Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Presentation of Our Lord
Holy Eucharist, with Blessing of Candles at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Monday, January 31, 2011
The Olive Branch, 1/31/2011
Accent on Worship
“Groundhogs – Candles – and Jesus?”
This Wednesday, February 2, as any child can tell you, is Groundhog Day, and if the rodent in question sees his (or her?) shadow today there will be six more weeks of winter. Yet if you come to Mount Olive Wednesday night (come at 7:00 p.m.!), you will participate in a celebration of the Eucharist, and will celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. And if you come, you will notice that at the beginning of the liturgy we will carry candles and ask God to bless them, and all the candles we will use in worship this year, as a sign of the light of Christ to the nations for the next year. That’s a lot of freight to be carried by this little day in a short month.
As it turns out, they’re all related, and somehow make sense together. The Presentation is the last festival of the year to be marked by the date of Christmas – Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple 40 days after his birth. This was to fulfill Mary’s purification obligations. When they were there they met two venerable saints, Simeon and Anna, who both proclaimed the identity of this new child. Simeon declares in the beautiful song we have been singing at the close of our liturgy throughout Epiphany that Jesus is God’s salvation, and a light to the nations. Because of this image from Simeon’s song, for centuries the festival of Presentation has also been called Candlemas, a day when we light candles as a sign of that light to the nations. The tradition is also long-standing from several cultures to bless the candles for use in worship the next year, and for people to bring candles from home to be blessed that they might shine in their homes throughout the year as a sign of Christ’s light. So all who come to Eucharist on Wednesday are invited to bring a candle from home for blessing as well!
That explains everything, I think. Oh, except for the large rodent and the weather. Right. Well, here’s the interesting thing. Six weeks from Feb. 2 is Mar. 16, which before the Gregorian reform of the calendar was the spring equinox. After the reform, the spring equinox has been Mar. 21. Some argue that this confusion of dates led to a folk tradition of discerning when spring would truly come each year, hence the need for predictions. Whether that is the reason or not, what is clear is that the tradition predates groundhogs and is definitely tied to the Christian festival of Presentation. There is some evidence that in northern Europe other animals are a part of the prediction – I’ve read of bears, badgers, hedgehogs. But the key element seems to be whether it is sunny on the feast of the Presentation or not. Germans in Pennsylvania apparently adopted the groundhog as a predictor when bears or hedgehogs weren’t readily seen.
Now you know, as they say, the rest of the story. But as I am writing this we are in the midst of yet another snowstorm and I have a hard time imagining that spring will ever come. So you’ll forgive me if I’ll ignore the groundhog this time around. Instead I’ll take the time Wednesday to receive the Lord’s Meal and to celebrate the witness of Simeon and Anna that Jesus is the light of God’s salvation in our lives and in the world. I’ll light candles to remember that God’s light in fact is spreading in the darkness and it cannot be overcome. That in the Temple of the Lord, the Lord God of all is come in the form of this little baby, and brought life to us all, to the world. The true Spring is coming which brings life even to death. So even if life seems often wintry, and death in command, we give thanks that God is making all things new.
Come, and worship this Light Wednesday – and bring a candle!
Pastor Crippen
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Bring a candle for blessing to remind you of the light of Christ during this coming year.
Sunday Readings
February 6, 2011 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:1-12 + Psalm 112:1-9
I Corinthians 2:1-12 + Matthew 5:13-20
February 13, 2011 – Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 + Psalm 119:1-8
I Corinthians 3:1-9+ Matthew 5:21-37
Please note!
There will be no Compline this Sunday, Feb. 6. Compline will resume on Sunday, February 13.
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Bridging the Gap – An Update!
About 10 days ago, you received a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. The first Sunday after the mailing went out, already a half-dozen responses came in. These folks wanted to be sure to take advantage of the $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match that is available!
If we can meet the goal of this appeal and pay off our construction loan early, Mount Olive will avoid about $30,000 in interest on that loan. That’s an incentive! Freeing ourselves of a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
You may return your response either by mail, or by placing it in the offering basket on Sundays.
Some, who were not members of Mount Olive in 2008, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more, or extend their current pledge.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Let us all prayerfully consider how we can respond. Together, we can meet the challenge to wrap up 2011 free of debt, and ready to move forward.
Sox Box
Word has come to MONAC from Our Savior's Homeless Program, that there is a great need for socks for those who are homeless. In response, Mount Olive folks are asked to donate socks which will contribute to the warmth of those people who are much exposed to the elements. Any and all sizes are needed.
Please bring your donations to Mount Olive and find the “Sox Box” in the East Assembly Room to receive them. Your generous response is anticipated and appreciated.
Upcoming Music & Fine Arts Events
February 1-28, 2011: Art display: Serigraphs of John August Swanson (postponed from 2010 due to construction)
John August Swanson paints in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, and is an independent printmaker of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs and etchings. He addresses himself to human values, cultural roots, and his quest for self-discovery through visual images. John August Swanson’s work will be on display for an entire month, open before and after the February 13 MFA event, as well as on Sundays and other days of a church function.
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 4:00 pm: Minnesota Boychoir, Mark Johnson, Conductor
The Minnesota Boy Choir makes a return to Mount Olive for this mid-winter concert. Internationally renowned, the Minnesota Boychoir is the oldest continuously operating boy choir in the Twin Cities area, tracing its roots back over forty years. Join us for a concert of diverse repertoire. A reception will follow the concert.
Guidelines for Management of the Newly-Renovated Spaces
The Vestry recently approved new guidelines for using and furnishing the new spaces in the buildings. Last week's Olive Branch included guidelines on the use of the new spaces, In order to protect the integrity and "look" of the new spaces, the following was also approved:
Furnishings for the Parish House rooms will follow, to the extent possible, the color schemes, wood finishes and furniture choices designed by the Furnishings subcommittee, which was commissioned by the Building Committee during the building project.
Furniture, lighting, carpet, window coverings and surface treatments will be commercial grade if at all possible.
Donations of furnishings to the spaces will be made only with the approval of the Property committee or Vestry and must be approved before such donations are brought to the church. Donations made without this approval may be disposed of or donated elsewhere.
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Upcoming Adult Forums
Feb. 6 Pr. Crippen (Part II): Spiritual Formation: Worship
Feb. 13 A forum on ministry to the Latino community
Feb 20 Pr.Crippen (Part IV): Spiritual Formation: Solvitur ambulando
Feb. 27 Prof. Dr. Lois Farag (Luther Seminary Professor who is a Coptic Nun): Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Mar. 6 Rabbi Earl Schwartz on Interpreting the Psalms
Mar. 13 To Be Announced
Mar. 20 Prof. Dr. Dirk Lange (Professor of Liturgy at Luther Seminary who was once a monk at Taize): The Spirituality of Taize (Part I)
Mar. 27 Prof. Dr. Dirk Lange (Part II)
Apr. 3 The Saint John’s Bible: What It Is and How It Came to Be
Apr. 10 To Be announced
Apr. 17 Palm/Passion Sunday: Offering of Letters for Bread for the World
Apr. 24 Easter Day: No Adult Forum
“Groundhogs – Candles – and Jesus?”
This Wednesday, February 2, as any child can tell you, is Groundhog Day, and if the rodent in question sees his (or her?) shadow today there will be six more weeks of winter. Yet if you come to Mount Olive Wednesday night (come at 7:00 p.m.!), you will participate in a celebration of the Eucharist, and will celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. And if you come, you will notice that at the beginning of the liturgy we will carry candles and ask God to bless them, and all the candles we will use in worship this year, as a sign of the light of Christ to the nations for the next year. That’s a lot of freight to be carried by this little day in a short month.
As it turns out, they’re all related, and somehow make sense together. The Presentation is the last festival of the year to be marked by the date of Christmas – Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple 40 days after his birth. This was to fulfill Mary’s purification obligations. When they were there they met two venerable saints, Simeon and Anna, who both proclaimed the identity of this new child. Simeon declares in the beautiful song we have been singing at the close of our liturgy throughout Epiphany that Jesus is God’s salvation, and a light to the nations. Because of this image from Simeon’s song, for centuries the festival of Presentation has also been called Candlemas, a day when we light candles as a sign of that light to the nations. The tradition is also long-standing from several cultures to bless the candles for use in worship the next year, and for people to bring candles from home to be blessed that they might shine in their homes throughout the year as a sign of Christ’s light. So all who come to Eucharist on Wednesday are invited to bring a candle from home for blessing as well!
That explains everything, I think. Oh, except for the large rodent and the weather. Right. Well, here’s the interesting thing. Six weeks from Feb. 2 is Mar. 16, which before the Gregorian reform of the calendar was the spring equinox. After the reform, the spring equinox has been Mar. 21. Some argue that this confusion of dates led to a folk tradition of discerning when spring would truly come each year, hence the need for predictions. Whether that is the reason or not, what is clear is that the tradition predates groundhogs and is definitely tied to the Christian festival of Presentation. There is some evidence that in northern Europe other animals are a part of the prediction – I’ve read of bears, badgers, hedgehogs. But the key element seems to be whether it is sunny on the feast of the Presentation or not. Germans in Pennsylvania apparently adopted the groundhog as a predictor when bears or hedgehogs weren’t readily seen.
Now you know, as they say, the rest of the story. But as I am writing this we are in the midst of yet another snowstorm and I have a hard time imagining that spring will ever come. So you’ll forgive me if I’ll ignore the groundhog this time around. Instead I’ll take the time Wednesday to receive the Lord’s Meal and to celebrate the witness of Simeon and Anna that Jesus is the light of God’s salvation in our lives and in the world. I’ll light candles to remember that God’s light in fact is spreading in the darkness and it cannot be overcome. That in the Temple of the Lord, the Lord God of all is come in the form of this little baby, and brought life to us all, to the world. The true Spring is coming which brings life even to death. So even if life seems often wintry, and death in command, we give thanks that God is making all things new.
Come, and worship this Light Wednesday – and bring a candle!
Pastor Crippen
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Bring a candle for blessing to remind you of the light of Christ during this coming year.
Sunday Readings
February 6, 2011 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:1-12 + Psalm 112:1-9
I Corinthians 2:1-12 + Matthew 5:13-20
February 13, 2011 – Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 + Psalm 119:1-8
I Corinthians 3:1-9+ Matthew 5:21-37
Please note!
There will be no Compline this Sunday, Feb. 6. Compline will resume on Sunday, February 13.
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Bridging the Gap – An Update!
About 10 days ago, you received a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. The first Sunday after the mailing went out, already a half-dozen responses came in. These folks wanted to be sure to take advantage of the $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match that is available!
If we can meet the goal of this appeal and pay off our construction loan early, Mount Olive will avoid about $30,000 in interest on that loan. That’s an incentive! Freeing ourselves of a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
You may return your response either by mail, or by placing it in the offering basket on Sundays.
Some, who were not members of Mount Olive in 2008, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more, or extend their current pledge.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Let us all prayerfully consider how we can respond. Together, we can meet the challenge to wrap up 2011 free of debt, and ready to move forward.
Sox Box
Word has come to MONAC from Our Savior's Homeless Program, that there is a great need for socks for those who are homeless. In response, Mount Olive folks are asked to donate socks which will contribute to the warmth of those people who are much exposed to the elements. Any and all sizes are needed.
Please bring your donations to Mount Olive and find the “Sox Box” in the East Assembly Room to receive them. Your generous response is anticipated and appreciated.
Upcoming Music & Fine Arts Events
February 1-28, 2011: Art display: Serigraphs of John August Swanson (postponed from 2010 due to construction)
John August Swanson paints in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, and is an independent printmaker of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs and etchings. He addresses himself to human values, cultural roots, and his quest for self-discovery through visual images. John August Swanson’s work will be on display for an entire month, open before and after the February 13 MFA event, as well as on Sundays and other days of a church function.
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 4:00 pm: Minnesota Boychoir, Mark Johnson, Conductor
The Minnesota Boy Choir makes a return to Mount Olive for this mid-winter concert. Internationally renowned, the Minnesota Boychoir is the oldest continuously operating boy choir in the Twin Cities area, tracing its roots back over forty years. Join us for a concert of diverse repertoire. A reception will follow the concert.
Guidelines for Management of the Newly-Renovated Spaces
The Vestry recently approved new guidelines for using and furnishing the new spaces in the buildings. Last week's Olive Branch included guidelines on the use of the new spaces, In order to protect the integrity and "look" of the new spaces, the following was also approved:
Furnishings for the Parish House rooms will follow, to the extent possible, the color schemes, wood finishes and furniture choices designed by the Furnishings subcommittee, which was commissioned by the Building Committee during the building project.
Furniture, lighting, carpet, window coverings and surface treatments will be commercial grade if at all possible.
Donations of furnishings to the spaces will be made only with the approval of the Property committee or Vestry and must be approved before such donations are brought to the church. Donations made without this approval may be disposed of or donated elsewhere.
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Upcoming Adult Forums
Feb. 6 Pr. Crippen (Part II): Spiritual Formation: Worship
Feb. 13 A forum on ministry to the Latino community
Feb 20 Pr.Crippen (Part IV): Spiritual Formation: Solvitur ambulando
Feb. 27 Prof. Dr. Lois Farag (Luther Seminary Professor who is a Coptic Nun): Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Mar. 6 Rabbi Earl Schwartz on Interpreting the Psalms
Mar. 13 To Be Announced
Mar. 20 Prof. Dr. Dirk Lange (Professor of Liturgy at Luther Seminary who was once a monk at Taize): The Spirituality of Taize (Part I)
Mar. 27 Prof. Dr. Dirk Lange (Part II)
Apr. 3 The Saint John’s Bible: What It Is and How It Came to Be
Apr. 10 To Be announced
Apr. 17 Palm/Passion Sunday: Offering of Letters for Bread for the World
Apr. 24 Easter Day: No Adult Forum
Sermon from January 30, 2011
Sermon from January 30, 2011 + The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, year A
“Not That Complicated”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
This past week Cantor Cherwien and I were doing some preliminary conversation about Lent (yes, it is coming – but not right away!), and in the course of the planning we started talking about the concept of Lenten discipline. Our Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday liturgies bracket a forty day period which for centuries has been called the “discipline” of Lent, and the language of those liturgies very clearly evokes that idea. What we were reflecting on was how that word, discipline, has somehow become a word people seem to want to avoid in Christian circles. Discipline has become a word evoking punishment, consequences, harshness. You’ll hear more about Lent as it gets closer, but today’s readings from God’s Word put us in the heart of the question of Christian discipline. We call it discipleship, mostly, and this week I wondered if that’s because it sounds less formidable than discipline. But the lectionary for the Epiphany season is all about being disciples – for a few weeks we focus on the call of disciples, and the remaining weeks, beginning today, center on the shaping of disciples of Jesus. On discipline, for lack of a better word.
Discipline is also a word used in parenting, and as in Christian churches, it’s a word that has a mixed history and a connotation many also now seem to want to avoid. It’s often a direct synonym for punishment, especially corporal punishment. Yet at its Latin roots, it’s all about shaping and educating: being a pupil is being a disciple; teaching a student is disciplining them. In fact, there are some wonderful resources for parents which seek to reclaim discipline from its “don’t spare the rod” connotations and recast it in the ancient meaning of shaping and leading children to become good people, to find a discipline of love and support and guidance which becomes a positive and healthy way of helping children to adulthood.
