Saint Matthew's

For all my complaining recently over the lack of quality in my sermons and my delivery, I ran across this quotation from Martin Luther today while going through my private devotions. This quote is taken from the Minister’s Prayer Book, edited by John Doberstein:

“A good preacher should have these qualities and virtues. First, he should be able to teach in a right and orderly way. Second, he should have a good head. Third, he should be able to speak well. Fourth, he should have a good voice. Fifth, a good memory. Sixth, he should know when to stop. Seventh, he should be sure of his material and be diligent. Eighth, he should stake body and life, good and honor on it. Ninth, he must suffer himself to be vexed and flayed by everybody.”

For some reason, Luther always seems to have the right words at the right time.

If you reading this post, then you should know that one of our biggest problems at Saint Matthew’s (if you can even call it a problem) has been solved at least temporarily: I have extended my wireless Internet network from the parsonage into the church offices. The signal is pretty good. Come to church on Wednesday night and I will tell you all about it.

I saw this in this morning’s New York Post and I thought it was funny. It is religious in nature … and it’s a comic:

I have updated the sermon portion of the site with this week’s edition … If you are coming to church, you can pick one up at the door.

And if you want to read a really good sermon (used different readings for today), then check this one out by Pastor Dietrich in Central Illinois.

…I basically took the week off from blogging…

I received the following joke in an email — it was so cute, I had to post it.

When Mother Teresa died and went to heaven, God greeted her at the Pearly Gates. “Be thou hungry, Mother Teresa?” asked God.

“I could eat,” she replied. So, God opened a can of tuna, unwrapped a loaf of rye bread, and they began to share it.
While eating the humble tuna sandwich, Mother Teresa looked down into Hell and saw the inhabitants devouring huge steaks, lobsters, pheasant and pastries. Curious, but deeply trusting, she remained quiet.

The next day, God invited her to join him for a meal. Again, it was tuna and rye bread. Once again, Mother Teresa could see the denizens of Hell enjoying lamb, turkey and apple pie. Still, she said nothing.

The following day, mealtime arrived and another can of tuna was opened. She couldn’t contain herself any longer. Meekly, she asked, “God, I am grateful to be in heaven with you as a reward for the pious, obedient life I led. But here! in heaven, all I get is tuna and a piece of rye bread, and in the other place they eat like emperors and kings! I just don’t understand it.”

God sighed: “Let’s be honest, Teresa. For two people, it just doesn’t pay to cook.”

Pope Benedict XVI says that people shouldn’t work too hard.

Speaking during his Sunday address at his summer residence south of Rome, the Pope quoted from the writings of St Bernard of Chiaravalle, who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries.

“We have to guard ourselves, the saint observed, from the dangers of excessive activity, regardless of the office one holds, because too many concerns can often lead to hardness of heart,” the Pope said.

Too much work equals hardness of heart. And if you think about it, he is right. When you work too much, your judgment gets more serious — you tend to focus a lot more on the very important details of various issues without directing your mind to look at the bigger picture.

It happens to pastors all the time. If we don’t take a day to wind down a bit, we will always find ourselves being much more judgmental and stubborn. The pressure and stress of this vocation (since being a clergy person is not a job) can get to a person holding the title of Christ’s under-shepherd. We deal with more specific issues with a larger range of congregants and people in the community and the trouble is if someone is going through some tough times, you don’t want a pastor sounding hard-hearted either on the telephone or in person.

That is why taking a day in a week to wind down a bit is important. I have to learn to remember this because I find myself always doing some kind of church work on this day I set aside for myself. Like this morning —- after Morning Prayer, I came home and worked on this coming Sunday’s worship service.

Sometimes you just miss the mark.

I missed the mark this weekend with my sermon. For some reason, even though I worked on it all week, it had a “rushed” quality to it. I re-read last night and I just didn’t like it. I could have done better. And after reading this coming week’s readings, I pray the Holy Spirit is getting ready to pound some great inspiration into my brain…

It was nice to have Pastor Leroy Leach of Holy Trinity in Yonkers yesterday in attendance at our worship service. Afterwards, we spent some time talking and discussing various issues. We have to do this more often since we don’t really live that far away from one another (about 17 miles and one George Washington Bridge ride).

Late yesterday, I started outlining our September newsletter. It will be out next weekend in church; in the mail on next Tuesday for those who do not show up for service this weekend, which is a non-communion service, by the way.

And finally, yesterday provided me some time to write in my journal for the first time in a LONG while. When you have to dust off a journal, it has been too long. What I try to do is focus my entries on specific topics, not on a generic “how was my day” post. My topic: why do I worry about everything?

One day, I’ll post that entry here (where I get the opportunity to type it up).

The story about the illegal alien living in a United Methodist Church in Chicago in order to stop her from being deported has gotten me to think: what if this happened here at Saint Matthew’s?

It is not out of the question, by any means. Our county has many illegal aliens living within its borders. Think about the scenario — a person comes to the church asking for sanctuary because they are facing deportation for being in the country illegally. And this person has a son, born in America. What is the church to do? Cover the person as some political prisoner, like what is happening in Chicago?

Or do we preach to the person the necessity of being a loving member of the family of God, one who is redeemed by the blood of Christ, and who must follow the law the government has set down for our well-being. Saint Paul exhorts all Christians in Romans to be fearful of the government because they have the sword of God for a reason.

