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

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
March 9, 2025 

Prayer of the Day 
O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

9 Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’

11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

SERMON
Maybe you’ve had a cardiac stress test to figure out just how much the ol’ ticker can take. The word “test” as it applies to Jesus’ wilderness experience is the perfect word. How much pressure can the one called beloved son withstand before he sells out or gives in? Each of the tests operates on multiple levels and at their core, each test becomes one of integrity—is Jesus the One the Divine voice says he is? Is he truly trust-worthy? Jesus is filled with the Spirit of God and even led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God. The tests are dressed up in religious language peppered with misquoted scripture.

Jesus withstands pressure with his own resistance—Jesus quotes scripture to reaffirm his loyalty, not to win arguments or manipulate anybody. We might think a minute about the ways in which Jesus’ followers and now the church faces tests of our own. The Spirit puts Jesus in the wilderness—just like God led a liberated people through the wilderness. These places are scary. We’re vulnerable. Luke puts Jesus age at 30-considering most poor people in Jesus’ world seldom lived to see 40 tells us something. Jesus isn’t Superman…he’s already old relatively speaking and here he is in the wilderness having not eaten for a long time. Jesus’ vulnerability reminds us of our own. The tests come when we haven’t trained or prepared.

We might be cave in to the desires for quick fixes or even dusting off some of our former ways in hopes of being the thriving places we imagine or remember ourselves being. Worse, we might be succumb to the current popular practice among some calling themselves Christian to decide who’s human and who’s not and justify ourselves by twisting words of scripture.

The devil’s opportune time to retest Jesus comes at his execution. The test is mouthed by hecklers saying that if he really is the Son of God he should Houdini his way off the executioner’s scaffold. What would happen to this part of God’s agenda to bless and save the world had Jesus used his divine power and privilege to end his human suffering?

We’re not Jesus, though. We might feel the weight of the world and just want to bail. There’s a reason Jesus taught us the prayer that has the words, “save us from the time of trial—or testing. Left to our own devices, we are apt to capitulate to the current powers that hoping to find sure footing in life. Such misdirected trust leads to all sorts of actions that make things worse. Part of Lent is a rigorous gut check.

When the stress test feels overwhelming we ask of ourselves as church and as people of faith: To whom are we loyal? Really? Whom do we trust? Really?

May the Spirit of God that led and sustained Jesus likewise lead and sustain us. Amen.

STARTING SUNDAY, MARCH 9th

Transcript of Service Video (PDF text format)

Sermon 🔊 (audio only)

Gospel and Sermon (PDF text format)

Worship Guide

MORE INFO HERE

MORE INFO HERE

TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY MARCH 2, 2025

Prayer of the Day: Holy God, mighty and immortal, you are beyond our knowing, yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Transform us into the likeness of your Son. Illumine the world with your image —through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a] 28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. 39 Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was being brought forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43a And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

SERMON
What do you suppose finally led Peter, James and John to break their silence about about seeing Jesus’ transfigured as he prayed on the mountain?

It fits that we would need assurance that what happens to Jesus in Jerusalem isn’t only yet another example of the empire crushing dissenters—-

Let’s look at just one unique feature Luke includes in his telling of the event. Luke reports what Jesus, Moses and Elijah talk about Jesus pending arrest and execution. Luke uses the word EXODUS. Jesus is revealed as liberator.

Moses and Elijah know a thing or two about liberation and freedom from oppression. God’s liberating ways are like a vibrant thread woven through a tapestry of scripture. Israel’s experience is defined by the Exodus. The early stories lead up to Exodus and the Law and prophets operate in light of its reality.

Is the cloud that overshadows the disciples meant to remind us of the cloud that leads the Hebrew refugees to a promised land? Is the voice from above meant to remind us of the one that speaks to Moses, giving Ten Words that would teach a people to live liberated lives?

A divine word that Jesus is the beloved reprises words spoken from above at his baptism and they foreshadow the confessional words from the executioner—words accompanied, not incidentally by darkness, seismic tremors, and the shredding the Temple curtain in half. This liberator is revealed as God’s own beloved…the one who preached in synagogue saying he would be fulfillment the prophet’s vision of liberation for the captive, good news for the poor and the year of the Lord’s favour.