Even in this reclaiming, however, is the idea that there is a shape to which the teacher or parent aspires to mold the student, the child, the follower. For parents, each family has to decide as they go what that shape might be. For those of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus, it is Jesus himself who draws the outline, who creates the template for our lives. And there might be the rub. Perhaps we avoid the idea of Christian discipline not only because of the negative punishment associations with the term. Maybe we avoid it because at our heart we don’t want to be shaped into something different. We aren’t interested in being molded into something else, even if it is by Jesus himself.
That seems to be the point at which we must make a decision. If in fact we are looking for God, seeking God’s grace in our lives and in the world, and God’s answer involves shaping us into new people, then before we say or do anything else, we must answer that simple question: are we willing to be changed? If we only want some God who will occasionally make us feel good, then this is not the place. If we only want to be affirmed in our own ways and feel blessed by God, then this is not the place. But if we truly seek God – and want to know what God has to do with us and with the world, then this is the place, but it will mean change for us. Discipline. Because that’s what Jesus, the one we call Son of God, came to announce. And for two millennia disciples have found that in this discipline is the life and grace the world needs desperately, the light in the darkness which seems to pervade so much of our lives.
So assuming we all are open to this discipline, we can look at what God says to us today.
And here we find a disturbing thing: our readings from Scripture today describe both a standard that seems impossibly high and a God who clearly knows we fail to meet it.
The psalmist declares that only the blameless – only the blameless! – may abide with God. Others need not apply. And the list of attributes isn’t inappropriate – it’s a good list: those who speak the truth, don’t take bribes, aren’t evil to their friends, don’t slander. It’s just that any list like that reminds us that we don’t always meet it. We certainly aren’t arrogant enough to call ourselves blameless, at any rate.
And Jesus has high expectations, too, about those he calls “blessed”. The blessed ones are clear. Those who show mercy, those who make peace. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are meek, and poor in spirit. Some of these we aspire to be but do not reach, others we likely would rather avoid because we see them as weakness.
But in the next weeks the shape of the life of the disciple will be more fleshed out for us by Jesus, and the standards will continue to be high. So high we know we won’t always meet them. And God knows, too, more’s the pity.
Micah envisions God bringing a lawsuit against the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness and poor discipline. In dramatic fashion, the jury in God v. the people is the whole creation – mountains and hills are called to witness to God’s complaint.
The complaint is simple, and if you’ve worshiped here on Good Friday and recall the Solemn Reproaches, the complaint is also familiar. God says, “How have I wearied you? All I did was save you from slavery, gave you a land, and sent you leaders to show you my saving acts. What more could I have done?” God has done everything to bless God’s people, and has received no disciples in return. And we read this as our own reality: we who have received so much from God are in no way like what the psalmist or Jesus would call blameless or blessed, and now we know God knows it, too.
But before a verdict is declared, the people give a counter offer. And their approach is not also unfamiliar to us. But just as in Micah’s day, our tendency is to miss God’s point completely.
In fact, here’s the crux of the whole problem: our response to God is diametrically opposite to what God is hoping for from us, from what God hopes to see in our discipline.
The people in Micah’s courtroom scenario jump ahead of a verdict with offers of all sorts of sacrifices and dramatic buy-offs. They ask, “how much sacrifice will it take, God, to make us right again?” And then they start with the offers. A few calves? Not enough? OK – how about thousands of rams? No? Ten thousand rivers of oil? Still not enough? I know, could I sacrifice my firstborn?
Here’s the disjunction, then and now: God blesses us and we don’t follow God’s way, we don’t have discipline. And when we are brought to account by God, we go overboard in trying to buy God off. From a few calves to thousands of rivers of oil and sacrificing first-borns, we do the same. But we sacrifice others to distract God from us. The church is filled with people and congregations who think that following God’s way means drawing lines between who’s in and who’s out, being rigid, in some attempt to be faithful. Like hating others, rejecting others, to please God – or because we think it will. Being rigid toward folks whom we’re comfortable calling “sinful.”
And this crosses all lines: today is a Sunday when congregations who are Reconciling in Christ as we are, are invited to remember that commitment to be reconciling people of God. This is a good thing to which we are called. But perhaps we need to be accountable for our anger and rigidity toward our sisters and brothers in Christ who aren’t welcoming, who disagree with us on the welcome we feel God is calling us to be and live here. Who don’t do justice as we see justice should be done. It’s not only one side of an argument that can be rigid and judgmental, and in many ways we do it because we’re all thinking it somehow pleases God, and takes God’s eye off of our failed discipline.
But God’s answer then and now is the same: it’s not as complicated as you seem to need to make it. If you want to be my disciples, you know what to do: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. Be merciful. Be peacemakers. Be pure in heart. Don’t slander – not even the people you think have it all wrong. Speak the truth from your heart. It’s all there in today’s readings. Or, as the Son of God has summed up again and again: Love your God with all you have and are, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In fact, the life of disciples, the discipline of faith, is incredibly simple to understand. But like the board game Othello, it takes “a minute to learn . . . a lifetime to master.” Sometimes I wonder if we act as if Christian discipline is so complicated in an attempt to justify to ourselves our unwillingness to embrace it. Maybe we do it simply because we’re afraid that we cannot ever live it as we are called to do. Or afraid we don’t want to. And here we have an answer from Paul.
Here’s where the foolishness of God comes in: when we fail in our discipline, we always remember that we are claimed by and live under the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s call to disciples is complete, and asks everything of us. That’s unavoidable truth. And yet Psalm 15 isn’t correct anymore, not in light of the cross. If indeed it’s only the blameless who can abide with God, the foolishness of God is that all are forgiven in the cross, all are declared blameless and blessed. Even those who do not do justice, love kindness, or walk humbly with God. Even those whom we sometimes despise for their lack of justice while claiming Christ.
For us, a challenge of discipline is accepting that God’s foolishness not only applies to us. It applies to those whom we least like, those who offend us the most. Even they are welcomed. Now we can understand why Paul calls the cross a foolishness, an offense, a stumbling block: because as much as we desire God’s forgiveness, we are reluctant to share it with those whose discipleship, whose discipline we question most of all.
In the end, this is the best discipline of all.
Because we are renewed in our daily walk, our daily discipline, by the foolish love of God for us, and for all. If we try to play the “buy off God” game, pretending that we in fact are the blameless and the blessed, we will miss it all. We will stumble over the cross, be blocked by its bulk.
When we recognize, however, that every day our discipline is weak, faulty, and sometimes non-existent, when we remind ourselves each morning that in spite of our desire to do it our way, God’s way is clear and easy to understand, and that God will help us live into and in that way, when we ask the Spirit of God to help us do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, and forgive us when we fail – when that happens, we will truly understand what it means to have discipline, to be discipled, and to become disciples. Blessed disciples. Blameless, even, through the foolish grace of God in Jesus. It’s as simple as that, thanks be to God.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
“Not That Complicated”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
This past week Cantor Cherwien and I were doing some preliminary conversation about Lent (yes, it is coming – but not right away!), and in the course of the planning we started talking about the concept of Lenten discipline. Our Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday liturgies bracket a forty day period which for centuries has been called the “discipline” of Lent, and the language of those liturgies very clearly evokes that idea. What we were reflecting on was how that word, discipline, has somehow become a word people seem to want to avoid in Christian circles. Discipline has become a word evoking punishment, consequences, harshness. You’ll hear more about Lent as it gets closer, but today’s readings from God’s Word put us in the heart of the question of Christian discipline. We call it discipleship, mostly, and this week I wondered if that’s because it sounds less formidable than discipline. But the lectionary for the Epiphany season is all about being disciples – for a few weeks we focus on the call of disciples, and the remaining weeks, beginning today, center on the shaping of disciples of Jesus. On discipline, for lack of a better word.
Discipline is also a word used in parenting, and as in Christian churches, it’s a word that has a mixed history and a connotation many also now seem to want to avoid. It’s often a direct synonym for punishment, especially corporal punishment. Yet at its Latin roots, it’s all about shaping and educating: being a pupil is being a disciple; teaching a student is disciplining them. In fact, there are some wonderful resources for parents which seek to reclaim discipline from its “don’t spare the rod” connotations and recast it in the ancient meaning of shaping and leading children to become good people, to find a discipline of love and support and guidance which becomes a positive and healthy way of helping children to adulthood.
Even in this reclaiming, however, is the idea that there is a shape to which the teacher or parent aspires to mold the student, the child, the follower. For parents, each family has to decide as they go what that shape might be. For those of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus, it is Jesus himself who draws the outline, who creates the template for our lives. And there might be the rub. Perhaps we avoid the idea of Christian discipline not only because of the negative punishment associations with the term. Maybe we avoid it because at our heart we don’t want to be shaped into something different. We aren’t interested in being molded into something else, even if it is by Jesus himself.
That seems to be the point at which we must make a decision. If in fact we are looking for God, seeking God’s grace in our lives and in the world, and God’s answer involves shaping us into new people, then before we say or do anything else, we must answer that simple question: are we willing to be changed? If we only want some God who will occasionally make us feel good, then this is not the place. If we only want to be affirmed in our own ways and feel blessed by God, then this is not the place. But if we truly seek God – and want to know what God has to do with us and with the world, then this is the place, but it will mean change for us. Discipline. Because that’s what Jesus, the one we call Son of God, came to announce. And for two millennia disciples have found that in this discipline is the life and grace the world needs desperately, the light in the darkness which seems to pervade so much of our lives.
So assuming we all are open to this discipline, we can look at what God says to us today.
And here we find a disturbing thing: our readings from Scripture today describe both a standard that seems impossibly high and a God who clearly knows we fail to meet it.
The psalmist declares that only the blameless – only the blameless! – may abide with God. Others need not apply. And the list of attributes isn’t inappropriate – it’s a good list: those who speak the truth, don’t take bribes, aren’t evil to their friends, don’t slander. It’s just that any list like that reminds us that we don’t always meet it. We certainly aren’t arrogant enough to call ourselves blameless, at any rate.
And Jesus has high expectations, too, about those he calls “blessed”. The blessed ones are clear. Those who show mercy, those who make peace. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are meek, and poor in spirit. Some of these we aspire to be but do not reach, others we likely would rather avoid because we see them as weakness.
But in the next weeks the shape of the life of the disciple will be more fleshed out for us by Jesus, and the standards will continue to be high. So high we know we won’t always meet them. And God knows, too, more’s the pity.
Micah envisions God bringing a lawsuit against the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness and poor discipline. In dramatic fashion, the jury in God v. the people is the whole creation – mountains and hills are called to witness to God’s complaint.
The complaint is simple, and if you’ve worshiped here on Good Friday and recall the Solemn Reproaches, the complaint is also familiar. God says, “How have I wearied you? All I did was save you from slavery, gave you a land, and sent you leaders to show you my saving acts. What more could I have done?” God has done everything to bless God’s people, and has received no disciples in return. And we read this as our own reality: we who have received so much from God are in no way like what the psalmist or Jesus would call blameless or blessed, and now we know God knows it, too.
But before a verdict is declared, the people give a counter offer. And their approach is not also unfamiliar to us. But just as in Micah’s day, our tendency is to miss God’s point completely.
In fact, here’s the crux of the whole problem: our response to God is diametrically opposite to what God is hoping for from us, from what God hopes to see in our discipline.
The people in Micah’s courtroom scenario jump ahead of a verdict with offers of all sorts of sacrifices and dramatic buy-offs. They ask, “how much sacrifice will it take, God, to make us right again?” And then they start with the offers. A few calves? Not enough? OK – how about thousands of rams? No? Ten thousand rivers of oil? Still not enough? I know, could I sacrifice my firstborn?
Here’s the disjunction, then and now: God blesses us and we don’t follow God’s way, we don’t have discipline. And when we are brought to account by God, we go overboard in trying to buy God off. From a few calves to thousands of rivers of oil and sacrificing first-borns, we do the same. But we sacrifice others to distract God from us. The church is filled with people and congregations who think that following God’s way means drawing lines between who’s in and who’s out, being rigid, in some attempt to be faithful. Like hating others, rejecting others, to please God – or because we think it will. Being rigid toward folks whom we’re comfortable calling “sinful.”
And this crosses all lines: today is a Sunday when congregations who are Reconciling in Christ as we are, are invited to remember that commitment to be reconciling people of God. This is a good thing to which we are called. But perhaps we need to be accountable for our anger and rigidity toward our sisters and brothers in Christ who aren’t welcoming, who disagree with us on the welcome we feel God is calling us to be and live here. Who don’t do justice as we see justice should be done. It’s not only one side of an argument that can be rigid and judgmental, and in many ways we do it because we’re all thinking it somehow pleases God, and takes God’s eye off of our failed discipline.
But God’s answer then and now is the same: it’s not as complicated as you seem to need to make it. If you want to be my disciples, you know what to do: do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. Be merciful. Be peacemakers. Be pure in heart. Don’t slander – not even the people you think have it all wrong. Speak the truth from your heart. It’s all there in today’s readings. Or, as the Son of God has summed up again and again: Love your God with all you have and are, and love your neighbor as yourself.
In fact, the life of disciples, the discipline of faith, is incredibly simple to understand. But like the board game Othello, it takes “a minute to learn . . . a lifetime to master.” Sometimes I wonder if we act as if Christian discipline is so complicated in an attempt to justify to ourselves our unwillingness to embrace it. Maybe we do it simply because we’re afraid that we cannot ever live it as we are called to do. Or afraid we don’t want to. And here we have an answer from Paul.
Here’s where the foolishness of God comes in: when we fail in our discipline, we always remember that we are claimed by and live under the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s call to disciples is complete, and asks everything of us. That’s unavoidable truth. And yet Psalm 15 isn’t correct anymore, not in light of the cross. If indeed it’s only the blameless who can abide with God, the foolishness of God is that all are forgiven in the cross, all are declared blameless and blessed. Even those who do not do justice, love kindness, or walk humbly with God. Even those whom we sometimes despise for their lack of justice while claiming Christ.
For us, a challenge of discipline is accepting that God’s foolishness not only applies to us. It applies to those whom we least like, those who offend us the most. Even they are welcomed. Now we can understand why Paul calls the cross a foolishness, an offense, a stumbling block: because as much as we desire God’s forgiveness, we are reluctant to share it with those whose discipleship, whose discipline we question most of all.
In the end, this is the best discipline of all.
Because we are renewed in our daily walk, our daily discipline, by the foolish love of God for us, and for all. If we try to play the “buy off God” game, pretending that we in fact are the blameless and the blessed, we will miss it all. We will stumble over the cross, be blocked by its bulk.
When we recognize, however, that every day our discipline is weak, faulty, and sometimes non-existent, when we remind ourselves each morning that in spite of our desire to do it our way, God’s way is clear and easy to understand, and that God will help us live into and in that way, when we ask the Spirit of God to help us do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, and forgive us when we fail – when that happens, we will truly understand what it means to have discipline, to be discipled, and to become disciples. Blessed disciples. Blameless, even, through the foolish grace of God in Jesus. It’s as simple as that, thanks be to God.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
This Week's Liturgies
Sunday, January 30, 2011: Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Compline, led by the Minnesota Compline Choir at 8:30 p.m.
