St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Welland, Ontario, Canada

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SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST July 20, 2025

Prayer of the Day Eternal God, you draw near to us in Christ, and you make yourself our guest. Amid the cares of our lives, make us attentive to your presence, that we may treasure your word above all else, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:38-42 38Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Reflections on the Gospel Text: It’s now passé, but long ago the journalistic credo was “don’t bury the lede”. Jesus tells Martha it’s possible that doing what’s good and right can sometimes distract you from some of the most important things in life. Martha isn’t experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) she doesn’t know what she’s missing because she’s fixated on what Mary is not doing—serving their guests.

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Wyant from the Candler School in Atlanta Georgia wrote the book (OK one book) on Mary and Martha. Dr. Wyant says that following Jesus is both doing and quiet contemplation. She recounts a legend popular in churches during the Middle Ages in which Martha goes out to slay dragons and Mary founds monasteries. Beyond Mary or Martha: Reclaiming Ancient Models of Discipleship (Emory Studies in Early Christianity):2019. Dr. Wyant reminds Working Preachers that Martha isn’t wrong; she’s distracted by either or she doesn’t see how learning and serving go together. It’s noteworthy that many Christian denominations have deacons and in our own denomination we phrase their ministry as a call to Word and Service while pastors are called to a ministry of Word and Sacrament.

Let’s rotate the interpretive lens a little so we can appreciate how distraction causes us to miss out. Sir Kenneth Robinson interviewed Paul McCartney about his years in music school when he was a youth in Liverpool. Sir Kenneth asked Paul whether the music teacher thought he had any talent. Paul answered ‘no’, he wasn’t considered especially talented or expected to show much promise. “What about George Harrison?”, Sir Kenneth asked. The music teacher didn’t think George was particularly talented and didn’t expect him to have much of a career in music. Sir Kenneth concludes, “Imagine…having two of the four Beatles in your music school and you miss their talent!” The teachers weren’t bad. They just missed what was in front of them. We all fall prey to being oblivious to what’s right in front of us.

Now let’s reflect on what churches miss when they get distracted. Tons of trees have been felled to produce the paper on which critiques of churches becoming fixated on budgets, buildings and church attendance. Meanwhile such fixation blinds us to our neighbours in need. We stop listening for what God might want to teach us because we are so keen on issues of sustaining our church buildings and programs.

Someone once likened the cycle of the church’s gathering to worship and learn and its scattering to serve to breathing. Imaging inhaling and never exhaling or only exhaling and never taking in a breath! The trick in following Jesus isn’t choosing between Mary’s way and Martha’s (though its just such a choice Martha asks Jesus to make) it is in integrating doing and being—learning and serving—-action and contemplation.

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Prayer of the Day
O Lord God, your mercy delights us and the world longs for your loving
care. hear the cries of everyone in need. Turn our hearts to love our
neighbours with the love of your Soon, Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.
Amen

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
25Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must
I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the law?
What do you read there?” 27He answered, “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” 28And
he said to him “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will
live.” 29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my
neighbour?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him,
and went away, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was
going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other
side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan while traveling came near
him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34He went to him
and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he
put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and
said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever
more you spend.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to
the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who
showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.

“Bits and bobs”: Reflections on the Gospel Text
What do you suppose Jesus’ questioner did after Jesus told him to Go and
be radical in neighbourliness? Luke never tells us and maybe that’s by
design.

We so love the story of the Good Samaritan and have told it so often that
the real sting of the story has faded. Remember Jesus is speaking a
parables which are designed to transform more than they in-form. You
might remember hearing how the teacher Pastor Dan Erlander liked to
describe them….the story comes straight at you…and part of it sneaks into
the back of your mind and sits there…at some unknown moment the ‘truth
bomb’ detonates and you’re knocked off center; ripe for a transforming
moment.

The story comes at us straight; formulaic even. Man gets mugged. Two
righteous people pass by and we’re already expecting a third person to
arrive on scene. If the first two passersby were religious leaders, the third
person might be like a messiah or something.

And we get a Samaritan. A Samaritan? Really? Samaritans and Judeans
were sworn enemies and had been for centuries. The person mugged could
have died in the ditch if either person asked about racial or religious
identity. And there is the miracle. As it happens this particular Samaritan’s
care far exceeds First Aid and extends to providing for every need the
person attacked might have while convalescing.

So, Perry Mason, who is the helper in the story? The lawyer can’t even
bring himself to use the word “Samaritan”. It’s not hard to imagine this
person mumbling the response “the one who showed mercy”. Did the legal
scholar go and do likewise? Who knows. But the parable now sits in our
noggins too.

