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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Second Nature

To have God’s law written on our hearts, to continue in God’s Word, is to be shaped into new people who look like Christ, think like Christ, love like Christ. It becomes our second nature, our true nature from Baptism.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Reformation Sunday; texts: John 8:31-36; Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Someone noted to me last week that I seem to preaching a lot about the Christian life of late. I hadn’t noticed, but looking back, I realized that it was true. I also realized that this is the way the readings from God’s Word appointed in the Sunday readings had led me since the beginning of September.

It’s a funny thing about the Scriptures, isn’t it? If we let them lead us and guide us, we don’t always know the path we’re walking until we stop and look back. But when we do, we see clearly God’s hand and direction behind it. And similarly, when we lead our lives our own way, we don’t always notice the path we’re walking until we stop and look back. And then we can see the wandering, and the mistakes, and the difficulty.

It’s almost as if Jesus understood this. Because today he says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Somehow he believes that “continuing” or abiding, living, dwelling, existing, in his Word will change us, shape us, free us. Will make us something we weren’t at the beginning of our journey with him and the Word.

It will make us new people. People like God is promising in Jeremiah today, people who don’t need to be taught to know the Lord anymore because God’s very Word is written on our hearts, written by God. People who not only belong to our Lord Christ but are shaped into Christ ourselves, given new natures.

This is a promise worth knowing, believing, “continuing” in. Because we certainly aren’t fond of the alternatives.

I don’t think it’s difficult for us to understand our need for a new nature, for a new way of being. Certainly it isn’t hard to understand our need for freedom.

Because we are not free, though our culture, our nation proclaims we are just as loudly as Jesus’ fellow Jews in today’s encounter. We often use the language of captivity and bondage to sin when we confess our sins publicly in worship.

We do this because the first letter of John does. But we do it because we know it’s true. We do not live as we have been called to live, as we’ve been created to live, as God hopes for us to live. This we know. And it is as if we are trapped in our behaviors.

Think just about last week’s Gospel. Do you live loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor – everyone – as you love yourself? Why not? It’s not that you don’t know it’s what you’re called to be and do. And does our congregation, does the whole Christian Church on earth in all its actions and life in the world live in love of God and love of neighbor? If not, why not?

In his book Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis talks about this in a way that’s helpful. (1) In reflecting on his confession which he made at the end of each day, he realized that the vast majority of things he needed to confess to God were sins which showed lack of love. He writes: “Nine times out of ten the most obvious one is the sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed.”

But what was enlightening to him was his own response, the excuse that most easily formed in his mind: “I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.” It was then that he realized the truth: surely the best evidence for what kind of a person we really are is how we behave when we are caught off our guard, when we haven’t had time to think, to prepare, to do well? And we extend that to our community, and to the Church: surely the best evidence for the state of our nature, for the reality of who we are is how we act and live when we aren’t thinking, when we are caught off guard.

And when we realize this, we truly understand our predicament, our bondage, our captivity. When we have time to think, we might be able to act as Christ individually or corporately. But our instincts are still captive, which we prove time and again. Our natural state, our true nature, is broken. And that’s what we need God to fix.

In fact, we need a new nature from God.

The funny thing is, we understand this idea in our culture and in our lives, though without attributing it to God. We use the term “second nature” to describe it. Coaches, music teachers, teachers of all kind know that to learn new behavior, new ways of being, it takes practice and repetition until the new behavior is “second nature.”

I was listening to a football coach talk about this a few weeks ago, and his goal was that his players knew what to do so well they “didn’t have to think” – that’s what he said, they didn’t have to think when on the field – in other words, their reactions were now shaped into new reactions. Old instincts were now replaced by new ones. Mr. Vlastuin, one of my elementary school teachers, wanted us to learn the multiplication tables so we could, as he said again and again, say them “just – like – that” (with a finger snap on each word.) Second nature.

And when it comes to the Christian life – whether in community or as individuals – we’ve heard forever about being given a new nature in Christ. Maybe we never understood just what that meant.

But this is what it means, surely. That we become so inured to the way of Christ, so familiar with it, so practiced in it, that our very instincts are changed. That when we are caught off guard, we act as Christ, love as Christ – because we don’t have to stop and think about what we are doing.

Lewis points out that when Paul says “put on Christ” in Colossians 3, he’s talking about pretending to be Christ. We might say practicing to be Christ, including all the attributes he names there, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, love. Not pretending so that we are faking love of God and love of neighbor – pretending because when we act as Christ as a community, as individuals, as the Church on earth, and we keep acting that way, we eventually are changed into new people, new community, new Church.

We are re-formed into the true body of Christ we were meant to be. And that comes, Jesus says, by continuing, abiding, living in his Word. Practicing his Word until it becomes, as we say, second nature to us. A nature which is our true nature begun in us in our baptism.

“If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Let me read you something which might help understand this: Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden on the Lord. 1 Peter 2:9 – Called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Romans 8.

This piece of paper is one that my mother had in her little Bible that she took with her to church each week. These weren’t necessarily all her favorite verses – some very important ones aren’t on here – but for some reason she wrote these down and stuck them in her Bible. But I wasn’t at all surprised to find the paper in her Bible. She quoted Scripture a lot, and it shaped her. And I can see from these some important shapings for her life.

This showed in other ways, too – for example, there are very few Bibles or religious books given me by my parents where they did not write a verse of Scripture inside the cover. Listen to something my father wrote inside the cover of the Book of Concord – the collection of our Lutheran confessional writings. (It might also be telling that I received this copy when I was twelve, as I began my confirmation studies. I’m pretty sure we didn’t study the Book of Concord, but my father wanted me to have a copy.) I’ll read it as he wrote it, with his little comment after the reading from John, and then portions of Luther’s meaning to the Second Article from the Small Catechism: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” Jesus of Nazareth, who was the Son of God. John 8:12. He redeems me, He delivers me. He is my Lord. I am His and live under Him. I serve Him . . . to all eternity. page 345.

Just taking a look at all the little pieces of Scripture that my parents wrote down on these occasions tells you mountains about their faith and whose child they each knew themselves to be. My parents knew, and my father who is still with us, knows, what it is to continue in God’s word. To remain, abide in the Word.

I tell you this about my parents not to boast. They weren’t perfect parents, not perfect people. But you need to know something. They also were not seminary-trained theologians. They were regular lay people.

My father grew up in a church-going family, but I doubt they read the Bible together at home. Grandpa was a decent, hardworking man who ran a Phillips 66 gas station for years. Grandma was involved forever in altar guild and circles, and Ladies Aid. A normal, involved church family. And my mother grew up in a Denver Roman Catholic family that were regular mass-goers, but again, not especially trained theologically.

But both of them together were connected to the Word in a remarkable way. God’s Word informed their marriage, their parenting, their work in the world. They knew what it was to abide, continue, remain in God’s Word. And it seems to me that this is the kind of thing Jesus is talking about today, the kind of thing God promises in Jeremiah.

But continuing in the Word isn’t just about memorizing Bible verses, though that’s a helpful piece. It’s about living in the true Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. God promises to write this new covenant which we see in Jesus Christ on our hearts. It is God who does this, not us. Staying in the Scriptures, letting those words shape us, mold us, change us, isn’t something we do ourselves.

As C. S. Lewis says in the same section I’ve already mentioned, “it is God who does everything. We, at most, allow it to be done to us.” We have the gift of our Lord Christ beside us, helping us pretend, continually calling us to newness of life and in the Spirit making it happen. We are molded, shaped, formed as individuals and as a community by the one in whose Word we are invited to live. By the Living Word of God, God’s Son, our Lord.

So our pretending, our putting on Christ, our living in the Scriptures, all is empowered and driven by the One who died to give us life.

Because here is the miracle: though we are still sinful, God in Christ looks at us as if we are already little Christs. While we are still learning, while we are still captive, while we still forget God’s Word, God sees in us what we will be, and writes it on our hearts. And so God leads us to become what we already are, or what God already thinks and sees we are.

This is the freedom Jesus promises us. And thanks be to God it is the freedom Jesus gives us.

Let us continue in his Word, in the Scriptures, in our worship, at his Table, when we confess, as we are with each other. Let us pretend to be Christ, put on his Word, until with his grace we actually become Christ. It becomes second nature, written on our hearts.

Imagine what this world would be like if just one of us were so shaped and transformed. Imagine what it would be like if our whole congregation were so shaped and transformed. Imagine what it would be like if Christ’s whole Church were so shaped and transformed. Then the world might have a chance at life, and freedom and love. And that has been God’s hope all along.