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Compline, led by the Minnesota Compline Choir at 8:30 p.m.
Sermon from January 23, 2011
Sermon from January 23, 2011 + The Third Sunday after Epiphany, year A
“The Light Shines”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
(Texts: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
What just happened here? This is a powerful story. Four working men are met by an itinerant preacher, who invites them to follow him. They immediately drop everything, abandon their work and family, and follow him. Why on earth would they do that? What would cause them to make such a radical change in their lives, their behavior, their action?
I’d like you all to take a moment now and try to bring to mind the first time you knew or experienced the love of God in Jesus in a tangible way – at worship, in prayer, at Bible study, through another person’s love, anywhere . . . If it’s helpful to close your eyes, that’s fine – just remember not to keep them closed!
. . . Was it hard to recall a time? Could you remember a time when you were so enfolded by the love of Christ that there was no doubt? Or a time when God’s love shone through Scripture so clearly that you knew not only that God loved the world but that God loved you?
There are those moments in our lives, moments like our psalmist has when he declares today: “The LORD is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid?” And there are also those moments when we doubt, when our faith falters, when the light of God’s love seems dim.
The reason I wanted us all to go back a little was that I don’t think we can easily put ourselves in the disciples’ shoes in stories like this. Can you imagine what it was like for them to be so clear about the presence of God in Jesus that they left everything, immediately, to follow, and to tell others? If you’re like me, even when I feel God’s call strongly I tend to think practically about the risks, what’s at stake. And the everyday inertia of my life, the demands, the routine, the commitments, always seem to have a pull greater than a pull to change. These disciples, who show themselves to be flawed and weak just like us, at this moment show a strength and courage I don’t know we even expect to have. Or want to have.
So I wonder how we talk about our call to “fish for people” in light of this. Because it boils down to this: if you’re a person walking in darkness who suddenly sees the light, to use Isaiah’s image, you don’t need anyone to try and convince you to tell others. You’ll be running around trying to point out that light anywhere you can. If we need convincing to share the Good News of God in Jesus that we cherish for our life, maybe we don’t really know what a treasure we have.
But first we should note this: these people who dropped everything were looking for something from God.
John the evangelist says that Andrew and John, the younger brothers of these two pairs, were disciples of John the Baptist and so found Jesus. Matthew doesn’t say that – for all the world it looks as if Jesus just came up and surprised them at their work. But even if Matthew’s closer to the truth, they had to have been looking for something, missing something, wanting something from God. Because meeting Jesus caused a response that only makes sense if they had a need which he somehow met. If they were in some way seeking answers to life. Or God’s light in a dark world.
And throughout the history of the Church, people have come to faith and followed with their lives because they, too, were looking for something and found it in Jesus. This week alone in the calendar of the Church Year we commemorate a veritable Hall of Fame of people whose lives were changed by faith in Jesus and who transformed the world by their subsequent witness: Timothy, Titus, Silas, Lydia, Dorcas, Phoebe, Paul himself, and a later follower who brought light, Thomas Aquinas. And that’s just the start of the list of people who met Jesus and followed and changed the world. We could even add this morning the witnesses of Corinth Paul mentions: Chloe, Gaius, Crispus, and fellow leaders Apollos and Cephas, or Peter.
So perhaps our first question when putting ourselves in this story is this: are we satisfied with our lives, with the world, or are we looking for something more from God? I suspect the answer for all of us is “yes, we are looking for something more.” Coming here every Sunday is becoming more and more counter-cultural. There are lots of things the world says are better to do than get up on a day off and come to worship. That we are here each week says a lot about what we seek. And the other practices of faith in which we are already engaged say the same – prayer, reading of the Scriptures, Christian fellowship. If we were satisfied that the world had all the answers we needed, we wouldn’t be so involved as we already are.
Still, the utter change effected in these new disciples’ lives seems outside our understanding and certainly our experience. So what else is there to know about them?
The problem may be that Christian faith is not primarily an intellectual proposition.
Even though in our post-Enlightenment world we too often have treated it as such. I appreciate the fine points of doctrinal debate as much as any, but fundamentally Jesus didn’t come to teach us theology. He came to call us to a new way of life, God’s way, a way of self-giving love, a way of justice and peace, a way of integrity and faithfulness. He came to invite us back into a living relationship with the God of the Universe, a relationship that like any good relationship will change us forever. Too often in our preaching and teaching we’ve emphasized the “idea” of faith more than faith itself.
On the other hand, Christian faith is not primarily about subjective emotional feelings, either. No amount of navel-gazing or contemplation will bring us to know, to know that God’s love for us is immovable, permanent, and life-giving in Jesus our Lord. Faith is no more reducible to an emotion than it is to an idea.
Christian faith is based on God coming to us from outside our own experience and entering our lives. Jesus intrudes himself in the world and changes everything – and when the world kills him he rises from the dead and changes everything again. Today we still experience that revelation from without as God’s Word speaks to us, as we come to this Table to eat the gift of our Lord’s Body and Blood, as we teach each other the Good News of faith.
But at some point if we are going to be captured by this Love, this Grace, this Word of God, our hearts need to be touched. Whatever happened to the disciples, we know that much. Their hearts were touched, and they dropped everything to follow Jesus.
For us, perhaps it’s a matter of praying that we can say with confidence what Paul says today:
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” This is not an intellectual proposition for Paul. Nor is it an emotional feeling. It’s him saying, “Look at this amazing light in the darkness.” The message about the cross for Paul is not a message at all. It is in fact the power of God. Power that he has experienced and known. Power that is shown in a love that gives itself completely.
So really, that’s all I want to say today.
Take the time to remember and notice when the love of God in Jesus was and is real to you in a powerful way. If it’s been awhile, then take advantage of opportunities to worship, to be in contact with God’s Word, to pray, to talk to other believers. And once you notice these ways God has come to you, then do what comes after.
When you see the light after a long time in darkness, you don’t need to be told to share it. Your life will bring light to those you meet. It will be visible. To us who are being saved, Paul says, this is the power of God. And the power of God changes the world.
So when the joy of God’s love for you in Jesus grabs your heart and pulls it you don’t need me to remind you to share that joy. You will by how that joy flows out in all you do with other people. And when the peace of God in Christ settles your heart and mind and gives you comfort you don’t need to be convinced to share that peace. You will by how you bring that peace to all you meet. And as we ask God for guidance for Mount Olive as we move into the future, it will all come from this same grace: here God has shined light into our lives and into the world, and has called us together to be that light.
The truth is that God has been working in all of us, together and individually, in more ways than we’ve even noticed. And thanks be to God for that. After all, Jesus didn’t tell the disciples they would have to figure out how to fish for people. He told them “I will make it happen.” That’s our promise, too.
So here we stand on the beach with Jesus, and we see that he is the Light of the world. The Light we’ve always needed.
And like these brothers, we hear these words: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And like these brothers, we are faced with this question: what comes next?
That I can’t answer for me, for you, or for all of us right now. That the Spirit needs to lead us to understand as we move forward.
But for now, we know this, and it is enough: God has come to love us and in Jesus’ death and resurrection to give us light in our darkness. Let’s keep our eyes open and see this light, notice where God is shining light. And let’s seek to open our minds and hearts and listen for God’s joy and peace. And then let God work in us a new life of witness together. As John Powell, an American Jesuit, once said, “If the good news that God loves you has touched your heart, please inform your face.” And so we say, if God’s love has touched our hearts, let it flow through all we do. Because once we know we’ve seen God’s saving grace, our lives will start witnessing for us. God will make it happen.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
“The Light Shines”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
(Texts: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
What just happened here? This is a powerful story. Four working men are met by an itinerant preacher, who invites them to follow him. They immediately drop everything, abandon their work and family, and follow him. Why on earth would they do that? What would cause them to make such a radical change in their lives, their behavior, their action?
I’d like you all to take a moment now and try to bring to mind the first time you knew or experienced the love of God in Jesus in a tangible way – at worship, in prayer, at Bible study, through another person’s love, anywhere . . . If it’s helpful to close your eyes, that’s fine – just remember not to keep them closed!
. . . Was it hard to recall a time? Could you remember a time when you were so enfolded by the love of Christ that there was no doubt? Or a time when God’s love shone through Scripture so clearly that you knew not only that God loved the world but that God loved you?
There are those moments in our lives, moments like our psalmist has when he declares today: “The LORD is my light and my salvation, so why should I be afraid?” And there are also those moments when we doubt, when our faith falters, when the light of God’s love seems dim.
The reason I wanted us all to go back a little was that I don’t think we can easily put ourselves in the disciples’ shoes in stories like this. Can you imagine what it was like for them to be so clear about the presence of God in Jesus that they left everything, immediately, to follow, and to tell others? If you’re like me, even when I feel God’s call strongly I tend to think practically about the risks, what’s at stake. And the everyday inertia of my life, the demands, the routine, the commitments, always seem to have a pull greater than a pull to change. These disciples, who show themselves to be flawed and weak just like us, at this moment show a strength and courage I don’t know we even expect to have. Or want to have.
So I wonder how we talk about our call to “fish for people” in light of this. Because it boils down to this: if you’re a person walking in darkness who suddenly sees the light, to use Isaiah’s image, you don’t need anyone to try and convince you to tell others. You’ll be running around trying to point out that light anywhere you can. If we need convincing to share the Good News of God in Jesus that we cherish for our life, maybe we don’t really know what a treasure we have.
But first we should note this: these people who dropped everything were looking for something from God.
John the evangelist says that Andrew and John, the younger brothers of these two pairs, were disciples of John the Baptist and so found Jesus. Matthew doesn’t say that – for all the world it looks as if Jesus just came up and surprised them at their work. But even if Matthew’s closer to the truth, they had to have been looking for something, missing something, wanting something from God. Because meeting Jesus caused a response that only makes sense if they had a need which he somehow met. If they were in some way seeking answers to life. Or God’s light in a dark world.
And throughout the history of the Church, people have come to faith and followed with their lives because they, too, were looking for something and found it in Jesus. This week alone in the calendar of the Church Year we commemorate a veritable Hall of Fame of people whose lives were changed by faith in Jesus and who transformed the world by their subsequent witness: Timothy, Titus, Silas, Lydia, Dorcas, Phoebe, Paul himself, and a later follower who brought light, Thomas Aquinas. And that’s just the start of the list of people who met Jesus and followed and changed the world. We could even add this morning the witnesses of Corinth Paul mentions: Chloe, Gaius, Crispus, and fellow leaders Apollos and Cephas, or Peter.
So perhaps our first question when putting ourselves in this story is this: are we satisfied with our lives, with the world, or are we looking for something more from God? I suspect the answer for all of us is “yes, we are looking for something more.” Coming here every Sunday is becoming more and more counter-cultural. There are lots of things the world says are better to do than get up on a day off and come to worship. That we are here each week says a lot about what we seek. And the other practices of faith in which we are already engaged say the same – prayer, reading of the Scriptures, Christian fellowship. If we were satisfied that the world had all the answers we needed, we wouldn’t be so involved as we already are.
Still, the utter change effected in these new disciples’ lives seems outside our understanding and certainly our experience. So what else is there to know about them?
The problem may be that Christian faith is not primarily an intellectual proposition.
Even though in our post-Enlightenment world we too often have treated it as such. I appreciate the fine points of doctrinal debate as much as any, but fundamentally Jesus didn’t come to teach us theology. He came to call us to a new way of life, God’s way, a way of self-giving love, a way of justice and peace, a way of integrity and faithfulness. He came to invite us back into a living relationship with the God of the Universe, a relationship that like any good relationship will change us forever. Too often in our preaching and teaching we’ve emphasized the “idea” of faith more than faith itself.
On the other hand, Christian faith is not primarily about subjective emotional feelings, either. No amount of navel-gazing or contemplation will bring us to know, to know that God’s love for us is immovable, permanent, and life-giving in Jesus our Lord. Faith is no more reducible to an emotion than it is to an idea.
Christian faith is based on God coming to us from outside our own experience and entering our lives. Jesus intrudes himself in the world and changes everything – and when the world kills him he rises from the dead and changes everything again. Today we still experience that revelation from without as God’s Word speaks to us, as we come to this Table to eat the gift of our Lord’s Body and Blood, as we teach each other the Good News of faith.
But at some point if we are going to be captured by this Love, this Grace, this Word of God, our hearts need to be touched. Whatever happened to the disciples, we know that much. Their hearts were touched, and they dropped everything to follow Jesus.
For us, perhaps it’s a matter of praying that we can say with confidence what Paul says today:
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” This is not an intellectual proposition for Paul. Nor is it an emotional feeling. It’s him saying, “Look at this amazing light in the darkness.” The message about the cross for Paul is not a message at all. It is in fact the power of God. Power that he has experienced and known. Power that is shown in a love that gives itself completely.
So really, that’s all I want to say today.
Take the time to remember and notice when the love of God in Jesus was and is real to you in a powerful way. If it’s been awhile, then take advantage of opportunities to worship, to be in contact with God’s Word, to pray, to talk to other believers. And once you notice these ways God has come to you, then do what comes after.
When you see the light after a long time in darkness, you don’t need to be told to share it. Your life will bring light to those you meet. It will be visible. To us who are being saved, Paul says, this is the power of God. And the power of God changes the world.
So when the joy of God’s love for you in Jesus grabs your heart and pulls it you don’t need me to remind you to share that joy. You will by how that joy flows out in all you do with other people. And when the peace of God in Christ settles your heart and mind and gives you comfort you don’t need to be convinced to share that peace. You will by how you bring that peace to all you meet. And as we ask God for guidance for Mount Olive as we move into the future, it will all come from this same grace: here God has shined light into our lives and into the world, and has called us together to be that light.
The truth is that God has been working in all of us, together and individually, in more ways than we’ve even noticed. And thanks be to God for that. After all, Jesus didn’t tell the disciples they would have to figure out how to fish for people. He told them “I will make it happen.” That’s our promise, too.
So here we stand on the beach with Jesus, and we see that he is the Light of the world. The Light we’ve always needed.
And like these brothers, we hear these words: “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And like these brothers, we are faced with this question: what comes next?
That I can’t answer for me, for you, or for all of us right now. That the Spirit needs to lead us to understand as we move forward.
But for now, we know this, and it is enough: God has come to love us and in Jesus’ death and resurrection to give us light in our darkness. Let’s keep our eyes open and see this light, notice where God is shining light. And let’s seek to open our minds and hearts and listen for God’s joy and peace. And then let God work in us a new life of witness together. As John Powell, an American Jesuit, once said, “If the good news that God loves you has touched your heart, please inform your face.” And so we say, if God’s love has touched our hearts, let it flow through all we do. Because once we know we’ve seen God’s saving grace, our lives will start witnessing for us. God will make it happen.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
The Olive Branch: January 25, 2011
Accent on Worship
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
If I were to give a title to the Lessons and the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany I would call it, “The Upside Down World of God.” In the First Lesson Micah creates a scene of Israel on trial before God, with the creation as the jury. The prophet numbers off all the saving acts of God, and then points out that the LORD of Israel does not want lavish sacrifices for his efforts, but rather he wants Israel to love others, to do justice and to be of service to God. My favorite Bible verse is in this lesson, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God?” This simple yet beautiful statement pretty much sums up everything that Scripture points us to in order to live our lives in harmony with our Creator, the creation and one another.
According to Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, our strength is in the weakness of the cross. Peace and nonviolent resistance against the evils of the world may look like weakness to those who do not follow the ways of Jesus, but to Paul and all believers it is the only way. The way of the cross is the power of God. The people of God do not need weapons of mass destruction to over- come the evil and darkness of our world. All we need is the weakness of the cross.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear the Sermon on the Mount. Hear it again for the first time and ask yourselves, “Who are the blessed that Jesus speaks of in these verses?” They are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who long for righteousness, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted. They sure don’t look blessed to me. They look like a bunch of losers, and they are almost everything that we would not want to be. Even the nice sounding ones like “peacemakers” are ignored by the powers of this world. Ninety-nine percent of all governments have a Department of Defense, but I know of none that have a Department of Peace. Few peacemaking efforts are celebrated by history. The events that our children learn about are the major wars and treaties, the spoils of war.
So, God’s world is really an upside down world, one that gets little respect in this life. Yet, if we are to be followers of Jesus, this is the world into which we are called to plunge by being generous and merciful, by challenging injustice, and by resisting violence through the weakness of the cross. And when we do we will be one of the blessed, because we will be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
- Donna Pususta Neste
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Bring a candle for blessing to remind you of the light of Christ during
this coming year.
Sunday Readings
January 30, 2011 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8 + Psalm 15
I Corinthians 1:18-31+ Matthew 5:1-12
February 6, 2011 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:1-12 + Psalm 112:1-9
I Corinthians 2:1-12 + Matthew 5:13-20
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Mount Olive Wish List
Please consider a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List! Needed items are listed on a chart just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
Bridging the Gap – An Update!
About 10 days ago, you received a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. The first Sunday after the mailing went out, already a half-dozen responses came in. These folks wanted to be sure to take advantage of the $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match that is available!
If we can meet the goal of this appeal and pay off our construction loan early, Mount Olive will avoid about $30,000 in interest on that loan. That’s an incentive! Freeing ourselves of a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
You may return your response either by mail, or by placing it in the offering basket on Sundays.
Some, who were not members of Mount Olive in 2008, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more, or extend their current pledge.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Let us all prayerfully consider how we can respond. Together, we can meet the challenge to wrap up 2011 free of debt, and ready to move forward.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place this Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
(5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
2010 Contribution Statements
2010 year-end contribution statements are printed and ready to be picked up at church, just outside the coatroom. Please pick your statement up, and help to minimize the postage costs for mailing them.
Those statements which remain after this Sunday, January 30, will be mailed to contributors.
Sox Box
Word has come to MONAC from Our Savior's Homeless Program, that there is a great need for socks for those who are homeless. In response, Mount Olive folks are asked to donate socks which will contribute to the warmth of those people who are much exposed to the elements. Any and all sizes are needed.
Please bring your donations to Mt. Olive and find the “Sox Box” in the East Assembly Room to receive them. Your generous response is anticipated and appreciated.
Upcoming Music & Fine Arts Events
February 1-28, 2011: Art display: Serigraphs of John August Swanson (postponed from 2010 due to construction)
John August Swanson paints in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, and is an independent print maker of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs and etchings. He addresses himself to human values, cultural roots, and his quest for self-discovery through visual images. John August Swanson’s work will be on display for an entire month, open before and after the February 13 MFA event, as well as on Sundays and other days of a church function.
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 4:00 pm: Minnesota Boychoir, Mark Johnson, Conductor
The Minnesota Boy Choir makes a return to Mount Olive for this mid-winter concert. Internationally renowned, the Minnesota Boychoir is the oldest continuously operating boy choir in the Twin Cities area, tracing its roots back over forty years. Join us for a concert of diverse repertoire. A reception will follow the concert.
Guidelines for Management of the Newly-Renovated Spaces
God has given us great gifts to enhance our life together and enable us to live our values of music, liturgy and hospitality. Among these gifts are the newly refurbished spaces for hospitality and welcome. With the completion of our new Parish House and Undercroft kitchen renovation, guidelines have been established by the Vestry to help protect the integrity, beauty, usefulness and quality of the refinished space and other space throughout the building. Over the next three editions of The Olive Branch, these guidelines will be highlighted. A complete copy of the guidelines can be found in the Vestry minutes.
The first section of the document outlines the purposes of the new spaces. These include the Chapel Lounge, East Assembly Room, kitchen and galley kitchen, staff offices/work spaces and the Louise Schroedel Memorial Library. For the sake of brevity here, only the "newest" space is highlighted. That is the Reception Area on the west side of the building. It is intended primarily as a hospitality space and includes:
1. Space for comfortable seating.
2. A reception desk for welcoming visitors, checking out library materials, selling event tickets and small retail items and items as needed for hosting event receptions or Sunday morning coffee hour.
3. A comfortable reading space. This “browsing area” is intended as a small area for displaying a few books, including children’s books. Members of the congregation and visitors will have access to this space at all times. It will direct people to the primary library in the office suite.
4. Space for hosting small meetings and/or study groups.
5. A safe for storage of archival material and other irreplaceable materials
6. A closet for storage of items for sale that need to be secured when not available for purchase.
The guidelines state that while other uses may be developed for the newly renovated areas, that these uses must first be approved by the Pastor or the Vestry.
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
If I were to give a title to the Lessons and the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday After Epiphany I would call it, “The Upside Down World of God.” In the First Lesson Micah creates a scene of Israel on trial before God, with the creation as the jury. The prophet numbers off all the saving acts of God, and then points out that the LORD of Israel does not want lavish sacrifices for his efforts, but rather he wants Israel to love others, to do justice and to be of service to God. My favorite Bible verse is in this lesson, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God?” This simple yet beautiful statement pretty much sums up everything that Scripture points us to in order to live our lives in harmony with our Creator, the creation and one another.
According to Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, our strength is in the weakness of the cross. Peace and nonviolent resistance against the evils of the world may look like weakness to those who do not follow the ways of Jesus, but to Paul and all believers it is the only way. The way of the cross is the power of God. The people of God do not need weapons of mass destruction to over- come the evil and darkness of our world. All we need is the weakness of the cross.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear the Sermon on the Mount. Hear it again for the first time and ask yourselves, “Who are the blessed that Jesus speaks of in these verses?” They are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who long for righteousness, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted. They sure don’t look blessed to me. They look like a bunch of losers, and they are almost everything that we would not want to be. Even the nice sounding ones like “peacemakers” are ignored by the powers of this world. Ninety-nine percent of all governments have a Department of Defense, but I know of none that have a Department of Peace. Few peacemaking efforts are celebrated by history. The events that our children learn about are the major wars and treaties, the spoils of war.
So, God’s world is really an upside down world, one that gets little respect in this life. Yet, if we are to be followers of Jesus, this is the world into which we are called to plunge by being generous and merciful, by challenging injustice, and by resisting violence through the weakness of the cross. And when we do we will be one of the blessed, because we will be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
- Donna Pususta Neste
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Bring a candle for blessing to remind you of the light of Christ during
this coming year.
Sunday Readings
January 30, 2011 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8 + Psalm 15
I Corinthians 1:18-31+ Matthew 5:1-12
February 6, 2011 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:1-12 + Psalm 112:1-9
I Corinthians 2:1-12 + Matthew 5:13-20
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Mount Olive Wish List
Please consider a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List! Needed items are listed on a chart just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
Bridging the Gap – An Update!
About 10 days ago, you received a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. The first Sunday after the mailing went out, already a half-dozen responses came in. These folks wanted to be sure to take advantage of the $25,000 dollar-for-dollar match that is available!
If we can meet the goal of this appeal and pay off our construction loan early, Mount Olive will avoid about $30,000 in interest on that loan. That’s an incentive! Freeing ourselves of a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
You may return your response either by mail, or by placing it in the offering basket on Sundays.
Some, who were not members of Mount Olive in 2008, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more, or extend their current pledge.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Let us all prayerfully consider how we can respond. Together, we can meet the challenge to wrap up 2011 free of debt, and ready to move forward.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place this Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
(5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
2010 Contribution Statements
2010 year-end contribution statements are printed and ready to be picked up at church, just outside the coatroom. Please pick your statement up, and help to minimize the postage costs for mailing them.
Those statements which remain after this Sunday, January 30, will be mailed to contributors.
Sox Box
Word has come to MONAC from Our Savior's Homeless Program, that there is a great need for socks for those who are homeless. In response, Mount Olive folks are asked to donate socks which will contribute to the warmth of those people who are much exposed to the elements. Any and all sizes are needed.
Please bring your donations to Mt. Olive and find the “Sox Box” in the East Assembly Room to receive them. Your generous response is anticipated and appreciated.
Upcoming Music & Fine Arts Events
February 1-28, 2011: Art display: Serigraphs of John August Swanson (postponed from 2010 due to construction)
John August Swanson paints in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, and is an independent print maker of limited edition serigraphs, lithographs and etchings. He addresses himself to human values, cultural roots, and his quest for self-discovery through visual images. John August Swanson’s work will be on display for an entire month, open before and after the February 13 MFA event, as well as on Sundays and other days of a church function.
Sunday, February 13, 2011, 4:00 pm: Minnesota Boychoir, Mark Johnson, Conductor
The Minnesota Boy Choir makes a return to Mount Olive for this mid-winter concert. Internationally renowned, the Minnesota Boychoir is the oldest continuously operating boy choir in the Twin Cities area, tracing its roots back over forty years. Join us for a concert of diverse repertoire. A reception will follow the concert.
Guidelines for Management of the Newly-Renovated Spaces
God has given us great gifts to enhance our life together and enable us to live our values of music, liturgy and hospitality. Among these gifts are the newly refurbished spaces for hospitality and welcome. With the completion of our new Parish House and Undercroft kitchen renovation, guidelines have been established by the Vestry to help protect the integrity, beauty, usefulness and quality of the refinished space and other space throughout the building. Over the next three editions of The Olive Branch, these guidelines will be highlighted. A complete copy of the guidelines can be found in the Vestry minutes.
The first section of the document outlines the purposes of the new spaces. These include the Chapel Lounge, East Assembly Room, kitchen and galley kitchen, staff offices/work spaces and the Louise Schroedel Memorial Library. For the sake of brevity here, only the "newest" space is highlighted. That is the Reception Area on the west side of the building. It is intended primarily as a hospitality space and includes:
1. Space for comfortable seating.
2. A reception desk for welcoming visitors, checking out library materials, selling event tickets and small retail items and items as needed for hosting event receptions or Sunday morning coffee hour.
3. A comfortable reading space. This “browsing area” is intended as a small area for displaying a few books, including children’s books. Members of the congregation and visitors will have access to this space at all times. It will direct people to the primary library in the office suite.
4. Space for hosting small meetings and/or study groups.
5. A safe for storage of archival material and other irreplaceable materials
6. A closet for storage of items for sale that need to be secured when not available for purchase.
The guidelines state that while other uses may be developed for the newly renovated areas, that these uses must first be approved by the Pastor or the Vestry.
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Olive Branch, 1/19/11
Accent on Worship
Out of the Ordinary
We are now in the first of our two seasons of the Church Year we call Ordinary Time, and I am so glad to welcome it. In fact, because Easter is as late as it can be, we have the longest Epiphany season I’ve ever experienced as a pastor. This is a good thing. These first months as your pastor have been, as I shared with the Vestry in December, a whirlwind – from installation to festival after festival, to Advent, and then the Christmas season concluding in Epiphany. It feels like a blessing to me to have seven green Sundays between Baptism of Our Lord and the Transfiguration. I welcome the steady pace of a green season as I am feeling more and more settled as your pastor. It is also a chance to enjoy and be fed by a good period of ordinariness before Lent begins. Festivals and festival seasons are a delight, but we need our regular, steady times as well. It’s sort of like food – we cannot eat rich chocolate and desserts all the time. We need some good, solid bread and meat and cheese, too.
Yet, of course, there is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time, either. In this steady, ordinary season we still are met by extraordinary things: God’s grace pours out on us as surely on a green Sunday as a white. We are fed at the Table of Life, we hear God’s Word of blessing and challenge, we are surrounded by music which leads us to God’s love. We see the face of Christ in each other’s faces as we meet to worship, and as we are with each other before and afterward. There’s never anything ordinary about what God does for us in worship, thanks be to God.
So welcome, Ordinary Time, yet not so ordinary. May God’s light which we celebrate this season of Epiphany fill our hearts that we might shine God’s extraordinary love into the world.
- Pr. Joseph Crippen
Sunday Readings
January 23, 2011 – Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 9:1-4 + Psalm 27:1, 4-9
I Corinthians 1:10-18 + Matthew 4:12-23
January 30, 2011 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8 + Psalm 15
I Corinthians 1:18-31+ Matthew 5:1-12
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch this Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets are available at the door for $14 for adults; $7 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Y'all come!
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
(5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
Wish List Update
Many thanks to all who have donated items on the Mount Olive Wish List! The new banner stands are already in use, and many of you can take a gander at the Godly Play items that have been donated by asking Diana Hellerman for a Godly Play tour. For those who have donated furniture, you'll start seeing our newly reconfigured rooms look a bit fuller and more purposeful. Five of the new guest chairs have been delivered and may be used interchangeably in the West Reception area, Chapel Lounge, and office areas. The second sofa has been delivered and it now allows for two ample and comfortable seating areas in the West Reception area. Three of the stack meeting chairs have been delivered and can be seen in the East Assembly room, and will be used during meetings. It's clear that these upholstered chairs will look more permanent and be a bit more comfortable than the folding chairs we have in there now. A reception desk is now in place in the West Reception area and can be used by various committees and groups for after-service sales and reminders of upcoming events. Of course, our new rooms will only look as polished as donations allow. So, if you are still considering a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List, over and above your weekly offering, please take a look at the list, which is located on the bulletin board just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
With Our Thanks
Many thanks to you, the generous members and friends of Mount Olive, who have supported us in our mutual ministries. We deeply appreciate the gifts of money we received for Christmas, and we look forward to another year of service with you as we all do God’s work together.
- Mount Olive Church Staff
Highlights From the Vestry Meeting
The Vestry met on January 10th for its first meeting of 2011. Pastor Crippen reported that the ad hoc committee to discuss a future Staff Support Committee will meet on January 13th. The Staff Support Committee is part of the bylaws and has been inactive for a number of years.
Gary Flatgard reported his findings regarding the South Minneapolis Meals on Wheels Program, and made suggestions. Based upon his report the Vestry decided to sever ties with this particular program, due to anomalous budget concerns as had been proposed in September 2010. The Vestry encouraged the Neighborhood Ministries Committee to seek ties to other meal delivery programs in South Minneapolis.
A finalized proposed resolution of the Joint Peace with Justice Committee of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Area Synods was given to Vestry members for their consideration. Discussion to support this resolution at this Synod gathering this year will be held at the February meeting.
Pastor Crippen plans to issue a report concerning the internship program at Mount Olive at February's Vestry meeting. It is hoped, in light of moving ahead with the internship program this fall, that all Mount Olive members will have a clear vision of what the internship program is, how the internship committee is formed and involved, and what value Mount Olive's program has to our congregation, the seminary, the synod and the church at large.