Breaking the secular law is a no-no, to God and to the country. We cannot as a church promote law breaking as a way to an ends. If some church doesn’t like the nation’s immigration laws, I say the church should get back to work. Christ’s church is not a political entity; it is the sanctuary of God where His people receive His gifts for the forgiveness of sins. The church is where the lost come to receive direction by the Word of God. This is a place where God gives His people the strength to go out into the world and live lives as faithful people.

And part of that is to “take your punishment” when you break the law.

I have been faced with a little difficulty regarding sermon posting over the past couple of weeks. Don’t know why, but I couldn’t post. It wouldn’t let me upload the sermon. I am not a computer expert, but I couldn’t figure it out.

But now get this: Tonight I posted my sermon for tomorrow without any error message.

One day I’ll get it.

Click here to see some of the photos from our “Lil’ Olympians Car Wash” from today. OK, the car wash is still going on as I have posted this entry and the photos. We’ll publish more photos later.

(I can’t find the pictures I took from our Thursday car wash. That was the day when the camp was full!! When I find them, I’ll post them also!)

Seems that our Lord is now making some money for a clothing store in the City.

What would Jesus say about that backless halter minidress?

Forever 21, a popular chain of cheap-chic clothes with stores throughout New York, is literally spreading the Gospel with every sale. When customers leave the shopping emporium with bags full of red cocktail dresses and panties emblazoned with phrases like “Y is for Yummy,” few realize that they are also walking away with a bit of religion.

The owners of the company are devout Christians who print in small type on the bottom of the company’s iconic yellow shopping bags the words: “John 3:16.”

They put the Gospel message on bags. Can’t be any different that watching football games where fans hold up “John 3:16″ signs. My favorite line of the story in this morning’s New York Sun newspaper?

Shoppers interviewed this week said that they had no idea about the John 3:16 on the bottom of their shopping bags.

“Jesus wore clothes,” a 22-year-old from Brooklyn, Jason Schultz, said when informed about the phrase on his bag. He said it didn’t bother him that the company wanted to spread a religious message.

For me, prayer is any private mental moment taken for non-analytical thinking, and for positive purposes.

That is taken from an op-ed column written by Robert M. Thorson in this morning’s Hartford Courant newspaper. Thorson writes about a study showing the “power of prayer” when he cites a study that showed people who were experiencing medical troubles and where prayed for by others got better faster. This is not a new study – it came out originally in April.

Thorson speaks of the weirdness of trying to link the physical and the spiritual worlds because he says that they exist on totally different “mental planets.” He explains it this way:

Objective reality and spiritual reality exist on different mental planets. Using a scientific study to measure the efficacy of prayer is like trying to use a thermometer – rectal, oral, eardrum or otherwise – to measure someone’s mood. The research design won’t work.

I don’t want to spend all day on this one, but I only go by what Holy Scripture says about prayer: God promises to hear our prayers and answer every single one that he receives. Sometimes we may not like the answer we get, but God does answer prayers. No need for studies. No need for scientific guesses. Just give your concerns over to a God who loves you.

I received an email earlier this week asking whether it was proper for Christians to fast before coming to the Lord’s Table and receiving His body and blood in the Sacrament.

During the past several months, I have been talking with other Christians on the differences between Lutheranism and other Christian denominations. As I always say, we base our beliefs solely on the Word of God and on nothing else. If God says something, we tend to listen to it.

For example, in the Sacrament of the Altar, we receive the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in and under the bread and wine. Everyone who comes to the altar receives His body and blood. Now, we try our best to teach the importance of this belief to the members of our church, but most especially, we try to teach it to friends and guests who come to Saint Matthew’s so that they understand what we believe when it comes to the Eucharist celebration.

Where do we get this idea that all receive the Lord’s body and blood? Where do we find this idea that it is actually the body and blood of our Lord Jesus in and under the bread and wine? In Scripture:

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” 1 Corinthians 11:25

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16

“Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 11:27

And most especially:

“Take, eat: this is my body which is given (broken) for you. This do in remembrance of me….Drink of it all of you. This cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for the forgiveness of sins.”

The words are clear. That is what we believe. It is Jesus who spoke the words declaring the bread and wine in the sacrament His body and blood. As our sacrament is defined in Lutheranism, God uses earthly elements to make miracles — namely the forgiveness of sins. That water in a Baptism is just plain tap water; but combined with God’s Word, it is a life-giving water. But it is still water. And in the Sacrament, the bread and wine don’t lose their earthly element nature. They are still bread and wine; but they are now the body and blood of Christ. That is why we don’t pour any wine left from our Holy Communion service back in the wine bottle; we treat it reverently and either consume it or pour it into the ground outside. The same with the host; if there is any remaining, we consume it.

There are some Christian churches who express the need for fasting before receiving the Sacrament, but Scripture tells us otherwise. “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things.” 1 Timothy 4:8. So if you want to fast before receiving the Lord’s Supper, it is fine. It isn’t a rule and it is not necessary. It is fine outward training for the body not to eat before receiving, but if you have a craving for Corn Flakes on Sunday mornings or if you eat dinner before church on Wednesday night, it is fine.

Have you Goodsearch-ed lately?

You can help our ministries here at Saint Matthew’s by typing in our church name on the Goodsearch page and then typing in a search term.