_______________________________
(1) All the Lewis references are from Book IV, chapter 7, “Let’s Pretend,” Mere Christianity, Macmillan Publishing Company, © 1943, 1945, 1952; pages 146-151.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Olive Branch, 10/24/11

Accent on Worship

Reformation Sunday

In the lessons and the Gospel for Reformation Sunday, we witness an evolution of faith in the people of God. The one true God was revealed first to the Israelites, but it took centuries for them to grasp the concept of one God, Creator of all, and the people continued to stray by worshiping false gods. They could not bring themselves to trust completely in this truth. In the First Reading, Jeremiah prophesied that the day will come when no one among the people will doubt this revelation, which was given to them. “They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord.” Jeremiah’s prophecy became a reality when the faithful returned from their captivity in Babylon to rebuild their nation, and the dogma of the One True God is still written in the hearts of practicing Jews today.

I believe that it was out of fear the people would return to worshiping idols, that the priests and the scribes created a religion that put God in the center of everyday life, but in reality became so strident that hand washing, and diet became more important than compassion for the vulnerable in their society. And through the centuries it became easier to follow the strict laws of their religion than to love their neighbor, a practice that seems to continue among many of the religious to this day. Human nature has not changed.

Jesus gives us a new vision of God, a God who loves without exception, (sinner and saint alike), a God who has compassion for the suffering poor. Jesus shows us a God who understood the dilemma of the widowed and divorced women in his society, condemned to a life of prostitution. And by his actions, Jesus shows us a God who longs to heal and make whole all those whom society has shunned and pushed away. This is the truth that sets us free, the word that is revealed to those who listen to Jesus. “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” And Paul, in the Second Reading, stands by this teaching, by claiming that no human being can be right with God through works, but by trusting in Jesus, who brought us the final revelation of God.

So “sin boldly” as Martin Luther said, but love boldly also. Christian parents, do not disown your gay children for fear of being disowned by God. Love them as God loves and accepts them. Practicing Christians, do not be afraid to pray with those who believe differently. Pray to the one true God with them and love and accept who they are. Christians everywhere, always err on the side of love. Reach out to all with compassion and become co-workers in bringing justice and peace, the Kingdom of God, to all creation, the way God meant for us to be.

- Donna Pususta Neste


Sunday Readings

October 30, 2011 – Reformation Sunday
Jeremiah 31:31-34 + Psalm 46 Romans 3:19-28 + John 8:31-36

November 6, 2011 – All Saints Sunday
Revelation 7:9-17+ Psalm 34:1-10, 22I John 3:1-3 + Matthew 5:1-12


Stewardship of Lives and Wealth

During the next few weeks members of Mount Olive are invited to pledge their intentions for giving to our shared mission in 2012. A letter from the stewardship director and the pastor will go out this week accompanied by pledge cards and an “Opportunities for Service” brochure where people are invited to find ways to connect and serve in Mount Olive’s mission.

Instead of receiving completed pledge cards on only one Sunday, the Stewardship Committee would like to receive them any time in the next weeks, with the hope that all will be turned in by Sunday, Nov. 13. There will be box on the table next to the coat room where completed cards can be left, or they can be mailed to the church office. On Sunday, Nov. 20 there will be an Opportunities for Service luncheon after the second liturgy to celebrate our work together and give people a chance to learn more about how to be involved at Mount Olive.


Book Discussion

For their meeting on November 12, The Book Discussion Group is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, and for the December 15 meeting they will read German Boy: A Child in War, by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel.

This group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at church. All readers welcome!


National Lutheran Choir Open Rehearsal at Mount Olive

Every Tuesday evening during the Fall, Winter and Spring months you can hear beautiful music rising up the stairwell. Those sounds are created by the National Lutheran Choir directed by David Cherwien.

On Tuesday, November 8, members of the church are invited to attend a special open rehearsal to witness the "NLC experience:" participate in devotions, share some coffee and snacks with choir members and attend a short information session with NLC Board and Mount Olive member, Brenda Bartz. The 90-minute experience starts at 7:30pm.

For more information contact the National Lutheran Choir's office: 612-722-2301.


Is Our Nation Broke?

On Sunday, November 13, following the late Eucharist, the Neighborhood Ministries Committee will sponsor a light lunch and a conversation about the Federal Budget. This discussion will be led Ed Payne, a speaker with Bread for the World.

A balanced budget is important, but should it be balanced on the backs of the poor? Or are there smarter, less painful ways for this to happen? Join us for this conversation on November 13!


Fundraiser for TRUST

Mount Olive belongs to TRUST, Inc. TRUST is the organization which sponsors the Meals on Wheels program in which we participate. TRUST has other programs, too, one of which is CoAM (in which we also participate and which has its office here at Mount Olive.TRUST has a major fundraiser on Saturday, November 5, at Lake Harriet United Methodist Church, 4901 Chowen Ave. S. Schedule: 6-9 pm for dinner, dessert, and silent and noisy auctions. Tickets are $20 for adults (or with a reservation, $15 for seniors and youth); children under 10, $5. Tickets at the door are $25.

Dan Burow and Gary Flatgard, Mount Olive’s representatives on the TRUST Board, are selling tickets now. Buy one, attend, and support TRUST!


Youth Fundraiser

Mount Olive’s youth are selling Christmas plants again this year. A variety of poinsettias, wreaths, and arrangements will be available to order through Sunday, November 20. Order your Christmas plants at Mount Olive and support our youth. If you have any questions about this project, call Irene Campbell, 651-230-3927.


Amicus Winter Clothing Drive

Amicus is a non-profit organization located in Minneapolis that works to help male inmates and ex-offenders reshape their lives, reach their goals, and make successful transitions from prison into the community.

Amicus is asking community members to help reach their goal of collecting 1,000 new and good condition winter items such as hats, gloves, coats, and boots, clothing, and hygiene products such as deodorant, shampoo and toothpaste. These items help Amicus clients to focus their few dollars on essentials such as food and housing. While Amicus serves both men and women, about 9 in 10 clients are men and many are looking for clothing sizes XL, XXL and above. They will seek donations from October 30 till February 29 and a donation box will be located at Mount Olive. Please donate what you can! Please contact Julie Jefferson at Amicus with questions and comments. (612) 348-8570 ext. 258. For more information on Amicus, please visit their website at http://www.amicususa.org/.


National Lutheran Choir to Present All Saints Program
“Kyrie: Journey to Light”

Friday, November 4, 2011 - 7:30 pm
St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church
630 Wayzata Boulevard East
Wayzata, MN 55391

Saturday, November 5, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Gustavus Adolphus College - Christ Chapel
800 West College Avenue
Saint Peter, MN 56082

Sunday, November 6, 2011 - 4:00 pm
St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
900 Stillwater Road
Mahtomedi, MN 55115

Tickets (at the door): $30/Adult; $25/Senior (62+); $10/Student. Tickets (in advance): $25/Adult; $20/Senior (62+); $15 ea./Group (10 or more); and $10/Student. For additional information, call the National Lutheran Choir office, 612.722.2301.


Manz Tage Events

The following events, held in conjunction with this weekend’s Manz Tage conference, are free and open to the public:

 Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 pm – Hymn Festival Saturday, Oct. 29, 9:00 am – Morning Prayer Saturday, Oct. 29, 4:30 pm – Evening Prayer, with organ recital by Samuel Backman


Tutoring Snacks Needed

The snack sign-up chart is up for the Way to Goals Tutoring Program. Volunteer tutors and students meet at Mount Olive every Tuesday evening from October through May. It helps our budget significantly when snacks are donated, and providing snacks is easy to do. Just sign up on the chart located on the Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board downstairs by Donna Neste’s office, and bring a snack and beverage for 20 people on or before the day for which you have signed up. You may leave it in either the upstairs or undercroft kitchen, clearly labeled, and let Donna know where it is being stored.

Questions? Call Donna at church for further information, 612-827.5919.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

For I Am Holy

We are created in God’s image – and the work of the Holy Spirit is to shape us into the template of love of God and love of neighbor, to make us holy as God is holy.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Ordinary Time, Sunday 30, year A; texts: Matthew 22:34-46; Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Last week Jesus suggested to us the idea that we are God’s coin, minted with the image of God and inscribed with God’s name. Our call, then, is to be that coin, that image and name of God in the world. Today it seems as if we can take Jesus’ metaphor one step further and explore where I ended last week, that we are newly minted each day, re-made by the Holy Spirit to become what God intends for us in the world, to be the image and carry the name of God into the world.

