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Accent on Worship
I am not one to interpret end-times prophecies whether they come out of the Book of Revelations, Daniel, or from the mouth of Jesus in the Gospel for the First Sunday in Advent. After the tsunamis of Malaysia and Haiti, and the super-storms and droughts that have plagued this planet over the past number of years, if we are to interpret these as end-times occurrences we should be looking for Jesus any day now. The unrest in so many parts of the world and the recent super-storm that hit New Jersey could have been prophesied by Jesus, “on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.” But truth be told, we do not know when Jesus will return and though we were told by Jesus in the Gospel that the kingdom is near when we see these signs, we have also been told by our Lord that no one knows when he is to return, and not to waste too much of our energy speculating about that. If I have learned anything from the Bible, it is that God’s time-table is not ours.
The passage from this Sunday’s Gospel reading that I believe we should take to heart is this: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down by dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life.” The Gospel is the story of God’s love for us, and the followers of God’s Son, Jesus, are called to love. Love is more than just tolerating that annoying relative. It is engaging the powers to do the right thing, to rule with justice and challenge each other to bring peace to our world. It is looking to ourselves and seeking just and loving ways to live, so that all of God’s creation is welcome to the banquet. When Christians are faithful to that call they love and serve God, they love and serve their neighbor, and they respect God’s creation. Loving is hard work and it may even be dangerous. Those who give up their lives for love will be the martyrs who will wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb at the end of time. When we become followers of Jesus by seeking this way of life, trusting in God for all that we need, we may not change a thing, but our hearts will be ready for the Second Coming of our Lord.
- Donna Pususta Neste
Sunday’s Adult Education: December 2, 9:30 a.m.
The Rev. Don Luther will share a presentation on iconography.
Advent Procession
Sunday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.
Join us for this annual contemplative service of lessons and carols for Advent. Take time to set apart this season as one of preparation. Experience prayer, Word, incense, choral music, candles, and hymnody. Join the procession of those who wait in darkness.
Advent Luncheon for Seniors
Wednesday, December 5
It’s not too late to RSVP for the Advent Luncheon! If you are age 65 or over, you are invited! Simply call the church office as soon as possible to RSVP. Rides will be provided for those who need one. If you need a ride, be sure to mention that when you call.
Special Congregation Meeting to be Held December 16, Noon
A milestone meeting of the congregation will be held in the Undercroft following the second liturgy on December 16 to receive and approve the work of the Capital Campaign Tithe Task Force. A total of 30 invitations were sent to not-for-profit organizations based on the recommendations of members/friends of the congregation, Neighborhood Ministries, and Missions committees. Twenty of these invitations resulted in requests for funding (26 projects totaling $217,560) from the remaining $91,000 of the tithe ($20,000 was already awarded to Lutheran Social Services for their Center for Changing Lives). After a thorough review of the requests received using the process and criteria endorsed by the congregation, the Task Force recommended the distribution of remaining funds to the vestry who in turns recommends approval by the congregation. Copies of these recommendations are available at church. If you would like to have a copy of the recommendations sent to you, please contact the church office.
This congregational meeting is the culmination of a tremendous demonstration of generosity and faith and all voters are invited to attend this very important meeting.
Fair Trade Craft Sale
The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale this Advent. Purchase beautiful and unique Fair Trade items handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions around the world. With each purchase, you help artisans maintain steady work and a sustainable income so they can provide for their families. Lutheran World Relief partners with SERRV, a nonprofit Fair Trade organization, to bring you the LWR Handcraft Project.
The crafts will be available for purchase after both services on December 2, 9, and 16 (cash and check only). See the separate attachment/insert to view some of the items that will be for sale. Fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate from Equal Exchange will also be available. This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.
New this year, we will also have items available for sale from The Art Shoppe. The Art Shoppe, located in Midtown Global Market, is a local artist collective and micro business venture that Mount Olive helps to support.
Book Discussion Group
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the December 8 meeting they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and for the January session Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks.
Help Needed!
Our Sexton, William Pratley, is out for the next couple of weeks recovering from surgery. During his absence, snow removal help may be needed!
If you are willing to help clear sidewalks and steps at church when needed, please call the church office and let us know. We own a snow blower and several shovels, so we have the tools needed – all we need is a few folks who are willing to use them.
Dusting and Polishing Day: December 1
The Altar Guild will host a chancel-cleaning event tomorrow, Saturday, December 1, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bring your favorite duster and polishing rags, and help spiff-up our worship space for the Advent season. Questions? Contact Tim Lindholm at timothyjlindholm@aol.com.
Alternative Gift Giving
Are you looking for something different to do this year for Christmas gifts? Take part in a growing tradition by giving gifts that help those in need. The Missions Committee is promoting the idea of alternative gift giving this Christmas. For example, in honor of a loved one, for $120 you can “buy” a stove for a family in Guatemala that provides a safer and more efficient way of cooking. We have catalogues from different charitable organizations that you can use or you can order from the organizations’ websites. Some of these organizations are:
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America www.elca.org/goodgifts
• Lutheran World Relief
• http://lwrgifts.org/
• Heifer Project International http://www.heifer.org
• Common Hope http://commonhopecatalog.myshopify.com/
• Bethania Kids http://bethaniakids.org/gift-catalog/
2013 Estimates of Giving
If you haven’t yet returned your Estimate of Giving card for 2013, please do so at your earliest convenience. The box will be near the coatroom for one more week – you can also mail it to the church. Thanks for your help with this!
Church Library News
This reminder paragraph is more difficult to write because it will seem rather contradictory to you. Obviously, we have heartily invited our congregation and staff to come in often and use our library resources, however, we have recently noticed a few of our reference books and several of the CD's missing without cards showing they were checked out properly. The efficiency of our library ministry depends on each person using and then returning our materials doing so in a reliable and responsible manner. We ask you to check your homes, cars, tote bags and briefcases for items with a Mount Olive Library (or Crossroads Library) stamp on it and return to us as promptly as possible. Thanks for your help!
Welcome to Mary Rose Watson who is our newest volunteer helper, and thanks to Donna Wolsted, who is leaving after serving on our rotating library volunteer staff for two years. Others who currently help us in this way (you might want to thank them yourselves sometime) are: Brooke Roegge, Mabel Jackson, Melissa Stone, and Dan Olson.
I close this time with an interesting quotation from none other than Walter Cronkite: "Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation."
- Leanna Kloempken
You Can Help!
Our Saviour’s Residents
Sixty five people now have their own apartments after years of homelessness and health problems. Their limited budgets make it tough for them to afford the necessities to care for their homes. Brighten their holidays by providing some holiday Cheer (pun intended).
Some suggestions:
• Dish soap
• Laundry soap
• Trash bags
• All-purpose cleaner
• Sponges or towels
• Glass cleaner
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
Feel free to add additional cleaning supplies or other items:
• Personal hygiene items
• Candy, cookies, snack mixes, cocoa,
or other treats
• Socks, gloves, hats, scarves or slippers
Gifts can be packaged in any way: a laundry basket, reusable shopping bag, plastic tub, etc. Feel free to decorate the gift or include a card. Dollar Stores are great shopping sources.
Please bring your gifts to Mt. Olive’s coat room no later than December 16. Your usual generous response is anticipated and will be much appreciated.
Jesus, the Son of God and King of all creation, rules and saves very differently from the way of the world. As his disciples we are called to learn from how he uses (or doesn’t use) power, and so follow him with our lives.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Christ the King, Sunday 34, year B; text: John 18:33-37
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
There’s a powerful scene in the middle of Shakespeare’s Henry V where, on the eve of battle, King Henry disguises himself and walks amongst his troops, campfire to campfire, trying to sense what they are feeling and thinking. This play shows Henry a man of the people, a king who shares himself with the commoner. One could love such a king.
