Saint Matthew's

As I type this, my head feels like it is going to explode, my nose is running and won’t stop, and my throat is raw. Yes, I have gotten sick. I hope it is just a quick cold. For the past couple of days, I’ve tried to ignore it and go about my business. There is only one problem with my method of fighting sickness: sometimes the illness gets the best of you. Like it has me today. I am spending the morning trying to turn on the engines to get going. So far, it ain’t working.

PS: It is now fifteen minutes since I posted the above. Bottom line, I’m sick. This revving up engines thing is not working.

"Christ’s suffering and crucifixion is the heart and content of the church and binds all true believers together. You will see that suffering in Christ. You will find the suffering of Christ in the martydom of St. Peter and all the saints who have died for Him. You will find the suffering of Christ written on the pages of the Gospel according to Saint Mark. You will also find this suffering in your own life and in the lives of your fellow believers." (taken from In Christ: The Collected Works of David P. Scaer – Lutheran Confessor, page 229)

What a wonderful passage!! It shows us who we are in Christ – who we are as His redeemed children.

Very interesting story in this morning’s New York Times: a woman is suing her former pastor for breaking a seal of silence  and publicly revealing her sin to the congregation. The woman claims she told her pastor in his role of a professional counselor about problems in her marriage – and the pastor violated the seal of silence as a counselor when he went in front of his congregation and told them what she said.

Besides the fact that this is just slimy on the part of the "pastor," the question remains: what if someone tells the pastor something in confidence, should he blab it all over the place?

Of course, the simple answer is "No." The pastor has an obligation to keep conversations between a parishioner and himself secret. This is especially necessary when it is done in a private confession. But what of a pastor, serving as a marital counselor – should he be bound by the same rules?

First and foremost, the pastor is pastor — it isn’t a normal job. You don’t hang a shingle outside of a church. You don’t work as a pastor from 9 to 5 and on Sunday mornings. Being a ‘pastor’ is who you are fully. You’re never off the clock. If a call comes in at 2A from a troubled parishioner, you can’t tell the person to call back during working hours. Why? Because you are their pastor.

Being a pastor is standing in the stead of Jesus Christ, standing and leading His people as His under-shepherd. Acknowledging that we are human and mess things up sometimes, pastors are ordained into a role where they are just that: a pastor. You are in the role of caring for the souls of church members and others. And caring for souls isn’t a normal job or vocation that can be defined by Webster’s Dictionary.

It is who you are.

In regards to the Times story, it is sickening that this "pastor" believed that publicly rebuking someone who had told him of a rather sinful act that she committed was a loving and Scriptural thing to do. His tact stunk, and he was wrong.

When someone commits a sin and tells it to the pastor, the pastor’s obligation is to lead and to teach the penitent that their actions were wrong and they should repent. In those circumstances where a sinner is unrepentant, the pastor has an obligation to bind that sin on that person and lock the person out from receiving the forgiveness that all sinners long for – and that means, also, to tell them not to come forward for Holy Communion until they repent. It is the Office of the Keys in action, keys given to the church as a whole and the keys given by the congregation to the pastor to act accordingly with repentant and unrepentant sinners.

This is one of the hardest things that a pastor can do – bind sin on an unrepentant sinner. When it is done, it is a heart-wrenching act by the pastor because we are in the forgiveness business – and to bind sin on a person is painful. Thankfully, I have not faced this situation during my pastorate of 15-months.

This Texas "pastor" was wrong, both in his role as a pastor and a counselor.

There is one thing about our brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church: they are learning to publicize and evangelize in various and different ways.

EWTN has been a long-running Roman Catholic television network that is widely distributed. Our local cable company here in Bergen County – Cablevision – carries the network, as do the two satellite companies DirecTv and Dish Network. Of course, EWTN provides daily insight into religious issues and thought from a Roman Catholic perspective. Plus, hearing the Word of God at 8:00am is not a bad thing.

They also stream this network over Sirius Satellite Radio, so if you have Sirius, you can listen to EWTN.

But Sirius also offers another channel of non-Roman Catholic radiocasting with their “Christian Talk” station — a virtual conglomerate of every major evangelical and Protestant leader and talk host in the country. The channel is sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention. They also provide a wonderful explanation of the Christian faith (though, as with the Roman Catholic, you have to take their theological conclusions with a grain of salt if you are a Lutheran).

Today, Sirius has launched a new religious channel: “The Catholic Channel” sponsored by the New York Archdiocese. Each day, you can listen to talk shows and the daily mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in the City.