In other words, I want to talk about templates today. A template is a model, a pattern, a shape by which other things like it are made. If you want to sew a dress and you’re not a designer, you will take a pattern, cut the shapes exactly the same, and sew it by the instructions. I built a pair of Adirondack chairs for Mary and me with the substantial help of a friend who has made dozens of them, and we used his templates to shape each piece of cedar wood so that the shapes were exactly the same as the original. We create templates of our worship services on the computer so that each week the basic shape is the same, and then we enter the weekly variables such as hymns and readings. And coins are minted from templates, from master molds which shape them to look the way they are meant to look.

The goal of a template, no matter what the craft, is to re-create the prior shape or pattern, to make something in the image of another thing, a thing that has been determined to be worth copying.

And this is how the Christian life is shaped. In Genesis we are told that we are created in God’s image. Throughout Scripture God works with humanity to encourage us to that image. God’s plan, fulfilled in Jesus, is to call us all back to the pattern, the template, and be shaped by it into the image of God. And in both the Old Testament, as we see in our reading today from Leviticus, and in the New, as we hear in Jesus’ affirmation today, this is the template of humanity God desires us to emulate: love of God with all our being, and love of neighbor as ourselves.

Now this is not a new thing to hear, certainly not in this place. But it is worth remembering that modeling our lives after this template is probably the most important thing Jesus would have us be and do. At the very least, he tells us that it is the sum of the entire law of God, the intention of God for our lives in the world God has made. It is not, however, what Christians often have claimed was most important.

Too often our focus as a Christian Church throughout the ages has only been on life after death.

The center of preaching, the reason for evangelism, the purpose of exhortation was to make people believe that in Jesus there is life in heaven after we die.

Now there’s nothing wrong with that proclamation – far from it. After Jesus’ resurrection it became clear to the early believers that something new had happened, that death itself was broken, defeated. It’s been the source of hope and joy for 2,000 years to believers. The problem is that ensuring we would live after our deaths wasn’t the main thing Jesus came to do.

What he came to do was re-establish God’s kingdom, God’s rule and reign. Part of that establishment was removing the absolute rule of death over the world. But we could imagine other ways God could have done this than living among us, dying, and rising.

If we look at the Scriptures the central thing for the Son of God in establishing his rule and reign was inviting humanity to live in that rule and reign. The story of God and humanity throughout Scripture is less about life after death than it is how we live in this world. From choosing a family to guide in Abraham and Sarah, to giving the Law to the descendants of that family, to sending prophets to call people back to God’s ways, the Scriptures consistently show God’s vision for our world and how humanity lives in it.

Whether we live as God has made us to live, caring for each other and for this world, loving God. Or live as we want to, living for ourselves alone.

So coming in person in Jesus of Nazareth was critical for the Son of God, because he was providing a template for life in the kingdom, a way to live. Something best done in person, by modeling and teaching and inviting. Jesus’ teachings predominantly are about that life, a life that we have now, not about the life in the world to come. And God’s concern for the future of this world is centered on how the world is now, how people are cared for, how the creation is sustained, whether people have enough food, and are safe, and are loved.

And when you think about it, that makes sense. We have the promise of that future life, no question. But the only life we can live now is this one, here and now.

Today we hear almighty God call us to this life: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

That is the source of our template – the true and living God is holy, set apart in love and justice, and we are made in the image of the true and living God. So we also are to be holy. Not in a sense that we’re filled up with who we are and compare ourselves to others. But in the sense that we know whose we are, and that we have been called to be what we were made to be.

We are called to shape our lives by this template. And that’s how these two directives of love of God and love of neighbor work in our hearts and lives. Just as a pattern or template is used in any other field, so are these two to be used. So when we are at home, or away, when we rise, or when we lie down, as the well-known passage from Deuteronomy 6 says, these words are laid against our hearts, shaping them, patterning them, molding them to fit the image of God. It’s a beautiful thing to consider: by love of God and love of neighbor we will become new people. And that was and is the goal of Jesus all along.

So consider what that means for us.

What if everything we did and thought we held to this standard, God’s standard, instead of our own?

What if we no longer did things just because “that’s the way I do them” but because they better fit God’s template, God’s pattern?

What if we made choices based not on “what’s in it for me” or “how can I profit from this” but based on “what is most loving to God and neighbor”?

What if every morning and every night we prayed that our hearts be shaped and molded by the Holy Spirit into hearts which loved God completely and loved our neighbors – as Jesus defined neighbors, which is everyone?

What if we truly realized that the goal of this love, the end of this love might even lead to loss and death, that there is no limit to God’s love for us which led to Jesus’ willingness to suffer on the cross and die, and that we are called to the same limitless, sacrificial love in our lives?

Can you see why Jesus thought this was so important?

It’s time we made Jesus’ concerns and central hopes for us our own.

God’s need for us is this: that we begin to live as we were created to live. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” That we begin to be molded and modeled by this template of divine love, both in our love for God and our love for neighbor.

And remember, it is the artist, the craft-worker who uses the template on the medium. In other words, it isn’t we who make ourselves like God in our love – it is God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, who shapes our hearts into God’s image. King David once prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” He believed that God was the source of our life and the one who could remake us to be more like God, shape us into the template of love of God and neighbor which God intends for all of the people of the world.

Because there will be shaping involved, trimming, molding – we aren’t yet what we’re meant to be. This is the place of forgiveness – our brokenness is restored, our sins are forgiven, so that we more and more match the pattern. And it’s why we gather here to worship each week, to be fed at Jesus’ table of grace and to be fed by God’s Word of life, and filled with the Spirit to become new people.

So let us pray that this be so among us.

As our hearts are molded and shaped to this template of divine love, let us pray that we not only live in God’s rule, God’s kingdom, which was Jesus’ fervent hope and prayer. Let us pray that we also become signs to others of God’s gracious rule, of God’s love for the world. We become witnesses, the natural outcome of our transformation, the desired result of all discipleship, so that others, too, can come to know God’s love and learn the joy of being shaped into children of God’s gracious love themselves.

God bless us and re-make us, and keep these words in our hearts always until we become the people we were meant to be.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Olive Branch, 10/17/11

Accent on Worship

Not Just for Fall Anymore

In most congregations, if it’s late fall, it’s Stewardship Sunday time, along with several weeks of temple talks at worship and extra emphases on giving to the work of the congregation in the next year. Mount Olive traditionally has not done these overarching programs, especially when it comes to our Sunday liturgy. We’re not a congregation which labels Sundays, designating this Sunday or that like a local mayor declaring days, weeks or months of emphasis. Because we order our worship by the calendar of the Church Year, it is that calendar which shapes each week’s hymns, readings, preaching, prayer, and liturgical setting.

Most congregations also vote on their budget after the stewardship drive, with the idea that now the leadership knows what people are planning to give for the next year, the budget can be shaped accordingly. And again, that isn’t how we do it, which might seem strange to those who’ve been active in other congregations. Our semi-annual meeting is next Sunday, October 23, between services, and we will vote on our budget, but really on our mission for next year, and we have little idea what people will pledge for next year, at least not yet.

This order can be confusing to some, and seem ill-advised. But I believe we are saying something important by planning our mission first. We are saying, “This is what we believe God is calling us to do in this place next year.” Separate from that, we also will pledge what we will share of the wealth God has entrusted to each of us so that we can accomplish what we have claimed as our mission. They are related, but not a consequence one of the other. We do not give to a budget, we give because we are stewards of God’s wealth and possessions and we have a passion borne from the grace we have received to be faithful stewards. We plan a budget so we can make use of that stewardship faithfully as we work together.

To that end, true stewardship is not just for the late fall. It’s the shape of our lives – how we make use of the wealth God has entrusted, how we make use of the gifts, talents, abilities, and time God has entrusted, and how we seek to faithfully do the mission God places before us every day. True stewardship is year-round, and central to our lives.

With that being said, each year we do need to turn to each other and commit to what we will do together. The act of pledging time and talents and wealth is an act of faith and commitment to each other as the body of Christ in this place. To that end, expect within the week a mailing which will contain a letter, a pledge card, and a time and talents form. The Stewardship Committee hopes to have all pledges into the office by Sunday, Nov. 13, and there will be an Opportunities for Service luncheon on Sunday, Nov. 20 after the second liturgy where we will celebrate the results of the pledging and also offer many opportunities for service of time and talents for the next year.