Except in the play and in history, there was a battle the next day, at Agincourt. And this king waged brutal war to assert his claims of kingship. He had control of England; he believed France was his by divine right and mandate, and was willing to sacrifice everything to regain authority over those lands. Regardless of his feeling for the commoner, this king is a king like all others. Ultimately his rule is defined and supported and extended and upheld by force and violence and threat.
There’s another great scene in history, though Shakespeare never set it. It involves a minor governor in a vast empire, overseeing a scrap of land at the far eastern reaches of that empire. And this minor governor is confronting an even more insignificant character, an itinerant preacher and healer who barely owns more than the robes on his back. Except that this rabbi’s followers are calling him king, and his enemies have arrested him and condemned him to death. And now the governor, as is his right by his own decree, must decide whether to issue the sentence of death to this so-called king.
As John the Gospel writer tells the story, Pilate, the governor, cannot understand this teacher, Jesus. When asked if he is a king, Jesus answers “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
To Pilate, this is gibberish. As it would be to any of us if someone started telling us that they were a ruler but their kingdom was not in or of or from this world. Where, pray tell, would it be? If Pilate could have heard an exchange between this insignificant man and his followers earlier that evening, at the time of his arrest, he’d have been even more convinced of the man’s delusions. When one of his followers tried to resist arrest by swinging his sword, this Jesus told him to stop. “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Then he added, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me twelve legions of angels?” (Mt. 26:52-53) Pilate would have known immediately that the sanity of this one was questionable. 72,000 angels at his beck and call? With that kind of power, if it even existed, why would he look so bedraggled? And why would he let these events, this trial and this imminent execution, happen to him?
Indeed, that is a good question. We know who this Jesus was and is. We know he was killed, and yet rose again from the dead. We confess – that is, we say we believe – that this Jesus is Lord and King of the universe. Son of the Most High God. But if we do not come to grips with Pilate’s question, and indeed, the world’s question – what kind of king is this? – if we, like so many, believe when we call Christ King and Lord we mean a king and lord like the world is accustomed to know, like Henry V and all the rest, if we hold that view, we deny everything our King and Lord stands for and calls from us. And we stand the risk of rejecting the salvation he so dearly bought for us.
Finally there is only one thing about this question that is true: there can be no way to look at the lordship of Jesus other than his way.
And his way is clear: he will rule by giving up his life for the sake of his beloved people. He will set aside power to show us the way of the universe as it really is intended to be.
To follow Jesus in this way isn’t to deny that the Triune God has omnipotent power. It’s simply taking seriously Jesus’ consistent message to us about how God chooses to deal with the pain of this world, how God chooses to reestablish rule over this disobedient planet. Luther reminded us that of course we believe and know God is omnipotent and ruler of the universe. But, he said, we can never know God in that way. We can only know God in the way God chooses to be revealed to us; we are not capable of more.
And God chooses to be revealed to us in that scruffy rabbi being led to the cross. That’s God’s self revelation. To Pilate the governor. To the Jewish leadership. To the world. Regardless of the Triune God’s power, this is God’s answer to the disobedience and wickedness and hate in the world. To let all that disobedience and hate and wickedness do its worst. To stand quietly in love and be killed.
Of course, when you kill the Lord of the universe, who created life, death itself is reversed and everything changes. And this rabbi is now seen as the very Son of God, risen from death, in love. But even in resurrection, his way, which is now called to be our way, doesn’t change. Risen from death, Jesus continues to show us that God’s way is not the way of power and domination, but of love, invitation to follow, forgiveness, restoration, and grace.
This is a way that is counter to all our intuition, all our sense of how the world works. It isn’t merely idle talk that Jesus says his kingdom, his rule, is “not from here.” His way is as foreign to us as the most remote language or culture we could imagine on this planet.
And it is a matter of life and death that we begin to understand God actually means this. This is the truth Jesus came to show, the truth he talks about to Pilate. The true way to life and grace in this world. “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” Jesus said.
So, how about we all start listening? Wouldn’t that be a very good idea, considering what we claim about Jesus?
There are two areas we want to consider as we look at Jesus, listen to Jesus, understand Jesus.
First, our reality as members of a free society. Regardless of which political solutions we prefer – and we can disagree about various possibilities – as followers of this different King, we are committed to peace, justice, and non-violence, with no exceptions. If the God of the universe rejects violence as a way to achieve the desired end – a just, loving, obedient world – we can do no less. And if the God of the universe, incarnate among us, rejected power as a means to an end, we can do no less.
We have just completed an election cycle which continued a trend of recent years where the deceit and hateful words have increased to the point of intolerability. It is time that we who belong to such a king as Jesus hereby resolve that at least each of us will be and act differently toward our fellow citizens and leaders. We cannot change others, nor is that asked of us.
But as followers of the true King, who rules our hearts with his death-defeating love, at least we can commit that we will not participate in hateful speech toward anyone, and we will not speak lies as far as we are able to speak truth, and we will work toward a culture which cares more about the poor and those on the fringes than one which only cares about who is in power and who won’t be pushed around by whom.
And we must remember that we belong to a free society, but one which has been deeply shaped and built by violence. We have a national persona that the only way we can accomplish what we hope for on the global stage is by using might and force. If national politicians even hint that they have a different understanding or approach these days, they find it very difficult to be returned to office.
So as Christians, followers of the true King, we are called to work and pray for ways to solve the world’s problems that involve diplomacy, generosity, and justice, and to be insistent that we not become a terrorist nation ourselves by imposing our will on others destructively and violently while we cloak it in the name of freedom.
This way, by the way, does not dishonor those who serve us in the military. They are there to defend us in an increasingly dangerous and hate-filled world. But we make their jobs infinitely harder when we play the aggressor and in fact raise the tensions and contribute to the hate.
The second area is our own personal way of living. The truth Jesus reveals about God – that God’s way is self-giving love, a way that refuses to dominate or use violence but seeks to transform by invitation to new life, by resurrection from the way of death – this truth is what defines us.
So we become people who refuse to dominate, to manipulate, to achieve what we hope to see in life. We become people who do not see life as something to be won, but to be lived, to be loved. As servants of the servant King, we seek a life from Christ that is Christ, a life like his, a love like his.
Too often even Christians have disdained this as too unrealistic. To that we can only say, maybe so. But it is the way our Lord has set for us. It is not for us to decide how realistic it is. It is the only way, the only truth, Jesus shows us. Those who live by the sword, Jesus said, will die by it.
And when we consider these two areas, our public life and our private life, we must always remember how different a king Jesus is. In fact, Jesus is so committed to this way, he will not force us to live by it. Unlike Henry and all the rest, unlike most of the world, he is willing to risk losing us all, having us all disobey and walk away, for the sake of having even one of us willingly follow and live in the way of justice and peace. Remembering that Jesus has enough power to dismantle even any modern government, not just ancient Rome, we stand in awe when we realize he still will only rule over us by our choice, by our willingness to follow.
This is our King, the true King of the Universe, and there is no other way than his way.
Risen from death, he calls us to die to the ways of power and rise with him to the way of love. We may be as confused as Pilate. We may be tempted to think as people always have that we would use power in ways that wouldn’t end up destructive. That’s the way the world works, we think, we know.
But that is not the way of life, according to the crucified and risen Lord of Life. No matter how tempted or confused we might be, we know that much. Our King rules in a kingdom, a reign, that is not from here. But it is a rule of life for all people. And the grace of our King is that we have the love of our King to lead us, invite us, and transform us. May we all follow his call, and so transform the world with this new way, God’s way. It’s how our King lived and acted; it’s now what the King has asked of us. God help us do so.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Accent on Worship
End times: Part Two
November has been called the “end times” stretch of the liturgical year – culminating with Christ the King Sunday, when we celebrate that God’s realm goes way beyond what we see and experience during life on this earth.
As we began this season with All Saints Sunday, I wrote about our death experiences – and funerals. I wish to add and emphasize something from that line of thought.
