Preaching on Matthew 4:1-11 for the first Sunday of Lent, Rev. Cari started by acknowledging the announcement this past Tuesday from the Tseshaht Nation. She invited the congregation to pause, to hold the reality with respect and sorrow.

She then proceeded to lift up the voices of Judith Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president, the Rt. Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, UCC Moderator, and Wahmeesh, elected Councillor of the Tseshaht Nation.

When she turned to the text, it was to place it in context of its larger story – the moment when Moses brought the sacred Law before the people of Israel. The meaning of the sparring sessions between Jesus and the adversary in the wilderness (sometimes called the “temptations” in the wilderness) comes through clearly in that context.

God is at the centre. Though the adversary wants Jesus to put himself there, Jesus’ vision remains clear. God is trustworthy.

On the eve of Lent, the United Church of Canada has been invited by the Tseshaht nation on a journey of humility, instruction and strengthening, to put Indigenous voices and experience at the centre, to trust God who loves us, and to quietly learn different muscle memory than we are in the habit of flexing… to decolonize our hearts, minds and habits.