I invite all members of the congregation to take this time to commit to each other for our mission together, even as we learn the daily and year-round task of being stewards of our God.

- Pastor Crippen


Congregation Meeting

The semi-annual Congregation Meeting of Mount Olive Lutheran Church will be held this Sunday, October 23, at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the budget for 2012 and to vote a second time on the constitutional amendment which passed its first hearing at the April semi-annual meeting. A oopy of the amendment and accompanying bylaw is attached. All members of Mount Olive are encouraged to attend.



Manz Tage Events

The following events, held in conjunction with the upcoming Manz Tage conference, are free and open to the public:

 Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 pm – Hymn Festival
 Saturday, Oct. 29, 9:00 am – Morning Prayer
 Saturday, Oct. 29, 4:30 pm – Evening Prayer, with organ recital by Samuel Backman


2012 Proposed Budget

Copies of the proposed budget for 2012, which will be voted upon at the Congregation Meeting on Oct. 23, are available to pick up at church, in anticipation of the meeting. They were also sent via email last week. Please take some time to look it over so that you can be part of an informed discussion.


National Lutheran Choir Open Rehearsal at Mount Olive

Every Tuesday evening during the Fall, Winter and Spring months you can hear beautiful music rising up the stairwell. Those sounds are created by the National Lutheran Choir directed by David Cherwien.

On Tuesday, November 8, members of the church are invited to attend a special open rehearsal to witness the "NLC experience:" participate in devotions, share some coffee and snacks with choir members and attend a short information session with NLC Board and Mount Olive member, Brenda Bartz. The 90-minute experience starts at 7:30pm.

For more information contact the National Lutheran Choir's office: 612-722-2301.



Book Discussion

For their meeting on November 12, The Book Discussion Group is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, and for the December 15 meeting they will read German Boy: A Child in War, by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel.

This group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at church. All readers welcome!


Is Our Nation Broke?

On Sunday, November 13, following the late Eucharist the Neighborhood Ministries Committee will sponsor a light lunch and a conversation about the Federal Budget. This discussion will be led Ed Payne, a speaker with Bread for the World.

A balanced budget is important, but should it be balanced on the backs of the poor? Or are there smarter, less painful ways for this to happen?

Join us for this conversation on November 13!



Tutoring Snacks Needed

The snack sign-up chart is up for the Way to Goals Tutoring Program. Volunteer tutors and students meet at Mount Olive every Tuesday evening from October through May. It helps our budget significantly when snacks are donated, and providing snacks is easy to do. Just sign up on the chart located on the Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board downstairs by Donna Neste’s office, and bring a snack and beverage for 20 people on or before the day for which you have signed up. You may leave it in either the upstairs or undercroft kitchen, clearly labeled, and let Donna know where it is being stored.

Questions? Call Donna at church for further information, 612-827.5919.



National Lutheran Choir to Present All Saints Program
“Kyrie: Journey to Light”

Friday, November 4, 2011 - 7:30 pm
St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church
630 Wayzata Boulevard East
Wayzata, MN 55391

Saturday, November 5, 2011 - 7:00 pm
Gustavus Adolphus College - Christ Chapel
800 West College Avenue
Saint Peter, MN 56082

Sunday, November 6, 2011 - 4:00 pm
St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
900 Stillwater Road
Mahtomedi, MN 55115

The All Saints program has become a cherished tradition among the offerings of the National Lutheran Choir. Accompanying this "Journey to Light" will be well known spirituals in settings by Undine Smith Moore, J. Melvin Butler, Paul Caldwell/Sean Ivory and Harry T. Burleigh. The choir will also sing music of Rutter, Tarik O'Regan and Stephen Paulus. Of special note will be Ola Gjeilo's mystical setting of St. John of the Cross' poem, Dark Night of the Soul for String Quartet, Piano and Choir. Also performed will be Paul John Rudoi's setting of Amazing Grace and William Beckstrand's hauntingly beautiful O Happy Tears.

Tickets (at the door): $30/Adult; $25/Senior (62+); $10/Student. Tickets (in advance): $25/Adult; $20/Senior (62+); $15 ea./Group (10 or more); and $10/Student.
For additional information, call the National Lutheran Choir office, 612.722.2301.


Highlights from the October Vestry Meeting

The October 10 Vestry meeting opened with a prayer and meditation lead by President Adam Krueger.

The unfinished business portion of the meeting started with the ratification of the “Guidelines for the Staff Support Committee Members of Mount Olive Lutheran Church”. Discussions about the Capital Campaign Tithe and the Visioning Process were tabled until a later date.

Vestry members voted to approve “Continuing Resolution 2011-1: Vicars at Mount Olive” with the modifications that were made after the October meeting.

There will be a new standing Public Relations (PR) sub-committee to support all of the Vestry and Mount Olive. The PR Committee will focus on complete and consistent communication to the congregation of the events and other items of interest. As a working group, people in the congregation will be sought out to assist with social media and other ways of getting the word out about all that Mount Olive has to offer.

Findings from the 2010 Audit are being used to create an action plan to help address any concerns or issues with the receipt and dispersal of funds as well as to help create more well defined restricted funds.

President Adam Krueger then shared a correspondence from Al Bostelmann who has volunteered to serve as a delegate to the 2012 Minneapolis Synod meeting. This will be acted upon when delegates are appointed after the first of the year.

Discussion took place on the 2011-12 Proposed Budget that will be voted upon at the Congregational Meeting October 23. Each of the Committees has been asked to offer a mission statement to outline their needs and to explain what guided their decisions on the kinds of programming they would like to do in the upcoming year.

Pastor Crippen marked the first anniversary of his starting at Mount Olive on October 11. He continues to be busy with weddings and Bible study as well as preparing for the group from Leipzig.

Cantor Cherwien is continuing his work with the Cantorei and the NLC. The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet served as the first Music and Fine Arts event, and now Manz Tage is next up on the calendar.

Congregational Life is off to a busy start this fall with Carla Manuel and Gail Nielsen planning to attend a food safety training so that she can share any regulations with everyone who uses the kitchen. To help meet one of the rules on holding temperatures for food, we are adding a warming oven to the Wish List.

Diana Hellerman has been extremely pleased with the attendance at the adult forums. In addition to the Bible Study group that is being started, she is also excited at the number of children who have been actively participating in Godly Play.

The Missions Committee is compiling a list of organizations that they plan to work with in the future. There will be a few changes in the organizations who will be receiving funding from Mount Olive.

Eunice Hafemeister reported that Meals on Wheels has been incorporated into CoAM and we are now entitled to two board members with them. Additionally, The Art Shoppe in the Global Market is moving forward and having a Grand Opening on November 5, 2011.

David Molvik is continuing work on the sound system and hopes to have work completed by the end of the year. Winterizing of the church is continuing with the help of several volunteers, which is greatly appreciated.

There will be a flower sale on October 23 in support of the Youth Group. Conversations are continuing to see if there are any youth who are interested in participating in the national youth gathering.

Al Bipes brought up that on Christmas Day, which falls on a Sunday, there will be one service at 10:00 a.m. This will also hold true for New Year’s Day, which falls on the following Sunday. Prior to the Christmas Day service there will be a carry in brunch.

The next Vestry meeting will be November 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Nordeen
Vice President

Sunday, October 16, 2011

What Belongs to God

We are the living “coin” of God in the world. We bear the likeness and inscription of a God who suffered and died for the sake of the world – it is to that God whom we give our lives.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Ordinary Time, Sunday 29, year A; texts: Matthew 22:15–22; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10; Psalm 96; Isaiah 45:1–7

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems. Here we are, AD 2011, just over a year from a national election for the office of President of the United States, and one of the chief issues seems to be about taxes. At least some would argue that. And in our Gospel, 1,980 or so years earlier, opponents of Jesus ask him about taxes. They’re trying to trap him into saying something incriminating that they can use against him. As I said, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

What’s wonderful about this story is that Jesus sees the trap and turns the question away from taxes (which it was never about in the first place) to questions of sovereignty itself. Who is your god? Who is worthy of honor and praise? To whom does what belong? Questions raised in our first and second readings and the psalm today as well, questions of idols and the true God, and what it means that God is ruler of the world, ruler of our lives. These questions move us into the heart of what it is to be a human being in relationship with God.

“Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus says.

Clearly the Pharisees and Herodians are not really interested in Jesus’ position on taxes. They know that there are only two answers to the question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” Either answer will get Jesus into trouble.

Jesus could answer, “No.” If he does that, then he’s a revolutionary and engaged in sedition against the government. Or, Jesus could answer, “Yes.” If he does that, then he’s completely lost credibility with the people who await God’s promise of their own land and a ruler from their own people. Taxes to Rome are a form of blasphemy to them. Either way, Jesus is killed, by the Romans or by the crowd.

But Jesus eludes the trap by pointing out that the truth of the question comes down to this: what belongs to whom? Who really is god? If the emperor pays for the roads, defends the country, and you’ve allowed him to have lordship over you, then you owe him his taxes, Jesus says.
But then he adds: give to God the things that are God’s. That’s the brilliant stroke that eliminates the trap, but also changes completely the nature of the discussion. We’re no longer talking about taxes. Now we’re talking about our life with God in our world. About the kingdom of God, and what Jesus has been teaching all along.

Jesus has in one statement cut to the heart of the issue between God and people. This entire section often has been used to describe our Christian life. First, we pay our taxes as citizens of our nation, and it’s an important and good thing. Paul says the same thing elsewhere. And second, we give of our wealth back to God, since God has given it to us. So this text becomes a text that can be used on a Sunday when a congregation begins its stewardship emphasis, as we are, since starting this week members of Mount Olive will be invited to pledge our commitment to our mission together next year.

There’s only one problem. This isn’t a simple text on giving to the Church. It’s not a simple text at all.

Whose head and whose title, Jesus asked? (In other words, to start with, how can we know what things are God’s?)

Jesus identified the things that are the emperor’s in a specific way. He asked, whose head, whose picture, whose image is on this coin? The answer: the emperor’s. Every coin minted by the emperor would bear his likeness. And Jesus asked, whose title? Again, the answer: the emperor’s. Each coin minted by the emperor had his name, and divine attributes on it. So, it’s very simple, says Jesus. It’s the emperor’s coin, it is owed to him.

So how do we know what is God’s? Jesus’ question leads us to start with the Biblical claim that we in fact are created in the image of God, that we bear that image in our lives. So this means, in a sense, we are God’s coin, minted in God’s image. And what inscription, what title is on us? At our baptism, we were washed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The very name of God was imprinted on our lives, and we were adopted as God’s own beloved children. Whose title is on us? God’s very name.

But we are no inanimate coin, no piece of metal stamped without a will. We are created and given minds to come to know the God in whose image we were made, and in whose name we were claimed. We were given the ability to learn to follow God, to live as God calls us to live. To be seen in the world as people who bear the image and name of our Lord God.

The implications are staggering. We’re not talking about a tiny thing like how much money we give to the church, or to the government, anymore. We’re talking about ownership.

What happens when we realize that God is the owner of us, of all things?

Clearly, it does affect our stewardship of our wealth and possessions. It’s funny how children will sometimes become very possessive of their money, even when it was given them, not earned. It’s a habit we keep for our whole lives. Once we have money, possessions, we believe they’re ours to spend, and ours to do with what we will.

Jesus would argue that not only is it not ours to decide, it isn’t ours. So even our self-righteousness at giving a tiny portion of our income back to God has no place.

What would it mean if we realized fully that all our wealth – small or great as it may be – is God’s? That it isn’t about giving back to God, or even owing God. It is about being a steward of God’s wealth, that is, a caretaker.

It means that the real task of money management and living with possessions is about listening to God’s will for the use of the wealth that belongs to God. No manager would use the owner’s money on their own, as if it were their own. They would know they were accountable, and follow the owner’s instructions.

So what would it mean for you and for me if we finally recognized that about our stewardship of wealth?

But it goes even deeper than that. What would it mean for our lives if we realized they were God’s and not ours? What would it mean for our lives that our selfishness and self-centeredness have no place, for we belong to God? What would it mean for us that our doling out piece by piece certain gifts of our time and talents to God as if they were great gestures of generosity on our part only pointed to our misunderstanding of those gifts?

How would we live our lives differently if we recognized they were not our lives, but God’s?
Giving to God the things that are God’s – that is, literally everything – changes literally everything. What it comes down to is sovereignty: who really is in charge of the world, of us? And do our lives reflect that reality?

And I’ve been thinking about this all week, that what we do here each week is so critical to keeping us centered where we ought to be centered. The act of worship – coming into the presence of almighty God for prayer and praise – by its very nature reminds us that we do not belong to ourselves.

We value our worship so much here not because we “like” it or it’s beautiful. Though both are true. I suggest that we value it because at our core we know that here we are re-oriented to knowing who’s really sovereign over our lives and over the world.

We are constantly reminded in this place, as we bow to honor God’s presence, as we see in each other the eyes of Christ, as we are fed by the meal of life and grace, as we hear God’s Word, as we sing and pray and kneel, that we belong to the God of the universe, and that God loves us. And that we are not the most important things in our lives, God is.

And it is here that we learn again and again just what God it is who, as Paul says today, is the “true and living God.” A very real problem believers have is even a reality when they recognize the sovereignty, the rule of God. And that is that we tend to want to assume that God is on our side, we believe we can claim God for our own purposes, that we are right and others wrong, and we can use our sense of the power and majesty of God to dominate or stand over others.

But here each week we gather under the cross of Jesus Christ and are reminded that the true God does not rule in power and might but through suffering and death for our sake. The cross is the throne of the true and living God, and here we are reminded of that week after week.

And we are shaped in our worship into the true image of God. So when we worship week after week a Triune God who so identifies with the pain and suffering of the world that the Son of God entered it and transformed it, we are shaped into that image. The image of God on the cross, entering the suffering of the world with a love that will not die. And that self-giving love becomes ours as we worship, becomes us, so that we can give it, share it, live it in the world for the sake of the world.

A great teacher of the Church, Tertullian, reflected on Jesus’ words in this way 1,800 years ago: “You give money to Caesar, but to God, give yourself.”

We do this because God is our Sovereign, our Lord, and everything we are and have belongs to God. And since we have been made into the likeness of our Lord and have been inscribed with the name of God in baptism, the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts to shape us more and more into this image and title. To shape us more and more into the real image of God, that self-giving love which will save the world. In effect, we’re being newly minted every day as God’s coin for the sake of the world. “To God, give yourself:” God give us strength and courage so to live in the image and name of our true and living Sovereign and God, for the sake of the world.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Olive Branch, 10/10/2011

Accent on Worship

“Chant in the Church’s Worship” Redux

The past two Sundays I have led a discussion about chant during the Adult Forum. I thought I might share a portion of that discussion here, relative to “how” we can sing the Psalms meaningfully, freely, and together.

Chant is actually more closely related to the free flow of speech than songs or hymns. Songs and hymns are usually connected to a rhythmic pattern or meter which quantify the length of syllables with note-values (eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, etc), and organize them into measures of 3, 4, 6 etc. beats. There is a regularity to metered music that is driven more by the rhythm. In Chant, it’s the phrase of words that provides the flow. And it’s irregular. When we speak naturally, some words go by very quickly, some words are spoken with greater length for emphasis.

Speak the phrase “of the Father’s love begotten” and notice how the word “the” goes by much more quickly than “Father’s.” If every syllable of this sentence were spoken with the same length, it sounds forced and un-natural. Natural flow of words is the goal in chant, not proper rhythm.

For thousands of years systems have been developed to sing the Psalms – “tones” for chanting these ancient sung prayers. Gregorian Chant codified a system of eight “tones” for use in singing the psalms with variables to fit different psalms. These tones consisted of several parts:

o Intonation (some introductory notes for the first couple of syllables)
o Reciting tone (one long pitch on which most of the words are sung)
o Mediant Cadence (half-verse ending, or stopping point)
o Second reciting tone
o Final cadence (the ending involving a number of syllables)

The psalm tones we have in the ELW are a distillation of this. We begin with a “reciting tone”, have a mediant cadence of three syllables, a second reciting tone with a final cadence, also three syllables. Five of the tones are “double” tones, which span over two verses.

When we chant a psalm using this consistent musical tone system, I suggest that in maintaining the natural flow of the words, we need to keep momentum going through the reciting tones through to the last accented syllable of the mediant and final cadences. There is also a kind of building momentum in that process. The longer the sentence, the more we can have a sense of moving forward through the reciting tone to cadence point.

While we do indeed observe major punctuation, we have a tendency to inappropriately stop at two points, interrupting the flow: 1. when we move off of the reciting tone; and 2. if the editors split one line of the text of a half-verse into two lines (because of space) – we still stop at the end of the line even if the sentence should go on.

