberated to spend our Sundays down at the shopping mall, “Sunday was the most miserable day of the week,” she says. And there you have the Tory business philosophy in one. In fact, it’s not a philosophy, it’s a dogmatic theology. For nothing, absolutely nothing, must get in the way of shopping and our ever increasing productivity. Instead of all those tedious family gatherings, we should be out there buying more things we don’t need with money we don’t have. A day of rest? God, no! We must be turning those wheels of finance, building those pyramids, getting into more debt.

A strict monotheist, Soubry wants us to worship the god of finance on a Sunday. All other gods must be smashed, smeared, ridiculed. Only the god of money deserves our true and unquestioning obedience. Well, I do wish she’d stop ramming her religion down our throats. I don’t want to be more productive.'

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The Clash - Lost In The Supermarket.

Discover & explore: Work

Many of Jesus’ parables are set in the world of work. They concern masters, servants and slaves, as those were the primary work roles at the time and, because Israel was an agrarian culture, they often relate to farming. Ours is a very different context and the differences essentially began, as the paintings at the Guildhall Art Gallery show us, in the Victorian period which was dominated by the Industrial Revolution. ‘This marked the transition to new and more efficient manufacturing processes’ which helped make us the strongest economy in the world at that time. Despite the many differences between the working life of Jesus’ day and time, the universal nature of the stories that he told, means that they still have much to say to the work practices of our own day and time.

One person who has specifically explored the implications of Jesus’ parables for the workplace is Will Morris who is both Director for Global Tax Policy at GE and a priest at St Martin-in-the-Fields. In his book ‘Where is God at Work?’ he devotes five chapters to exploring the Parable of the Talents.

He notes firstly that this is story about workers and work. In the story people at work are ‘entrusted with vast sums of money and expected to use them in commercial ways’:

‘People are given assignments, they have responsibilities, and they have to report back to the boss, who then assesses them and rewards them with further work responsibility – or punishes them with demotion (or the sack). The relationships are business relationships. There is one worker who obviously has real commercial smarts, another who is not quite as high-powered but still does pretty well, and then there is the one who has no commercial savvy at all, and who lets his employer’s money sit in the ground doing nothing. So we have the successful risk-taker and the conservative, risk-adverse colleague who’d much rather do nothing than try anything. And there’s a hierarchy. It really is just like a workplace.’

Will Morris makes three key points. The first is that this is not directly a story about God-given abilities (a talent was a measure of money, not a skill or gift). It is ‘rather a story about the entrustment of something of great price to various individuals.’

‘Second, the sums of money – the talents – are something given, entrusted by the master when he leaves and required to be turned back over when he returns.’ It is about ‘something entrusted to us which we are expected to work with – fruitfully – and then return to the person who gave it to us.’

Third, there is the size of the gifts. One talent is sixteen years’ wages, five is eighty years’ worth. ‘That’s a lot to entrust to a slave ... Slaves, those way down the pecking order, were here entrusted with huge wealth. The master didn’t entrust the talents to his fellow owners or to his friends, but to his slaves.’ In that sense, ‘this parable is more about equality, at least of opportunity, than it is about inequality. Slaves, if they can handle it, are as worthy of being trusted as the leaders of society.’

This parable ‘upholds commercial activity – even ... banking’ and, more specifically, ‘Jesus does indicate that – in the right settings – using money to make money is completely acceptable.’ ‘For Christians in the workplace that is welcome and affirming.’ Despite this, ‘the parable doesn’t tell us that money is good, or that we will be doing God’s work if we earn more talents for Him by any means we wish as long as we end up increasing the amount.’

However, ‘done well, done properly, these activities will validly contribute to the building up of the kingdom. As a result we must be open to the possibility that God has placed them there for us to use in this way. If we approach the workplace with the idea, the preconception, that good cannot possibly be achieved there, then the chances are that it won’t be. But if, in part thanks to this parable, we are open to the possibility that God can work through instruments such as money and in the workplace, then who know what might happen? ... God can turn up and do amazing things in the most unlikely places.’

The ‘parable of the talents is not about the unequal handing out of skills and about the punishment of the weak. It is about whether we try to be the best we can be, working with God to build His kingdom, heal His creation, including the workplace – which, like everything else, will be perfected at the end of time. It’s about being ourselves, not trying to be people we’re not. It’s about doing only what we are capable of doing, but doing it very well. It’s about a God who entrusts us with things of enormous worth – the possibilities of being His co-workers – and who will love us for what we have done unless (and only unless we hide the gift, don’t ask Him for help using it, and then turn around and tell Him it was all His own fault anyway). Our God loves us. He really does. And all we have to do is love him back.’

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Bill Fay - The Healing Day.

Where is God at Work?

Difficult boss; annoying colleagues; boring work? Asked to work harder and harder; told by your manager to lie; tempted to do something bad? 

Where is God at Work? by Will Morris will help you think through the calling to be a Christian at work by showing how God can be unexpectedly present even in the most difficult people and dilemmas. Work can become a place where you can exercise your talents, positively influence your business, and be a witness to Christ just by being who you are.

Will Morris is a priest and a tax lawyer (a combination that strikes some as odd). He is Director, Global Tax Policy, in GE (General Electric’s) corporate tax department. He also chairs the CBI and BIAC Taxation Committees. He was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 2010, and is a colleague of mine as a member of the clergy team at St Martin-in-the-Fields. 

On his new blog Will writes:

'Many people wonder whether and how God is with them, at work, during the week. Many workplaces don’t feel that great, don’t feel like places of opportunity. There can be enormous tension. Tyrannical bosses. Horrible colleagues. Stupid, pointless, meaningless rules. Long hours. Little sympathy or empathy. The threat of redundancy.

All of these things can make the workplace seem a bit of a nightmare. So, how on earth can God be there – or is work simply the place where you go to earn the money that you can then spend in order to be able to forget it ? I believe there’s more to it than that. That, with God, the workplace can become a place of almost limitless opportunity where you can work with him in his ongoing act of creation. You can make things and provide services that people need, but you can also help your fellow workers who are hurting, and, even if only in small ways, help and encourage your business to be just that bit better.

But to do this you need to exercise your imagination to think about how God might be present in such an apparently unlikely place. The Old Testament story of “Jacob’s Ladder” helps me. In that story, Jacob, on the run from his brother Esau whom he has cheated out of a blessing, lies down in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There’s nothing special, and he’s nothing special. He’s not a saint, and there’s no church, no altar. And yet in this place, in his sleep he sees a ladder appear from heaven with angels ascending and descending. And God makes him incredible, wonderful promises about the future. When Jacob wakes up he exclaims: “Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!” Might your work place not be the same? It can be – if only you are prepared to be surprised!'

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Bill Fay - City Of Dreams.

Fourth Plinth: Gift Horse

The latest commission for the Fourth Plinth, Gift Horse by artist Hans Haacke, was unveiled on Thursday 5 March 2015 in London’s Trafalgar Square. Hans Haacke’s Gift Horse depicts a skeletal, riderless horse - a wry comment on the equestrian statue of William IV originally planned for the plinth. Tied to the horse’s front leg is an electronic ribbon displaying live the ticker of the London Stock Exchange, completing the link between power, money and history. The horse is derived from an etching by George Stubbs; the famous English painter whose works are represented in the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square.

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America - A Horse With No Name.

Guildhall Art Gallery: Dichotomies of spirituality and consumerism

To coincide with its 15th anniversary, Guildhall Art Gallery has undergone a radical rehang for the first time since the current building opened in 1999. The £600,000 renovation improves the visitor experience through illuminating the artworks with a new state-of-the-art lighting system, and creating more flexible themed display spaces.

Julia Dudkiewicz, Principal Curator, says ‘The rehang has been a labour of love and it has been a great privilege to work with such outstanding and internationally significant collections. The Guildhall Art Gallery is a real hidden gem in the heart of the City. It was one of the first public galleries in London, predating Tate Britain by 15 years, and today houses one of the largest and best collections of Victorian art in the world.’

