Shopping Reconsidered - Sunday 14th November 2016

When we shop, we generally like to get as much as possible for as little as possible. It is the selfish engine that drives the market system which, in turn, rules the world. But a system built on selfishness is fundamentally flawed, undoubtedly ungodly, and needs to be held in check by robust laws.
Trading standards legislation is nothing new. The book of Deuteronomy which, in parts, dates back 3.5 thousand years, contains clear instruction on swift payment, animal welfare and standard measures - all issues that are at the forefront of trading standards today.
However, while trading laws are a good thing, they are constantly under pressure from the lust for profit (on one hand) and for a bargain (on the other).
But there is another way to think about shopping. Turn your thinking around. Rather than asking: which shall I get? think: who shall I pay? I have just tried it. Driven in search of a coffee shop by unexpected rain, I made myself think differently. I put aside my usual thinking: who’s coffee do I prefer? or, who’s coffee is cheapest? Instead, I asked myself: which of these coffee providers shall I hand my money to, and why?
Every time we shop, this question is there for us. Which shop shall I support? Which manufacturer or producer? Which country of origin? These are powerful questions, and if we answer them wisely, we have power to change the world for good.
So, next time you buy something, don’t just think about what is the best or cheapest product. Also consider what is the best or most laudable supplier. If you do that, an underpaid, overworked, undervalued labourer - possibly in some distant corner of the planet - will be better off. And God will smile.

What's it worth? - Sunday 30th October 2016

Whenever we buy something, we do a calculation in our heads concerning what it will cost us and what it is worth to us. Different people value things differently. We did a test. We took a look at Picasso’s painting "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust”. The most anyone in St Catherine’s was prepared to pay for it was £200 - a long way short of the $106.5 million that someone else paid for it at auction in 2010!
So, how does God value our financial offerings - be they to a church or to any charitable cause?
Jesus was seated near the Temple treasury, teaching his disciples, while worshippers and tourists made their obligatory financial contributions. He saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins and drew his disciples' attention to it. “This woman has given more than all the others,” he observed. "They gave out of their wealth, but this woman has given all that she had to live on.”
God is not interested in the numerical value of our donations, but is interested in what our offering is worth to us. God doesn’t measure in sterling, euros or dollars, but in love and generosity. When we consider how much to give to a church or charity, it is not enough to look at the numbers; we need to look into our hearts. Often we give just enough to satisfy our conscience. That's not very satisfying. But if we give just enough to put a smile on God's face, we might find that the smile will visit our face too.