The Church of Saint Matthew - Saint Paul’s West Side

12.12.2020 Homily

This short gospel passage comes from the first chapter of St. John's gospel beginning with verse 18. And what John does, is he describes four successive days in the life of John the Baptist, and describes four events that occur in that same four days. So today is the first day as he's describing it. And John the Baptist is affirming who he is--that he's not the Messiah, that he's not the prophet, that he is a voice, a voice crying out. What he's saying to them is he's not the destination. He's the pass-through. He's not to be the end, he's to point to the completion, to the fulfillment. Then the second day is when he sees Jesus and he announces who He is to his disciples. He says, "Behold, the Lamb of God, this is the Son of God. This is the one who comes to take away the sins of the world."
And then the third day, he once again points out Jesus and two of his disciples, Andrew being one, and another disciple. They leave John and they go and they join Jesus. And on the fourth day, John recedes into the background. And it's a story of Nathaniel and Philip coming to join Jesus. All of that though flows from John's identity. He comes to bear witness, witness to the light. He is not the light. He comes to bear witness to the light. Jesus is the light. Jesus is coming to banish darkness. Jesus is coming to free us from all that is evil and destructive. He's to point the way for that.
 
Well, in just a few moments, Eli is going to be baptized here at the font. And after the water is poured on his forehead, and after he's anointed with the sacred oil, he's going to receive a candle lit from the Christ candle, the Easter candle. And he's told that he is a child of the light. He is another John the Baptist. He's come to bear witness to the light, and that his whole Christian life and yours and mine is really the flowing out of that. That by what we do and what we say and who we are, we are to be proclaimers of the mercy of God, present in Jesus Christ.
That's what it means to be a Christian.
And that all begins in the moment that you and I were washed in the waters of baptism. So as Eli is being baptized, it would be well if all of us would just in our own minds, in our own memory, call to mind the truth about ourselves. That whether it was a short time ago or a very long time ago that we were baptized, we were given that light and we were called like John the Baptist to be witnesses, witnesses to the light. “I am not the light, but I come to bear witness to the light.”

12.12.2020 Gospel John Chapter 1

There was a man sent by God, whose name was John. He came to witness, to witness to the light. He was not the light, but he came to give witness to the light. And this is the witness he gave. The authorities of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask this question, "Who are you?" And he answered, and he did not deny. He said, "I am not the Messiah." Then they said, "Are you Elijah?" And he said, "No, I am not." And they said, "Are you the prophet?" And he said, "No." And they said, "You must answer us. We must have something to bring back to those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the desert. Make straight the way of the Lord as is said in the prophet Isaiah. Then the Pharisees came to him and said, "If you are not the Messiah, and if you are not Elijah, and if you're not the prophet, how is it that you baptize?" And he said, "I baptize with water, but there is one who stands among you, who you do not recognize. He will come after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal."
 
Now all of this occurred in Bethany, across from the river Jordan, where John was baptizing.

12.05.2020 Homily

Of the four evangelists, Mark is the only one who mentions the word “gospel” at the very beginning of his writing. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Gospel is a word that means good news. This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But there's really another meaning to that. And it really revolves around the word “of”—“o-f”--the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is a construction in the Greek language which would allow the second word after “of” to define the word before. So maybe it should really be the beginning of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ, the son of God. You see the gospel isn't a thing. The gospel isn't an idea. The gospel is a person. The revelation, the good news is in the life of a person, a flesh and blood person. That Jesus in his very self is the proclamation of the mercy and the goodness and the justice of God.
It's not what he says, it's who he is. Gospel is not a thing, gospel is a person. And you and I through the waters of baptism have been united with that person, with Jesus Christ. We've been baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are marked by Him. We are identified by Him. We call ourselves Christian by His name. And we're called to live out in our own day, in our own place, among the people who make up our lives, we're called to be gospel, good news…the presence of God's love and God's mercy.
And how do we do that? We do that in very simple ways. At the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus talks about the image of the final judgment. And he talks about those who would be on his right. And he will say, "Come, inherit now what has been prepared for you. For I was hungry, and you fed me." That's gospel. " I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink." That's the living tangible expression of God's goodness. "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." That's gospel. That's the embracing of God or this individual. "I was sick and you comforted me." It's the healing presence of God.
"I was in prison and you stood by me." It's an expression of the presence of God in Jesus Christ, never turning His back on any one of us. Very simple ways in which Jesus says, we live out who we are. We live out the truth, that we are the body of Christ. That by what we say and what we do, the gospel is proclaimed.
You and I are proclaimers of the gospel by our lives, by our actions. Now how do we do that? Well, I'm convinced that one of the greatest commentators on what the meaning of the Scriptures is, is found in the lives of the saints. After all they're people of faith, who've lived an extraordinary life in union with Christ. And they are as different as you can imagine. They are all unique in themselves. And in their life story, what has played out for us is the drama of being the living, tangible presence of God on this earth.
So if you have a favorite saint, maybe your patron saint? Do some thinking about that person. Read something about the life of that person. Allow that person to be your companion on the journey of Advent. Allow that person to help you see how you can be gospel in a very simple way to those with whom you live.