What might happen when its truth bomb detonates? Even as our church
met in convention this week, we re-examine where we’ve been wrong and
we start chipping away at the barriers we’ve often put in place—-the end
game that we treat each other as human and when we can help, we help.
Isn’t that the whole point of “do likewise?”….Both the Samaritan and the
person robbed and left for dead ignored race, religion or social standing—
one person gave help and the other accepted. That seems to be
neighbourliness encapsulated.

Due to the extreme heat warnings this weekend, we will be worshipping in the air conditioned Fellowship Hall this Sunday at 11am. We return to the sanctuary next week for our service, including a baptism.

Due to the extreme temperature weather forecast for tomorrow, several activities have been moved inside to the air conditioned Fellowship Hall area.

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PLUS Flamenco guitarists, the 2 Amigos, will be playing on July 12th, but will be cancelled if raining.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: July 6, 2025

PRAYER OF THE DAY O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, you are the city that shelters, the mother who comforts us. With your Spirit accompany us on our life’s journey that we may spread your peace in all the world. We pray through your Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Luke: 10.1-17 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. 2He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. 5Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’

16“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

17The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

REFLECTIONS:
One of the more frequent quotes you’ve heard me repeat is “why leads to how”. Jesus’ commissioning of his followers to announce the in-breaking of God’s realm is simultaneously ‘why’ and ‘how’. For openers, the realm of God vividly contrasts both the ways of the empire and some closely adhered to cultural norms. Here are a few examples….

“carry nothing with you”-We are hardwired to be prepared and to be self reliant; especially in a pinch. Carrying nothing puts us at the mercy of the elements and the potential kindness of strangers (Were it not for a man from Samaria the person robbed and left for dead would have died).

“greet no one on the road”—The mission is urgent so no time to catch up on news, family gossip or the score from last night’s ball game.

“ When someone provides lodging, eat what’s set before you” and don’t move from house to house.” God’s realm isn’t about social climbing. In Jesus’ day, hosting someone of high social standing boosted yours. Likewise being hosted by someone with high social status boosted yours. Historians and social scientists use the word ‘patronage’ to signify social contracts and obligations that come with someone feeding you and putting a roof over your head. The idea of covenant from Noah onwards is not a transactional one—it’s about mutual commitment and the common good.

So when 70 people are sent out, they embody and practice the words they are commissioned to speak. These events were meant to teach successive generations of followers who they were and what they were about—in very fundamental ways, the mission remains and the Church professes to be the organized way in which the mission is carried out. The disciple community (or the Church) was never meant to walk in lockstep with the Empire or even the culture.

“The Kingdom of God has come near to you” Do we realize what dangerous words these are? The Roman Emperor doesn’t like competition. He tortured anyone who didn’t bow to Caesar and call him Lord of all and he killed anyone proclaiming themselves king, or messiah. . How silly to imagine Caesar dismissing Jesus’ claims about God’s realm (or kingdom if you like) as a lovely metaphor.

Non violent as Jesus’ approach is, his words repudiate any claim Caesar or anybody else has over people. Jesus embodies an alternate reality to the schemes we concoct that reward a select few at the expense of everyone else’s well being. Worse yet, the schemers legitimize the hustle in religious or patriotic trappings. There might have been something about that in the news this week.

Jesus’ announcement of God’s realm and God’s intention for how things are comes in his sermon ‘on level ground’. God sides with the poor and downtrodden. As for the fat and sassy look out (which is a faithful translation of the word “woe”) Let’s read and reflect on Luke’s version of Jesus’ beatitudes:

Blessings and Woes
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[d] on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Millennia later, God’s realm may feel very far away and some emperor or another bellows and blusters demanding our allegiance. There are still prophets among us too.

Prophets often call for us to re-member and re-claim; which turns out to be living in ways that are brand new. I borrow the words from a powerful little book called An Other Kingdom co-written by the late Walter Brueggemann, and Peter Block and John McKnight. We’re invited to imagine, “social relationships ordered around al alternative narrative that is founded on the ideas of neighbourliness and covenant. A cocial order not based on the conception of consumption and contract. Neighbourliness means that our well-being and what really matters is close at hand and can be locally constructed and produced. . . (and)neighbourliness is built on a covenant that serves the common good” ( Peter Block, Walter Bruggemann and John McKnight. An Other Kingdom (2016): Hoboken, New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons, p. xviii.)

Neighbourliness and covenant are expressions of the “greatest commandment”— Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbour as yourselves”.

Now we approach a churchwide convention and we hear of wars escalating and people’s rights and livelihoods being taken from them….What will Jesus’ followers say to their society and how will they say it? So we land where we started….”Why leads to how, and sometimes” they are intertwined.