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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

What really matters?

What really matters in a world of conflict and tension if your faith has made you well (Luke 17.19)?

Context

Ukraine won back the city of Lyman and other villages but the war goes on. North Korea has fired a missile over Japan, the first since 2017. In Indonesia over a hundred (including some children) died trying to escape tear gas in a football stadium.

Taxation was an issue at the beginning of the Conservative Party Conference as the Chancellor withdrew his proposal to abolish the 45% top rate of income tax. But the big cuts to company tax are still in place probably to be funded by big cuts in public spending; for the most part these will transfer wealth from the poor to the wealthy. And winter gas supplies are at risk.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

As last week’s In Touch writer suggested ‘we can easily become overwhelmed by fear or despair’ against the background of conflict and tension within our own country, let alone in the wider world. Against the background of the story of the ten lepers, this week’s ROOTS resources ask the question ‘...what really matters?’ So, against the background of this week’s news, what does really matter?

The war in Ukraine has run for several months already; most commentators think it will run for many more yet and there remains the risk that it may yet have wider impacts. World gas supplies are already tight. Those of us in the northern hemisphere head into winter with higher prices for all forms of heating. For those on tight budgets, what will really matter will surely be the fear of being really cold and unable to heat any sort of food. We got used to a somewhat more peaceful world after the end of the Cold War a generation ago, but today’s sabre rattling from Putin’s Russia, from North Korea, and from China over Taiwan may be what really matters in today’s world.

What really matters to those (such as the present UK Government) who believe that tax cuts can spur economic recovery? The Gospels are not all that positive about tax collectors in first century Palestine. But in a modern democracy what are the best ways to raise taxes? The UK has a mix of taxes – taxes on income, taxes on spending (e.g. VAT and fuel duty) and taxes on property (e.g. council tax) predominate. Inheritance tax is a modest (and often avoidable) tax on wealth. But there is no absolute case for any particular mix. Many countries have significantly higher taxes on property, perhaps partly because they are harder to avoid. Some have annual wealth taxes. The highest income tax rate in Finland, a notably happy country, is almost 57%. Why do we think that a 45% rate of tax on income is a disincentive to high earners while we happily remove benefits from poorer people at twice that rate, or even more? Is it even tolerable to have an economy in which many people in full-time work earn so little that they can properly claim benefits and use food banks? How many people in the UK understand that the UK is a tax haven – 13th on an international list of 70 tax havens? As a society, have we got our overall economic system right? And what can we do about it if we want to change those things? Resources are available from Church Action for Tax Justice.

 

Questions for discussion

• What things do you take for granted (like the nine who did not return to thank Jesus)? In what ways are you most like the nine, and in what ways are you most like the one?
• What really matters to you today?
• Should Christians be active in campaigns for tax justice? If so, which issues are the most important?

Dudley Coates is a local preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Are you feeling the madness of this time of year? Young people will be feeling the need for rest now half term is on the horizon! From the moment September begins it’s a mad dash rush of routine, tasks and chores; school demands are high and fast, after-school groups fill our time, along with copious amounts of homework, whilst juggling life itself. With only 83 days until the end of the year and Halloween, Bonfire, Remembrance, Advent and Christmas still to journey through, it doesn’t show signs of slowing down.

In our hustle and bustle we can identify with the nine men who receive the miracle of healing over their leprosy from Jesus and fail to thank him because they’re so caught up in the manic sensations of the moment! I wonder, what it is we need to do to be more like the man who paused to remember what really mattered and thank Jesus.

Think back through your past day, then week, then month: Is there anything you’ve forgotten to say thank you for? Make sure to do that now.

As we continue to journey through this busy time of year let us make moments to breathe and remember what’s important. Maybe that involves pausing on our own wants to help others; maybe it’s including those on the side lines. Whatever you do, make sure to take time to thank God properly for all the works he is doing in your life.

Lindsay Wright is a freelance creative and writer based in Lancashire.

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