I spoke about funerals not only being a way of paying respect to the deceased and their family members, and of the funeral service as the “family meal” – the one we do as church – hosted by Christ. We are all guests (does it make a difference to God if attendees are formally “members” or not?), yet it is the community that gathers regularly here that not only opens the doors and the table to the friends and family of the deceased, we carry the meal.
This is a profound gift to offer someone at a time of deep need. It’s even deeper than leaving flowers at the place of death, or holding neighborhood vigils – which I am far from being critical of – these are very helpful for people. They want/need something to do in the wake of a death. It’s simply that this ritual we know of fulfills something people are looking to do at this raw time beyond having words spoken to them.
I mentioned that we, as people of Mount Olive, should come to funerals if we can whether we know the deceased person and their family or not. Why? We all approach God in this Eucharist. God comes to us all in this Eucharist. We sit at the table WITH Christ, all the deceased saints, and with each other. Our part is in the DOING – we participate in this family meal. We, who are here often, know what to do: standing, sitting, listening, speaking, gesturing – our participation helps invite others who aren’t always here into participation with us. We don’t need to “instruct” – they’ll see what we’re doing and join in.
I have an unusual viewpoint in the balcony. I see those here for the first time reacting to the participation of those around them. Their response is often one that says, “this is important – and not about us” – and they join in without being prompted (scolded/cajoled?) by a presider. This is a different kind of persuasion – one that leaves the choice to participate to them, when they are ready. If they cannot, we carry it for them.
One unique and tremendous gift we at Mount Olive offer is that of vigorous song. It’s hard to sing with a grieving throat. We need to sing for those who grieve. It’s an odd thing for those not often in church to sing – we need to sing for them too. Here we have a love of this powerful and meaningful form of expression – we sing out fully and in variety of ways that one doesn’t hear very often. It invites everyone present to a new place – a place of healing, of letting go, a place of expressing something deeply needing to be expressed.
That is why we should try to be here. If someone needs help pushing a disabled car to the side of the road, people stop and help. This is what our song does. We stop, and help.
Christ the King Sunday helps us remember that the community of Christ is much bigger than what we mortally see. Our “family” is a much broader understanding than we can imagine and experience during our conscious lifetimes.
Who knows? There are probably angels singing BETTER for us more often than we know - on our behalf. For that, we should give thanks. Meanwhile, we can be the singing angels for those in need.
- Cantor Cherwien
Thanksgiving Eucharist
Thanksgiving Day, 10:00 a.m.
Bring non-perishable food items to help re-stock local food shelves. Monetary donations are especially welcome (for every $1 donated, food shelf personnel are able to buy about $9 worth of food!)
The entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day will be given to Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services. Worshipers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will help to feed the hungry in our community.
Sunday Readings
November 25, 2012 – Christ the King
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 + Psalm 93
Revelation 1:4b-8 + John 18:33-37
December 2, 2012 – First Sunday of Advent
Jeremiah 33:14-16 + Psalm 25:1-10
I Thessalonians 3:9-13 + Luke 21:25-36
Sunday’s Adult Education
November 25, 9:30 a.m.
“An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke,” part 3 of a 3-part series, presented by Pastor Crippen.
Attention Middle and High Schoolers
There will be no Church School for middle school and high school students on Sunday, November 25. James and Karen will be out of town.
Book Discussion Group
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the December 8 meeting they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and for the January session Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks.
Please Note
Church offices will be closed on Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving).
Dusting and Polishing Day: December 1
The Altar Guild will host a chancel-cleaning event on Saturday, December 1, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Bring your favorite duster and polishing rags, and help spiff-up our worship space for the Advent season. Questions? Contact Tim Lindholm at timothyjlindholm@aol.com.
Help Needed!
Our Sexton, William Pratley, recently had surgery and is out for several weeks on medical leave. During his absence, snow removal help is needed!
If you are willing to help clear sidewalks and steps at church when needed, please call the church office and let us know. We own a snow blower and several shovels, so we have the tools needed – all we need is a few folks who are willing to use them.
Advent Procession
Sunday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.
Join us for this annual contemplative service of lessons and carols for Advent. Take time to set apart this season as one of preparation. Experience prayer, Word, incense, choral music, candles, and hymnody. Join the procession of those who wait in darkness.
Advent Luncheon for Seniors
Wednesday, December 5
Have you received your invitation in the mail? If so, be sure to RSVP to the church office as soon as possible, of you haven’t already done so.
Are you age 65 or over and did not receive an invitation in the mail? This only means that the church office does not have your correct date of birth – you are invited, too! Simply call the church office to RSVP. Rides will be provided for those who need one. If you need a ride, be sure to mention that when you call.
Rest in Peace
We need to inform you of the death of our sister in Christ, Vernette Schroeder, this past weekend. Vernette was a long-time member of Mount Olive who moved to Paynesville several years ago.
A funeral liturgy will be held at Mount Olive on Thursday, November 29, at 11:00 a.m.
With hope and confidence in our Lord’s victory over death, we hold Vernette and her family in our prayers.
Rest eternal grant her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on her. May Vernette and all the blessed dead, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
We may sometimes feel surrounded by all the signs of the end times Jesus gives us, but we live trusting our access to the Triune God through the work of the Son, holding onto our hope of forgiveness, and encouraging one another to love.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Time after Pentecost 33, year B; texts: Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
There’s a lot of interest in the end of the world these days. People see wars and famines, natural disasters, shifts in global climate, and think the end must be near. As a result, many Christians are buying into a deadly theology of destruction, Christian triumphalism and exclusion, such as that portrayed in the “Left Behind” series, as a way of dealing with fears the end times can inspire. Some of this reaches into our political life, where these Christians believe that the end times demand that our government become an instrument of God’s plan, even if that means inciting war in the Middle East to bring about the end times, which makes the tension in this week’s news from Israel all the more concerning if such a political view would ever hold sway here. However, a brief overview of history indicates that throughout the history of the Christian church, such fears and concerns are not a new thing. Generation after generation seems to see their times as reflecting the approach of the end of the world. Both Martin Luther and the Apostle Paul believed their own generation might see the end.
That all should give us a little perspective as we consider Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. It’s part of a large chapter of warnings and visions of the end times. The perspective we find comes from two directions. First, since virtually every generation has felt the anxiety ours seems to feel, perhaps we can set our fears aside a bit: we may be wrong, too. And second, Jesus consistently asks just one thing of us whenever he talks of the end times: not that we anticipate the end and try to predict it, but simply that we live lives that are always ready. So even if you’re someone who isn’t terribly anxious about the end times, there is still a call to live and be as a disciple that these readings give to us all.
What’s helpful about the reading from the letter to the Hebrews today is that this section not only gives us a way to calm our fears but also a very simple plan for living as “the Day approaches,” as the letter says. In fact, the writer to the Hebrews essentially gives us the outline for an old-fashioned three point sermon, offering three simple encouragements for living in such times, regardless of when the end comes.
The three points are built on one of the key arguments of this letter: that Jesus has made a sacrifice once and for all that brings God’s people to perfection, that saves us, and that gives us forgiveness. Jesus throughout this letter is portrayed as the great high priest, the one who brings us permanently into God’s presence. There is no longer need for Temple sacrifice, atoning sacrifice, or any sacrifice anymore, because Jesus, our great high priest, in his death and resurrection has made all right with God. In Jesus, as the writer quotes today, the prophecies of Jeremiah are fulfilled, that God will make a new covenant, a new promise with us, a covenant of forgiveness written on our hearts, a covenant of divine forgetfulness where God remembers our sins no more.
And then the writer says, “since.” “Therefore, my friends, since” we have this confidence because of Jesus, we can do three things. And that’s our context today.
First, let us approach God with a true heart and full assurance of faith, our writer says.
Because Jesus has opened the door for us to God, we can walk through it. We don’t need a high priest to do this for us anymore, because the Son of God has opened this access for all. So we can confidently approach God in prayer, in life, in all things.