Some who actually follow the goings-on with satellite radio could shake their heads that Sirius is moving forward this way. Here is a network that has morning host Howard Stern as the center of it’s satellite radio universe. Howard has never been afraid of pushing the envelope on his radio program (even in the face of FCC fines). They also sponsor other ‘hot talk’ hosts like Bubba the Love Sponge and Scott Ferrell and have a gay-only channel on their network.

But now, they have three Christian talk radio channels to go along with their other music, talk, and sports offerings.

I have never been a fan or a listener of Howard Stern or Bubba the Love Sponge and would not presume to question what they do on the radio. They obviously are very popular with a large segment of society. With Scott Ferrall, I listened to him when he had his local sports shows on WFAN, WNEW (in their talk radio days) and WEPN and when he was national on Fox Sports. However, Sirius is offering specialized content that does provide choices – even the wide-ranging of choices of Stern and the New York Archdiocese. You can listen to one or both.

This isn’t a promotion for you to pick up Sirius today at your local electronics store. I get nothing from writing nice things about Sirius and their offering of three Christian based talk and three Christian music channels. But if you are hungry for religious talk, Sirius offers a platform.

Here in the LC-MS, there is a platform to hear Lutheran specific talk: KFUO out of Saint Louis. What makes this station unique is that is owned by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. KFUO is streamed over the Internet at their website, KFUO.org. They have a wonderful afternoon program called “Issues, Etc.” that presents issues in a Lutheran context. If you have a broadband Internet connection, KFUO is the way to go to get a good Lutheran radio experience

Alleluia! I have finally updated the sermon page on the site with this week’s "edition." The download if found on the jump page – the PDF is set up differently for easier reading.

The United States military has a rule in place that prevents Christian chaplains from using the name "Jesus" in their duties. Instead, the military says Christian chaplains are to pray in the name of a generic, monotheistic god, something that we Christians do not believe, in an effort not to offend anyone who may not believe in something more complicated, like the Triune God.

They are to say "God," not Jesus.

They can explain how God loves them, but not God the Father.

They can speak of "God" doing this or that, but not that God through His Son Jesus did the work to save them from their sins.

The military is wrong to impose these idiotic handcuffs on Christian chaplains. Some in the U.S. House of Representatives want to lift this veil of political correctness and allow chaplains to use the name Jesus Christ.

This morning’s New York Times thinks this is wrongheaded on the part of certain House members (who they consider "hard-right Republicans"). However ‘wrongheaded’ the editors are in their opinion, it is important for all Christians to understand that our faith is not something that should be compromised in the belief that we can "offend" people of other faiths when we practice our faith. It is not proper for Christian chaplains to present a generic form of our faith to make people happy. I have no problem with chaplains of other faiths using terms to describe their gods – it is central to their belief as either Muslims or Jews, for example. This handcuffing of chaplains is wrong.

We have to ponder this quandry for a moment: Are we Christians supposed to pray to a generic god? No. We are to pray and worship the only God, the Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is central to our faith as Christians. We are to confess Jesus and Him crucified, and nothing less will do. That is who we are as Christians – believers in the true God who redeemed us from sin, eternal death, and Satan. To preach or speak anything less than that is completely wrong. We only have to look at Matthew 10:32-33 for support:

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

For the military to impose restrictions on the free exercise of religion – even on the battlefields – is not appropriate.

Concordia Theological Seminary has informed us that one of the leading theologians within the LC-MS and in all of Christendom has been called home.

Rev. Dr. Kurt Marquart, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, died earlier this morning at home in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Dr. Marquart was a former professor of mine at seminary. He was one of those magnanimous figures who by his very presence showed all future pastors how to carry one’s self. Dr. Marquart (he didn’t like us to call him by this official title, instead he preferred “Professor Marquart”) gave us all the most wonderful advice when dealing with the issues in and out of the church: trust God’s Word.

This has been one of those tough days here at Saint Matthew’s, and for me personally, this death adds to the pain I feel.

But we do as Professor Marquart instructed: trust in God’s Word for that is where the comfort in this life comes!

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But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philipians 3:13, 14)

This has been a tough week here at Saint Matthew’s. A beloved member of our congregation was called to her eternal rest while she was on vacation out of the country with her husband. We pray for God’s comfort for her husband and children and her entire family during this time of darkness for them.