Diana Hellerman and Carol Austermann treated us to an example of a recent Godly Play class about baptism. The Vestry was able to see firsthand the excitement they both have for the program and the wonderful materials and facilities we now have for the Godly Play Sunday School program.
Paul Schadewald discussed moving the Taste of Chile event to a Sunday in Lent or into the Summer. He also discussed at length the goals and criteria his committee has in supporting active global missions.
David Molvik and Pastor Crippen reported that our new sexton is carrying out his duties excellently and proactively. Both feel he is the right person for the job. He has been on duty since December 29th. David also discussed COAM's use of a basement office, as well as our need for an active security system.
Paul Odlaug reported that Mike Edwins has begun training as the new Financial Secretary. John Meyer will hand over the duties when he and Mike feel Mike is fully prepared. The position is expected to be temporary while the Vestry considers all aspects of the position and the counter program. The Vestry is most grateful for John Meyer's years of service in this capacity.
Irene Campbell reported that the youth Christmas flower sale went well.
Paul Sundquist offered his monthly treasurer’s report. The books have been closed for 2010 and he is in the process of paying down debt and cleaning up restricted accounts. Although December saw an increase year-over-year on giving, we are still down substantially in giving from 2009 to 2010.
Brian Jacobs stated that the Wish List has some tangible proof that it is working, considering the rather large shipment of several furniture items, banner stands, and Godly Play items that are all now in use.
The Vestry will consider the visioning process, nominating committee, auditing committee, more committee goals and objectives, and Conference on Liturgy reflections at the February meeting.
Brian E. Jacobs, Vice President
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Out of the Ordinary
We are now in the first of our two seasons of the Church Year we call Ordinary Time, and I am so glad to welcome it. In fact, because Easter is as late as it can be, we have the longest Epiphany season I’ve ever experienced as a pastor. This is a good thing. These first months as your pastor have been, as I shared with the Vestry in December, a whirlwind – from installation to festival after festival, to Advent, and then the Christmas season concluding in Epiphany. It feels like a blessing to me to have seven green Sundays between Baptism of Our Lord and the Transfiguration. I welcome the steady pace of a green season as I am feeling more and more settled as your pastor. It is also a chance to enjoy and be fed by a good period of ordinariness before Lent begins. Festivals and festival seasons are a delight, but we need our regular, steady times as well. It’s sort of like food – we cannot eat rich chocolate and desserts all the time. We need some good, solid bread and meat and cheese, too.
Yet, of course, there is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time, either. In this steady, ordinary season we still are met by extraordinary things: God’s grace pours out on us as surely on a green Sunday as a white. We are fed at the Table of Life, we hear God’s Word of blessing and challenge, we are surrounded by music which leads us to God’s love. We see the face of Christ in each other’s faces as we meet to worship, and as we are with each other before and afterward. There’s never anything ordinary about what God does for us in worship, thanks be to God.
So welcome, Ordinary Time, yet not so ordinary. May God’s light which we celebrate this season of Epiphany fill our hearts that we might shine God’s extraordinary love into the world.
- Pr. Joseph Crippen
Sunday Readings
January 23, 2011 – Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 9:1-4 + Psalm 27:1, 4-9
I Corinthians 1:10-18 + Matthew 4:12-23
January 30, 2011 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8 + Psalm 15
I Corinthians 1:18-31+ Matthew 5:1-12
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch this Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets are available at the door for $14 for adults; $7 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Y'all come!
The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer
(5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
Wish List Update
Many thanks to all who have donated items on the Mount Olive Wish List! The new banner stands are already in use, and many of you can take a gander at the Godly Play items that have been donated by asking Diana Hellerman for a Godly Play tour. For those who have donated furniture, you'll start seeing our newly reconfigured rooms look a bit fuller and more purposeful. Five of the new guest chairs have been delivered and may be used interchangeably in the West Reception area, Chapel Lounge, and office areas. The second sofa has been delivered and it now allows for two ample and comfortable seating areas in the West Reception area. Three of the stack meeting chairs have been delivered and can be seen in the East Assembly room, and will be used during meetings. It's clear that these upholstered chairs will look more permanent and be a bit more comfortable than the folding chairs we have in there now. A reception desk is now in place in the West Reception area and can be used by various committees and groups for after-service sales and reminders of upcoming events. Of course, our new rooms will only look as polished as donations allow. So, if you are still considering a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List, over and above your weekly offering, please take a look at the list, which is located on the bulletin board just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
With Our Thanks
Many thanks to you, the generous members and friends of Mount Olive, who have supported us in our mutual ministries. We deeply appreciate the gifts of money we received for Christmas, and we look forward to another year of service with you as we all do God’s work together.
- Mount Olive Church Staff
Highlights From the Vestry Meeting
The Vestry met on January 10th for its first meeting of 2011. Pastor Crippen reported that the ad hoc committee to discuss a future Staff Support Committee will meet on January 13th. The Staff Support Committee is part of the bylaws and has been inactive for a number of years.
Gary Flatgard reported his findings regarding the South Minneapolis Meals on Wheels Program, and made suggestions. Based upon his report the Vestry decided to sever ties with this particular program, due to anomalous budget concerns as had been proposed in September 2010. The Vestry encouraged the Neighborhood Ministries Committee to seek ties to other meal delivery programs in South Minneapolis.
A finalized proposed resolution of the Joint Peace with Justice Committee of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Area Synods was given to Vestry members for their consideration. Discussion to support this resolution at this Synod gathering this year will be held at the February meeting.
Pastor Crippen plans to issue a report concerning the internship program at Mount Olive at February's Vestry meeting. It is hoped, in light of moving ahead with the internship program this fall, that all Mount Olive members will have a clear vision of what the internship program is, how the internship committee is formed and involved, and what value Mount Olive's program has to our congregation, the seminary, the synod and the church at large.
Diana Hellerman and Carol Austermann treated us to an example of a recent Godly Play class about baptism. The Vestry was able to see firsthand the excitement they both have for the program and the wonderful materials and facilities we now have for the Godly Play Sunday School program.
Paul Schadewald discussed moving the Taste of Chile event to a Sunday in Lent or into the Summer. He also discussed at length the goals and criteria his committee has in supporting active global missions.
David Molvik and Pastor Crippen reported that our new sexton is carrying out his duties excellently and proactively. Both feel he is the right person for the job. He has been on duty since December 29th. David also discussed COAM's use of a basement office, as well as our need for an active security system.
Paul Odlaug reported that Mike Edwins has begun training as the new Financial Secretary. John Meyer will hand over the duties when he and Mike feel Mike is fully prepared. The position is expected to be temporary while the Vestry considers all aspects of the position and the counter program. The Vestry is most grateful for John Meyer's years of service in this capacity.
Irene Campbell reported that the youth Christmas flower sale went well.
Paul Sundquist offered his monthly treasurer’s report. The books have been closed for 2010 and he is in the process of paying down debt and cleaning up restricted accounts. Although December saw an increase year-over-year on giving, we are still down substantially in giving from 2009 to 2010.
Brian Jacobs stated that the Wish List has some tangible proof that it is working, considering the rather large shipment of several furniture items, banner stands, and Godly Play items that are all now in use.
The Vestry will consider the visioning process, nominating committee, auditing committee, more committee goals and objectives, and Conference on Liturgy reflections at the February meeting.
Brian E. Jacobs, Vice President
Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on February 12 the book group will discuss Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and for the March 12 meeting, The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.
Sermon from 1/16/11
Sermon from January 16, 2011: The Second Sunday after Epiphany
“Too Light a Thing”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:28-42)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
My mother raised me to believe that I could do anything I set my mind to do, that the sky was the limit. As I get closer and closer to the mid-century mark of my life, I realize with each year that she wasn’t precisely accurate, that there are things I couldn’t have done even if I dreamed of doing them (such as playing for the Minnesota Vikings), and that as each year passes there are things I won’t be able to do because of choices I’ve already made. Still, this was a profound influence on me. But for my mother, this did not stem only from maternal pride and encouragement. It was for her a theological reflection on the Scriptures and a statement of faith in God’s desire for all people.
Isaiah today says, “The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.” We often speak of the promise we receive in baptism that we are called by God to serve God in the world. Isaiah takes that a step further back: he says that even before we are born God has plans in mind for us.
It’s a little daunting, isn’t it? That God has plans for each child born which precede their birth, plans in the making perhaps for years. That each of us fits into God’s hopes and dreams for the world in some mysterious but very real way.
I’ll never forget the day Rachel was born. This was a week before we found out my mother had cancer; one of the last weeks of our blissful ignorance. Just hours after Rachel’s birth my parents were in the hospital. And my mother held Rachel in her arms and said to her, not for anyone else to hear but only for this tiny baby, “Dear, dear Rachel. Rachel. God has such great plans for you.” In that moment, my mother saw this infant as a complete sign of God for the blessing of the world. It is an awesome and almost frightening prospect for each of us, that we consider we are chosen by God, called by God, for great things in this world.
As we walk through this season of Epiphany together, a major theme of our texts we read at worship will be this call as disciples, our sense of God’s call to us to be a blessing to the world. I don’t think we take God seriously enough on this. Even when we bring a child to these waters, do we seriously ponder what God has in mind for her? Mary, Jesus’ mother, pondered such questions deeply. Little wonder, as she had some pretty serious promises about what her baby would become. But God’s promises, God’s call to us are no less astonishing, no less serious.
If there’s anything the Scriptures agree on regarding our role in God’s plan it is that we have one. That Jesus came to this world to live, to die, to rise, and to bring us into fullness of life. All so that we would become messengers of God, called servants of God, in this world. It is central to what it means to be Christian, that we are people who believe we are strategically placed by God in this world as signs of God’s love.
Yet we so often live as if our lives are our own. Perhaps out of some false sense of low worth or value. Others might be needed by God in certain places, to do certain things. But not us. We’re not gifted enough, talented enough. Surely God can use someone else.
And perhaps we live this way out of selfishness – it’s easier to think about our own needs, our own lives. It’s one thing to come to church to hear that God loves us, and that we are saved and forgiven. But perhaps we just don’t want to be bothered by the possibility that God’s got a great plan to bring love into this world and each one of us is an important part of that plan.
And this is not only an individual thing: if all are called, all are needed, and it is only together that we can do God’s work. This is a fundamental view of the Scriptures regarding the Christian community Jesus created and called. Even the secular world is picking up on this.
David Brooks wrote a wonderful piece in the New York Times last week about our president’s speech in Tucson. In it he brings up this point he thinks we’ve lost in our culture – that we need to relearn how important each of us and the other person is to what we do together. He writes: “We all get to live lives better than we deserve because our individual shortcomings are transmuted into communal improvement. We find meaning — and can only find meaning — in the role we play in that larger social enterprise.” He then quotes Reinhold Neibuhr: “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. . . . Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love.”
So we are left with this wonder: each of us is important and called by God from before our birth to make a difference. And we cannot do this alone – only when we see ourselves as called together can God accomplish what needs to be done.
But there’s more. Today Isaiah adds this amazing word from God: “It is too light a thing to save only Israel. I will make you a light to the nations.” This is astonishing prophetic speech to speak to a people who believe they are chosen by God.
Essentially the prophet says that God’s view of what it means to choose a people is different than Israel’s. Perhaps they think being the chosen ones means being the ones God will save. God, on the other hand, thinks that saving only Israel is “too light a thing.” Too insignificant. Not enough of a job for these servants God is sending.
It may be that Israel understood this in a less than inclusive, universal way – there are some who make that argument from the text. As if what is meant is that all nations would only be enlightened when they came to recognize the leadership of Israel and Jerusalem.
But regardless of what ancient Hebrews thought of this expansive word from God, we see it differently in the light of Jesus, the one John the Baptist claims today is come to “take away the sins of the world.” Once again the evangelist uses the massive word “cosmos” – all creation that exists is to be reached by this light.
For God, this light must shine for all the nations. This servant must come to save the whole cosmos. And once we get it in our hearts and heads that God is calling us to serve, then this is the next learning we must face: We are not the only chosen people. Nor is salvation intended only for us. Our whole purpose in following the Lord of life is to be a light for all the nations, for the whole world. Nothing short of everyone will be enough for God.
But this is the whole point of baptism for us, isn’t it? Not that we have a ticket to heaven but that we are anointed as God’s light-bearers in the world. Yes, Jesus’ death and resurrection give us abundant life now and in the world to come. But to think that we were the only reason Jesus came is the height of arrogance. To say, “I know that I am loved by God, and that’s all I need to know.” Or, “If God is calling me to spread that love, well, God must not mean it. And who has the time?” And so instead of being a light to the nations, we individually and as a congregation can become people who put our lights under bushel baskets so we can see, and can’t understand why others don’t come to this light.
Our baptism is our calling, just as it was for Jesus, to be a light to the nations. And once we begin to live in that calling, we find the amazing joy of God’s gracious presence and God’s loving plan for us. And as the people of God who are Mount Olive congregation, this is the center of what we consider as we seek God’s vision for our next years: what are we called to be in this place, not for ourselves, but for the neighborhood, the city, the world?
What a joyful wonder, to consider God has had plans in mind for each of us even from before our birth, and plans for us together. Sometimes, if we’ve never considered this deeply, sometimes it’s as if we’re like a baby at the font of baptism, or what my mother saw in Rachel that day – all potential, with a world out there waiting for our message from God. The good news is that God will always be ready to guide us to discover our path, to discern the way God’s love is calling us to be in this world. The good news is God’s got plans to transform the world by our presence in it. And by your presence, each of you. If you and I don’t think highly enough of ourselves to believe this, let us remember that God does.
Because it’s too light a thing that we live as children of God in Christ for our own selves. This is a world of darkness, and we are needed to be lights of God for the world. Be light – listen for God’s plan for you and for us. Then let us live in God’s joy and light, that all the world might see.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
“Too Light a Thing”
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:28-42)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
My mother raised me to believe that I could do anything I set my mind to do, that the sky was the limit. As I get closer and closer to the mid-century mark of my life, I realize with each year that she wasn’t precisely accurate, that there are things I couldn’t have done even if I dreamed of doing them (such as playing for the Minnesota Vikings), and that as each year passes there are things I won’t be able to do because of choices I’ve already made. Still, this was a profound influence on me. But for my mother, this did not stem only from maternal pride and encouragement. It was for her a theological reflection on the Scriptures and a statement of faith in God’s desire for all people.
Isaiah today says, “The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.” We often speak of the promise we receive in baptism that we are called by God to serve God in the world. Isaiah takes that a step further back: he says that even before we are born God has plans in mind for us.
It’s a little daunting, isn’t it? That God has plans for each child born which precede their birth, plans in the making perhaps for years. That each of us fits into God’s hopes and dreams for the world in some mysterious but very real way.
I’ll never forget the day Rachel was born. This was a week before we found out my mother had cancer; one of the last weeks of our blissful ignorance. Just hours after Rachel’s birth my parents were in the hospital. And my mother held Rachel in her arms and said to her, not for anyone else to hear but only for this tiny baby, “Dear, dear Rachel. Rachel. God has such great plans for you.” In that moment, my mother saw this infant as a complete sign of God for the blessing of the world. It is an awesome and almost frightening prospect for each of us, that we consider we are chosen by God, called by God, for great things in this world.