And as we consider whether we might be in the end times, this is good news. There is now nothing between us and God. I think we sometimes take this for granted. But it’s a tremendous gift.
Consider that no matter what happens in your life, in this world, nothing can separate you from God’s love in Jesus, as Paul says in Romans. Not even wars, or natural disasters, or human evil, or anything that is terrifying. Not even our own sinfulness. We now have access to God. I remember as a child that the thing I needed to know about my parents was not that they could fix everything that happened or could happen. What I needed to know was that they were there for me, that I could come to them if I was in need. This is the gift Jesus gives us, that God will always be open to us.
We can pray, knowing that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit hear us and promise to be with us always. We come here in worship knowing that the way to God is open to us, that here in this place we will be filled with the presence and grace of almighty God because of what the Son of God has done.
So sisters and brothers, since we have this access to God, let us indeed approach God with a true heart and full assurance of faith.
Second, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who has promised is faithful, our writer says.
You see, not only can we approach the Triune God, we know that God will never abandon us. Our hope is based on this work of Jesus, that we are made clean and forgiven and have life with God now and in the world to come. So we can approach God not only because Jesus has opened the way, but we also know what our reception will be. We know we will be welcomed into loving arms every time.
It’s our hope and promise – a promise made by a faithful God – that we belong to God forever. As the writer to Hebrews reminds us today, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any offering for sin. God will remember our sins no more, and that is assured, a promise.
And no matter how difficult the world gets, no matter if we think it’s the end of all times or not, God will be faithful to this promise. We don’t have to worry that the door will be closed, or that anything can take us away from our access to God in Jesus. Our trust is in a faithful God who keeps promises. And a God who knows all we’ve done and still claims us as beloved, as forgiven, as restored children.
So sisters and brothers, since we have this access to God, approaching God with faith let us hold fast to this confession of our hope, because God will always be faithful.
And third, living in these first two ways, let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, the writer says.
This, then, becomes the center of our life: living connected to God, holding fast to hope, we provoke, irritate, exhort, encourage each other to loving actions.
The legend is that when Luther was asked what he’d do if he knew the world was ending tomorrow, he said he’d plant a tree. Whether he really said that or not, that would be living as Hebrews suggests. No matter what time is left, we live encouraging each other and ourselves to be loving. We live doing good for the sake of God’s ministry to the world. There is nothing else we need do, or are called to do.
This is consistent with the rest of the message of the Bible, that love of God and love of neighbor are the shape and focus of our lives. And if it does happen to be the end – as the Day approaches, as Hebrews says, or even just the end of our individual lives – what does it matter? We’ve got access to God, we’re forgiven by God, and now we’ve got plenty of good to do, plenty of God’s love to share.
We’re commissioned in our baptism to be agents of God’s love in the world. To give all this Good News we’re talking about, all this perspective, to the rest of the world, so that the “us” we’ve been talking about now includes everyone. And we can now help each other, remind each other, provoke each other to such love, such good in the world.
So sisters and brothers, since we have this access to God, approaching God with faith, holding fast to our hope, let us indeed consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.
Here’s the truth: our Lord Jesus teaches us we need not be afraid, whether we’re near the end or not.
We have access to God in Jesus, we can approach God with confidence, holding fast to the hope of God’s love, and encourage each other to love and good deeds. This is a way of life to live that gives us rich, abundant life. We belong to a God who will be with us in this life and in the next.
What more do we need to know? Well, just this, our writer says: it is in this place where God strengthens and fills us as we gather together. So the way the writer says we encourage and provoke each other is by not neglecting to meet together in this place, this place where we are filled with God’s Word and Meal, and where we support each other.
That’s why we gather here week after week: it is here we are fed, strengthened, empowered, forgiven, loved, encouraged, by God and by each other. That’s why it is fundamental to our life here that we welcome the stranger and sojourner here, and invite them into our worship life, our gathering, that they might also have assurance and hope. Here is our life and hope, together, and here we are fed and sent to the rest of the world, until that day when our Lord does return.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Accent on Worship
Reading the Signs
As we near the end of the Church Year, the readings from Scripture assigned for our worship get more and more dire. Every year there are warnings of the end times, urgings to stay awake, be watchful. Many of these readings give all sorts of signs to watch which will indicate that the end is near. We see that in our Gospel for this Sunday, Mark 13:1-8.
All of Mark 13 is Jesus speaking of these end times. It’s sometimes called the “Little Apocalypse,” since it reflects the same themes and images of the book of Revelation, which in Greek is “The Apocalypse.” We only hear these first 8 verses of chapter thirteen this month, but if we could remember back to the First Sunday of Advent last winter, we could recall hearing a large part of the end of the chapter. So we began the year with signs of the end, and now we end the year with the same.
There are two problems with signs. The first is that you need to understand them. If a sign tells you that you can’t make a U-turn, you need to know what that U shape with a red circle and bar across it means, or it’s useless. The second problem is that once you understand them, you need to try and follow them, do something with them. That’s relatively easy with road signs. Believers have had less luck with the signs Jesus gives.
Much energy and anxiety has been spent by generation after generation trying to understand the times, and many generations since Jesus’ ascension have thought theirs was the one which would see the end. Ours is no exception. The wars, earthquakes and famines Jesus speaks of, nations and kingdoms rising up against each other, these things seem persistently and ominously real in our time.
That’s not what Jesus would have us do with these signs, however. He seems to be giving them to us more as comfort and help, words to tell us not to be surprised when these things happen. Our job, however, is not to predict the date of the end of time, or despair that we are living in the last days. Our job, as he says at the end of Mark 13, is simply to live our lives ready for his coming. Live our lives as faithful servants, doing our job, trusting in our Lord’s love and life for us. We cannot know when our days will end, let alone when the world will. If our forebears in faith teach us anything it is that we will mostly likely be wrong if we think we know. But we can know what we are called to do: live faithful lives of love and grace in the midst of whatever evil and good might befall us or the world.
Our Lord is returning. Until then, with his grace filling and shaping us, we have work to do. That’s what the signs tell us most clearly.
- Joseph
Sunday Readings
November 18, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, 33
Daniel 12:1-3 + Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-25 + Mark 13:1-8
November 25, 2012 – Christ the King
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 + Psalm 93
Revelation 1:4b-8 + John 18:33-37
Thanksgiving Eucharist
Thanksgiving Day, 10:00 a.m.
Bring non-perishable food items to help re-stock local food shelves. Monetary donations are especially welcome (for every $1 donated, food shelf personnel are able to buy about $9 worth of food!)
The entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day will be given to Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services. Worshipers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will help to feed the hungry in our community.
Sunday’s Adult Education
November 18, 9:30 a.m.
“An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke,” part 2 of a 3-part series, presented by Pastor Crippen.
A Message From ELCA Disaster Response: Hurricane Sandy
“From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.
We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”
Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”
Mount Olive's Missions Committee has committed $250 of its discretionary funds to hurricane relief. The committee feels it is important for Mount Olive to support the ELCA's efforts to stand with those who are suffering because of the hurricane--both nationally and internationally.
Mount Olive in the News
Mount Olive's global engagement is featured in the fall edition of Luther Seminary's Global Vision, the Global Missions Institute's quarterly newsletter. Mount Olive supports the Global Missions Institute's work through our mission giving. The Global Missions Institute adds a crucial international framework to the Lutheran Church. It has also been instrumental in helping Mount Olive connect with international students who are studying at Luther Seminary, particularly around our annual "Taste of..." celebrations. Read it here.
Book Discussion Group
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the December 8 meeting they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and for the January session Caleb's Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks.
Please Note
Church offices will be closed on Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving).
Help Needed!
Our Sexton, William Pratley, recently had surgery and is out for several weeks on medical leave. During his absence, snow removal help is needed!
If you are willing to help clear sidewalks and steps at church when needed, please call the church office and let us know.
We own a snow blower and several shovels, so we have the tools needed – all we need is a few folks who are willing to use them.
Diabetes Prayer Day
Diabetes Prayer Day was last Sunday, November 11. Sponsored by the Diabetes Prayer Day organization, all are reminded to keep those suffering with diabetes in prayer, and to pray for its cure.
Advent Procession: Sunday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.
Mount Olive Cantorei, David Cherwien, director and organist
Join us for this annual contemplative service of lessons and carols for Advent. Take time to set apart this season as one of preparation. Experience prayer, Word, incense, choral music, candles, and hymnody. Join the procession of those who wait in darkness.
A Word of Thanks
Mount Olive extends a word of thanks to Nicholas Champeau, the guitarist who accompanied the choir on November 11 for their anthem, “When the Poor Ones.” (We received his name too late for inclusion in the bulletin). Nicholas is a friend of Jon Siess.
Jesus asks us to give all of ourselves to God and neighbor. Yet, our gifts often do not live up to this call because often we give out of inspiration or guilt. Only by receiving faith through the Holy Spirit can we give as the Triune God calls us to give.
Vicar Neal Cannon, Time after Pentecost, Sunday 32, year B; text: I Kings, 17:8-16, Mark 12:38-44, Psalm 146
Sisters and brothers, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Our readings today are about two widows. One widow gave her last two coins to the church and one who gave her last bit of bread to Elijah. Our lessons are about two incredible women, who gave everything they had to God.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article in the Olive Branch about how these sorts of lessons make us aware of our own guiltiness and sin. They drive us to fall on our knees before God and seek the grace and forgiveness that Jesus Christ offers on the cross. To respond with grace is the right instinct to have and true to the Gospel. But after writing this article a question lingered in my mind: Does Jesus really ask us to give everything like the two widows in our readings?
I have to answer yes because Jesus is clear in Gospel. Our call is to give everything to God.
Just before our story today, Jesus proclaims the two greatest commandments are to love the LORD your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is tantamount to Jesus saying love God and your neighbor fully.
In the gospel today, Jesus addresses wealthy people who are making a big show of giving large sums of money in church. And even though their gifts are large, their only giving a small portion of their earnings. So Jesus lifts up the example of a widow who gives two small copper coins, practically nothing in comparison, and says the widow has given more than the rest of them combined.
Now, just to be clear, through Jesus, we are given grace and forgiveness whether we give 1%, 10%, or 99% of money, and time, and gifts to God. So our generosity is not a matter of salvation. But still, it’s clear that the scriptures are always calling us to fully give our hearts to the Triune God and to our neighbor.
And I wonder if we can actually do it.
Sometimes as wealthy Christians in a wealthy nation we give out of guilt. We give because we feel bad about having more than others. But that never causes us to give what Jesus is asking us to give. It causes us to give just enough to feel better about ourselves afterwards.
For example, have you ever walked past a homeless person and then felt guilty about it? Think about how much that really inspired you to give, and how long that feeling lasted. If you’re like me, you feel guilty for awhile, and that might inspire you to do something, but not much and afterwards nothing has really changed in your life. So often we tell ourselves that giving everything we have like the two widows in our stories is impossible.
Yet, we know that all throughout history people have given up everything to follow Jesus. A few weeks ago we remembered St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was once a rich young man, who is not altogether unlike the rich young man in the gospel. The main difference between the two was when St. Francis encountered the gospel, he gave away everything he had to the poor and followed Jesus.
Mother Theresa is another who believed that we could give all of ourselves to God. She once famously said, “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
One of my heroes of faith is a man named Shane Claiborne who wrote the book Irresistible Revolution. Shane is a person who gave up everything to follow God.
One day I heard Shane was going to be in Minnesota, so I went to see him speak. He had a really great presentation, so afterwards I went to talk to him and I was really excited and said, “Hey Shane, my name is Neal, thanks so much for that talk. It was really great.” Shane smiled politely and said the usual courtesy, “thanks for coming.”
And I stood there for a second, and after an awkward pause I said, “Your book really changed my life.”
I thought about this afterward and I realized, “well, that’s not true… my life wasn’t changed.” I was inspired to write a small check to the Simple Way and then go hear him speak, but my life wasn’t really changed.
Inspiration, like guilt, is only a passing feeling. And just like guilt, giving out of inspiration doesn’t move us towards giving in the way that Jesus calls us to give.
These heroes of the faith inspire us, but there is a disconnect in our lives where we’re inspired by our heroes, but we really don’t think we can be like them. And whenever we pause to consider giving all of ourselves to God and neighbor like our heroes of faith, what we end up experiencing is either inspiration or guilt, and ultimately we say that we can’t do it.
Giving is not difficult because we don’t care; I believe we care immensely for our neighbors. We feel guilty because we do care. So when I look at our gospel today and reading from I Kings, I wonder what keeps us from being the people we want to be and how the Gospel drives us towards great acts of love?
In I Kings Elijah has just proclaimed that a drought will come over the land because the Israelites are worshipping other gods. And so the drought comes, and Elijah is affected by this drought along with the people. In order to survive, God tells Elijah to go to a widow in Zarephath of Sidon and she will give him bread and water. Now, Sidon is an area in the Middle East that worshipped other gods. This is important because it tells us that the widow is not an Israelite.
So God commands Elijah to go to the widow. He does but there are two problems. First, the widow doesn’t seem to recognize she’s been called by God to feed Elijah, and second, the widow and her family are dying from the drought.
You can hear the anguish of the woman’s voice when she speaks. “As the LORD your God (notice how she says your God, not my God) lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
Her pain and fear and anger are palpable. It’s like she’s asking “Who are Elijah and his God to ask me to give everything when I have nothing?” Because she knows that if she gives up her last bits of food she will be staring into pure emptiness and death.
Still, Elijah persists in asking for bread, telling the woman that she will not go hungry. To me this is shocking and incredibly bold because I would be ashamed to ask someone in this situation for food. But Elijah trusts God, so he persists saying that God has said the meal and oil used to make the bread would not go empty until it rains again.
Then two incredible things happen that I want to lift up. First, is that it works. The meal and oil multiply. But the second amazing thing that happens in this story is that the widow says yes. She looks at her meager portions, contemplates having nothing, contemplates death for her and her family, and says yes to Elijah and thereby yes to the God of Israel. She gives everything to him.
What makes this incredible is that we know the widow doesn’t do it out of guilt, because she is the one who is starving. If anything, Elijah should feel guilty for asking her for bread. What’s more, we know that this pagan widow had no faith in the God of Israel to begin with, yet by a miracle she was given faith in God’s word, and God’s word did not come back empty.
True, it is a miracle that her rations increased but to me the greater miracle is that this pagan woman in a terrible situation said yes to God.
I think what helps me understand both miracles better is a phrase I learned in seminary, creatio ex nihilo. This is a Latin phrase and what this means is that God is constantly creating ( creatio) something out of nothing ( ex nihilo). There are tons of examples of this all over the Bible. In Genesis the story of Sarah and Abraham teaches us that God gives Sarah a child in barren womb. In Exodus, God gives manna and water and quail to his people in the desert. And in the Gospel, Jesus is raised from death to life. In all these stories God takes something that looks like nothing and through faith and trust creates something incredible.
And this idea of creatio ex nihilo helps us understand how the saints are able to give everything they have to God. These people were given faith by God so much that when they face poverty and death and destruction they see emptiness, but they believe, and hope, and trust that God is at work – that God is doing something in empty places.
To have this kind of faith is difficult in America because we are a consumerist culture and we’re told every day to have faith in things, not in God.
In college I was a business communications major, and one of the things we learned is that businesses don’t sell you products anymore. They try to sell you love and community and freedom because these are things the human heart actually desires. Next time you turn on the TV during commercials hit the mute button and try to guess what they are actually selling you, or what they are actually wanting you to believe.
