Sermons

First Sunday in Lent

Sunday 10th February at 10am

Maureen Williams
Readings: Matthew 9: 9-13

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

Today is a special day at St Edmund's. Lesley will be baptising five babies in the service this morning. Evie, Matthew, Lilith, Poppy and Alexandra are at the beginning of a journey of faith which will last throughout their lives. The saying goes that every journey begins with a single step. The step of faith their parents and godparents are making for them begins that journey with baptism. It is a beginning full of happiness and celebration as these children are baptised into God's family.

But today is also an ending, because we are saying goodbye to Lesley. It is Lesley's last day at St. Edmund's, the ending of her time with us as she prepares for a new beginning in her life as she moves across Leeds to a new church at Hawksworth Wood. This ending is sad because we shall miss her. But we must not let the sadness get in the way of the genuine thankfulness we have for all she has shared with us and given to us during her time here. Our prayers and loving support go with you, Lesley, as you move on in this new stage of your journey.

All journeys of faith will involve change, but through it all the one constant will be God. He never changes and neither does his love for us. Our beginnings and endings are in his hands and as he looks forward to the future and sees what we cannot see, he invites us to trust him. Baptism involves a step of trust, just as Lesley's move to a new parish involves a step of trust that this is where God is calling her to be.

In our journeys, we are not alone. You may remember the prayer, 'Footprints in the sand'. A man is walking along a beach and notices two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him and one to God. Looking back, he notices that at some times in his life there has been only one set of footprints - at the lowest and saddest parts of his life. He questions God about it. 'I don't understand,' he says, 'why, when I needed you most you would leave me.' God replies, ' My precious child, I love you and I will never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.'

In all our journeys of faith, we can trust the promise that God made to Joshua in the Old Testament and Paul reminds new Christians about in the New Testament. God's promise is, ' I will never leave you, nor forsake you.' Joshua 1:5 and Hebrews 13:5.

In the bible reading we heard about a step of faith for Matthew, a new beginning in his life as he committed himself to following Jesus. In this new commitment it seems that Matthew was given a new name. In Mark and Luke's gospels we hear him called Levi and only named Matthew in the list of disciples later on.

Names are important. Lesley will NAME Evie, Matthew, Lilith, Poppy and Alex as she baptises them - in the NAME of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the OT the prophet Isaiah writes that God says to his people, 'I have written your name on the palms of my hands.' Isaiah 49:16. Each one of us is precious to God and our names are remembered by him. He knows us and sees what we are capable of.

Jesus saw what Matthew was, despised as a tax collector for the Roman authorities - an outcast from society - but he also saw what he could be. He saw the end as well as the beginning. Matthew means 'gift of God'. Jesus saw that Matthew had the potential to be God's gift to others and this is what he became. His skills of record-keeping have given us a gospel witness to Jesus which is one of the most significant documents in history.

We are not perfect: we are flawed human beings like Matthew, yet Jesus accepts us as we are. Not only that - he sees our potential and what we are capable of becoming.

Yet it must have been a shock to the other disciples when Jesus chose Matthew. How could Jesus have thought that fishermen could have felt comfortable with the tax collector who had exploited them? How did he expect Simon the Patriot, a member of the local Resistance movement, to be in the same team of disciples as Matthew the Roman collaborator? Jesus' choice shows us that he expects change - changed attitudes, changed priorities, forgiveness and the making right of past wrongs.

Matthew's reaction to his change of life was to celebrate and throw a party. I wonder if that is what our baptism families are planning for later! I am told that there is a party for us all at the end of this service to send Leslie on her way with our love and blessing.

But first, as they are baptised, we shall pray for Evie, Matthew, Lileth, Poppy and Alex - that they will grow in their new relationship with God and, as it says in the baptism service, that they will CONTINUE to remain faithful to Christ to the end of their lives. It is our responsibility to help them by continuing to pray for them. It is also our responsibility to REMAIN FAITHFUL to the commitments made at our baptism if we have been baptised.

Baptism marks a new beginning for these children. It also offers the chance of a new beginning for us. Please pray for these children. Pray for Lesley. And pray for each of us here, that we may heed God's call to us to move on in a journey of faith which will lead to our spiritual home.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay