The history of Ukrainian Christianity is as complex as its political history. Sixty-seven per cent of the population declare themselves to be Orthodox believers, 2.2 per cent Protestant, 9.4 per cent Byzantine Rite Catholic, 2.5 per cent Islam and 0.4 per cent Jewish. Only three per cent of the population profess to be atheist. It is against this background that this week’s events are unfolding, and we are asked to pray.

Ukraine is an amazing country with – in contrast to the revisionist version recently espoused by Vladimir Putin – a long history. It is the second largest country in terms of area in Europe – Russia being the first. At over 600,000 sq km it is 30 times the size of Wales (apparently Wales is now the standard by which we measure any country!).
A nation of 43 million people, it has been declining for some time – losing over 300,000 people per year due to emigration and a low birth rate. In 1995 there were 52 million people. The poverty rate has been increasing rapidly and currently stands at around 45 per cent. The median salary is only $775 a montth,,
Ukraine is generally regarded as being the spiritual mother of Russia, with the Rus coming from Kyiv during the 10th and 11th centuries – hence Putin, the great Russian nationalist, being so interested in it. The mass baptism of Vladimir the Rus and his people at Kyiv in the Dnieper in 988 is regarded as the foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church, and indeed the foundation of Russia.
Kyiv is central to the Orthodox Russians – and therefore to Russian nationalism. Putin seems to be a genuine believer in that. If you don’t grasp the almost religious significance of Ukraine to many Russians (who also make up 18% of the population) then you will not understand why Putin is so desperate to keep Ukraine in the Russian sphere of influence, and away from the West.
Whether the Mongols, Poles, Lithuanians, Ottomans, Germans or Russians, Ukraine’s history is one of invasion and domination by its neighbours. Now this invasion has been added to the list.
Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, Ukraine has not found it easy. Widespread political and economic corruption has weakened the country – and arguably made it easier for Russia to invade.
The history of Ukrainian Christianity is as complex as its political history. Sixty-seven per cent of the population declare themselves to be Orthodox believers, 2.2 per cent Protestant, 9.4 per cent Byzantine Rite Catholic, 2.5 per cent Islam and 0.4 per cent Jewish. Only three per cent of the population profess to be atheist.
It is against this background that this week’s events are unfolding, and we are asked to pray.
As always in the age of the internet, it is far too easy for people to suddenly become experts on the subject of the day. Twitter soundbites, TikTok videos and Facebook memes turn many of us into ‘know it alls’. But, as is usually the case, things are much more complex.
I am not an expert in Ukrainian history, and I don’t pretend to understand everything that is going on; but as someone who has preached in the country, my heart sank when I saw the news.
In the midst of all the confusion there are some basic lessons for us:

War is normal for human societies

These past couple of years after almost a century without a major plague in the West, we have reverted to the norm of having plagues. In the same way, after 70 years without a major war in Europe, we have now returned to the ‘norm’ of the past centuries.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is showing up the weakness and instability of the West

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 some in the West assumed it was ‘the end of history’ and that mankind had evolved to the extent that ‘superior’ Western values now reigned supreme. Now we know that is not true. The Russians know that no Western power will send troops to fight for Ukraine. And they will have factored in the economic sanctions and they have built up a reserve of over $600 billion.
After Russia’s defeat in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union was fatally wounded. The embarrassing, hasty retreat of the US from Afghanistan told Putin that the West was weak. There are many things I would disagree with the former President Trump about, but in this area, he was correct – the over reliance of European nations on the US for defence has resulted in a weaker Europe and as a result when the US weakens, the chickens come home to roost.
Only France has any significant military resources. The Chief of Germany’ Army tweeted this week: “The Bundeswehr, and the Army that I have the privilege to lead, is more or less stripped bare. The options that we can offer politicians to support the alliance are extremely limited”
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The power of the belief that we’re alone traps us in shame. It sucks us into the belief that we can get ourselves out of our messes. Break the cycle. Cry out to God. Call your pastor. Connect with a trusted Christian friend. Contact a counselor. You are never alone.