For example Best Buy’s logo awhile back (maybe still?) was, “You Happier.” Think about what that’s telling us. It’s promising the emptiness in our lives can be filled by cool electronics. I’m not picking on Best Buy because nearly every company does this these days. And this message is so pervasive that sometimes without knowing it we believe the message that things do make us happier.
And when we start trusting in things, there is not a lot of room to trust in God.
And its not just things that we trust in, sometimes we trust ideas and politicians and a number of other things. But as often as not, they let us down. I don’t know if this past week’s election was good or bad for you, but at the end of the day as Christians we have to claim that the government is not where we put our trust. Politicians make endless promises, but I think we know that whether they are well intentioned or not, they can’t fulfill them all.
As our Psalm tells us today, “ put not your trust in rulers, in mortals in whom there is no help.”
The world makes lots of promises, but the Triune God tells us they are empty promises.
This week Mount Olive is sending out pledge cards in the mail to all its members. And I hope when we are called to give to Mount Olive, or to the poor, or to the widow, or whatever ways we are called to give, that it is not out of guilt, but out of trust that when God calls us to give of ourselves we trust that the Triune God is at work doing incredible things like turning our emptiness into community and love and freedom and grace and forgiveness.
And I pray that like the widow of Zarephath, the Holy Spirit comes to each of us, so that we may receive this faith and say yes to God and then believe that God is at work in our lives calling us even now to do things that we don’t expect. Let us say yes to God’s word and respond, not out of inspiration or guilt, but out of the faith we are given by the Holy Spirit. Let us give our whole heart to Jesus.
Amen.
Accent on Worship
Disciplined Love
Fasting, prayers, almsgiving. These are among the spiritual disciplines of Lent, mentioned specifically by Jesus (though not in relation to a season of Lent of course) in Matthew 6, and as part of our Ash Wednesday liturgy. The Church has long seen these activities as not only worthy in and of themselves, but also exercises of the spirit, things which strengthen the faith.
I’ve been thinking about this with regard to stewardship. If you haven’t already, you should soon receive a letter from Dennis Bidwell, Stewardship chair, and from me, along with a pledge card for 2013. In that letter we spoke of the spiritual discipline of pledging. If you look at the Lenten list, prayer and fasting are easily understandable as spiritual disciplines, even if some of us might not fast on a regular basis ourselves. But the Church also included almsgiving, the giving of wealth to share with others, to do the ministry of Christ. In part, it’s because almsgiving is in Matthew 6. But there may be a deeper understanding behind it.
The goal of any discipline is to learn a new way, to be shaped or focused or trained or improved to become something more than before. Whether it’s physical disciplines such as healthy eating and regular exercise, or spiritual disciplines, people commit to do these so that they might be disciplined, discipled, shaped. Should one decide to fast, for example, it is good to make a commitment to that, if only personally to oneself, so that when the time of fasting is getting long and hunger is pressing, there is that commitment which then supports the original intention.
So it is or can be with pledging. We know that we have been richly blessed by God, we know we are called to share our wealth with others to bring the Good News of God’s love to our community and world. Virtually every member of a congregation will freely give something of what they have to the shared work, whether it’s money or time or abilities. But when we commit to do this to each other, and perhaps more importantly, to ourselves, we make our giving a discipline, a challenge, a way for us to find deeper spiritual maturity and grow in faith. As with other disciplines, the act of commitment itself shapes our response and helps us stay with our initial good intentions.
As we hear of all the volunteer opportunities for people to be involved together here in our mission from God, and as you look at that pledge card sitting on your table or counter, let us all consider what it might mean for us to commit to this discipline. How might the Spirit work in us faith and life as we practice what we have committed to do? I pray that we all might be led ever deeper in our willingness to commit and work together to serve God faithfully in this place.
- Joseph
Sunday Readings
November 11, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 32
I Kings 17:8-16 + Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28 + Mark 12:38-44
November 18, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 33
Daniel 12:1-3 + Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-25 + Mark 13:1-8
Sunday’s Adult Education:
November 11, 9:30 a.m.
“An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke,” part 1 of a 3-part series, presented by Pastor Crippen.
A Note of Thanks
A big “Thank you!” goes out to the willing helpers volunteering assistance with the upkeep and cleaning of the Mount Olive building and grounds. Your gift of time and talent is greatly appreciated during these weeks as we await William’s return. If more are interested in lending a hand, please see me or Andrew Andersen.
- Brenda Bartz, Properties Director
Volunteer Opportunities Sunday
Mount Olive would not exist as we know it without its volunteers. Our volunteers bring Christ to the corner of 31st and Chicago in many ways. We serve 3,000 meals a year to those in need. We provide counseling and tutoring to many. We provide thousands of low cost diapers through the Diaper Depot. We contribute time and energy to many neighborhood organizations. We welcome our neighbors to worship with us. All of this is only possible because of our members who volunteer their time and talent to the mission of Mount Olive.
This Sunday during both coffee hours various representatives of our church’s committees and activities will seek volunteers for our many programs, from acolytes to zealous choir members, the opportunities are many and varied. Come join us, it is a great way to meet your fellow members.
Some specific jobs looking for volunteers are: acolytes, ushers, servers for Our Savior’s Sunday dinners, sound system monitors for Sunday services, helpers for our twice-monthly community meals and Sunday morning coffee hosts. These are just a few of the opportunities available.
Also if you have an idea about a new service program you would like to see at Mount Olive, come to talk to me and when can discuss the idea.
- Dennis Bidwell
Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts to Present Alice Parker:
Sing! Hymns of the Church
This Sunday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.
The SINGS led by Alice Parker have delighted groups throughout the United States and Canada since she started leading them forty years ago. Started as an introduction to her Writing for Voices classes, the concept grew to include church congregations and choirs, then people of all ages and backgrounds who wish to sing together. Some songs are old favorites, and some are totally unfamiliar. The atmosphere is one of delight in making music together and of ease in creating varied sounds.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of a great mentor of our time! The concert is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.
A Message From ELCA Disaster Response: Hurricane Sandy
“From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.
We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”
Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”
Thank you!
Fair Trade Craft Sale
The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale in December. We will have a variety of items available for purchase handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions. You can preview items online at this web address: http://www.serrv.org/category/consignment and if there is anything in particular you would like us to order for you, we can do that and hold it in your name for you to purchase during the sale. Please send the item number and quantity you would like to Lisa Ruff at jklmruff@msn.com or call her at 651-636-4762 by Wednesday, November 7. This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.
Church Library News
Thank you very much to Marcella Daehn for the special gift book, The Saint John’s Bible (Gospels and Acts), which is currently on display in our library. Using tools and materials employed by scribes for thousands of years, Donald Jackson and an international team of artists and scholars embarked on a monumental 7 year journey: to create the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned since the invention of the printing press. Combining the most widely-used English translation of the Bible, with original artwork that reflects cultures from around the world, The Saint John's Bible is an inspiring interfaith undertaking that speaks to the heart of many religious traditions. This volume is one of seven, including Pentateuch, Historical Books, Wisdom Literature, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels and Acts and Letters and Revelations. This is not a book to be checked out in the normal way (it is a rather large and heavy book to handle), but rather to be viewed and enjoyed as you come to our library, even several times, to view and savor its loveliness whenever your time allows.
We close with this special quotation from Archibald MacLeish: "What is more important in a library than anything else -- than everything else --- is the fact that it exists!"
- Leanna Kloempken
Book Discussion Group
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the November 10 meeting they will read, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and for December 8 they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.
Thanksgiving Eucharist
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25
10:00 a.m.
Bring non-perishable food items to help re-stock local food shelves. Monetary donations are especially welcome (for every $1 donated, food shelf personnel are able to buy about $9 worth of food!)
The entire offering received at the Eucharist on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, will be given to Sabbathani Community Center and Community Emergency Services. Worshipers are also encouraged to bring non-perishable food items, which will help to feed the hungry in our community.