The Gallery shows a changing display of about 250 artworks from its collection of paintings, drawings and sculpture, in addition to a programme of temporary exhibitions. A rich variety of Victorian paintings can be seen as you enter the Gallery, displayed in original nineteenth century style. The collections illustrate the key artistic movements and influences of the Victorian period, from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, to Orientalism, Classicism and narrative painting. Among the Victorian paintings on display include Rossetti's La Ghirlandata, Millais' My First Sermon and My Second Sermon and John Constable's large landscape, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows.

Dudkiewicz has explained that the Victorian room showcases dichotomies on each side of the room, Materiality (Home and Beauty) contrasts with Spirituality (Faith) and Imagined Realities (Love and Imagination) are contrasted with the Realities of Life (Work and Leisure). Further dichotomies can also be found in the Undercroft Gallery where London is explored in terms of 'the effect of the elements on the city (ice and fire), destruction and reconstruction, spirituality and consumerism, and public versus private space.'

The new collecting policy of the Gallery focuses 'on the often controversial themes of money, wealth, the economy, trade, commerce and capitalism.' This policy is currently represented by Mark Titchner's Plenty and Progress wall sculpture. However some of the Victoriana also relates as Dudkiewicz notes in relation to scenes of street children by Augustus Edwin Mulready: “Poverty has not gone away. Is the heart of the City a proper place to make people think a little of social and spiritual issues, that money and materialism are not everything in life? We are going to try.” In his commentary on City panorama entitled City of Holy Dreams Chris Orr states, 'a large number of churches in the City of London are now being choked and outgrown by the new temples of commerce and finance. Cities are maelstroms of competing ideas.' 

The topography of cities has been Orr’s long-time preoccupation, frequently referencing historic panoramas whilst, at the same time, commenting on the fallible nature of human perception. He also loves narratives which are culturally ingrained in us, like Bible stories ... because they give a golden opportunity to the artist to directly open a dialogue with the viewer.'

His contemporary representations of the rapidly changing London skyline feature in an exhibition exploring Tower Bridge as an enduring source of artistic inspiration for painters, draughtsman, printmakers and photographers. The show (which is part of the 120th anniversary celebrations of the opening of Tower Bridge) brings together a diverse chronological selection of artworks exploring the different ways British and London-based artists have pictured the Bridge.

The earliest views by the Victorian maritime painter W. L. Wyllie are juxtaposed with the modernity of Frank Brangwyn‘s working river, through the dramatic wartime imagery of Charles Pears and the poetic conceptualism of Judith Evans and Arthur Watson's The Spirit of London. In addition, the London-based Ecuadorian New Expressionist Mentor Chico has been especially commissioned to create a vibrant, up-to-the-minute painting of the relationship between Tower Bridge and the City entitled Forever Imagical Tower Bridge 2014, conveying the vibrancy of the Bridge in relation to the City visitors, vessels and vehicles.

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Ralph McTell - Streets Of London.

Is the heart of the City a proper place to make people think that money and materialism are not everything in life?

Tremendous ambition expressed by the curator of the Guildhall Art Gallery in an article from today's Guardian:

“Poverty has not gone away,” curator Julia Dudkiewicz said. “Is the heart of the City a proper place to make people think a little of social and spiritual issues, that money and materialism are not everything in life? We are going to try.”

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The Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?

Stewardship: The Widow's Mite

I wonder how many of us think that we have a lot to give to God. My guess is that most of us actually think we have very little we can give to God.

We may think that we have nothing special in terms of our talents. We may think that we have little the way of time because of the many pressures that we face in life. We may think that we have little spare cash because of the significant costs of living. As a result, we often think we have very little to offer and may hold back from offering at all as result.

This is a particular issue when it comes to the suffering and distress that we see on our TV screens around the world, whether through conflict or lack of resources and relief. Global issues seem so huge that the contribution we could make pales into insignificance and we think there is no point doing anything ourselves as our contribution will simply be a drop in an ocean.

