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When I reflected upon todays reading I realised there are plenty of things to say about what it means to give the Emperor those things due to the Emperor. But then I suppose it depends on who at this present moment you think the Emperor is.

It is so good to be with you all this morning, especially during the ‘Just as I am’ disability conference. Today marks the start of my sabbatical and what a way to start it.

The parable that Jesus tells that we hear today from Matthew’s Gospel is a hard-hitting allegory, much more so than any of his other parables.

We’ve just heard a parable told by Jesus about work. It’s a parable that follows hot on the heels of the Apostle Peter reminding Jesus that he and the other disciples have left everything to follow him, and expressing a concern about what reward they’ll have for doing so.

There’s been a major change in our culture in the last 60 years: being a Christian is no longer a normal thing to be, and going to church is no longer a conventional thing to do.

There is a prayer that many of you will have read perhaps on cards you find in Cathedral gift shops, or on religious t-towels. It’s called the serenity prayer and it’s attributed to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.

Readings: Matthew 16.13-20

Last week as most of you will know in the UK was exam results week for those taking their GCSEs.

Readings: Matthew 15:21-28
There is a wonderful little story written by C.S. Lewis in his beloved The Chronicles of Narnia, which introduces to us the theme in today’s Gospel reading.