“I’m sure no one has ever told you this.”
“It’s so bad. You are going to think terrible things about me.”
“Everyone would hate me if they knew what I was thinking.”
“There is no one who loves me for me.”
I’ve heard each of these helpless words from people who sat in my office. They are raw, vulnerable, heartbreaking. They reveal people’s crippling loneliness and fears that they are destined to remain alone.
I’ve been there. Discouragement spiraled into depression, and I multiplied my angst by entangling myself in sin. I didn’t think anyone would understand. I was too afraid to ask for help. Lies compounded sin.
Satan Lies
Satan traffics in lies. He wants you to believe that God isn’t good, that you are alone, and that your shame can never be removed. Each is a profound deception. In 1 Peter 5:8, we are reminded: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Don’t be deceived, Peter says; you have to fight to stay out of the enemy’s jaws. There is one who intends to destroy you.
How can we fight the enemy’s lies? It’s no accident that Peter’s admonition to be on guard against Satan comes after his encouragement for elders to shepherd the flock, and his subsequent call to humility. For Peter knows that a humble and unified flock is a powerful force against Satan’s wiles: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6–7).
Isn’t that peculiar advice? What’s the connection between Satan’s attacks, humbling ourselves, and casting our anxieties on God? Peter puts his finger on a particular vulnerability Satan goes after: our anxieties, which drive us from God and community and toward ourselves.
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Jesus calls for a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. But what He demands, He also fulfills. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:3), He practices what He preaches, and He does so perfectly. He calls us to this same righteousness, so that we may be perfect, even as our heavenly Father is perfect.

The gospel of Matthew opens with a statement that lacks a verb, so it is most likely serving as the title of the book: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Here in a nutshell is what this book is all about. It is the story of Jesus Christ. It takes us from the time of His birth in the line of Abraham and David (Matt. 1) to the time when He stands on a mountain in Galilee, with all authority in heaven and on earth given to Him (Matt. 28:16–20). From the beginning to the end, Jesus is presented as the King: first as the promised son of Abraham and David “who has been born king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2), “a ruler who will shepherd [God’s] people Israel” (Matt. 2:6); and then as the King who has triumphed over sin and death and now commands that disciples be made of all the nations and taught to observe all that He has commanded (Matt. 28:19–20).
The first of the five large teaching collections of Jesus contained in Matthew (Matt. 5–7; 10; 13; 18; 23–25) serves both as a manifesto of His kingdom’s law and as a forceful rejection of the teaching given by the scribes and Pharisees. Because of the prevalent distortions of the law of God that the scribes and Pharisees fostered, it was necessary for Jesus to make clear just how His teaching stands in relation to the Scriptures. He emphatically declares that He has come not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). Indeed, so far is He from abolishing them that He puts special emphasis on the point with the first of His many “truly” statements (more than thirty are present in Matthew): “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matt. 5:18).
Jesus’ teaching stands in the sharpest contrast to that of the scribes and the Pharisees, and it calls for a righteousness that far exceeds their own (Matt. 5:20). We see this same focus in the final block of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew (Matt. 23–25), a kind of parallel column matching the first that helps us better understand each by comparing it to the other. There, in seven “woes” of condemnation (which contrast to the Beatitudes that began the first block), Jesus again exposes the errors of the scribes and Pharisees, whom He repeatedly calls “hypocrites” and who have laid heavy burdens on the people without lifting a finger to help them (Matt. 23:4).
In Matthew 5:17–48, Jesus takes up six examples of distortions and errors of the law that were taught by the scribes and Pharisees. Each one is introduced by what the people have heard, followed by what Jesus says (Matt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43). Here Jesus is not taking issue with the Scriptures, with what is written. No, the issue is what the scribes and Pharisees have said. Jesus will show that He stands by what is written (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10; Matt. 11:10; 21:13; Matt. 26:24, 31).