It is easy for us to think that big is best and that what we have and are is too little to make an impact but today’s Gospel reading says otherwise (Luke 21. 1 – 4). Jesus sees and values the contribution which the widow makes. Everyone else gave from their surplus wealth, but the widow, from her poverty, contributed all she had, her whole livelihood. So Jesus uses her example as a challenge to the wealthy and well resourced who often give less proportionately while the less well off give more of what they have.

A New York Times Magazine article in 2010 highlighted the myth of philanthropy and the “benefits to the poor” of having the super wealthy. 'What this well-researched article revealed was that the super wealthy, the wealthy and ostentatious “scribes” of today, actually give less than those who have middle and lower incomes. Most absurdly, what Jesus observed in his day remains true today — those with the least continue to give more, by percentage of their resources, than the wealthy!' So this is a message that needs to be heard in these times of austerity where budget cuts are often focused on the poor rather than the wealthy.

Small is beautiful, as E. F. Schumacher reminded us, and as the images we have been viewing this morning state, our small actions or contribution, combined with those of others, can then have a big effect. The butterfly effect which is found in Chaos Theory and the multiplier effect in economics both show, on the basis of research, that small changes and small contributions can have significant effects.

Stewardship month is an annual reminder to us that that is so when it comes to the contribution we make as Christian disciples; when it comes to the money we give back to God, the talents we use in his service, the community contribution we make and the environmentally-friendly actions we take.

Jesus valued the Widow's mite and took the small meal that one child offered using it to feed more than 5,000 people (Matthew 14. 13 - 21). Rev. Conwell took Hattie May’s 57 cents and used in to build a church, a University and a Hospital. We need the contribution that you can make to St John's, however small it may seem to you, and in whatever way you can make that contribution. The mission and ministry of this church is the combined effect of the contributions that each of us make. St John’s needs you, now more than ever. God has given you resources, time and talents, this Stewardship Month I encourage you to reflect prayerfully on all that you can and do give back to him in order that together we can combine our individual offerings to make a bigger impact for him.

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Supertramp - Give A Little Bit.

What do we really want or need?

The South East, along with the South West, had some of the highest levels of average life satisfaction ratings in England recorded during 2012/13. You may not be aware that the Government now measures National Well-being but that is the case and, in terms of people’s personal well-being, the questions asked are:

1. Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
2. Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
3. Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
4. Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

How would you answer those questions? The Government is saying that our sense of well-being comes from our sense of being satisfied, feeling our life has worth, feelings of happiness and low levels of anxiety. Do you agree?

We tend to expect that most people, if asked, will say that money, fame or power are the things that they really want. Here’s a fairly typical statement from one online blogger about this question: "Most people would list money as the most wanted thing in the world … We can't deny the fact that money forms an essential part of our life, and without money, people generally are miserable and live miserably …  The other primary things that humans desire and seek (fame, happiness, success, etc.) also are connected to money and mostly are a direct result of being financially well-off. So, in my opinion, money is the thing people want most in the world."

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who wanted to understand what really motivates people. He devised a model called the hierarchy of needs which suggests that we are all motivated to achieve certain needs but that our basic needs have to be satisfied before we will be motivated to achieve our higher needs. On his five stage model our most basic needs are physiological i.e. for air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, and sleep. Next come safety needs - protection from the elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, and freedom from fear. After that come social Needs - belongingness, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, and romantic relationships. Then come esteem needs - achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, self-respect, and respect from others. Finally, come self-actualization needs - realizing our personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gives a broader perspective on the question of what we really want as human beings but it doesn’t fully accord with what we see Jesus saying and doing in today’s Gospel reading which is also an exploration of what we really need, want or think is most important in life.

The temptations Jesus faces in the wilderness are threefold; food, fame and power (or on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - basic needs and esteem needs). Jesus has been fasting in the wilderness of forty days and forty nights. He is very hungry but he resists the temptation to meet his basic needs by turning stones into bread. He quotes scripture to argue that receiving from God is more fundamental to human well-being than food itself. Jesus keeps his focus on God. Hearing from God is what is most important to him. God’s word is his food, his breath - the thing he needs more than anything else in this world.