For Psalm 1, this would mean:
Not: “Happy are they who have not walked (pause)
in the counsel (pause) of the wicked,

But instead: “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel ‘ of the wicked.

We keep moving forward from “Happy” through to the word “wicked” even though we move to new notes for “of the.”

Hopefully this isn’t too technical. For some of you (actually, many of you) for whom it’s not – carry the ball in these things! For those of you for whom it is too technical – relax and let the rest of us carry you!

- Cantor David Cherwien



Sunday Readings

October 16, 2011 – Ordinary Time: Sunday 29
Isaiah 45:1-7 + Psalm 96:1-9[10-13]
I Thessalonians 1:1-10 + Matthew 22:15-22

October 23, 2011 – Ordinary Time: Sunday 30
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18+ Psalm 1
I Thessalonians 2:1-8 + Matthew 22:34-46



Feast of St. Luke
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Holy Eucharist with Rite of Healing
7:00 p.m.



This Sunday’s Adult Education
9:30 am in the Chapel Lounge

A presentation about Diaconal Ministries in the Lutheran Church.



Congregation Meeting

The semi-annual Congregation Meeting of Mount Olive Lutheran Church will be held on Sunday, October 23, at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the budget for 2012. All members of Mount Olive are encouraged to attend.



2012 Proposed Budget
Copies of the proposed budget for 2012, which will be voted upon at the Congregation Meeting on Oct. 23, will be available to pick up beginning this Sunday. Please take a copy and look it over so that you can be part of an informed discussion at that meeting.



An Invitation: Berg-Jacobson Wedding
Steve and Dixie Berg invite Mount Olive members to share in the marriage of their daughter Hannah to Andrew Jacobson this Saturday, October 15. The liturgy will be at Mount Olive at 3:30 pm, with a brief champagne and hors d’oeuvres reception following in the Chapel Lounge.

Members of Andrew’s home congregation – Grace University Lutheran – have also been invited to share in this event. No gifts please! If you can’t attend, Andrew and Hannah appreciate your prayers and best wishes!



ELCA National Youth Gathering

This year we hope to bring Mount Olive Youth to New Orleans for the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering, "Citizens With The Saints." ELCA Youth Gatherings are exciting, challenging, faith-deepening events. Vicar Erik Doughty will be calling youth to see who may be able to participate. Additional information about the Youth Gathering is available online at: http://www.elca.org/ELCA/Youth-Gathering.aspx.



Keep Us In the Loop!

If you have recently moved, have a new or different phone number or a different email address, please remember to contact the church office and give us your updated information! Updated directories of members and friends are published about twice monthly (and are always available in the church office) Notifying us of updated contact information will help us keep directories current and help to keep you informed.



Contribution Statements

Third quarter contribution statements are ready to be picked up at church. They are on a table near the coat room, filed alphabetically.
Please pick yours up the next time you are at church. If you have any questions about your statement, please call Cha in the church office.



Book Discussion

For their meeting on November 12, the Book Discussion Group is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, and for the December 15 meeting they will read Light in August, by William Faulkner.

This group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at church. All readers welcome!



Manz Tage Events
The following events, held in conjunction with the upcoming Manz Tage conference, are free and open to the public:

 Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 pm – Hymn Festival
 Saturday, Oct. 29, 9:00 am – Morning Prayer
 Saturday, Oct. 29, 4:30 pm – Evening Prayer, with organ recital by Samuel Backman



Is Our Nation Broke?

On Sunday, November 13, following the late Eucharist the Neighborhood Ministries Committee will sponsor a light lunch and a conversation about the Federal Budget. This discussion will be led Ed Payne, a speaker with Bread for the World.

A balanced budget is important, but should it be balanced on the backs of the poor? Or are there smarter, less painful ways for this to happen?

Join us for this conversation on November 13!



First Sunday Collection

Please remember our monthly ingathering of non-perishable food items and travel-sized toiletries and personal items! These items are collected on the first Sunday of each month and distributed to those in our area who need them. Donations may be brought to the receptacles in the coat room at church. Be generous!



Free Gospel Concert

“Reviving Gospel Music” is the name of a free concert which will be held this Friday, October 14th, 7:30 pm at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 2315 Chicago Av. S., Minneapolis. This concert will feature yhe Minnesota Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America and renowned Gospel soloists. All are invited to attend!



Congratulations, Donna!

Mount Olive Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator, Donna Neste, has recently been elected to serve on the national board of Bread For the World, a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Call Us Again

In what seems a completely judgmental parable, in fact everyone is invited to the wedding of the king’s son; Jesus’ challenge to us is why anyone would turn down an invitation like that, why we’d turn down God’s party.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Ordinary Time, Sunday 28, year A; texts: Isaiah 25:1-9; Psalm 23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14

Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

We were doing so well today in our readings from Scripture. And then Jesus showed up and ruined everything.

I mean it. Wasn’t the first reading lovely – on the mountain of the Lord, at the end of time presumably, God will set a feast for all peoples, will end death, and all will eat and be satisfied. And Psalm 23 – we love that psalm. Shepherd, green places, quiet streams, and once again a feast where our cups overflow, this time in the presence of our enemies. And then Paul’s beautiful words about rejoicing, about not being anxious, about the peace of God which passes all understanding guarding and keeping our hearts and minds.

We were doing so well. And then Jesus showed up and ruined everything. He had to tell one of his parables, and this one’s a real winner. There’s another feast set by a king, in honor of the wedding of his son. But no one wants to go to William and Catherine’s wedding this time. And unlike the first time Jesus told this parable, in the middle of his ministry as Luke records it, this time Jesus, in Holy Week urgency, adds some real pain. The guests kill the king’s servants. The king goes to war and destroys their whole city, and invites a whole bunch of people off the street, good and bad, so the party can go on. And then the king kicks out someone for not being dressed appropriately. And there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth in the darkness for that one (a phrase Jesus seems to use a lot and which we’d rather not hear again.)

Sometimes it’s hard to read the Gospel for the day and say “The Gospel of the Lord” at the end. Today is one of those days. Why is Jesus being so harsh? What is going on with all this judgment? Isn’t Jesus supposed to be all about grace? Isn’t Jesus supposed to be our Good Shepherd, who loves us enough to die for us, who rose from the dead to give us life?

That’s right, isn’t it? That’s just who Jesus is for us and for the world. When we hear a parable like this it’s easy to forget that we know the person who’s telling it, and we know a lot about him. And because of him we know about God’s love and grace for us and for the world. In fact, it’s because of so much of what we know about Jesus – what he taught us, what he did for us – that we recoil from parables like this one.

We can’t avoid it, so we need to look carefully at it today. But let’s always keep in mind that it is our loving, gracious, Good Shepherd who is telling this parable, and we can trust him.

It will be helpful at the start, then, to remember that Jesus did not tell parables as direct allegory – one thing equals another – but to turn reality on its head, to help us see God’s way of seeing, thinking, working in the world, God’s rule and reign.

There are three things to remember about Jesus’ parables in this context, then, especially the ones about judgment, which are worth considering since (I’m sorry to say) we’re going to be having more of these judgment parables as the next weeks move toward the end of the Church Year.

First, they don’t necessarily reflect God’s final judgment. Jesus is opening our minds to new reality, but these stories aren’t predictors of what Jesus will actually do in real life.

Take last week’s parable for example. Instead of taking the vineyard away from the wicked tenants, putting them to death, and giving the vineyard to someone more deserving, what the crowd of Jesus’ listeners said the owner should do, God does the opposite. God actually ends up doing what the wicked tenants were hoping for – they said, “Let’s kill the son, the heir, and we’ll get the inheritance.” And that’s exactly what happens. The judgment of God ends up being the grace of Jesus’ resurrection and we, who killed the son, get the inheritance.

So we can never read Jesus’ judgment parables and assume that the risen Jesus will use them as a blueprint. God’s judgment in the resurrection of Jesus trumps all other judgments.

Second, because Jesus is trying to subvert our sense of what reality is, and give us glimpse after glimpse of God’s ways, his parables often use radical, extreme examples to open us up, hard examples some times. They might be hard to grasp, but the reality, the kingdom, the rule and reign of God, that’s what Jesus wants to show.

So for example, no shepherd listening to Jesus would agree that a shepherd would ever leave 99 sheep unattended in the wilderness to go and find one. It just wouldn’t make sense. It’s shocking, actually. No father would ever agree to give away half of his inheritance for his sons to one son who asked for it. It just wasn’t done, and it would have left the father and elder son financially vulnerable. Again and again Jesus uses images which startle, and sometimes shock, to make a point. But they are not ever the point themselves.

