First Sunday in Lent – March 8, 2025

In today’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus wandered in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. During that time he was tempted by the devil.

“In the wilderness”… We so often think of a desert or a barren area when we hear the phrase in the wilderness. But I think instead we should consider using the phrase “in the chaos.” There are many places in our lives where chaos reigns.

I wonder when in your life, you have been wandering… through the chaos. Scrolling through Facebook to try to find some semblance of hope. Using alcohol as a crutch to support you through the despair. Latching onto people who lead you in ways that are unhealthy because you long for connection. And I wonder how many of you were wandering through the chaos and found this place – this haven of love and stability – this church we call home.

Throughout Lent, we’ll have an opportunity together to talk about the welcome we receive through God. For many of us, talking about our faith and our church is one of the most difficult things that we can do. But we know that personal invitation to others is important. We know it’s important to be and feel welcomed when we walk through the doors. We understand how valuable it is to listen to the stories of those who come, to recognize their gifts, and to connect them with others here. This process is the essence of living into our beloved Baptismal Covenant!

I firmly believe that every visitor who enters our church does so by the invitation of the Holy Spirit. We’ve all heard stories from a visitor who “just felt like he should come to our church” or how one person “drove by your church every day on my way to work for five years and never noticed it, but then I just saw it and felt I should visit” or how “she noticed the church sign and it called to her.” We have a responsibility to honor these invitations by the Spirit by welcoming, inviting, and connecting each person to the church.

This doesn’t happen by accident, though. It happens when we cultivate a spirit of inviting people, welcoming them, and connecting them in all that we do. To do that, we need to move from maintenance (keeping members) to mission (reaching out to new members). Jesus calls us to be fishers of people. Jesus throws the party here at church, and our job – as guests, because Jesus is the host – is to share it with others.

First, we’re encouraged to invite others to the party. When we are excited about our faith and this place, it isn’t hard to want others to have the same experience. It’s joy, through and through.

Second, once folks come to our doors, we have to open them wide. Our goal is to make everyone feel like they are the most important people in the world to God. (This isn’t really hard, because it’s completely true!).

Last, once folks have been welcomed in, we need to introduce them to others and make them feel at home. It’s so easy to slip through that back door before coffee hour and never return. But we need to find ways that the people feel important to our community and connected.

But truthfully, this all starts with us talking about our faith and our church. We pray that God gives us the courage to step outside of our comfort zone. We pray for our hearts to reflect God’s gracious invitation and welcome, because this table is not ours, but rather God’s table. Living into our faith is a lifelong process that begins with our intentions and a decision to reflect Christ in our actions.

Because God desires us to be in relationship – with God and with one another. You’ve heard me quote Archbishop Desmond Tutu a lot… because he has a lot of great quotes. He once said, “We say in our African idiom, ‘A person is a person through other persons.’” Because I need you in order to be who I am. And you need other people (and me) in order to be who you are. We are caught up in interconnectedness, in being in relationship with one another.