Saint Matthew's

Yesterday afternoon, I joined with the chairwoman of Saint Matthew’s Samaritans, Evelyn Comer, at the new Bergen County homeless facility on East Broadway in Hackensack to gauge how the new facility serves dinner. Through the Interreligous Fellowship for the Homeless, Saint Matthew’s will serve dinner at the facility on February 19th. Our collective intentions were simple – to see the kitchen, how dinner and dessert are served, and maybe meet some of the directors, though I didn’t think this was possible.

We arrived at 4:30pm, about a half-hour before the start of dinner service. The newly constructed facility (it only opened last July) houses 90 individuals as they transition themselves to living in permanent housing. Additionally, there is a first-class medical area, offices and rooms for outside organizations to provide services and help to the homeless of the county, and, of course, the walk-in dining area.

Evelyn and I entered the facility through the main door, which opens up into a spacious area where a manned front desk and security guard were on call. After “checking in,” the security guard showed us to the dining area. Nancy Woods, one of the directors with the IRF, showed us around the beautiful kitchen area. As Evelyn and I were on our little tour, we found out that a group from Bergen Catholic High School in Paramus was unable to serve the dinner that night. They delivered their meal — baked ziti, meatballs, salad with Creamy Italian dressing, and apple turnovers — but they couldn’t serve. The bus that was to take the students to the facility was not able to take them back to the school, which, of course, causes a little bit of a problem.

In tight jams like this, IRF volunteers come in to staff the dinner service. As Evelyn and I heard about their little plight, we offered to help them with serving dinner. I was on salad patrol — dishing up the pre-mixed, pre-dressed salad into bowls — and making them available for the diners. Having the opportunity to greet the nearly 125 people who came for dinner was blessing. A smile, a “good evening,” and a “God bless you” go a long way in the hearts of God’s children, especially those who, if circumstances were different, would not be at the facility for dinner.

As the rush died down a bit, the director of the facility, Julia Orlando, came in to see how things were going. After talking a bit, she said she was taking a colleague and friend of hers on a tour of the building and offered me the chance to join them. Evelyn, who was on butter, dish, and utensil patrol, as well as a fellow server, Chris, came on the tour with us. The two-storied facility is really first-class. It houses nearly all of the homeless services and programs offered by the county and outside organizations, which is a real blessing for those who need the help. There is no need to travel across Hackensack or even the county to get help; it is all right there in one building.

After the tour, and learning that they have a donation area for books (if anyone here at Saint Matthew’s has a few books at home that they are not using and they are in good condition, bring them to church and I will deliver them), Evelyn and I returned to our assigned tasks, but by then, dinner service was complete. The volunteer staff had just about finished the clean up of the kitchen area, so Evelyn and I took our experiences and returned home.

The Samaritans will serve a dinner at the facility on Friday, February 19th. To help defray costs, we will be taking a collection next week during the Souper Bowl of Caring. All of your donations go to help those in need. Next Sunday, please remember the Samaritans. Please remember those in need here in Bergen County.

This week, I went to the hospital to visit someone from another church (the pastor asked me to look on them while he was not around). As I checked in, I was asked if I could go to the emergency room to talk with a nun who was brought into the hospital. Of course, I said I would take the assignment. In the ER, I walked over to the cubicle and found it empty.

As I turned around to go and find out where the sister was, she was standing behind me. We spoke briefly, she laughing that the pastoral care office would send her a Lutheran and I laughing that the pastoral care office would send me, a Lutheran pastor, to a Roman Catholic nun. Her illness wasn’t too severe, but others thought she needed to get checked out, hence her appearance in the ER. She said she felt fine and was out doing her job visiting the sick, which made me smile.

During our short visit (at times I didn’t know if I was supposed to be the one doing the pastoral care work or was she), the sister asked me to go visit a homeless man she just finished visiting.

When I entered the man’s cubicle, he was laying on the bed, an oxygen mask on his face and an IV in his arm. According to the nurse, he was very sick. I pulled a stool up next to the bed and began to talk to him, reminding him what the nurses instructed — “Keep the mask on.” Yet, he continued to lift off the mask to talk with me.

He was homeless, living on the streets and in shelters for a number of years. He said he didn’t have enough education to hold down a good job in order to afford some place to live, so he lived in shelters when it was cold and in alleyways when it was warm. But with this economic downturn, he lost the job which he considered “not so good,” making his economic troubles worse. He stayed away from his family because he said he didn’t want to be a burden. Later, he told me that his family actually disowned him when he was a teenager because he got into drugs, something he wasn’t into any more.

