Pt. Colborne
Sermon 🔉 (audio only)
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Second Sunday in Lent March 1, 2026
Prayer of the Day
O God, our leader and guide, in the waters of baptism you bring us to new birth to live as your children. Strengthen our faith in your promises, that by your Spirit we may lift up your life to all the world through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
GOSPEL Reading: John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
SERMON
Poor Marge Griffith… trying to teach us long division and one toe headed, tall-for-his-age kid just isn’t catching on—she begins rhythmically thumping her head against the chalkboard, quietly muttering, “no, no, no”.
Even those who didn’t get long division, pour out prayers of lament for the world that sound a bit accusatory—“when will we learn?”
War in Ukraine grinds into its fifth year—according the the bishop in Jerusalem and the Holy Lands, it’s possible that Palestinian people will be extinct in ten years. This from the guy whose own mother was detained as she was on her way to his ordination; despite having had been granted special advance permission.
In Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Nigeria and the the world over, we keep killing each other. The world’s wealthy have their riches compounded by the minute while the poorest have nothing. The so-called middle class appears to be shrinking away.
I wonder how often God—however you might imagine God—bumps a divine forehead against a dented chalkboard, muttering , “no, no no”.
It’s not that God hasn’t intervened before—or laid out the ancient and always curriculum that Jesus calls “the kingdom of God”.
Many rabbis teach that if humanity was to get anywhere, it had to be birthed out of the womb-y paradise of Eden into a world with actual people in it.
When Cain tries to justify his lethal violence, his snarky sounding question to God is whether he is his sibling’s keeper. God’s answer reverberates through the whole of scripture, “Why yes, as a matter of fact you are.”
Umpteen generations later, God’s Spirit endows Moses with a heap of gumption and enslaved people are liberated from Pharaoh’s oppression. So begins a long birthing process happens among a rag tag group of slaves as they become a nation. The wilderness gestation is also schooling—Moses imparts God’s teachable moment to the generations that follow— ‘Remember what it’s like to be a slave on the run? Remember what it’ like being a refugee and a stranger? Keep that in mind when refugees and strangers cross your land.
Pr. Daniel Erlander writes that the manna people eat is both dinner and an object lesson. We experience God’s mercy and learn the obligation to be merciful. Umpteen generations after that, a settled, conquered, and then resettled people don’t quite get the memo and God’s forehead continues to smite the cosmic chalkboard. Spirit inspires prophets to repeat the “kingdom of God curriculum” of justice, mercy and devotion to God.
Jesus recites God’s ancient and always curriculum when Nicodemus visits by night for that conversation on the sly. Some preachers like me are guilty of bashing Nicodemus for being obtuse. The master preacher and teacher of other preachers Anna Carter Florence reminds us that Nicodemus eventually comes around. Not at first. Certainly not in the conversation we’ve read this morning. Maybe he’s getting there when a group of his co-religionists fears that Jesus’ activity could get picked up by the Roman radar, then they all would be targets. Nicodemus doesn’t defend Jesus exactly-he points to their own process reminding them that the accused have the right to face their accusers. In the end, Nicodemus gets it—he and another wealthy person named Joseph risk their public standing and possibly their own necks when they arrange for Jesus’ internment after he’s executed.
Professor Carter Florence says Nicodemus’ long learning curve is exactly what John’s Gospel wants us to pay attention to. Nicodemus comes around. Eventually. He learns when he learns, as my educator friend Jolene says. Not incidentally, she said those words to me when I was acting a bit know-ier-than-thou wondering why people can be so clueless.
Ultimately, the Gospel truth for us is that we’ll learn when we learn—albeit slowly. Meanwhile, Spirit of God relentlessly loves us and teaches us that God has already birthed us into the Kingdom of God—or as Moses and his people call it; The restoration of all things.
Quoted from the History of St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church book (link below)
150th Anniversary Service and Luncheon Photos – February 22, 2026
City of Welland Presentation – February 22, 2026
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT February 22, 2026
Prayer of the Day
Lord God, our strength, the struggle between good and evil rages within and around us, and the devil and all the forces that defy you tempt us with empty promises. Keep us steadfast in your word, and when we fall, raise us again and restore us through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
1 Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
SERMON
Over the last two weeks, many of us have sat nestled into our recliners and couches thrilling at the sight of Olympians putting their bodies through seemingly superhuman feats.
From these same couches and recliners, we watch in real time as big and heavily armed bodies, and rich influential bodies subjugate weaker bodies, children’s bodies, black and brown bodies, poor bodies, and gender diverse bodies. And since always we’ve been told, “that’s just the way it is.”
Well… God isn’t having it. Jesus embodies God’s response right there in the wilderness and in everything that follows.
You might be seeing this year’s Lenten devotions curated by Lutherans Connect— we post links on the church’s facebook page. Deacon Sherry Coman focuses her reflections upon bodies: our bodies, other people’s bodies and Jesus’ body. Such a provocative perspective gives us another way to enter into the account of Jesus facing temptation in the wilderness.
The Spirit literally launches Jesus’s body into hostile environs. Jesus’ body becomes weak and vulnerable from extreme hunger and thirst and from heat and cold. As if on cue, the tempter trots out his elevator speech aimed at inducing Jesus to sell out God’s plan to bless and save the world. “If you are who you say you are, use your power to your own advantage…Create bread from stones— not only daily bread but so much bread you could be set for life”. Life is more than daily bread, the scriptures say—God’s life giving word aims toward the restoration of all things.
True Jesus would work wonders, multiplying loaves— not to show off, but to feed bodies reeling from hunger. Later Jesus breaks bread with his followers and tells them that in the same way he will give his own body for the life of the world. And today, we receive bread along with Jesus’ words, “This is my body, given for you.”
One gambit failing him, the tempter yanks Jesus body up to the pinnacle of the Temple and tries to goad him into throwing his body off the precipice— tempter twists scripture to justify his treachery. Alas, God is not to be manipulated into doing parlour tricks for the tempter’s amusement. But God does hear the cry of the oppressed and sends liberators, prophets and redeemers.
Next, the tempter frog marches Jesus to a high mountain—there he offers him absolute power if only he would throw his body to the ground and swear allegiance to the tempter. Jesus invokes the Creator, the Most Holy as being the only one… not the Tempter, Not Rome, not Pilate… as worthy of allegiance.
From that allegiance to the one who creates and restores, Jesus climbs another mountain, and meets the crowds to spell out God’s design for the world: those who grieve find comfort, the poor are blessed, and lives of mercy, authenticity, and empathy are God-blessed lives.
Jesus’ life and even his death shouts an emphatic NO to tempter and the sort of power that keeps others down.
God’s last word is spoken when Jesus is raised from the dead—God’s last word is YES—yes to humanity, yes the planet, and yes to God’s mending of all creation.
St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Welland, Ontario, Canada 
City of Welland Flowerbed (Broadway Ave and Reg.54) commemorating our 150th Anniversary (photo taken June 2-26)