Then this morning, while at Morning Prayer, I learned that a shut-in of our church was called home. She died this morning around 3A. Her daughter attended our service though in deep pain over the loss of her mother. Our reading of John 20 was entirely appropriate for this day as we heard of the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Understanding the resurrection of the dead is important for all Christians – it is where our assured home lies in a better future. We have a longing hope for a time when, after we are called home, that we will stand our bodies – not the lowly ones we have today, but in new glorified bodies – in front of our Lord Jesus, the victorious King of Kings.

But it His ascension back to heaven is where our greatest hope lives! It is through our Lord Jesus, our Savior, where He sits right now at the right hand of the Father, awaiting His coming in power to declare victory to the entire world. We know He lives and we await His coming again. That is our comfort – for our lives are empty without our God. The promise of the resurrection of the dead when our Lord Jesus comes again is what gives us strength.

My prayer this day is for the families of our congregation who are suffering the loss of their dearly departed. But be assured, their faith has led the home to be with their God, our Lord, our Jesus Christ.

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Alicia Colon in today’s New York Sun writes about the weird contradiction of some leaders in the Muslim community where some say their faith is one of peace, but the public sees only the opposite in terms of protests and hatred.

We constantly have Muslim leaders insisting that Islam is a religion of peace, yet all we see are demonstrations that refute that claim. To non-Muslims around the world, that peaceful epithet is a lie. We can log most all of the terrorist activity around the world and trace it to Islamic jihadists, so why should we pay any attention to Muslims insisting that we have their religion wrong? Who’s at fault here? Is it the naïve journalists who publicize these jihadists threats and hatred, or is it that this small faction of Islam has cowed the moderate Muslims and hijacked what really is a religion of peace for its own vision of world dominance? …

Meanwhile, not only do we tolerate hate speech from extremist imams, we bend over backwards to avoid offending them. While angry Muslims around the world work themselves into a murderous frenzy and give credence to the emperor’s words, defenders of the religion of peace and liberal editors demand that the pope apologize for asking for dialogue. The world has indeed gone mad.

It is a powerful column that will get people of all religious faiths to think.

So, what do we Lutherans do? We just be who we are – live our faith in our lives, a faith that stresses respect for others. We tell of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and pray that the Holy Spirit works faith in the hearts of those who hear. And we continue to do the good that shines from our faith – the good that makes our communities better places to live.

As a Lutheran, I think I’ve written more about Pope Benedict XVI here than I have about our Synodical President, Rev. Jerry Kieschnick. But then again, President Kieschnick stays out of the news…good for him.

More on the Pope controversy – over at Michelle Malkin’s web blog.

Here is the photo that appears on her website and that I have received numerous times in email today – I guess :

I say it again – the Pope said nothing wrong. He’s apologized for making people feel bad. Fine. But he hasn’t taken back his comments on the nature of religion, especially Christianity, in the modern world. Good for him.

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After reading the entire context of Pope Benedict’s remarks earlier this week that has spawned a disgraceful attack on him and the Christian faith, I have to say that the Pope is onto something. And it is not something that he hasn’t said during the past several months: the importance of believers in Jesus Christ to rebel from the pure secularism of the world.

See, to put it in Lutheran terms, we are in this world but are not part of this world. Believers have been rescued from eternal damnation through the waters of Holy Baptism and by faith alone in Jesus Christ are saved.

The Pope has been trying to turn the ship of Roman Catholicism away from the acceptance of the world and remind all Roman Catholics who they are: they are saved by Christ and that is where their life should emanate.

That is not too different than what we Lutherans believe, now is it? While living in this world, we are not part of it since we are redeemed by Christ and believers in Him. Should we rebel against the world that promotes sin? Of course. And that is the central tenet of Pope Benedict’s remarks.

OK, I do disagree with some of his theological conclusions, but then I wouldn’t be Lutheran if I didn’t. However, in the overall context of his remarks, he is right.

On the historical context of whether violence was used to spread Islam, especially in their formative and early years, there is no doubt that violence was used – just like it is being used today by terrorists to spread their hate and evil in the world. History shows that the early Islamic movement did use violence. That shouldn’t be something that Muslims ignore in an effort to spread a public relations message that their religion is one of peace. It is just like Christianity – we can’t ignore the Crusades and the death and violence caused by us on Muslims in the Holy Land.

We all had issues in the past that we wish we could ignore. We can’t. As Christians, we just have to learn and focus on our faith in Christ.

I never watch "The View." With or without Star Jones, the show is not specifically geared towards men. So with all the controversy about Star Jones and Barbara Walters, I didn’t care about it. When Meredith Viera left for "Today," I didn’t bat an eyelash (though she has been great this week on the portions of the "Today" show I watch).