12.05.2020 Gospel Mark Chapter 1

This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Isaiah said, "I am sending my messenger before you to prepare the way for you. A voice crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his way straight." John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism for forgiveness of sin. People throughout Judea came to him and all of Jerusalem. He baptized them in the waters of the Jordan as they confessed and acknowledged their sin. Now John was clothed in camel's hair and he fed on locusts and wild honey. And this was the proclamation he made. "There is one who is far mightier than I who is coming after me. I'm not worthy to untie his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

11.28.2020 Homily

Today we begin the season of Advent, that preparation for the Christmas feast and the Christmas season. And what the Church wants us to do as we enter into this time of preparation, is to recognize some of the very fundamental truths about who we are and what life is about.
The Greeks believed that time was a cyclical thing. It went round and round so that every 3000 years or so, the earth would be destroyed and all humanity would be destroyed. And then the earth would be formed again, and humanity would be formed again. And the process would go on as it had before. So time after time after time, the understanding was that time was cyclical. That's not what we believe though. We believe that time is linear, that there is a goal, that there is a purpose, that there is a direction. Not only in our individual lives, but in the life of all of creation. And that ultimately that direction is to lead us into the kingdom of heaven, into the kingdom of God.
In the very beginning of our Christian life that was what we were charged with, to be alert and to recognize that our lives are going someplace. This evening, we have the opportunity to welcome this child into the household of the faith through baptism. After Phillip is baptized, I'm going to hand a burning candle to parents or godparents, and I'm going to say, "Your child has been enlightened by Christ. May he always walk as a child of the light, so that when the Lord comes he may go forth to meet him with all the angels and saints." It's a statement about the linear understanding of time. Time has a goal. Time has a direction.
And at the very beginning of our Christian lives, we're asked to remember that. Also, we're going to baptize Philip by pouring water over his head. Now that's really a very simple gesture. That's not the way it started. That's not the way baptism began. Baptism was really a very rough experience and it was done with adults. We're told that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river. And what would have happened is he would have stepped into the water, perhaps up to his shoulders. And then John the Baptizer would have grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him under the water and held him there--and held him there--and held him there.
And then would release him and let him come up. And he would have spit and coughed. What was attempted to do at the very beginning was to create the image and the experience of dying, and then being brought to life, of death and then resurrection.
Well, we don't do that anymore that way. We've got a little bit more of a civilized way of going about it. But we miss very often the implication of that.
Philip is going to be baptized in the waters of regeneration. Saint Paul says, "If we were baptized with Christ, we were baptized into His death. And if we have died with Christ, then we will reign with Him. Well, each and every one of us has been through that initiation rite, an initiation process.
And as we begin the season of Advent, it might be just well to recall that for ourselves. To spend a little time reflecting on it, meditating on it, thinking about it, ruminating over it. How is that baptism lived out in my life today as I await the coming of the Lord, as I await the fulfillment of the promise, as I await the direction completed in the kingdom of heaven.

11.28.2020 Gospel Mark Chapter 13

Jesus said to his disciples, "Be attentive. Watch. You do not know the arrival of the day. It is like the householder who goes on a journey and before he leaves, he hands his property off to his servants, each one according to their gifts. Each one having their own work to do. I say to you: be attentive. Watch. If the householder comes back at sunset, at midnight, at cock crow, at dawn, may he not find you sleeping. So I say to you and to everyone else: stay awake."