So we don’t need to take any of the radical extremes today and try to figure out the details of them, or rationales for them. There’s no point in being bent out of shape in today’s parable about why the king destroys the city. It’s not the point, nor does it predict God’s destruction of the world. And there’s no point in trying to find exactly why the man without the wedding clothes was thrown out, or to try and make it the point of the parable.

The parable is all about the mystery of a king being generous and people rejecting that generosity. The king’s destruction of the city and throwing out of the unrobed man just accent the stunning reality: people rejected an invitation to a royal feast. They were the A-list, and they said no. These extreme details are intended to get us properly shocked at the rejection of the invitation.

Third, Jesus loves us. This we know. And that shapes every parable. It’s impossible to hear these apart from the reality that our Lord and Savior is telling them. Just as when a beloved parent or grandparent might tell us something we need to hear but which is hard to hear, it never removes their love from us. We never hear it separated from the fact that they changed our diapers and fed us when we were unable to feed, and held us when we were afraid. And so none of Jesus’ parables can be separated from the love of our risen Lord and Savior for us.

So what’s the new reality Jesus is showing us today? God’s throwing a huge party and all are invited – and somehow people reject this, we reject this.

In effect, Jesus is saying, “Look at Isaiah 25, look at Psalm 23 and imagine this: some people are going to say ‘no thanks’ to God.” Our first reading and psalm today actually set Jesus’ parable up beautifully. Just as we bask in the joy of anticipating God’s feast for all – even our enemies who will apparently eat with us – Jesus says, “yes, but some will say no.”

Which raises the question – why would anyone turn down an invitation to a royal wedding? Why would anyone turn down God’s feast? Here Jesus reveals yet again his insight into human nature.

Some are indifferent, as some are indifferent to God’s grace today. The word translated “they made light of it” is really closer to “they didn’t care anything for it, they disregarded it”. Another royal feast? Yawn. And so they went back to their work, their lives. God might be gracious, but there’s life to live, money to be made, and I really don’t have the time to go to God’s party.

Others seemingly are enraged at the king. Perhaps he didn’t do something, or did something which offended them. Under no circumstances will they accept this, in fact, they go ahead and kill his messengers. And so some people can’t hear of God’s love today because they are angry at God for what they perceive God to have done or not done, or angry at those who claim to be God’s messengers. They can’t imagine accepting an invitation to God’s party.

And the man without the wedding clothes – maybe there’s something to notice here as well. There are lots of attempts to understand what Jesus is trying to say here, and most don’t have any basis in the text. But perhaps we can think of other New Testament images of clothing and find another reason for rejecting the invitation.

We are invited by Paul in Romans 13 and Galatians 3 to put on the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism, to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness, and in Colossians 3 to be clothed with the life of Christ – compassion, humility, forgiveness, patience.

In one image it’s the idea that the only way we get into the party is to be covered in Christ, to have the goodness of our Lord put over our sin. Maybe sometimes we resent that – we’ve done things for which we’d like credit, and while we want grace, we also want to have some of our own righteousness count.

And in the other image, it’s an invitation to be clothed in this life with behavior and action which show Christ, to be changed by God’s invitation and new life so much that we act and live as new people. In other words, we’re forgiven and invited to the party, but once there we are asked to live the way the host lives. And maybe we’re not ready for that, either. If coming to God’s party in this life and the next means we can’t do whatever we want, well, that might be a problem.

What is clear is that whether there is indifference or anger to the invitation, or hesitation to come in on God’s terms, through the grace of Jesus Christ, the bottom line Jesus points out today is people are turning down God’s invitation to grace and he can’t understand it.

And that’s the reality that we really need to deal with in our own lives.

In fact, the new reality that Jesus seems to be giving us today is this: when it comes to Jesus’ grace, as in this parable, the only thing that can keep you out of God’s party is you turning it down.

Jesus has the king invite all – good and bad. There’s not even an ethical component to God’s invitation. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Paul says in Romans 5. All get God’s invite, good and bad. Because God’s intent is to throw a party, a feast for all peoples. Five times in Isaiah today we’re told it’s for all peoples, everyone. That’s what got us excited about hearing Isaiah 25 and Psalm 23 in the first place.

So amazingly, in a parable which seems so judgmental, everyone in this parable, everyone, got an invitation. Not everyone came to the party.

In another parable which has a feast and a robe and a rejected invitation, the parable of the prodigal father and his wayward sons, the father needs to coax the older son to come to the feast. And maybe that’s what we need, too – help from the Good Shepherd we sang about in the psalm. The Lord’s my shepherd, I have all I need. Maybe what we need is to have our Shepherd teach us what we need. Show us yet again the green pastures and still waters, the feast spread before us, and say, “Come and eat.”

In our Prayer of the Day today, we prayed, “Call us again to your banquet.” And that’s our hope, isn’t it? That even though we’ve rejected God’s invitation plenty of times, we’d love another crack at it. And we’d love, with our Shepherd’s help, to have the ability to accept the invitation. To see that whatever our concerns or reasons to go our own way, the only way of life is in God’s party. Where everyone will feast and enjoy the hospitality and love of God.

And so with joy we end where we began, at Isaiah 25.

God’s throwing a feast for all peoples, and we are invited, all are. The shroud of death will be taken away, all tears wiped away. And there will be a feast to end all feasts. And in the meantime, David reminds us, there’s a feast in this life, the joy of food and life with God and each other now. And it’s for everyone, good and bad.

Friends, we don’t want to turn this invitation down. May our Shepherd call us once again, and lead us to the ways of life we so desperately need.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

Monday, October 3, 2011

The Olive Branch, 10/3/11

Accent on Worship

When was the last time you gave away every single thing you owned and dedicated your life to God’s work? Or maybe when was the last time you shared the Gospel with a bird or a wolf?

These are examples from the life of Francis of Assisi, a man who many know as Saint Francis.

Francis was baptized as Giovanni, but his father renamed him Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone. When he was about twenty years old, he fought in a war but was taken captive for a year, got sick, and had a vision that, along with several other similar events, turned him from soldier to another path.

One of Francis’ first tasks was to restore a chapel in San Damiano. (Pastor Crippen has a reproduction of the crucifix from that chapel just inside his office door. It is worth taking a look.) in the process of getting the money to pay for the chapel’s restoration, Francis renounced worldly goods and family.

Francis loved the Eucharist, and also learned to read Latin in school, so he could read the Bible and took very seriously Philippians 2:7, which we just heard in our Sunday readings recently: [Christ] emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. Francis’s goal was to live the life of a servant of Christ.

A deep appreciation for all God’s creation and all God’s creatures is one of the great gifts which the Church and the world has received from Francis. In the canticle he wrote (which is part of our Blessing of the Animals service this Tuesday, October 4, at 7 PM) he gives thanks -- and so do we -- for all the gifts of creation. You may hear some echoes of Dr. Fretheim’s recent education hour: For Francis, as for Dr. Fretheim, sun, moon, water, fire, and Earth itself are creatures who tell us something about God.

For Francis, for our pets, and for all the varied creatures of God, we give thanks; they bless us with their presence, they keep us humble, and they give us opportunities to serve.

- Vicar Erik Doughty


Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Blessing of Pets, 7:00 p.m.

Bring your pets for this annual service of blessing. The service will be held in the Nave.


Sunday Readings

October 9, 2011 – Ordinary Time: Sunday 28
Isaiah 25:1-9 + Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9 + Matthew 22:1-14

October 16, 2011 – Ordinary Time: Sunday 29
Isaiah 45:1-7 + Psalm 96:1-9[10-13]
I Thessalonians 1:1-10 + Matthew 22:15-22


Feast of St. Luke
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Holy Eucharist with Rite of Healing
7:00 p.m.


This Sunday’s Adult Education
9:30 am in the Chapel Lounge

The second of a 2-part presentation by Cantor David Cherwien: “Chant in the Church’s Worship.”


Book Discussion

For their meeting on October 8, the Book Discussion group will read Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, and for the November 12 meeting they will discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. All readers welcome!


Congregation Meeting

The semi-annual Congregation Meeting of Mount Olive Lutheran Church will be held on Sunday, October 23, at 9:30 a.m. The purpose of this meeting is to approve the budget for 2012. All members of Mount Olive are encouraged to attend.