I was surprised at his age – 38 – because he looked so much older. I guess living on the streets will do that to you.

His feet were cold. He had a couple of blankets on his bed, but it didn’t matter how many, his feet were still cold. He said that earlier in the week, somewhere he lost a bag of his clothes, a bag that contained his socks. That why, he said, his feet were cold. After several coughing bouts, the nurse came with an orderly to take him for some tests. I said a fast prayer with him and watched as they wheeled him out.

I left the hospital, completely forgetting to visit with the person from the other church. My mind was racing, thinking not only about a sick nun who ignored her own well being in order to pray with one of God’s children, but also about the very sick homeless man with cold feet. For the past couple of weeks, we have been collecting donations for Haiti earthquake relief. We’ve been bombarded by the sadness coming out of Haiti, and as a collective people we’ve responded. Our nation has donated millions upon millions of dollars to charities who are trying to relieve the incredible suffering in Haiti. We’ve prayed for Haiti and the relief workers. Nearly all of us know of someone who has travelled to Haiti to serve as a relief worker.

Yet, here in Bergen County, one of the wealthiest counties in all of the United States, there are homeless living on the streets and in shelters; there are people living in substandard housing. This is not a cry for more government funding to help with the homelessness.

I think that maybe we, as God children, need to recognize and stand up more to help God’s children in our own midst.

This weekend’s readings center on the theme of love, how God shows an incredible love to each of us sinners by sending His own Son to die for us, and in turn, we are to show that same kind of love for those around us. The Samaritans here at Saint Matthew’s are preparing to serve a meal at the Walk-In Shelter in Hackensack in a couple of weeks. Our church has always stepped up and helped – donating money during the annual “Souper Bowl for Caring” drive that will take place next Sunday, by baking and donating desserts, and cooking an incredible pot roast meal.

But the man with the cold feet got me thinking.

Can we do more?

Ugh.

The light snow that has blanketed the region has caused a lot of stress for morning rush hour drivers. The roads, in many places in Bergen County, are extremely slick. I can only imagine the hillier areas of the county — this morning is really not hot for driving. I do hope that the local governments will eventually drop some road salt to ease the travel problems. Whether they salt and sand or not, I still have to leave for a local visit at 11am, no matter the road conditions.

Sometime this afternoon, the cold front from out west is going to push through the region, pushing temperatures into a range I loving call “this isn’t right.” An easy translation is that wind chills are going to make it feel zero or below. One positive weather story is that we’re not going to get that snowstorm that the central Middle Atlantic states are gearing up for – from an area just north of DC and southward, heavy snow accumulations are expected.

For us New Jerseyans, while it will be cold this weekend, there is no threat of snow. Therefore I look forward to seeing you in church on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

I remember in my pre-pastor life, Tuesdays were practically the longest day in the week. For some odd reason, I always found myself aching for time to go by a little faster on Tuesdays. My Mondays were always good work days since it really was a terrific day to prepare for the week. Interviews, writing assignments, copious research projects, et.al, all could be meticulously planned out on a Monday morning. By around noon on Monday, my week was neatly laid out in Outlook, including what seemed like an endless “to do” list.

Yet, come Tuesday when my calendar was in full-bloom, it always seemed like it took forever to accomplish anything. Back then, I tried waking up earlier to try and tackle projects, but that never worked. No matter the various getting-things-done strategies I used to help me get through my Tuesdays, it always felt like time was ticking slowly away. Ugh.

Fast forward to today and my life as a clergyman and things are different. In theory, my Mondays are days off where I don’t spend any time preparing for the week. No studying. No writing, No church telephone calls. Oh, that is “in theory.” Recently, I have been trying my best to turn off the Monday work clock (to some success, I must say).

Therefore, my prep-day has now become Tuesday. It is no longer a day that drags. Instead, it is a day that flies. For instance, this morning, I accomplished a number of things:

1. I prepared my weekly schedule (meetings, visits, lunch dates, etc.) and to do list.

2. I made a number of telephone calls to set up home visits this week.

3. This coming weekend’s worship services have been finalized.

4. I started outlining my sermon study for the week.

5. I actually started writing this post (a miracle after being away for more than a week)

I couldn’t believe when I stared at my computer’s clock that I had already worked 3 and half hours (started at around 6:30am; I checked the clock at 10:00am). My week is planned, some work is already done, and now I get to go home and get another cup of coffee.

Yes, I am in the church office. This afternoon, I will be working from home (easier to study in the home office where my books, both physical and electronic, are available).