Then Jesus is tempted to achieve celebrity or fame by a public act of self-aggrandisement - jumping from the highest point of the Temple and surviving. The result would be that everyone would know how wonderful Jesus is because God would not allow him to die. Jesus responds by quoting again from scripture - "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." He knows who he is and doesn’t need to adulation of other human beings in order to feel confident in his relationship with God.

Finally, he is tempted by power - "all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness" all to be given to Jesus if he follows the way of the world rather than that of God. Again he quotes from scripture in replying: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’

This is what is at the heart of the matter for Jesus. In responding to these temptations, he is fulfilling the Law by keeping the greatest and the most important commandment: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22. 37).

The temptations he faces are, as Tom Wright writes in ‘Matthew for Everyone’, all ways of distorting his true vocation: "the vocation to be a truly human being, to be God’s person, to be a servant to the world and to other people". Jesus is "committed to living off God’s word; to trusting God completely, without setting up trick tests to put God on the spot. He is committed to loving and serving God alone. The flesh may scream for satisfaction; the world may beckon seductively; the devil himself may offer undreamed-of power; but Israel’s loving God, the one Jesus knew as father, offered the reality of what is meant to be human, to be a true Israelite, to be Messiah."

"When Jesus refused to go the way of the tempter he was embracing the way of the cross. The enticing whispers that echoed around his head were designed to distract him from his central vocation, the road to which his baptism had committed him, the path of servanthood that would lead to suffering and death. They were meant to stop him from carrying out God’s calling, to redeem Israel and the world.

The temptations we all face, day by day and at critical moments of decision and vocation in our lives, may be very different from those of Jesus, but they have exactly the same point. They are not simply trying to entice us into committing this or that sin. They are trying to distract us, to turn us aside, from the path of servanthood to which our baptism has commissioned us. God has a costly but wonderfully glorious vocation for each one of us. The enemy will do everything possible to distract us and thwart God’s purpose …

But, as God’s children, we are entitled to use the same defence as the son of God himself. Store scripture in your heart, and know how to use it. Keep your eyes on God, and trust him for everything. Remember your calling, to bring God’s light into the world. And say a firm ‘no’ to the voices that lure you back into the darkness."

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Rosanne Cash - What We Really Want.

Protection of the Commons: Quilligan Seminars

One of the central themes in Charles Eisenstein's bestseller Sacred Economics is the Commons. James Quilligan, an internationally known policy consultant and economist, who has recently led a highly acclaimed seminar series in London on The Emergence of Commons-based Economy, has the development and protection of the Commons in the centre of his professional work.


Here is an outline of the series of Quilligan seminars. The debategraph, the rawfootage of all the 12 seminars as well as the talking points and introductions are here and reflections by a participant are here. You will also find all the above links as well as other related ones here.

A further series of five Quilligan Seminars to be held from October 22-26^th will all deal with the currency of life and the understanding of gift in relation to the preventing of new enclosures and the protection of the commons. 

This series, at present, will consider:

• 'Recovery of the Commons evolving around us' - Mutualising land and capital into commons bodies for community benefit and individual enterprise.
• ‘A Roadmap to sustainable community based healthcare and how together we will make it work’ - Raising awareness of our possibilities for generative action in healthcare. Creating Connections for sustained shared attention and structures of engagement for doing what needs to be done to make sustainable healthcare possible.
• ‘Establishing an Economic System that protects the Commons’ - Plenary and work-groups on Tax, Money, Financial Sector. 
• ‘Enhancing the range and recruitment of a critical mass.’
• Conferences on Money and Alternative Currencies with Thomas Greco, (being planned by LETSlinkUK - http://www.letslinkuk.net/).  Details at this stage from london@letslink.org.
• Book Launch of Fred Harrison’s ‘The Traumatised Society’ at St James Piccadilly, 3.00 - 5.00pm.

More details at this stage from peterchallen@gmail.com.

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Good Charlotte - The River.