Leipzig Group to Visit Mount Olive; Home Hosts Needed

Mount Olive will be a part of the Minneapolis Area Synod’s welcome to a group of 17 church music directors and pastors in October, and host homes are needed for the three guests who will spend several days at Mount Olive.

Homes are needed for the nights of October 15 to 19. During those days our guests will meet with Pr. Crippen and Cantor Cherwien and talk about the intersection of liturgy and culture and the world in our context. The whole group will worship at congregations throughout the synod, so some of the others will likely come to Mount Olive. Five other congregations will host parts of the group as Mount Olive is doing. The Leipzig District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, Germany, is a companion synod of the Minneapolis Area Synod.

Please contact the church office if you are willing and able to provide room for one of our guests. This is going to be an exciting opportunity for the congregation to learn and share!


Tutoring Help Still Needed!

At this writing the Way to Goals Tutoring Program has ten elementary students and five tutors. We could add up to five more students if we had enough tutors. The waiting list is growing and the need is great. If you feel a tug in your heart to help one or two children succeed in school call Donna at church. We meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. The first hour is spent in tutoring and the last half an hour is a snack and activity time.

If you do not have the time or inclination to be a tutor, but would still like to help, the snack chart is now up on the Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board outside of the Coordinator's office downstairs. You are invited to sign up to bring a snack and beverage for 15 to 20 persons participating in Way to Goals. If you have any questions please call Donna at 612-827-5919.


An Invitation: Berg-Jacobson Wedding

Steve and Dixie Berg invite Mount Olive members to share in the marriage of their daughter Hannah to Andrew Jacobson on Saturday, October 15. The liturgy will be at Mount Olive at 3:30 p.m., with a brief champagne and hors d’oeuvres reception following in the Chapel Lounge.

Members of Andrew’s home congregation – Grace University Lutheran – have also been invited to share in this event. No gifts please! If you can’t attend, Andrew and Hannah appreciate your prayers and best wishes!


Keep Us In the Loop!

If you have recently moved, have a new or different phone number or a different email address, please remember to contact the church office and give us your updated information! Updated directories of members and friends are published about twice monthly (and are always available in the church office) Notifying us of updated contact information will help us keep directories current and help to keep you informed.


Sign up, Sign Up for Coffee!

Volunteers are needed to serve coffee following both Sunday morning liturgies for the next several weeks. If you are willing to serve, please sign up at coffee hour on Sunday – or call the church office to be signed up!


Brunch, Anyone?

Mount Olive shares a small tri-fold flyer with the names and addresses of several local restaurants which serve Sunday brunch. We are in the process of updating that brochure and are eager to include any of YOUR recommendations! Have you enjoyed a Sunday brunch at a local restaurant recently? If so, please drop a note to Susan Cherwien at scherwien@aol.com within the next couple of weeks, and we will include your recom- mendations in the updated flyer.


ELCA National Youth Gathering

This year we hope to bring Mount Olive Youth to New Orleans for the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering, "Citizens With The Saints." ELCA Youth Gatherings are exciting, challenging, faith-deepening events. Vicar Erik Doughty will be calling youth to see who may be able to participate. Additional information about the Youth Gathering is available online at: http://www.elca.org/ELCA/Youth-Gathering.aspx.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

You're Gonna Get It

Today’s texts feature God as the vineyard-owner, frustrated because the vineyard and his tenants do not produce good fruit and do not return the produce back to God. We unfortunately find ourselves in place of the wicked tenants, but in Christ’s death and resurrection we are given Christ’s righteousness to share.

Vicar Erik Doughty, Ordinary Time, Sunday 27, year A; texts: Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:7-15, Philippians 3:4b-14, Matthew 21:33-46


You’re gonna get it!

Perhaps you’ve heard that phrase? It’s what many of us heard to let us know we were in trouble, and punishment was soon to come.

Well, in today’s readings we hear that there’s trouble. Isaiah speaks of a grieved and frustrated God, a vine-grower and winemaker who does lots of difficult work-- cultivating, removing stones, choosing just the right vines and planting them, building a watchtower to protect this special place; “hewing out a wine vat” for the fine wine that would surely result.

But inexplicably, the grapes that grow are wild; the fruit produced by these unruly vines is small, bitter. God was looking for mishpat (justice) but got mishpah (bloodshed); God wanted to hear of tzedekah (righteousness) but heard wailing, an outcry (tze’akah).

And Isaiah says, “You’re gonna get it!”

In our Gospel for today, the landowner plants a very similar vineyard to the one in Isaiah, but this time trusts his tenants to take care of it. But when harvest comes, the tenants keep beating, stoning, and killing the landowner’s slaves. Time after time, the landowner tries, and each time there’s murder and mayhem.

So finally this persistent landowner sends his son. He says, “They will respect him.” But again the landowner is mistaken, the tenants are even more greedy and violent, and the son is killed.

Jesus says to the people, “What do you think happens to the tenants?”

And the people say, “Ooo, they’re gonna get it!”

Jesus says,”Watch out for this cornerstone-- you might trip, or it might fall on you. And then you’re gonna get it!”

How fortunate for us that we avoid bloodshed, war, capital punishment. How fortunate for us that we have found peaceful solutions to gang violence.

How fortunate for us that we live in righteousness; that we pay workers enough to live; that we provide health care for all in our society; that we have eradicated hunger and homelessness.

How fortunate for us that we love one another without exception; that we do not covet control or power; that we live holy lives and never cuss when we’re cut off on the highway or hurt by one another.

And how fortunate for us that we give unhesitatingly of the landowner’s produce, eh?

OK, we’re not really all fortunate in all those ways, are we?

Unfortunately, we find ourselves pretty klutzy around that cornerstone. Unfortunately, we find that at least some of the time, we’re wild vines producing bitter grapes. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the company of greedy tenants, of Pharisees and chief priests.

Jesus is preaching on the way to the cross, and in Holy Week-- though this is months from now-- we will unfortunately find our voice among the crowds, first shouting “Hosanna” . . . but then, with our finite and fickle nature, crying “Crucify him!”

You see, we’re gonna fall on that stone and break. We’re gonna get it.

We’re gonna be caught by that landowner. We’re gonna get it.

We’re expecting the worst. Because we’ve killed the Son, we’ve failed to bear fruit, we’ve not given back to the landowner.

And we know we’re gonna get it because we know how this works. If you anger or hurt someone with power over you, they come back and punish you. It’s human nature.

But it is not. God’s. nature.

God’s nature is to love, and so God tries over and over again to reach us with grace.

God’s nature is to be merciful, and so God works through every means available to bring mercy to our lives.

God’s nature is to give life, not death, and so God gives life to us and all living things in creation, through the Holy Spirit.

In fact, God’s interest in life is so intense, God overcomes death in the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ-- Jesus Christ, the firstfruits of them that sleep (1 Cor. 15:20).

In Christ’s death and resurrection it is Christ who chooses to be crushed FOR US; it is Christ who falls FOR US; It is Christ who takes our wild-vine, bitter-fruit rebelliousness and defensiveness. It is Christ who is raised FOR US; and when he is raised WE are given His righteousness. It is not us grabbing it, it is Christ offering it. Christ knows we are wild fruit; Christ is good fruit for us and for all.

What we know in Christ is that our sins are forgiven, for Jesus’ sake.


What we know in Christ is that our righteousness is not our own; it is a gift.

What we know in Christ is that our inheritance of faith and grace is not our own; it comes from God as gift.

What we know in Christ is that holiness and wholeness is beyond us and yet for us.

Now that we are in Christ, we are given good-grape-iness! Now that we are in Christ, we who knew ourselves as greedy tenants are given Christ’s goodness, graciousness, generosity and righteousness.

Well . . . so what? Now what?

This is where we have opportunity. The vineyard bears plentiful fruit; we can share with the landowner, with this Christian community at Mount Olive, with those in need in this neighborhood and around the world.

This is where we have opportunity. The world cries out in pain; we can be compassionate-- with a listening ear, a helping hand, even in crafting public policy.

This is where we have opportunity. The world is full of bloodshed and conflict; we can seek peace-- between nations; between family members; between Crips and Bloods and Latin Kings, Democrats and Republicans, and with each other in the sharing of the peace.

This is where we have opportunity. The world is thirsty for life; we can offer the cup of salvation. It is given for you: faith, forgiveness, blessing, and life.

See, you’re gonna get it.

You’ve already got it.

Now you -- and I -- get to give it -- grace, justice, and the love of Christ-- away. Amen.
 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Reconciling in ChristRIC

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