Pat Robertson, the televangelist head of the Christian Broadcasting Network and “The 700 Club” television program, made a startling statement yesterday when it came to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti.

Robertson said that the devil did it.

Even more, he said that the people of Haiti did this to themselves when they made a pact with the devil to get rid of their French occupiers in the 19th Century.

His evidence includes the state of the island in which Haiti is located — they share Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. According to the reverend, the pact with the devil has kept Haiti from prospering. While the Dominican Republic has prospered, Haiti is impoverished. And now Haiti is suffering under a devastating earthquake while the DR is not.

Does this require a response?

I can’t believe I even typed those words above.

Please donate some money to the LCMS World Relief and Human Care; scroll to the bottom and click the “Give Now” button.

We’ll have a special weekend collection here at church this weekend.

After what seems like forever, our Wednesday night bible study begins anew tonight. In November, the week before Thanksgiving, we ended our nearly eight month study of the book of Romans. After reflecting on this course, while enjoyable, I decided to make our Wednesday bible study/class more topical.

Therefore, tonight we begin a study on comparing religions to Christianity. First up in our study is Mormonism.

Also, starting on Sunday, we’ll begin an after-church bible review of our weekly readings. If you don’t want to stay for it, then you can take home a weekly lessons review sheet. But more about this later this week.

Last night, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers played a classic hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Tied at 0-0 entering the shootout period, the Devils were able to put their final shot in the net, giving them a 1-0 shootout victory. Goaltenders Martin Brodeur of the Devils and Henrik Lundquist of the Rangers were masterful, stopping every shot they faced in regulation and in the overtime period. The only shot to go in was Patrik Elias’ shot in the fourth round of the shootout.

We Rangers’ fans have dubbed Lundquist “King Henrik” for his goaltending prowess. After last night’s match, I think Devils’ fans should take a little umbrage at that moniker. The real king of the New York-New Jersey goaltenders resides in Newark, “King Martin.”

Of course, if you’re like me and have DirecTV, you missed this instant classic since DirecTV doesn’t carry the semi-sports channel, Versus, that aired this match last night. DirecTV and Comcast, the owner of the semi-sports channel Versus, are in a carriage rights squabble. Essentially, DirecTV doesn’t want to pay as much as Comcast wants for the channel, so they don’t distribute Versus to DirecTV.

But the radio call was wonderful!

(Also posted at reviovine.com)

I haven’t written about personal stuff here at the Pastor’s Blog in many, many months, relieving the stress of some who felt that the pastor (meaning me), shouldn’t write about “certain topics” on the church website. Of course, I started a personal journal blog at reviovine.com where these possibly inappropriate posts could go.

In my opinion, most of these questionable posts weren’t all that questionable, but I relented and moved all my opinionated pieces off the church website.

This morning, I got to thinking (one of the dangers of waking up too early) — there is more to me than what happens in the LCMS and the church proper. I am a lot more than just a guy who sits down at night reading Luther’s writings. Why should I leave this part of my “pastor’s life” out of a daily discussion of church?

In my mind, the central reason of creating this blog on the church website was to provide insight into my life, which includes a lot of things, not just pastoral stuff. While I do write about theology and the issues facing the church on this blog, all of which are my opinions grounded in faith and theological understanding, why can’t I express deeper non-theological ideas and opinions here?

After wrestling with this issue today, I’ve decided to lift my ban on personal stuff here at the Pastor’s Blog. Yes, I will use my personal journal at reviovine.com for much of my writing, but I will cross-post some of the personal stuff.

Last night around 7, I walked into the house, went upstairs to the bedroom, changed my clothes, and crashed. Sitting in that old recliner never felt so good (OK, maybe back some years when I bought it).

During the course of any pastoral ministry, there is most assuredly a “long stretch” that tests any clergy person. It just so happened that my stretch came during a rather busy time in the church calendar – Christmas through Epiphany 1. And yesterday following our memorial service for Rev. Jack Wangerin, I hoped that this stretch has come to an end. While being taxed physically, having the opportunity to share the grace of God in Jesus Christ with so many emboldened me spiritually during this period.

Yet, I was tired last night. Watching the final moments of the Green Bay Packers – Arizona Cardinals playoff game, I realized that I haven’t really watched a complete football game in a long time, not that this bothered me at all. Last night, I was a little surprised as I watched the Cards give up what was considered a rather comfortable lead and being forced to go to overtime, and being stunned as they stole a victory after a terrific defensive play. But that is what makes sports so fun.

Now to shake out the cobwebs (and probably clean them out of the corners in the house) and get ready for what I hope to be a normal week…whatever normal entails, that is.