11.21.2020 Homily

St. Matthew's gospel is divided into three books. The first book is the story of the infancy of Jesus, and it's the first two chapters. The second book is the story of the ministry of Jesus, and that's from chapter three to the end of chapter 25. It closes with the passage of the gospel today. And then the third book opens on the beginning of chapter 26 and is the story of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But this middle part is where Jesus gives the instruction about what it is to be His disciple. And He concludes it with the passage from today's gospel. As if that summarizes everything that He had tried to teach them, everything He had tried to instill within them.
The gospel today lays out the foundation on which is built a relationship with Jesus. The foundation is the living of the corporal works of mercy. Doing the works of mercy is in fact, making an act of faith. You see for Jesus, faith or belief is not a noun. Faith or belief is a verb. You do faith, or you do belief. At the heart of this believing, this faith, is a deep sense of gratitude for the gifts of God, a recognition that all that I am and all that I have is not mine. It is God's gift, and I'm invited to be a custodian of that. I'm invited to use that. I'm invited to work that. I'm invited to share those gifts with my neighbor, with my sisters and brothers, especially with those who are the smallest, the marginal, the ones whose name no one knows. In other words, the least of my sisters and brothers. It is there that faith is found.
We stand on the edge of the only true and unique American holy day, the feast of Thanksgiving. In fact, it is a holy day of obligation because normally there is a command that every member of the family gather around the table that day and give thanks. Even in the midst of a great challenge, in the midst of this pandemic, you and I are called to give thanks and to speak and to act with gratitude.
Now, I have a story I want to tell you. Martin Rickart was born in 1586. His father was a poor coppersmith. He lived in Eilenberg, Germany. When a position for deacon arrived in 1610, he applied but was not accepted, and disappointed, he accepted work in a Lutheran church school.  But in May of 1611, he worked his way into the diaconate of St. Anne's church in Eisleben. And proving his value through hard work, his hometown of Eilenberg invited him to come home and to be their pastor.
Now in 1618, the 30 years' war broke out. And because Eilenberg was a walled city, refugees from the countryside poured into the city for safety. The overcrowding of the city combined with the consequences of war and a serious lack and shortage of food in 1637, a plague arose and wreaked havoc upon the city and upon the continent. It was up to Martin to provide pastoral care for the entire town and for the refugees it held. In that first year, more than 8,000 people died with the plague. And Martin often had to bury as many as 50 people a day, including his own wife.
Martin survived the ordeal, and it finally appeared that there would be relief, and perhaps even the beginning of peace, and the end of the war. Martin's children were traumatized by what they experienced--the plague and the war. They were traumatized by seeing their neighbors and friends die. They were traumatized by seeing illness all around them. Their lives seemed very dark and they had nightmares.
Martin had to find some way of teaching his children, in the middle of that darkness, that there was reason to give thanks and to show gratitude to God. So he wrote a hymn, a hymn that his children could sing around the dinner table, Nun danket alle  Gott. He taught it also to his congregation and it was later translated into English as "Now Thank We All Our God." His simple, but noble expression of thankfulness has provided us with one of the most beloved hymns of the Christian Church. A hymn that is far too often relegated only to the Thanksgiving season.
It was written just as the plague began to hit his hometown. And this hymn became the theme of Martin's life. “Now thank we all our God, with hearts and hands and voices, who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices, who from our mother's arms, has blessed us on our way, with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”
And then just in case it was not playing just in case people did not quite get it, the second verse, spelled it out further. And think of the devastation. The thousands of neighbors and friends who had died, the sound of war raging around and Martin had his children sing, "Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us. With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us. May he keep us in his grace and guide us when perplexed, may he free us from all ills in this world and the next.”
In an age of anxiety fueled by yet another plague, this one a virus that sweeps across the globe, those words of Martin Rickart are worth remembering today as well. It might be well for this hymn to become, if you will, the battle cry of believing people during this epidemic. A statement that even in the midst of darkness, even in the midst of suffering, even in the midst of fear, we stand and we give thanks to God.

11.21.2020 Gospel Matthew Chapter 25

When the Son of man comes seated on the clouds of heaven, surrounded by the angels and He takes His place on the throne of glory, He will gather all the nations of the world before Him and He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats--the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left. Then He will say to those on his right, "Come receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was sick and you visited me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was in prison and you stood by me."
And then they will say to him, "When Lord did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you, or sick and visit you, or in prison and stand by you?" And he will say to them, "Whenever you did it to one of these little ones, the least, you did it to me." And then He will turn to those on his left. And He will say, "Depart from me into the fire prepared for you and for Satan and all his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat, and I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a visitor and you did not welcome me. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick and you did not care for me. I was in prison and you did not stand by me."
And they will say to him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you naked or when did we see you as a visitor? When did we see you sick? When did we see you in prison and not serve you?" And He will say to them, "Whenever you fail to do it to one of these least, you fail to do it to me." And then He will say to those on His right, "Now enter into the kingdom prepared for you." And to those on His left, "Depart from me into the eternal fire, with the devil and all his angels."

