URC Daily Devotion 9 December 2025

St Matthew 10: 9 – 15

Jesus said: “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts –  no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.  As you enter the home, give it your greeting.  If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Reflection

This was not the Bible reading, when at Synod, everyone needed to be persuaded to appoint yet another paid member of staff.  When should we guarantee people a secure salary, sickness benefits and a pension in order to carry out their discipleship?

British culture and British churches have traditionally been much more wedded to voluntary principles than in many other countries. From lifeboats to blood transfusions, the British system is utterly dependent on committed volunteers who seek no gold or silver or copper. Apart from the part-time cleaner and a little something for the organist, many of our churches have relied wholly on volunteers for sustaining church life for generations.

But the mood is changing. The burdens feel more daunting. In settings where people power is in desperately short supply but bank balances are growing, it can make perfect sense to appoint a paid person to relieve the burden of administration. Some people even fantasise that if a person is paid they will automatically be more “professional” than the passionate volunteer.

Each case needs to be settled on its merits but is Jesus suggesting there is a bigger issue to consider too? He wants a community of disciples who are mutually dependent, not because it is inevitable but because it is healthy. The urgings of our culture to seek individual self-sufficiency Jesus has already seen through.

Under our stipendiary system the church family guarantees our ministers a basic income, sufficient to relieve them of financial anxiety even if not large enough to fill a wardrobe with extra shirts. It can be seen as a well-established working out of exactly what Jesus is seeking. For those of us not called to be ministers, what sorts of insecurity are we willing to accept in return for dependence on our sisters and brothers in Christ?

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
the only Head of the Church.
you constantly nudge us to be a better Church.
 
Help us to challenge our culture with your teaching.
Help us to live out that challenge in our choices.
 
Within our churches, bind us together in mutual dependence:
   celebrating our possibilities
   enjoying our differences
   discerning each other’s needs
   offering our gifts of time, expertise and money
   and ready to receive as well as give.

Amen