Saint Matthew's

A pastor friend of mine out in Wyoming sent me a copy of this article from the Indianapolis Star (a good newspaper) regarding the start of a public relations campaign centered on why the Church is wrong about homosexuality. Oh, if you thought that is was a social or community group embarking on this campaign, nah.

Sadly, it’s a church.

Why is it that people – even within the Church – can’t understand what sin is? We are all sinners, every last one of us. Sin isn’t just what we as people DO, it is also what we THINK and ARE. Everybody sins.

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Today in our Church we remember the Visitation of Mary, the mother of our Lord, to Elizabeth, her cousin and mother of John the Baptist. The babe in Elizabeth’s womb jumped when he heard Mary’s voice – something that Elizabeth recognized and proclaimed to Mary the blessedness of her duty to bear the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah. This visit is recounted in Saint Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 1, verses 39-56.

It got me to think a little bit about how us Lutherans have relegated Mary to almost an after-thought. Oh, we remember her at Christmas time — we have to since she gave birth to our Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, we remember her on Good Friday when our Lord Jesus is hanging on the cross. But otherwise, we don’t focus a lot of our thoughts on Mary, the Mother of God, because our focus is on the fruit of her womb, Jesus, and what He has done for us.

It is faith in Christ alone that saves, not faith in His mother. It is by faith alone in Christ that we are graciously offered the gift of eternal life in heaven, not that we trust that Mary trusted in the promise of God. We don’t believe Mary was assumed into heaven and lives today in bodily form. We do believe Mary, just like the rest of humanity, is awaiting the Second Coming of her Son, she and all who have gone before us from grave and each us from our daily walk.

But we must remember the Blessed Mother Mary for what she did — she trusted wholeheartedly in the promise of God. When the angel Gabriel told her she was to bear the Messiah, she put her faith and trust in God. She didn’t waver. She didn’t get all weak-at-the-knees. Instead, she trusted God. Betrothed to be married and a virgin and knowing what being pregnant before marriage would do to her reputation in her community, she didn’t doubt God and would indeed give birth to God’s Son, the one who would save the world from their sins.

Mary gives us all an example of what it means to trust God. In our day and age when when society as a whole believes that trusting in one’s self is always superior to trusting in a God “you can’t see” (try coming to church once in a while and truly see our Lord Jesus), Mary shows how to trust our loving and gracious Father in heaven.

I was asked this weekend by a parishioner about how I get ready on Sunday morning for service. It is an interesting question. I never thought of it before – since I never realized that there is an organized way in which I prepare for worship.

Waking up on Sunday morning and preparing mentally for our worship service is always stressful. I go over my sermon several times – as I make my bed, in the shower (no, I don’t sing). After getting dressed, I check the written portion of my sermon and compare it to what I “know” about it (it is like memorizing, but it really isn’t). Then I read through the prayers that take me way to long to write on Saturday. I pull out the weekly bulletin and review the service, practicing the Introit to see if I can hit the notes. By then, coffee should be done and the clock should read 5:30A.

I check email, turn on the radio (XM’s country station, Highway 16), and wait patiently for the newspapers to arrive. Usually the Bergen Record arrives first, but for some reason, whoever is delivering the NY Post these past three weeks has been throwing it on the driveway before 6A. I flip through the papers, checking the news and reading the sports section. Then, more coffee.

By this time, it is usually 8:15 or 8:30A – all of which means I head out to church. At church, I make sure the Sunday School materials are ready, I set up the altar with my prayers, the lecturn with the readings of the day, the pulpit with a copy of my sermon. If I need to make copies of anything, I have the time. Sunday School comes and I run downstairs. Afterwards, I head back upstairs to the sacristy, get vested, and head out to the narthex to greet people.

But before walking out to the narthex, I pull this little card out of my desk and recite it:

Lord God, You have apointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and heart to You; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument — but do not foresake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.

That is Luther’s Sacristy Prayer – a perfect way to remember who I am and why I am there. Humbling and beautiful.

And that is how I start my Sunday…

Do you need evidence that there is evil in this world? Hold on to your lunch after clicking here.

I know – I’m a pastor and I’m not supposed to hate.

But I hate humidity. It slows my computer down. It slows me down. Ugh!

When I was in seminary, I never thought about officiating at baptisms, weddings, and funerals. My focus, and I would suspect all of my classmates, was to finish up our studies and get out into the parish to bring to God’s people His gifts. Oh, that other “stuff” would come when needed.

Since starting here at Saint Matthew’s last July, I have had the opportunity to officiate at baptisms and funerals, and even at a memorial service for a member. But not a wedding … until last night.