11.14.2020 Homily

We are really blessed this afternoon to be able to invite Vera, and invite Martin, and invite Isaac and Jesus into the household of the faith through the waters of baptism. Now, you two guys, you're going to have to help your family with your little brother. Okay.? You've got to teach him something. Alright? Okay.
The story in the gospel is about the master of an estate who takes his possessions, who takes his resources, and he hands them out to his servants. The image is meant to be that this is the way God has treated us. That God has given us each talent, each according to our ability. And what he's asking of us is that we use it. We use it for the honor and the glory of God, and for the good of our neighbor. He's asking that we don't be afraid that we don't hide what we've been given, because it isn't given for us. It's given that we might use it for others. And especially that we might use the gifts we have for those who have least, or those who are least.
Now, this story about the talents and the master, it really doesn't end the way I ended it this evening, because right away it goes on to describe what the Lord will do when He comes in judgment and how He will regard our use of those talents. And that's what the gospel of next Sunday is going to be about. He's going to say I was hungry and you fed me. And I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was a visitor and you welcomed me. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was in prison and you stood by me. I was sick and you cared for me.
He's going to say that's the way the talents are to be used. They're to be used in very practical ways; that you and I are really the hands and the voice and the eyes of God. That we are to look at each other with the same compassion and love, understanding and justice that God looks upon us with. We are to be servants of God. Now these young people who are going to be invited into the church today through baptism, they're going to be given those talents. That's what happens in baptism. The gift of God's grace comes within us and it fills us.
It is meant to be used by us in the service of others. And so these young people, they've got to be helped to know how to do that. They've got to be educated on how to do that. They've got to be given the opportunity to learn how to do that. You don't get there on your own. You get there because parents and godparents, and neighbors and friends, and grandmas and grandpas, and aunts and uncles, and the community provides for you the example that you need in order to live out what you've been given.
You know, by the time these young people are 20 years old, you are going to have told them a million different things, right? And you know what's going to happen? Everything you say is going to go into one ear and out the other. So it's not so much what you tell them that's important. It's you show them how to live as disciples of Jesus. You show them by your words, your actions, your attitude, your way of dealing with each other, your understanding of life. And that's what makes the difference. We learn more by what we see than what we hear.
Well, all of us are called to enter into that kind of commitment to give examples to those around us. And so in order to renew that in each of us, I would ask that we all join these young people as we profess our faith, that we profess the baptismal creed

11.14.2020 Gospel Matthew Chapter 25

Jesus told his disciples this parable. There was a man going on a journey and he called together his servants to commit to them care over his possessions. To one he gave five talents and to another two talents and to another one talent, each according to their ability. And then he went off on his journey. Now the one who received the five talents, he went out and worked and added an additional five talents. The one who received the two talents also gained two more talents. But the one who received the one talent was afraid. He dug a hole in the dirt of the earth and he buried his master's money.
Now after a very long time, the master returned and he sought to have an accounting with his servants. The one who had received the five talents came in first and he said, "Master you entrusted me with five talents and I have raised another five talents." And the master said, "You truly are a worthy and a good servant. You have been faithful in small things. I will now put more things in your hands. Enter into the joy of the master."
And the one who had two talents came and said, "Master, you gave me two talents and I worked and I produced another two talents." And he said, "Faithful and good servant, you were faithful in small matters. Now I will give you larger responsibilities. Enter the master's joy. "
And then the one who had received the one talent he came and he said, "Master, you are a difficult man. You are a hard man. You gather what you do not scatter, and you reap what you do not sow. So I was afraid. I went and I buried your money in the ground, and now I'm giving it back to you." And the master said, "You are a lazy and a worthless servant. You know that I gather what I do not scatter, and that I reap what I do not plant. You ought to have given my money to the bankers so that at my return, I could get it back with interest."
Then he said to those, "Take the one talent from him and give it to the person who has ten." For those who have will receive more, and those who have not will lose even what little they have."
The gospel of the Lord.