Every Church A Peace Church
The next regular bi-monthly potluck supper meeting will be on Monday, November 12, 6:30 p.m., at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church (5426 12th Ave. S., in Minneapolis; 612-824-3455; http://www.olpmn.org).
The topic of discussion at this meeting will be "St. Martin or Constantine? A Veterans for Peace Perspective on Two Conflicting Visions of the Church's Place in War.”
Larry Johnson and Steve McKeown, of Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, will discuss the conflicting 4th century visions of Constantine and of St. Martin of Tours, and how this moved the early Christians away from the absolute refusal of warfare due to Jesus' teachings of nonviolence.
Please Note
Church offices will be closed on Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving).
The Incarnate Son of God is with us now, offering life on this side of the grave, promising to be our life and joy in the bleak ugliness of a world of death, and giving us our song of Alleluia.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, All Saints Sunday, year B; texts: John 11:(17-31) 32-44; Revelation 21:1-6; Isaiah 25:6-9
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 is a day when we speak of death like no other except perhaps Easter Day itself. We gather to worship, as we always do, with those who have died and are at rest in this nave, at the side of our gathering space. We gather to worship, as we always do, with those saints who have gone before us and surround the throne of God, sharing our praise and our worship. We gather to worship, and on this day we sing of those saints of times past and of our past, icons of the faith and loved ones who taught us the faith, and we remember that they even now live in the presence of the God whom we have gathered once more to worship this day. And in this space it’s a beautiful thing: beautiful sights, beautiful music, beautiful words, beautiful smells, beautiful people whose embrace of peace gives us life. Our celebration of all the saints who from their labors rest is one of the more beautiful liturgies we do every year.
But this is a day when we speak of death like no other except perhaps Easter Day itself. And on this day we hear Martha of Bethany speak a truth that is not beautiful, it is ugly. On this day we encounter two sisters who see nothing but grief and sadness, anger and disappointment, not beauty and joy. Martha’s truth is the reason: “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Nothing can sugarcoat her reality, no words, no song, no beauty. Her brother sickened, suffered, struggled, and died. And now he rots, and he smells. And if the Lord Jesus doesn’t understand that, Martha thinks, well, someone ought to remind him.
This is a day when we speak of death like no other except perhaps Easter Day itself. So let us not forget what dear Martha said, the truth about this death we all face. It is ugly. It smells. It terrifies us. It is absence, not presence. Helplessness, not strength. There are tears. It disrupts our lives, causes us to wake at night in a sweat. Whether it’s the sudden death of a dear brother in Christ from our midst, or the unspeakable tragedy of hundreds dying at the waves of an incomprehensible storm, or the lingering, painful dying of someone we love, or the catastrophe of children lacking enough food to see their fifth birthday or even their first, there is little beautiful about death for us. We cannot live a day without the presence of death, and to be honest, the fact that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead 2,000 years ago really has no meaning for us today. Good for him. Good for Lazarus. But we stand at gravesides in so many ways in our lives, the people we connect with in this story are these two sisters. Because they, like us, are on this side of the grave. They, like us, have faced the ugliness of death. They, like us, have questions of Jesus, the Son of God.
These two beautiful sisters help us. And they help us in the way they are different from each other.
Martha, the bold one, the one who is unafraid to speak up about her sister when she’s not helping with the dinner for their guest, Martha reaches the depths of her anger and disappointment in her pain. She comes out on the road to confront Jesus, her Lord and master, the one in whom she hoped. She is so angry that her brother died, as we all can be, but she is the more angry because she believes Jesus has caused this death by his indifference.
Her disappointment and wrath are palpable as she goes to meet him, not waiting for him to arrive at their house: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Death faced them, their beloved brother suffered, and they had sent word to the only One whom they knew could help. They’d seen him heal others, this would be easy for him. But he blew it. He didn’t care. He didn’t come. And now my brother lies dead, and he stinks. And all this stinks, Jesus.
Mary, the quiet one, the one who sat at Jesus’ feet to listen while her sister banged pots in the kitchen in annoyance with her, Mary reaches the depths of her sadness and disappointment in her pain. She does not come out to meet Jesus at first. She remains in the house, overcome by grief. She weeps in her loss and pain, unable to speak, unable to do anything. And only when he calls for her does she come out to see him.
Then her sadness spills out, her disappointment: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Death faced them, their beloved brother suffered, and they had sent word to the only One whom they knew could help. They’d seen him heal others, this would be easy for him. But he didn’t come. And Lazarus died. And Mary can only weep.
And for us, our grief and fear at death moves between the anger and sadness of these sisters. But mostly, we share their disappointment: if Jesus is who we say he is, if he is the Son of God, if he truly loves us and can heal, then how can all this happen? If the Triune God has created a beautiful world, and given us all we need, and loves us enough to become one of us, then how can any of this be allowed? Why all this ugliness, this stench, this desolation that seems to pervade the world?
Isaiah says it well, it’s as if there’s a great death-shroud spread over the entire world, and if we sometimes get glimpses of sunshine and light, it’s only when there’s a brief tear in the fabric.
What is so powerful about Martha is her clarity of what she thinks she needs at this point.
Jesus doesn’t defend himself. He says, “Your brother will rise again.” And isn’t this the promise we always remember? There will be a resurrection. There is life in the world to come. It’s the promise of Isaiah, and of Revelation today. It’s the promise of Easter Day, the resurrection of Jesus himself, which promises life for us all after death. That in the days to come, on the mountain of the Lord, in the new creation, the Lord will make all things new, will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more. This is the salvation we have waited for, says Isaiah, says us.
Martha wants to hear none of this. Not now. She is still on this side of the grave, and has no interest in a future promise, at least not right now. She says to Jesus, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” But she seems to suggest that doesn’t do anything for her problem with Jesus.
And perhaps that’s an honesty we would admit if we could. As much as we believe and hope in the resurrection of the dead on the last day, and so we do, there are times when that hope doesn’t seem sufficient to counter the ugliness of today. When we, like Martha, aren’t terribly helped by promises such as Isaiah and the Revelation give today.
It’s not that we don’t believe that we will be together in eternal life after we die. Certainly we do. Certainly Martha does. It’s just that right now we’re not there. We’re grieving, or angry, or disappointed with God. We’re struggling with senseless tragedies and painful losses of loved ones. And hope for the future sometimes doesn’t seem like enough.
Yes, yes, that’s beautiful, we say with Martha. But we’re in the midst of the ugly right now. What will you do about that, Lord?
And since we’re standing with the sisters, let’s look where they are looking. Let’s look into the face of Jesus when we ask that question, and see, and open our ears and hear.
Because Jesus’ most important acts in this story happen before he ever gets them to roll the stone from Lazarus’ tomb. Here are the really important things he does for them and for us:
He stands unafraid of Martha’s anger and disappointment and meets her where she needs to be met. You have theological questions, Martha? Let me give you one, he says. What if you understood that I AM the resurrection and the life, and that you have life in me now and always, even if you die, and if you believe in me you will never die?
He isn’t just talking about resurrection at the end time, because Martha wants more than that. And he gives her more. He promises that trusting in him regardless of apparent circumstances, regardless of how ugly things seem, will mean life, even on this side of the grave. And he asks Martha if she believes this.
But he also stands unafraid of Mary’s paralyzing sadness and disappointment and meets her where she needs to be met. He doesn’t offer her theological argument, because Mary doesn’t want that. He stands with her, loves her. And weeps with her.
And in so doing he puts into action what he was telling Martha: that he will never leave us alone on this side of the grave, and he will grieve with us, and weep at the ugliness and stench of this broken world alongside us. And that he will bless us and our grief by being present with us in it. By being resurrection and life in the midst of an ugly, dead world.
And you know what? As we stand with these sisters, then the question put to Martha in words and to Mary in presence is now put to us: is this enough? Do you believe?