So the latest controversy with new hostess Rosie O’Donnell didn’t get me until I listened to Rush Limbaugh and Larry Elder yesterday.

Rosie says that ‘radical Christians’ in America are just as bad as those misunderstood radical Muslims that want to blow up the world.

First of all, it is Rosie O’Donnell. She is a comedian and an actor. We don’t go to actors to get political opinions. We want jokes, we go to Rosie. We want serious political analysis, we look to someone like Bill O’Reilly on Fox News.

To say that Rosie is off her rocker is easy. To say that her days are numbered at ‘The View’ is also probably too easy to write.

‘Radical Christians’ don’t want to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings. They are vigilant Bible believers who need a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of a reminder of God’s grace in their lives. But they aren’t wackos who want to slaughter unbelievers. They don’t want to strap bombs to themselves and board a bus and kill women and children. They also believe that women are not objects and deserve more than just a new pot and pan for a Christmas gift.

Anyone who disagrees with an ideology that promotes the notion of a sinful life is apparently ‘radical.’

Oh, sure, there are a bunch of nuts in every religion. They take things too far and claim things in Scripture that really aren’t there. Even the tiniest of groups want to kill abortion doctors.  But when it comes to those who believe in killing abortion doctors, Christians are beating down the doors of the media trying to tell anyone who would listen that those people are nuts and should be arrested and condemned. However, when it comes to the evil terrorists, you can’t find many Muslims willing to challenge and attack those terrorists who use religion in their sick belief that killing others is good. Sometimes they even defend them for political reasons (to attack the United States).

Overall, Christians can considered "radical" because we believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. We believe that the Son of God took on human flesh and humbled Himself to become a man and suffered and died on a cross for the sins of world. We believe that three days later, He rose from the dead and then ascended back into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father.

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Yesterday evening, I was listening to the Larry Elder radio show out of Los Angeles and he talked about comments made by Pope Benedict XVI regarding Islam. After hearing Elder’s comments, I knew that Pope Benedict would be attacked.

And he sure was!

First, to review his comments: the Pope was in Germany speaking about the use of violence in the spread of religion. Specifically, he took on the idea of jihad as found in Islam. He tried to explain that any culture or religion that promotes violence is wrong and is against God.

“Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul,” the pope said, issuing an open invitation to dialogue among cultures.

Of course, Muslims were up in arms over the comment. They are calling him to apologize and to take back what he said about Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

However, if one takes a look at Pope Benedict’s comments, it is hard to disagree with him.

One of the largest problems between Islam and the rest of the world is the idea of holy war and the lack of response from the general Islamic public when terrorists use the term. Without any moderating Muslims coming to the forefront and verbally responding to the persistent use of jihad or holy war and the killing of innocent people, the idea that jihad means the slaughter of non-believers has fermented.

The only spokespeople for Islam that the world sees are those who want to kill non-believers. What should people think about a religion where these people are the main spokespersons? Pope Benedict is right to criticize a religion where a tenet of the faith is jihad. He is right – and yes, this Lutheran pastor stands with him in condemning this sort of violence.

And this is not to say that Christians throughout history have been perfect little creatures. We haven’t been. But the idea of war and killing and slaughtering those who don’t believe what we believe is not part of our Christian culture.

Just the opposite – we are evangelists at heart. We don’t stick a gun to the heads of kidnapped reporters and tell them to convert or die. Instead, we tell of the Good News – the Gospel of Jesus Christ – where salvation and love and forgiveness are found. We tell the story and let God in heaven send the Holy Spirit in order to work faith. We don’t need guns when God is doing the work.

As a Christian, we have to pray for our brothers and sisters who are in a state of unbelief. And we do so fervently, begging our Lord to turn them from their ways and onto the path of truth found only in Christ Jesus. And as Christians we help God do this work by living our faith in our lives, by telling others the Good News of Jesus, and by living peaceful lives. Our example shows more about who we are than anything else.

That is what people see when they think of Christians. They see a bunch of people going to church to receive the Lord’s gifts. They see not an unhappy bunch of people, but a happy group smiling because we know that we are forgiven of our sins. Unbelievers and the unchurched see us Lutherans especially as those living our lives as ones who are free from the law and free from condemnation.

We want everyone to come to faith and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. No one is immune from the power of God.

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Got the following joke in an email tonight from a friend:

(more…)

I forgot to post my second reflection on 9/11. I’ll get it up tomorrow.