All week I have been nervous about actually standing there and officiating. A part of me was worried about fumbling over lines, that my little sermon wouldn’t make a bit of sense, and that I would somehow make a huge mistake and ruin the wedding. Another part of me was incredibly humbled at the fact of what I was doing: standing there in the stead of our Lord to publicly bless the union of the married couple.

In fact, as I was going through the ceremony (held at the beautiful Newark Club on Route 21 in Newark, New Jersey), I couldn’t help but think about the power of God’s words about what it means for two people to come together as one flesh. While marriage is a government action – a pastor can’t marry someone without the couple having a marriage license – it is a magnificent and direct Godly act that formally, in the eyes of our Lord, brings the couple together as husband and wife.

Following the ceremony as we were going up in the elevator, looking into the eyes of the newly married couple, I thought I saw the look NOT of “it’s over,” but the look of “it’s just beginning.” The two of them know the importance of marriage and what it means for both of them, in their lives and to their Lord. At that moment, they were looking forward to pictures and the reception (I have to say, the reception was top-notch). But for Kari and Bryan, their journey is just beginning.

As for me, I was looking forward to some wine because the stress I put on myself throughout the week could only be hidden by bad jokes for so long.

Just one thought on the Newark Club — yes, it is in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Those in New Jersey know all the jokes and stories about the city. But the downtown area is wonderful – outside of those very, very long traffic lights! The Newark Bears independent baseball team had a home game last night, and being on the 22nd Floor of the building, we could see the ballpark. One nice touch: last night, the Bears had fireworks (which we thanked the bride’s father for providing).

The Newark Club, up some 22 floors, means that the views all around were incredible. You could see into New York City. You could see the planes landing at Newark Liberty airport. You could see for miles in all directions, even with the thunderstorms that rolled through between 9P and 11P. And the food — holy smokes!! It was exceptional beautiful and it was a sincere humbled pleasure on my part to have even played a tiny role in last night.

I got home a little past 1A and after the caffeine of the espresso ran its course, got to sleep sometime after 2:15A (the last time I remembered looking at the clock). And yes, I woke up around 5:30A…

I have been outspoken about my disagreement with the overall Synodical love-in over the “Ablaze!” program that our LC-MS has embarked.

My criticism has been leveled at the program because of its over-emphasis on counting, its focus a developing a small-group idealistic “house church,” and its drain on financial resources. However, the overall idea of congregational evangelistic enrichment and enlivement is something that I and many others who have criticized “Ablaze!” do support.

On this day after the Ascension, we cannnot forget what our Lord Jesus commanded His disciples, and in turn, all of us — to go and baptize all nations in the name of the Triune God and to teach all that He has commanded. This is the direction that the lives of all Christians must take because we are children of God — sons of God, to use an important Old Testament link — and our mission in life is to tell others the Good News of Jesus Christ.

That is what we are preparing our hearts to do here at Saint Matthew’s. We are building faithful lives of mission where all congregants (and yes, even this pastor) are reaching out to those who need to hear about the saving message of Jesus. This is evangelism in its purest sense.

I came across a blog entry from a soon-to-be-seminarian as I was scanning the internet this morning. He makes the same point, a point that I have been stressing and that our evangelism team (our Vision Team) has been teaching here at Saint Matthew’s: it is reaching out and telling the Good News that counts, and all of us, from all ages, can do it. Give it a read.

Great article by Joseph Farah over at WorldNetDaily – he deals with the The Da Vinci Code movie and the controversy surrounding it. He hasn’t gone and seen the film yet. Why?

No, I wouldn’t torture myself so. Nor would I do anything that could potentially line the pockets of those involved with this lie from the pit of hell…

I’m upset because so many Americans supported it (the movie). It reminds me of the Romans going to the Coliseum to watch Christians torn apart by wild animals. That’s what you are doing when you pay to buy the book or see the movie. You might as well be hammering nails into Jesus’ hands and feet all over again. That Americans would do this in such numbers in 2006 is disturbing.

This is, after all, the country birthed by freedom fighters declaring their independence from tyranny and marching into battle chanting “No king but Jesus!”

Great reason. Why help make rich those who blaspheme God?

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Luke 24:44-53

…Newsweek does this:

Dan Brown has made millions off of a phony story about Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ being married and having a child and that Christ’s bloodline continues. It is a fake story, yet the mainstream media salivates over this stuff. Newsweek’s story is nothing more than an attempt to continue this glorification (in a societal way) of heretical ideas that hit at the foundation of Christianity.