As we walk through this season of Epiphany together, a major theme of our texts we read at worship will be this call as disciples, our sense of God’s call to us to be a blessing to the world. I don’t think we take God seriously enough on this. Even when we bring a child to these waters, do we seriously ponder what God has in mind for her? Mary, Jesus’ mother, pondered such questions deeply. Little wonder, as she had some pretty serious promises about what her baby would become. But God’s promises, God’s call to us are no less astonishing, no less serious.
If there’s anything the Scriptures agree on regarding our role in God’s plan it is that we have one. That Jesus came to this world to live, to die, to rise, and to bring us into fullness of life. All so that we would become messengers of God, called servants of God, in this world. It is central to what it means to be Christian, that we are people who believe we are strategically placed by God in this world as signs of God’s love.
Yet we so often live as if our lives are our own. Perhaps out of some false sense of low worth or value. Others might be needed by God in certain places, to do certain things. But not us. We’re not gifted enough, talented enough. Surely God can use someone else.
And perhaps we live this way out of selfishness – it’s easier to think about our own needs, our own lives. It’s one thing to come to church to hear that God loves us, and that we are saved and forgiven. But perhaps we just don’t want to be bothered by the possibility that God’s got a great plan to bring love into this world and each one of us is an important part of that plan.
And this is not only an individual thing: if all are called, all are needed, and it is only together that we can do God’s work. This is a fundamental view of the Scriptures regarding the Christian community Jesus created and called. Even the secular world is picking up on this.
David Brooks wrote a wonderful piece in the New York Times last week about our president’s speech in Tucson. In it he brings up this point he thinks we’ve lost in our culture – that we need to relearn how important each of us and the other person is to what we do together. He writes: “We all get to live lives better than we deserve because our individual shortcomings are transmuted into communal improvement. We find meaning — and can only find meaning — in the role we play in that larger social enterprise.” He then quotes Reinhold Neibuhr: “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. . . . Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love.”
So we are left with this wonder: each of us is important and called by God from before our birth to make a difference. And we cannot do this alone – only when we see ourselves as called together can God accomplish what needs to be done.
But there’s more. Today Isaiah adds this amazing word from God: “It is too light a thing to save only Israel. I will make you a light to the nations.” This is astonishing prophetic speech to speak to a people who believe they are chosen by God.
Essentially the prophet says that God’s view of what it means to choose a people is different than Israel’s. Perhaps they think being the chosen ones means being the ones God will save. God, on the other hand, thinks that saving only Israel is “too light a thing.” Too insignificant. Not enough of a job for these servants God is sending.
It may be that Israel understood this in a less than inclusive, universal way – there are some who make that argument from the text. As if what is meant is that all nations would only be enlightened when they came to recognize the leadership of Israel and Jerusalem.
But regardless of what ancient Hebrews thought of this expansive word from God, we see it differently in the light of Jesus, the one John the Baptist claims today is come to “take away the sins of the world.” Once again the evangelist uses the massive word “cosmos” – all creation that exists is to be reached by this light.
For God, this light must shine for all the nations. This servant must come to save the whole cosmos. And once we get it in our hearts and heads that God is calling us to serve, then this is the next learning we must face: We are not the only chosen people. Nor is salvation intended only for us. Our whole purpose in following the Lord of life is to be a light for all the nations, for the whole world. Nothing short of everyone will be enough for God.
But this is the whole point of baptism for us, isn’t it? Not that we have a ticket to heaven but that we are anointed as God’s light-bearers in the world. Yes, Jesus’ death and resurrection give us abundant life now and in the world to come. But to think that we were the only reason Jesus came is the height of arrogance. To say, “I know that I am loved by God, and that’s all I need to know.” Or, “If God is calling me to spread that love, well, God must not mean it. And who has the time?” And so instead of being a light to the nations, we individually and as a congregation can become people who put our lights under bushel baskets so we can see, and can’t understand why others don’t come to this light.
Our baptism is our calling, just as it was for Jesus, to be a light to the nations. And once we begin to live in that calling, we find the amazing joy of God’s gracious presence and God’s loving plan for us. And as the people of God who are Mount Olive congregation, this is the center of what we consider as we seek God’s vision for our next years: what are we called to be in this place, not for ourselves, but for the neighborhood, the city, the world?
What a joyful wonder, to consider God has had plans in mind for each of us even from before our birth, and plans for us together. Sometimes, if we’ve never considered this deeply, sometimes it’s as if we’re like a baby at the font of baptism, or what my mother saw in Rachel that day – all potential, with a world out there waiting for our message from God. The good news is that God will always be ready to guide us to discover our path, to discern the way God’s love is calling us to be in this world. The good news is God’s got plans to transform the world by our presence in it. And by your presence, each of you. If you and I don’t think highly enough of ourselves to believe this, let us remember that God does.
Because it’s too light a thing that we live as children of God in Christ for our own selves. This is a world of darkness, and we are needed to be lights of God for the world. Be light – listen for God’s plan for you and for us. Then let us live in God’s joy and light, that all the world might see.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
This Week's Liturgies
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Compline at 8:30 p.m.
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Compline at 8:30 p.m.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Olive Branch, 1/10/11
Accent on Worship
[A word about death in the wake of our recent Liturgical Conference on Liturgy: “Holy Death: The Parish and its Liturgy at the Time of Death”]:
In my work as a hospital and palliative care team chaplain, I regularly meet people who refuse to talk about death, even in the setting of a terminal illness, fearful that talking about death will make it happen. This superstition seems to grow out of our culture’s general fear of death.
Christians - we who have put our faith in God - need not and should not engage in such superstitions. We fear (i.e. revere, bow before) God and thus we need not fear (i.e. be afraid of) death. By faith we Christians recognize that we are dust and to dust we will return (Gen. 3:19) yet we also trust that there is nothing, not even death, able to separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). We can therefore talk about death knowing that, in the words of the late Fred Rogers (TV’s Mister Rogers and Presbyterian minister, speaking here about discussing difficult matters with children), “Whatever is mentionable is manageable.” In faith, we can even ponder death – our own eventual death – for a few moments each day, a historic practice of the church called “memento mori” (Latin for ‘remember your mortality’). We do this in order to prepare for death, to help us remember that we do not have all the time in the world, and to cause us to treasure the time we have and the blessings God has given us as much as we are able.
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas keeps the following poem on his desk and reads it each day as his “memento mori” practice. I quite like this poem and commend it to you:
"The Last Thing"
by Monk Gibbon
Who'd be afraid of death,
I think only fools
are. For it is not
as though this thing
were given to one man only, but all
receive it. The journey that my
friend makes, I can (continued at right)
make also. If I know
nothing else. I know
this, I go where he is.
O Fools, shrinking from this little door,
Through which so many kind and lovely souls have passed
Before you,
Will you hang back?
Harder in your case than another?
Not so.
And too much silence?
Has there not been enough stir here?
Go bravely, for where so much greatness and gentleness have been
Already, You should be glad to follow.
And so when death comes finally to claim us, we Christians - who have already been claimed in baptism by God, marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed with the Holy Spirit - go bravely, knowing that our great and gentle Savior has already paved the road for us through death to new life in heaven. And so in death as in life, we gladly follow Jesus.
- Rob Ruff
Thank You!
Mount Olive's chancel, nave and narthex were again beautifully decorated for the Christmas season. This was accomplished through the efforts of many: those who brought in and placed the trees, the volunteers that participated in "Hanging the Greens" and the special crew that hung the lights and Chrismons on the trees.
Also, kudos to those who removed the greens and trees and cleaned up after. We are grateful and wish to thank all of you for your time and willing hands.
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch on Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets obtained in advance will be $12 for adults, $5 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Tickets bought at the door will be $14. Y'all come!
Prayer Office of Compline to be Offered at Mount Olive January 16 - April 17
The Minnesota Compline Choir and Mount Olive will partner to offer the liturgy of Compline on Sunday evenings at 8:30 pm during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent of 2011. The first service will be this Sunday evening January 16 (The Second Sunday after Epiphany) and the last one will be Sunday, April 17 (Passion Sunday).
In worship, the choir assists with the liturgy, hymns and psalms, as well as offering anthems.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer (5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
Book Discussion Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on January 15 the Book Discussion group will discuss Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, and for the February 12 meeting they will read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. Please note that the January meeting is postponed one week, due to the Conference on Liturgy.
Sunday Readings
January 16, 2011 – Second Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49:1-7 + Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9+ John 1:29-42
January 23, 2011 – Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 9:1-4 + Psalm 27:1, 4-9
I Corinthians 1:10-18 + Matthew 4:12-23
Wish List Update
Many thanks to all who have donated items on the Mount Olive Wish List! The new banner stands are already in use, and many of you can take a gander at the Godly Play items that have been donated by asking Diana Hellerman for a Godly Play tour. For those who have donated furniture, you'll start seeing our newly reconfigured rooms look a bit fuller and more purposeful. Five of the new guest chairs have been delivered and may be used interchangeably in the West Reception area, Chapel Lounge, and office areas. The second sofa has been delivered and it now allows for two ample and comfortable seating areas in the West Reception area. Three of the stack meeting chairs have been delivered and can be seen in the East Assembly room, and will be used during meetings. It's clear that these upholstered chairs will look more permanent and be a bit more comfortable than the folding chairs we have in there now. A reception desk is now in place in the West Reception area and can be used by various committees and groups for after-service sales and reminders of upcoming events. Of course, our new rooms will only look as polished as donations allow. So, if you are still considering a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List, over and above your weekly offering, please take a look at the list, which is located on the bulletin board just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
All Are Invited!
Please note the following events to which all are cordially invited:
- Twin Cities Every Church a Peace Church bi-monthly pot luck dinner meeting: Monday, January 10; Mennonite Peace Activist Steve Clemens will present "When Being a Member of a Peace Church is Not Enough," at the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, 2914 West 44th Street, Minneapolis. A potluck dinner starts at 6:30 pm, followed by the presentation at 7:00.
- The Joint Peace with Justice Committee luncheon meeting: Sunday, January 16, 12:30 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis. Jeff Sartain will give a presentation on "Bullying." There is free parking in the church lot - lunch is $7.
Watch Your Mail, This Week!
Later this week, you will find a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. We are entering the final months of our three-year campaign, which has made possible the renovations to our building that we enjoy week after week.
The piece in your mail will tell you that, thanks to the faithful folks of Mount Olive, we are making great progress toward paying off our debt for all this work. It will also describe to you how we can wrap up the three-year period free of debt – and not being burdened by a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Some, who were not members of Mount Olive during the original appeal, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more.
Please read the information carefully, and prayerfully consider how you may be able to respond.
[A word about death in the wake of our recent Liturgical Conference on Liturgy: “Holy Death: The Parish and its Liturgy at the Time of Death”]:
In my work as a hospital and palliative care team chaplain, I regularly meet people who refuse to talk about death, even in the setting of a terminal illness, fearful that talking about death will make it happen. This superstition seems to grow out of our culture’s general fear of death.
Christians - we who have put our faith in God - need not and should not engage in such superstitions. We fear (i.e. revere, bow before) God and thus we need not fear (i.e. be afraid of) death. By faith we Christians recognize that we are dust and to dust we will return (Gen. 3:19) yet we also trust that there is nothing, not even death, able to separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). We can therefore talk about death knowing that, in the words of the late Fred Rogers (TV’s Mister Rogers and Presbyterian minister, speaking here about discussing difficult matters with children), “Whatever is mentionable is manageable.” In faith, we can even ponder death – our own eventual death – for a few moments each day, a historic practice of the church called “memento mori” (Latin for ‘remember your mortality’). We do this in order to prepare for death, to help us remember that we do not have all the time in the world, and to cause us to treasure the time we have and the blessings God has given us as much as we are able.
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas keeps the following poem on his desk and reads it each day as his “memento mori” practice. I quite like this poem and commend it to you:
"The Last Thing"
by Monk Gibbon
Who'd be afraid of death,
I think only fools
are. For it is not
as though this thing
were given to one man only, but all
receive it. The journey that my
friend makes, I can (continued at right)
make also. If I know
nothing else. I know
this, I go where he is.
O Fools, shrinking from this little door,
Through which so many kind and lovely souls have passed
Before you,
Will you hang back?
Harder in your case than another?
Not so.
And too much silence?
Has there not been enough stir here?
Go bravely, for where so much greatness and gentleness have been
Already, You should be glad to follow.
And so when death comes finally to claim us, we Christians - who have already been claimed in baptism by God, marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed with the Holy Spirit - go bravely, knowing that our great and gentle Savior has already paved the road for us through death to new life in heaven. And so in death as in life, we gladly follow Jesus.
- Rob Ruff
Thank You!
Mount Olive's chancel, nave and narthex were again beautifully decorated for the Christmas season. This was accomplished through the efforts of many: those who brought in and placed the trees, the volunteers that participated in "Hanging the Greens" and the special crew that hung the lights and Chrismons on the trees.
Also, kudos to those who removed the greens and trees and cleaned up after. We are grateful and wish to thank all of you for your time and willing hands.
Sign Up for Altar Flowers
The Altar Flowers Chart for 2011 is now posted in the church office. If you would like to sign up to provide flowers for worship to commemorate a special day, in memory of a loved one, in honor of a special event, or simply to help beautify our sanctuary for worship, please sign up on the chart for the date you want, and be sure to include your designation. The cost of the altar flowers this year is $45 a Sunday for two bouquets. You may sign up to purchase both bouquets by signing on both lines, or purchase just one bouquet by signing on only one line.
And while you are signing up for Altar Flowers, you may also wish to sign up to host a Sunday coffee hour. The coffee hour sign-up sheet is right next to the Altar Flowers chart, in the church office.
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch on Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets obtained in advance will be $12 for adults, $5 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Tickets bought at the door will be $14. Y'all come!
Prayer Office of Compline to be Offered at Mount Olive January 16 - April 17
The Minnesota Compline Choir and Mount Olive will partner to offer the liturgy of Compline on Sunday evenings at 8:30 pm during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent of 2011. The first service will be this Sunday evening January 16 (The Second Sunday after Epiphany) and the last one will be Sunday, April 17 (Passion Sunday).
In worship, the choir assists with the liturgy, hymns and psalms, as well as offering anthems.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer (5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship will follow the service.
Book Discussion Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on January 15 the Book Discussion group will discuss Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, and for the February 12 meeting they will read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. Please note that the January meeting is postponed one week, due to the Conference on Liturgy.