Do you believe, says the Lord, that I love you enough not to abandon you here in this ugliness? That not only do I hold your loved ones and all the dead in my arms and raise them to everlasting life, but I come to be with you now, and will never leave you?
Do you believe that I am here in this place as you worship, blessing you with beautiful words, beautiful music, beautiful smells, beautiful sights, beautiful people to embrace you with peace, because that gift of beauty can help you through the ugliness?
Do you believe, says the Lord, that I actually come to you in that bit of bread and wine, that it’s me, your Resurrection and your Life, and that through that meal together you are fed by my life and sustenance and you are sharing that meal even with all those who have gone before you? That my Word is alive and active in this place and in your lives and will lead and guide you into all truth, truth that frees and gives you life?
Do you believe this? Jesus says to us. Is it enough? he asks.
John the seer heard these words in his vision, a voice coming from the throne of God himself, words he shares with us today: “See, the home of God is among mortals. “He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.” And the Son of God says to us today, Do you realize that this vision is not just of the future but of the present? That I am with you always, now, on this side of the grave? That the home of the Triune God is among you, and God is living with you now?
This is Jesus’ answer to the sisters, and to us: I was here when Lazarus was sick, and died. And I am here now, with you. And in every way that matters I will always be with you, because this is where I am home, with you. And I will hold you and bless you in the midst of all suffering and pain that this ugly world has, until you can see its beauty as I do.
This is a day when we speak of death like no other except perhaps Easter Day itself.
And we speak truthfully of the ugliness of death, but it does not overwhelm us or destroy us, because of Easter Day itself. Because this Jesus, our Lord, the Son of God, has destroyed death’s power and is able to keep the promise he made to those sisters and to us, to be with us here, on this side of the grave, until it is our time to go to our own rest.
Because the home of God is among mortals, and it is here we need our tears wiped and our questions answered, here we need the gift of trust and faith in the One who did not stay away but has come to be with us always. So that it is more true than anything we know that we say, “even at the grave we sing our song: Alleluia. Alleluia.” And it is beautiful. More beautiful than we ever could have imagined.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
Accent on Worship
The Gospel and the first and second readings from Isaiah and Revelation for All Saints Sunday are resurrection stories. In the first and second readings, visions are given to the prophet and to John about the end of time, but truly it is about all the saints and the re-creation of our planet. The scenes given in these passages are joyous with people from every nation celebrating together. Isaiah writes that death will be swallowed up by our Lord and it will be no more. There will be no more suffering. Revelation speaks of a new heaven and new earth and God will come to us and dwell with us. The Gospel gives us a foretaste of life everlasting by raising Lazarus from the dead.
I have had many resurrection experiences in my life time. These were times when I felt hopeless in certain situations. I would continue to pray about them, but not out of hope for a good outcome. You would think that I would learn something about the power of prayer. Sometimes I couldn’t even pray, things seemed so bad, and I would ask the Holy Spirit to pray for me. Somehow, that high school classmate I was fervently praying for, whose lungs and bones were full of cancer responded to a new treatment at the Mayo Clinic and is cancer free today. Somehow, my mother, who took up lots of my prayer time recently, defied all odds. After spending eight days in the ICU on a respirator she pulled through to the amazement of her doctors, and lived. And somehow, my son’s dear, dear second mother in Honduras, who I prayed for with every fiber of my being, was connected with a doctor who will do her heart surgery (which she will die without) for no cost. These are some of the latest resurrections in my life. Every person, who has ever prayed for a miracle could tell of one or more resurrection experiences in their lives, also. These events are as much of a Godly intervention as the raising of Lazarus. Our God is in our lives and we don’t have to wait for the end of time to experience the new.
Even as we may long for that final triumphant return of Jesus, who will bring a new heaven and a new earth, we see the work of God unfolding every day. And that is what makes us all saints.
- Donna Pususta Neste
Come Early to Worship on All Saints Sunday
As in past years, members are invited to arrive early for worship this Sunday to light candles in memory of loved ones as a part of our All Saints observance. Votive candles will be set at the font and the columbarium, and someone will be there to assist worshippers. This will be an extended time of prayer and vigil before the liturgy begins, during which the Cantorei will also be singing.
Sunday’s Adult Education, November 4, 9:30 a.m.
All Saints
On the Feast of All Saints, This Sunday, November 4, we remember and celebrate those who have preceded us in the Faith and now “from their labors rest.” We recite their names at liturgy; we light votives in their memory. In the Adult Forum that day, we’ll have a chance to walk among some of them. There will be a display of icons of some of our forebears in the faith. We will reflect briefly on the meaning of “sainthood” and of their portrayal in icons. And then we’ll be free to view the icons, walking among the saints of old (any maybe not-so-long-ago), venerating them as we see fit.
If you have an icon that you would like to set among others, we welcome and encourage you to do so. Please, if you bring an icon for display, help us: Bring only icons of persons, not events. Put your name on the back of the icon lest it go astray. And identify the icon: Who is it? If the person is relatively unknown, why is that person memorable? Note that we do not require that you bring hand-painted or hand-written icons. Most of us can’t afford those.
Sunday Readings
November 4, 2012 – All Saints Sunday
Isaiah 25:6-9 + Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a + John 11:32-44
November 11, 2012 – Time after Pentecost, Sunday 32
I Kings 17:8-16 + Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28 + Mark 12:38-44
Mount Olive Music and Fine Arts to Present Alice Parker
"Sing! Hymns of the Church"
Sunday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.
The SINGS led by Alice Parker have delighted groups throughout the United States and Canada since she started leading them forty years ago.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of a great mentor of our time! The concert is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.
Book Discussion Group
Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. For the November 10 meeting they will read, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and for December 8 they will read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.
National Lutheran Choir Presents “The Call”
with Milwaukee Choral Artists
The National Lutheran Choir and special guest ensemble, Milwaukee Choral Artists, will co-present a hymn festival entitled, “The Call,” to mark All Saints.
For tickets visit www.nlca.com or call 612-722-2301.
Saturday, November 3, 2012 – 7 pm
St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church
Mahtomedi, MN
Sunday, November 4, 2012 – 4 pm
St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church
Wayzata, MN.
Volunteer Opportunity Day
On Sunday, November 11, during both coffee hours, various Mount Olive organizations and committees will be seeking to sign up volunteers for their activities. Save the date on your calendar and look for more information in next week's edition of The Olive Branch.
A Message From ELCA Disaster Response
Hurricane Sandy
“From the Caribbean to the northern Atlantic coast of the United States, millions of people have evacuated their homes and communities due to Hurricane Sandy. Strong winds and torrential rains have led to flooding and mass destruction. The storm has claimed the lives of at least 84 throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
The storm sent trees crashing down and left neighborhood streets looking like rivers. While destruction on the Eastern coast is devastating, please also remember the damage of Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean as millions are feeling the impact of this storm.
We need your help. The ELCA is a leader in disaster response. Working through our local affiliates and global church partners; we stand ready to respond. Your gifts will help our church meet the immediate needs of those affected by providing food, water and shelter. And we will continue to help for as long as we are needed.”
Gifts received by Mount Olive will be sent to ELCA Disaster Response. If they are marked “Hurricane Sandy” the ELCA will use 100% of the gift for this disaster. Use the blue missions envelope in your packet (or any envelope) and mark it “Hurricane Sandy.”
Thank you!
Fair Trade Craft Sale
The Missions committee will be hosting a Fair Trade Craft Sale in December. We will have a variety of items available for purchase handmade by disadvantaged artisans in developing regions. You can preview items at http://www.serrv.org/category/consignment and if there is anything in particular you would like us to order for you, we can do that and hold it in your name for you to purchase during the sale. Please send the item number and quantity you would like to Lisa Ruff at jklmruff@msn.com or call her at 651-636-4762 by Wednesday, November 7. This is not a fund-raiser, just an opportunity to buy good products for a good cause.
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