Too bad they still don’t get: no matter their attempts to take a wrecking ball to the Christian Church, they will not overcome it.

Thanks be to God!

OK. Why name a blog after the greatest “out” pitch in baseball today?

For those who don’t know, the cutter is one of those pitches that has been perfected by Yankees reliever, Mariano Rivera. It just explodes inside on batters, causing them either to foul the ball off or weakly hit it in play — with the added benefit that the bat will be shattered. For left handed hitters, this pitch is just plain deadly, in a baseball sense.

Why not name a blog written by a pastor who has promised to uphold the doctrines of the church in a culture that wants him to turn his back on them? The answers to society must come hard and fast — they must explode inside, breaking the foundational tenet of a society that believes in nothing and accepts the notion that there is no truth.

That was my intention when I started writing this blog a couple of months ago. That’s where I stand today.

By now, the crucified Madonna story has made it to the morning papers. The comments regarding Madonna’s “act” have been unanimous: she’s blaspheming Christ.

But if you think Madonna is bad, check this audio out over at the Huffington Post. Making fun of Jesus Christ just seems to be in these days.

“The public ministry (Predigtamt) has the power to preach the Gospel and administer the holy sacraments as well as the power of spiritual judgment.” Church and Ministry, Thesis V, Dr. C.F.W. Walther

Walther says it so clearly, and pastors should heed his words. While the world tells us not to judge, that we should basically ignore the sin and love the sinner, Walther pulls back the cover on this false societal doctrine of loving one’s neighbor at any cost. A pastor must stand firm in the Word and condemn sin. Whenever a member of the clergy rejects the condemnation of sin to a sinner, one fails in one of the major parts of the office that he holds.

Many times, people in today’s culture don’t want to hear that what they do is wrong. Name the issue. Abortion. Sex outside of marraige. Using God’s name as fodder in a heated vulgar attack. Society wants to be told that we should love the sinner, but ignore the sin. Ah, dear sinner! You need to hear the condemnation of your sin. You need to move from that sin and pray for strength from our Almighty God that you do not fall back into that sin. You need to repent of your sin, and God will listen and proclaim the forgivness won by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, people in churches don’t realize the difficulties that pastors face when we hear of sin issues of congregation members, friends of the church, or even in our families that rip at our souls. Most of the time people only see their pastor on Sunday morning during worship. We put on the “happy face” for everyone to see. But this pastoral office isn’t an easy one. Not that we want it to be an easy one – we want to be His undershepherd to help Him guide and teach those in His flock. We are to care for souls – our duty as called and ordained pastors. That is why we were called by God out of our lives to take up the cross and follow Him who saves.

But there are times when understanding the difficulties that a member of the clergy faces on a daily basis is important. And one of the areas all clergy people face hardship is in the area of judging sin.

People don’t want to hear it. But they must. And it rips at the soul of a pastor who must trust in God’s Word alone and reject the “easy as it goes” culture that tells everyone to forget the sin and love the sinner. For if a pastor turns from God’s Word and plays footsie with the society and its norms, God’s Word becomes meaningless and only used on Sunday morning for an hour during worship. And I won’t do that! Judging sin – it is what I and all pastors must do. Period.

Last night while watching “24,” I was figuring out how to publicize photos we take of various activities here at Saint Matthew’s. I’ve seen a site used by other bloggers before – called Flickr. It is a photo-storage system owned by Yahoo! and it allows for “outsiders” to view our pictures. I am still trying to figure how to use it right. But I did set it up and uploaded a few pictures I had taken of the church.

The link? Click here.

I will be uploading more in the coming days. But I have to understand how to use it properly.

And speaking of “24,” wow! What a show!

The Drudge Report is reporting this morning that pop singer Madonna’s latest tour is starting off with a little controversy: there is a point in the show where Madonna is raised up on a cross. The Drudge photo:

I guess this continues her “pushing the envelope” using the Christian Church as fodder to sell records. She’s done this type of stunt in the past, using religious symbols in her music videos that have showed a lack of respect for the Church. But what can we expect – when a movie purports to claim that the Jesus of Holy Scripture is a fake, a book claims that Jesus never died at the crucifixion, and that Jesus’ betrayer actually didn’t betray him, Christianity is on the defensive.

Actually, the Madonna on a Cross thing is tame compared to the other stuff.

UPDATE: Drudge has updated his page, linking to a Reuters’ story about Madonna’s crucifixion.

UPDATE 6:33P: Apparently, some within Christendom are making statements against Madonna and her disrespect for the faith.  Good. What she did is slap all Christians in the face with her complete disrespect for the meaning of the cross.