Sunday Readings
January 16, 2011 – Second Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49:1-7 + Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9+ John 1:29-42
January 23, 2011 – Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 9:1-4 + Psalm 27:1, 4-9
I Corinthians 1:10-18 + Matthew 4:12-23
Wish List Update
Many thanks to all who have donated items on the Mount Olive Wish List! The new banner stands are already in use, and many of you can take a gander at the Godly Play items that have been donated by asking Diana Hellerman for a Godly Play tour. For those who have donated furniture, you'll start seeing our newly reconfigured rooms look a bit fuller and more purposeful. Five of the new guest chairs have been delivered and may be used interchangeably in the West Reception area, Chapel Lounge, and office areas. The second sofa has been delivered and it now allows for two ample and comfortable seating areas in the West Reception area. Three of the stack meeting chairs have been delivered and can be seen in the East Assembly room, and will be used during meetings. It's clear that these upholstered chairs will look more permanent and be a bit more comfortable than the folding chairs we have in there now. A reception desk is now in place in the West Reception area and can be used by various committees and groups for after-service sales and reminders of upcoming events. Of course, our new rooms will only look as polished as donations allow. So, if you are still considering a donation to Mount Olive via the Wish List, over and above your weekly offering, please take a look at the list, which is located on the bulletin board just inside the church office. Add your name next to the item you wish to donate, along with your contact phone number. You will be contacted regarding full price for the object and how to designate your check.
Thanks for all of your donations thus far!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
All Are Invited!
Please note the following events to which all are cordially invited:
- Twin Cities Every Church a Peace Church bi-monthly pot luck dinner meeting: Monday, January 10; Mennonite Peace Activist Steve Clemens will present "When Being a Member of a Peace Church is Not Enough," at the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, 2914 West 44th Street, Minneapolis. A potluck dinner starts at 6:30 pm, followed by the presentation at 7:00.
- The Joint Peace with Justice Committee luncheon meeting: Sunday, January 16, 12:30 p.m. at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis. Jeff Sartain will give a presentation on "Bullying." There is free parking in the church lot - lunch is $7.
Watch Your Mail, This Week!
Later this week, you will find a colorful piece in your mail with information regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. We are entering the final months of our three-year campaign, which has made possible the renovations to our building that we enjoy week after week.
The piece in your mail will tell you that, thanks to the faithful folks of Mount Olive, we are making great progress toward paying off our debt for all this work. It will also describe to you how we can wrap up the three-year period free of debt – and not being burdened by a building debt is vital for our congregation at this time.
We all are enjoying the renovated spaces now. Some, who were not members of Mount Olive during the original appeal, missed the opportunity to participate. Others were not in a position at the time to make a commitment. And some of those who have may be willing to do just a little more.
Please read the information carefully, and prayerfully consider how you may be able to respond.
This Week's Liturgies
Sunday, January 16
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 & 10:45 a.m.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
This Week's Liturgies
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Epiphany of Our Lord
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 pm
Friday, January 7, 2011
Morning Prayer at 9:00 am
(Our annual Conference on Liturgy begins with Morning Prayer)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Evening Prayer at 4:00 pm
(The Conference on Liturgy ends with Evening Prayer)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Baptism of Our Lord
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am
Guest Preacher: The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long
The Epiphany of Our Lord
Holy Eucharist at 7:00 pm
Friday, January 7, 2011
Morning Prayer at 9:00 am
(Our annual Conference on Liturgy begins with Morning Prayer)
Friday, January 7, 2011
Evening Prayer at 4:00 pm
(The Conference on Liturgy ends with Evening Prayer)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Baptism of Our Lord
Holy Eucharist at 8:00 and 10:45 am
Guest Preacher: The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long
The Olive Branch: January 3, 2011
Accent on Worship
Visitors
This weekend we will have many visitors. Or will we? Thursday’s lesson is about visitors. What (who) are they hoping to see?
Imagine if the owners of the stable had a team of folks whose responsibility was to be sure everyone felt welcomed, with the word “welcome” proclaimed verbally incessantly, and plastered around on walls and printed materials as the Magi looked for the baby Jesus. Imagine thrusting membership agreements to the community “Backyard Stables for Christ.”
A few years ago I proposed the notion that the concept of “visitors” should be abolished from churches. This came about as a result of my sabbatical experiences attending churches all over the US and in Europe. So often welcome seemed so intentional I began to wonder if they were trying to cover up an unintentional exclusiveness. And I felt that they were hoping for the wrong thing. I was not there to join their churches. I was there for the same reason they were - to see Jesus. And in these perhaps well-intentioned efforts, they really set up a “we are in, and you are not” atmosphere that separated we “visitors” out in a very exclusive way.
Don’t misunderstand me: hospitality and welcome are critically important. But I found myself yearning for it being less mandated and intentional, and more intrinsic to the communities.
If we understood that ALL of us are “visitors” like the magi: all of us ALREADY IN the circle of God’s people, recipients of God’s grace, would that change how we understand all who gather at any place and time? Is the person with us for the first time any different in God’s eyes than the person who has come here for forty years? The biblical images of the stable even places animals with Christ – peacefully.
So what does hospitality look like now? First off, we see that everyone is able to do what they came to do: to see Jesus. Can we see? Do we have what is needed to participate? True inclusion sees everyone present on an equal plane. We’re all seekers alike who help each other. And I find over and over again that our participation – in full body, mind and spirit - is the most hospitable thing we can do. True participation in worship allows people to join in on an equal plane.
We should presume that this is why everyone is here: to see Jesus, and to bring their gifts. Even if that gift is merely to “play – on my drum.”
- Cantor David Cherwien
2011 Conference on Liturgy
Mount Olive’s ninth annual Conference on Liturgy will be held this Saturday, January 8, 2011. The theme for this year’s Conference is, “Holy Death: The Parish and its Liturgy at the Time of Death.” Keynote speaker for the conference will be The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long. Dr. Long will also preach on The Baptism of Our Lord, Sunday, January 9.
Cost for Mount Olive members to attend is $35/person. Registration at the door is available.
Rise, Heart: A Hymn Festival
Join us this Friday evening, January 7, at 7:30 p.m. for our annual Conference on Liturgy Hymn Festival, “Rise Heart.” The hymn festival is sponsored by Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts, and will be led by Cantor David Cherwien and the Mount Olive Cantorei. Susan Palo Cherwien will provide reflections on the theme. This hymn festival is free and open to the public (you don’t need to be registered for the conference to attend the hymn festival).
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch on Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets obtained in advance will be $12 for adults, $5 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Tickets bought at the door will be $14. Y'all come!
Prayer Office of Compline to be Offered at Mount Olive January 16 - April 17
The Minnesota Compline Choir and Mount Olive will partner to offer the liturgy of Compline on Sunday evenings at 8:30 pm during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent of 2011. The first service will be Sunday evening January 16 (The Second Sunday after Epiphany) and the last one will be Sunday, April 17 (Passion Sunday).
The choir is comprised of 18 male voices, selected by audition from a wide variety of congregations and denominations. They meet weekly to prepare for each service, and on other occasions for performances at special holiday services.
In worship, the choir assists with the liturgy, hymns and psalms, as well as offering anthems.
The Wish List
The Mount Olive Wish List has seen a great deal of activity in recent weeks. Wayne Twito recently donated two armchairs that can be used in the offices and reception or chapel areas. Miriam Luebke donated the Miracle of Christmas Godly Play set. Adam Krueger donated a stack meeting chair to be used at folding tables in the East Assembly Room. We've also received a couple of anonymous donations, one for the second sofa in the reception area and the other for the second banner stand!!
You may find the Wish List on the office bulletin board. If you are interested in purchasing an item from the Wish List, please add your name and phone number next to the item you wish to donate. You will be contacted regarding full cost, including shipping. Checks may be made payable to Mount Olive, but be sure to note "Wish List" in the memo line. Enclose in a plain envelope and write "Wish List," amount of your gift, and which item you would like to donate on the outside of the envelope, so the counters can route the monies to the correct account.
With thanks to all of our most generous brothers and sisters in Christ!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
Meals on Wheels
Thanks to those from Mount Olive who drove for Meals on Wheels during the week of December 27-31: Elaine & Art Halbardier, Marian & Walter Cheriwen, Al Bostelmann, Mary & Bob Lee, Dan Adams, Gary Flatgard, Connie & Rod Olson, JoAnn & Stan Sorenson, Elizabeth & Joe Beissel, Naomi Peterson, Harvey Hanson, Tom Byers, Gary Pagel, and Andrew Andersen.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer (5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship be held afterwards.
Book Discussion Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on January 15 the Book Discussion group will discuss Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, and for the February 12 meeting they will read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. Please note that the January meeting is postponed one week, due to the Conference on Liturgy.
Welcome to our new Sexton!
The Vestry is pleased to announce the hiring of William Pratley as the new Sexton at Mount Olive. William began on Dec. 29, and will be working Wednesdays through Sundays full time. He comes to us with experience as a maintenance technician at Minncor Greentree for four years and before that he was facilities manager at the Cathedral of St. Mark for ten years. Please take the time to greet him as you see him around the property, and get to know him. We are delighted to have him working among us!
Thank you!
Many thanks to Carol Austermann for designing and creating the beautiful blue chasuble Pr. Crippen wore throughout Advent, and for re-covering the two kneelers in the sanctuary. (The fabric on one of them had been burned through by a stray ember.) Thanks also to Mike Edwins, who has loaned several chasubles to Mount Olive, including the white chasuble Pr. Crippen used during the Christmas season.
Coming to Your Mailbox, Soon!
Look for an announcement and an invitation in your mail the week of January 10 regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. We are entering the final months of the three-year campaign, which has made possible the wonderful renovations to our building that we enjoy week after week.
How are we doing? Very, very well – thanks to your faithful generosity. The mailing will describe our progress to date, and present an exciting opportunity to wrap up the three-year period free of debt.
Please read the message carefully, and prayerfully consider how you may be able to respond.
Visitors
This weekend we will have many visitors. Or will we? Thursday’s lesson is about visitors. What (who) are they hoping to see?
Imagine if the owners of the stable had a team of folks whose responsibility was to be sure everyone felt welcomed, with the word “welcome” proclaimed verbally incessantly, and plastered around on walls and printed materials as the Magi looked for the baby Jesus. Imagine thrusting membership agreements to the community “Backyard Stables for Christ.”
A few years ago I proposed the notion that the concept of “visitors” should be abolished from churches. This came about as a result of my sabbatical experiences attending churches all over the US and in Europe. So often welcome seemed so intentional I began to wonder if they were trying to cover up an unintentional exclusiveness. And I felt that they were hoping for the wrong thing. I was not there to join their churches. I was there for the same reason they were - to see Jesus. And in these perhaps well-intentioned efforts, they really set up a “we are in, and you are not” atmosphere that separated we “visitors” out in a very exclusive way.
Don’t misunderstand me: hospitality and welcome are critically important. But I found myself yearning for it being less mandated and intentional, and more intrinsic to the communities.
If we understood that ALL of us are “visitors” like the magi: all of us ALREADY IN the circle of God’s people, recipients of God’s grace, would that change how we understand all who gather at any place and time? Is the person with us for the first time any different in God’s eyes than the person who has come here for forty years? The biblical images of the stable even places animals with Christ – peacefully.
So what does hospitality look like now? First off, we see that everyone is able to do what they came to do: to see Jesus. Can we see? Do we have what is needed to participate? True inclusion sees everyone present on an equal plane. We’re all seekers alike who help each other. And I find over and over again that our participation – in full body, mind and spirit - is the most hospitable thing we can do. True participation in worship allows people to join in on an equal plane.
We should presume that this is why everyone is here: to see Jesus, and to bring their gifts. Even if that gift is merely to “play – on my drum.”
- Cantor David Cherwien
2011 Conference on Liturgy
Mount Olive’s ninth annual Conference on Liturgy will be held this Saturday, January 8, 2011. The theme for this year’s Conference is, “Holy Death: The Parish and its Liturgy at the Time of Death.” Keynote speaker for the conference will be The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long. Dr. Long will also preach on The Baptism of Our Lord, Sunday, January 9.
Cost for Mount Olive members to attend is $35/person. Registration at the door is available.
Rise, Heart: A Hymn Festival
Join us this Friday evening, January 7, at 7:30 p.m. for our annual Conference on Liturgy Hymn Festival, “Rise Heart.” The hymn festival is sponsored by Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts, and will be led by Cantor David Cherwien and the Mount Olive Cantorei. Susan Palo Cherwien will provide reflections on the theme. This hymn festival is free and open to the public (you don’t need to be registered for the conference to attend the hymn festival).
Flavors of the South
Chase the chills and enjoy foods of the South in a Southern atmosphere! Come to the MONAC brunch on Sunday, January 23. This brunch will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy.
As this is a fundraiser for MONAC (Mount Olive Neighborhood Action Committee), tickets will be sold for the event, between and after Sunday liturgies for the next couple of weeks. Tickets obtained in advance will be $12 for adults, $5 for children age 5 to 12. Children under 5 are free. Tickets bought at the door will be $14. Y'all come!
Prayer Office of Compline to be Offered at Mount Olive January 16 - April 17
The Minnesota Compline Choir and Mount Olive will partner to offer the liturgy of Compline on Sunday evenings at 8:30 pm during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent of 2011. The first service will be Sunday evening January 16 (The Second Sunday after Epiphany) and the last one will be Sunday, April 17 (Passion Sunday).
The choir is comprised of 18 male voices, selected by audition from a wide variety of congregations and denominations. They meet weekly to prepare for each service, and on other occasions for performances at special holiday services.
In worship, the choir assists with the liturgy, hymns and psalms, as well as offering anthems.
The Wish List
The Mount Olive Wish List has seen a great deal of activity in recent weeks. Wayne Twito recently donated two armchairs that can be used in the offices and reception or chapel areas. Miriam Luebke donated the Miracle of Christmas Godly Play set. Adam Krueger donated a stack meeting chair to be used at folding tables in the East Assembly Room. We've also received a couple of anonymous donations, one for the second sofa in the reception area and the other for the second banner stand!!
You may find the Wish List on the office bulletin board. If you are interested in purchasing an item from the Wish List, please add your name and phone number next to the item you wish to donate. You will be contacted regarding full cost, including shipping. Checks may be made payable to Mount Olive, but be sure to note "Wish List" in the memo line. Enclose in a plain envelope and write "Wish List," amount of your gift, and which item you would like to donate on the outside of the envelope, so the counters can route the monies to the correct account.
With thanks to all of our most generous brothers and sisters in Christ!
- Brian Jacobs, Wish List Coordinator
Meals on Wheels
Thanks to those from Mount Olive who drove for Meals on Wheels during the week of December 27-31: Elaine & Art Halbardier, Marian & Walter Cheriwen, Al Bostelmann, Mary & Bob Lee, Dan Adams, Gary Flatgard, Connie & Rod Olson, JoAnn & Stan Sorenson, Elizabeth & Joe Beissel, Naomi Peterson, Harvey Hanson, Tom Byers, Gary Pagel, and Andrew Andersen.
Walking Humbly
All are invited to attend the 6th annual RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Festival Worship, “Walking Humbly – The Journey Together.”
The service will take place on Saturday, January 29, at 5:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer (5440 Penn Ave. South, Minneapolis). Brenda Froisland from Edina Community Lutheran Church will preach at this service and a light supper and rich fellowship be held afterwards.
Book Discussion Upcoming Reads
For its meeting on January 15 the Book Discussion group will discuss Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler, and for the February 12 meeting they will read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. Please note that the January meeting is postponed one week, due to the Conference on Liturgy.
Welcome to our new Sexton!