What happens after the transfiguration is also most revealing. In this season of epiphany or as some call it manifestation we see Jesus at work. The disciples fail to do what they were once able to do; so Jesus liberates a child oppressed by a spirit that slams the child to the ground in seizures and convulsions. Soon thereafter the disciples would be ensnared with petty squabbles over which one of them was greatest. Jesus overrides the trap telling his followers that welcoming a child in his name is a mark of a true follower. It is still a very long way to Jerusalem with pitfalls and setbacks at every turn. Yet Jesus is present even in the setbacks…undeterred from who he is and what he is destined to do—to be the agent of liberation for all and of all.

Epiphany gives way to Lent, and we continue on, straining to listen for Christ’s call for us to follow and squinting for glimpses of God’s liberating ways in our lives and in the world.

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany-February 23, 2025

Prayer of the Day (from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi)
O Lord Jesus, make us instruments of your peace, that where there is hatred, we may sow love, where there is injury, pardon, and where there is despair, hope. Grant, O divine master, that we may seek to console, to understand, and to love in your name, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
[Jesus said:] 27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

SERMON
What does it mean that God is merciful? Imagine thoughts and feelings so powerful they propel you to act. The rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel interprets much of the Hebrew Bible through the lens of appreciating God as passionate and compassionate. Unpacking the word “compassion” com+passio gives us the idea of suffering with those who suffer. When Jesus calls on us to be merciful, he is inviting us collectively to live compassionately. The next words about compassion come from the writer and teacher Henri Nouwen, known for his gentleness and compassion:

Father Nouwen, we can aspire to be a compassionate people, yet…. ….My hospital training and experience introduced me to the concept of “compassion fatigue” and it also introduced such fatigue to me first hand. One charge nurse whom I knew to be highly caring and competent admitted in the break room one day that she feared she had a “broken give a darn”. I was feeling the same thing, just lacking words to describe the experience.

Weeping with those who weep and suffering with those who suffer is not the way of our world…it certainly wasn’t the way of the Roman empire which valued raw power and unrelenting conquering. These days we’re learning unconditional positivity is toxic. It shames those who struggle when society insists “it’s all good and designed to be…always upward, always bigger and better. Some of us sense all of that is unravelling with appalling speed.

Maybe some self compassion is in order for each of us. It matters that Jesus is speaking to a whole community when he casts a vision for contrasting society of people who live as merciful and compassionate. It also matters that Jesus is steeped in traditions that know how to lament and grieve. Our bishop has specialized training in working with those who grieve. There’s fire in her eyes when she says ours is a death-denying grief illiterate culture. It matters that Jesus weeps. It also matters that Jesus lived as creatures were designed to live; times of activity alternating with times of rest. Jesus would speak about taking cues from nature where plants and animals don’t appear to think the world’s fate rests upon incessant worry or activity.

We can take cues from the traditions Jesus learned and revered as we seek to be people of compassion. These traditions are gifts community—we’re together, not alone. In community that might mean spelling each other once in a while just as geese do when flying in formation and taking turns flying in front where the drag and wind resistance is greatest…and taking a turn toward the rear of the flock, being drafted along by the other birds in flight.

Besides the gift of community, we have the gift of lamenting. As my mentor Anna reminded me, Augustine’s words about hope having two daughters—grief at how things are and courage to live into the merciful and just way of life Jesus maps out.

We also have the gift of being part of nature, not above it. We are creatures who need rest and renewal on occasion that we might delight in friendship with nature, with God and with other human beings—that friendship is how the late Daniel Erlander defines Sabbath.

Jesus later warns the disciples that his path of compassion would be arduously difficult. He adds, not as an afterthought, those even as we fear losing our grip on life, we would find life. For those of us who feel numb, overwhelmed or helpless, we might remind each other that God gives us gifts of community, lament and creatureliness. For those of us who feel like our give a darn is broken or at least sprained will discover that the little bits of compassion we offer are tiny echo of the overflowing compassion God plops right into our laps.