The Vestry is pleased to announce the hiring of William Pratley as the new Sexton at Mount Olive. William began on Dec. 29, and will be working Wednesdays through Sundays full time. He comes to us with experience as a maintenance technician at Minncor Greentree for four years and before that he was facilities manager at the Cathedral of St. Mark for ten years. Please take the time to greet him as you see him around the property, and get to know him. We are delighted to have him working among us!
Thank you!
Many thanks to Carol Austermann for designing and creating the beautiful blue chasuble Pr. Crippen wore throughout Advent, and for re-covering the two kneelers in the sanctuary. (The fabric on one of them had been burned through by a stray ember.) Thanks also to Mike Edwins, who has loaned several chasubles to Mount Olive, including the white chasuble Pr. Crippen used during the Christmas season.
Coming to Your Mailbox, Soon!
Look for an announcement and an invitation in your mail the week of January 10 regarding the Mount Olive Capital Appeal. We are entering the final months of the three-year campaign, which has made possible the wonderful renovations to our building that we enjoy week after week.
How are we doing? Very, very well – thanks to your faithful generosity. The mailing will describe our progress to date, and present an exciting opportunity to wrap up the three-year period free of debt.
Please read the message carefully, and prayerfully consider how you may be able to respond.
Sermon from January 2, 2011: Second Sunday of Christmas
Greater Than Glory
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: John 1:1-18)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Human babies are among the most vulnerable mammals on the planet. Many mammals are able to walk shortly after birth, and feed themselves. Others have a bit more time as helpless beings, but none – as far as I know anyway – have several years of infancy, followed by many years before they can be self-sufficient.
All of which makes John’s assertion this morning so astonishing. He says that the Word of God, the very creative power of almighty God, who made all things, took on human nature, human “flesh,” as he calls it. He claims that Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrate, is in fact the living, breathing Word of God, now become human.
If that doesn’t amaze us, we’re not paying attention. The risks the God of the universe took in becoming one of us began from the moment of conception, lasted throughout the nine months of pregnancy, and became acute in a delivery in an animal stall far from any medical care. The risk of facing the cross is only the logical conclusion of these initial risks God took.
Martin Luther asked, “O Lord, you have created all! How did you come to be so small?” (“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” stanza 9, ELW 268) This is the amazing truth about Christmas. We’re astonished not at a baby in a manger – we’ve seen babies, we love babies. What is astonishing is that we believe that the God who created all is that baby in a manger. Vulnerable, weak, unable to care for himself for years. At risk of death at any moment, and not just from wicked kings (though that, too). Why on earth would God choose to be this vulnerable? Lord, “how did you come to be so small?”
Whatever God’s answer to the “why” (and we know that the answer is “love”), it is this vulnerability that is the point of everything.
I believe that the Scriptures teach that God came into the world to show us in person how to live, how to be truly human. Now, it’s one thing to simply think of God coming in person and leading us into a new relationship, a new way of life and being, of love of God and neighbor.
But God took it a step further. And we begin to understand it in this baby. Think of it: God could have come as a powerful being, a messenger of light. Any number of disguises or modes of appearing to the world could have gotten a message out. God could even have come in force, asserting control over the people of the world by might.
Instead, the almighty God of the universe, creator of a billion suns, whom we now know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, became embodied in the weakest, most dependent form imaginable – a human baby.
For nearly a year or more this baby couldn’t even walk or talk. For a couple years he couldn’t even dress himself. For about 12 or 13 years he couldn’t take care of himself without adult help – that is, without adults providing shelter, clothing, food, protection. According to the Gospels, Jesus was about 30 when he began to teach, and lead people in God’s way. Until then, the most powerful being in the universe, the Creator of all, was simply living as one of us. And for a good portion of those years, incredibly vulnerable and unprotected.
If we look at what John is really saying this morning we see that God needs us to understand that the way God chose to come is a critical part of God’s message.
It’s not incidental, it’s central that God put aside all power and strength to accomplish this mission. John’s intentional connecting of Jesus to the creative Word of God reminds us of this. John doesn’t want us to forget the power and might hidden in this person – and not just in this baby, though that’s vulnerable enough. But in a person willing to suffer death on a cross rather than use power against us. And yet, even with this power at hand, God chooses to come in a way that risks losing everything God wants to accomplish.
Look at what John says – in his coming, Jesus came to his own, the people created through his work, and they did not know their own creator. Even more, Jesus came to his own people of that creation, the chosen family of God who should have recognized this coming, and his own people did not accept him.
There’s no reason for this rejection, this ignorance, this turning away from God. God could have ensured full acceptance and welcome by using a different way. So the way God comes to us must be critical. It must be the only way we could truly know God. It may be the only truth about God there is to know.
And so here’s how we answer Luther this morning: Why did the Creator become so small? Because it is the real truth about God. And it is our truth, too.
It’s funny how even when we recognize this weakness, this vulnerability of the Word among us, we assume it’s an aberration, a step downward for God. There’s a moment in the first chapter of Acts where the disciples reveal our own blindness on this. Now that they see Jesus raised from the dead, they assume he will begin to lead the revolt against Rome. “Now is it the time when will you restore Israel?” they ask. It’s as if they say, “OK, we realize that we were expecting a Messiah of triumph and we missed that he would suffer and die and share our weakness fully. We get that now. But now that he’s raised, now we get a triumphant Messiah, right?” It’s not very different from the Christians today who eagerly await the return of Jesus in power and force to wipe away all the unbelievers.
But what if God’s weakness here is the true way of God, God’s only truth?
Thomas Merton reflects on the Incarnation and says that the “one thing greater than glory is weakness, nothingness, poverty.” (from “Hagia Sophia,” included in “In the Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems of Thomas Merton,” New Directions Books 2005) An Orthodox priest from Tennessee, Father Stephen Freeman, recently wrote about this in a blog. He writes: “The all-powerful reveals Himself in His weakness, and not, I suspect, because it was a “backdoor” plan. Rather I believe the all-powerful revealed Himself most fully, most completely on the Cross because this is indeed what the power of God looks like. I do not know how to fathom the reality that the power that can only be seen in the Cross of Christ is the same power that created the universe, but I believe it is so.” (http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com, “The God Who Became Small”)
Isn’t that stunning to consider? What if the only truth about God’s power that is knowable and real is that it cannot be used to accomplish what God wants, that God is fully revealed in weakness, not in power and glory? That in the baby and at the cross is exactly what God’s true power and glory looks like?
John says it today, “No one has ever seen God; it is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made God known.” Later in John’s Gospel, on the eve of the crucifixion, Philip desperately asks Jesus to show the disciples the Father – show us God, he asks. And Jesus says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
What if Jesus is serious? What if John is right?
It may be that this is, as Father Stephen suggests, what the power of God looks like – weakness, vulnerability. Even though that power created a universe. What if the paradox is that this is the only truth about God’s power at all? That means not only should we stop waiting for God to act in this world in overtly powerful ways and start seeing God at work in the weakness of the world, the one thing greater than glory, which is God’s preferred way for acting in and healing the world. It also means we must rethink what this means for our discipleship as well.
God’s willingness to be completely vulnerable to us, risking the loss of everything, says that is the way we are called to live. When the adult Jesus describes the way of the rule of God, the kingdom of God, and lives it even to the cross, it is a way of this kind of vulnerability. A way which never uses power to achieve goals, even godly goals, but always gives of itself in love. A way which looks like utter weakness but which eventually will transform the whole world, like a grain of yeast or a mustard seed will grow from tiny to immense. A way which gives of itself for others in all things and trusts the power of love, not the love of power, to accomplish everything.
And in this baby we have our call – to be open to others, risking whatever we need to in order to embody God’s love. To find peace by setting aside power over others and transforming our part of the world with Christ’s love, God’s love, vulnerable love. It’s a frightening way to walk – but we always remember the Creator’s willingness to be a baby, even to die, and we know we can do it, with God’s help. Because it’s the only way to walk that is true to our Savior’s way, and the only way that really leads to life.
The amazing thing about this baby in a manger is not the baby after all, but who became the baby.
And as long as we see this baby and see it as central to the truth about God, as long as we keep pondering Luther’s question, “How did you come to be so small?” we will continue to learn the truth about God, the reality of God, and yes, this utter mystery of God – not a sidebar or distraction, but the full truth. And we will continue to learn the way of life God intends for us all, the only way that will bring not just us back to God, but eventually the whole world.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen (Texts: John 1:1-18)
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Human babies are among the most vulnerable mammals on the planet. Many mammals are able to walk shortly after birth, and feed themselves. Others have a bit more time as helpless beings, but none – as far as I know anyway – have several years of infancy, followed by many years before they can be self-sufficient.
All of which makes John’s assertion this morning so astonishing. He says that the Word of God, the very creative power of almighty God, who made all things, took on human nature, human “flesh,” as he calls it. He claims that Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrate, is in fact the living, breathing Word of God, now become human.
If that doesn’t amaze us, we’re not paying attention. The risks the God of the universe took in becoming one of us began from the moment of conception, lasted throughout the nine months of pregnancy, and became acute in a delivery in an animal stall far from any medical care. The risk of facing the cross is only the logical conclusion of these initial risks God took.
Martin Luther asked, “O Lord, you have created all! How did you come to be so small?” (“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” stanza 9, ELW 268) This is the amazing truth about Christmas. We’re astonished not at a baby in a manger – we’ve seen babies, we love babies. What is astonishing is that we believe that the God who created all is that baby in a manger. Vulnerable, weak, unable to care for himself for years. At risk of death at any moment, and not just from wicked kings (though that, too). Why on earth would God choose to be this vulnerable? Lord, “how did you come to be so small?”
Whatever God’s answer to the “why” (and we know that the answer is “love”), it is this vulnerability that is the point of everything.
I believe that the Scriptures teach that God came into the world to show us in person how to live, how to be truly human. Now, it’s one thing to simply think of God coming in person and leading us into a new relationship, a new way of life and being, of love of God and neighbor.
But God took it a step further. And we begin to understand it in this baby. Think of it: God could have come as a powerful being, a messenger of light. Any number of disguises or modes of appearing to the world could have gotten a message out. God could even have come in force, asserting control over the people of the world by might.
Instead, the almighty God of the universe, creator of a billion suns, whom we now know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, became embodied in the weakest, most dependent form imaginable – a human baby.
For nearly a year or more this baby couldn’t even walk or talk. For a couple years he couldn’t even dress himself. For about 12 or 13 years he couldn’t take care of himself without adult help – that is, without adults providing shelter, clothing, food, protection. According to the Gospels, Jesus was about 30 when he began to teach, and lead people in God’s way. Until then, the most powerful being in the universe, the Creator of all, was simply living as one of us. And for a good portion of those years, incredibly vulnerable and unprotected.
If we look at what John is really saying this morning we see that God needs us to understand that the way God chose to come is a critical part of God’s message.
It’s not incidental, it’s central that God put aside all power and strength to accomplish this mission. John’s intentional connecting of Jesus to the creative Word of God reminds us of this. John doesn’t want us to forget the power and might hidden in this person – and not just in this baby, though that’s vulnerable enough. But in a person willing to suffer death on a cross rather than use power against us. And yet, even with this power at hand, God chooses to come in a way that risks losing everything God wants to accomplish.
Look at what John says – in his coming, Jesus came to his own, the people created through his work, and they did not know their own creator. Even more, Jesus came to his own people of that creation, the chosen family of God who should have recognized this coming, and his own people did not accept him.
There’s no reason for this rejection, this ignorance, this turning away from God. God could have ensured full acceptance and welcome by using a different way. So the way God comes to us must be critical. It must be the only way we could truly know God. It may be the only truth about God there is to know.
And so here’s how we answer Luther this morning: Why did the Creator become so small? Because it is the real truth about God. And it is our truth, too.
It’s funny how even when we recognize this weakness, this vulnerability of the Word among us, we assume it’s an aberration, a step downward for God. There’s a moment in the first chapter of Acts where the disciples reveal our own blindness on this. Now that they see Jesus raised from the dead, they assume he will begin to lead the revolt against Rome. “Now is it the time when will you restore Israel?” they ask. It’s as if they say, “OK, we realize that we were expecting a Messiah of triumph and we missed that he would suffer and die and share our weakness fully. We get that now. But now that he’s raised, now we get a triumphant Messiah, right?” It’s not very different from the Christians today who eagerly await the return of Jesus in power and force to wipe away all the unbelievers.
But what if God’s weakness here is the true way of God, God’s only truth?
Thomas Merton reflects on the Incarnation and says that the “one thing greater than glory is weakness, nothingness, poverty.” (from “Hagia Sophia,” included in “In the Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems of Thomas Merton,” New Directions Books 2005) An Orthodox priest from Tennessee, Father Stephen Freeman, recently wrote about this in a blog. He writes: “The all-powerful reveals Himself in His weakness, and not, I suspect, because it was a “backdoor” plan. Rather I believe the all-powerful revealed Himself most fully, most completely on the Cross because this is indeed what the power of God looks like. I do not know how to fathom the reality that the power that can only be seen in the Cross of Christ is the same power that created the universe, but I believe it is so.” (http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com, “The God Who Became Small”)
Isn’t that stunning to consider? What if the only truth about God’s power that is knowable and real is that it cannot be used to accomplish what God wants, that God is fully revealed in weakness, not in power and glory? That in the baby and at the cross is exactly what God’s true power and glory looks like?
John says it today, “No one has ever seen God; it is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made God known.” Later in John’s Gospel, on the eve of the crucifixion, Philip desperately asks Jesus to show the disciples the Father – show us God, he asks. And Jesus says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”
What if Jesus is serious? What if John is right?
It may be that this is, as Father Stephen suggests, what the power of God looks like – weakness, vulnerability. Even though that power created a universe. What if the paradox is that this is the only truth about God’s power at all? That means not only should we stop waiting for God to act in this world in overtly powerful ways and start seeing God at work in the weakness of the world, the one thing greater than glory, which is God’s preferred way for acting in and healing the world. It also means we must rethink what this means for our discipleship as well.
God’s willingness to be completely vulnerable to us, risking the loss of everything, says that is the way we are called to live. When the adult Jesus describes the way of the rule of God, the kingdom of God, and lives it even to the cross, it is a way of this kind of vulnerability. A way which never uses power to achieve goals, even godly goals, but always gives of itself in love. A way which looks like utter weakness but which eventually will transform the whole world, like a grain of yeast or a mustard seed will grow from tiny to immense. A way which gives of itself for others in all things and trusts the power of love, not the love of power, to accomplish everything.
And in this baby we have our call – to be open to others, risking whatever we need to in order to embody God’s love. To find peace by setting aside power over others and transforming our part of the world with Christ’s love, God’s love, vulnerable love. It’s a frightening way to walk – but we always remember the Creator’s willingness to be a baby, even to die, and we know we can do it, with God’s help. Because it’s the only way to walk that is true to our Savior’s way, and the only way that really leads to life.
The amazing thing about this baby in a manger is not the baby after all, but who became the baby.
And as long as we see this baby and see it as central to the truth about God, as long as we keep pondering Luther’s question, “How did you come to be so small?” we will continue to learn the truth about God, the reality of God, and yes, this utter mystery of God – not a sidebar or distraction, but the full truth. And we will continue to learn the way of life God intends for us all, the only way that will bring not just us back to God, but eventually the whole world.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
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