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Archives for September 2013

Glorious Company

September 29, 2013 By moadmin

The creation is far greater than we can sense or know, and the celebration of the gift of God’s angels, servants of God as are we, reminds us not only of the splendor of the Creator but is a promise of the work of the Triune God against evil through all the servants of God.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, feast of St. Michael and All Angels; texts: Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3; Psalm 103:1-5, 20-22; Revelation 12:7-12; Luke 10:17-20

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

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.”

We live in a rational, scientific world where we believe things to be true that can be proven, studied, tested, examined, seen, touched, sensed in every way.  Yet we come to worship the almighty, Triune God every week, something that in itself is not easily proven, if at all, by any evidence lifted from any of those methods.  And it’s not just our faith in an invisible Deity who created and redeemed and inspires the creation that is outside that rational, scientific sense.  Whenever we come here for worship we enter into a world of language that speaks of supernatural things, events, realities as if they are matter-of-fact, a world of images that many who do not claim to believe in God would call fantastical, mythological, fictional.  We speak easily and hopefully of miracles, of a divine, Holy Spirit who comes to us, of a divine Word who literally took on our flesh, died, and rose from the dead, and we consider this all to be truth, reality, the core of our hope and our life.

This is something true about us: whatever the challenges of integrating our confidence in science and intellect and the human ability to study and understand, with our faith in God, whatever difficulty that incurs, it is who we are, it is what we do.  Unafraid to use our minds, thrilled by the ability of humanity to learn and understand amazing things, we are also unafraid to open our hearts to what we cannot easily explain, what we cannot often see, what we only can trust is truth.

It’s important that we say this on this day.  Because, after all, we do confess that “we believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.”

And on this day the Church says, remember that this God, then, is also maker of angels, heavenly messengers, spiritual beings.  Things unseen.  But of God’s creation.  So if there is a part of us that winces at saying we believe angels are real – and for some that is never a concern, for others it is a very real concern – if there is a part of us that wonders if this is all fairy tale language, this talk of Michael and archangels and wars in heaven, this celebration of all the angels, if there is any of that in us, we might wish to remember that there are other far more wondrous and improvable things which we claim easily and without apparent difficulty.

Lutheran church historian Philip Pfatteicher has said, “As All Saints’ Day . . . is a reminder of the size of the one church in heaven and on earth, so this feast of Michael and the angels is a reminder of the breathtaking size of creation, seen and unseen.  The feast teaches an understanding that there are aspects of reality beyond what can be grasped with the senses.  Angels, like mortals, are children of the infinite imagination of God.” [1]

You see, it would be supremely arrogant for humanity to assume that we are the pinnacle of all the creation of the infinite Majesty, and that the vastness of creation’s reality is limited strictly to that which humans can study, explain and diagram.  Celebrating the angels on this day puts us in our place, you might say.

But as the readings assigned for this feast indicate, there is a richer value for us in honoring God’s creation of the angels beyond simply making us mindful of God’s multifaceted creation and our smallness in it.  The Church also remembers the angels and gives thanks for them because in their service to God they give us hope in a world which often seems rent by pain and hatred and wickedness.  They provide a promise that we are not the only ones called to stand for God’s grace in the face of evil, we are not the only ones working for good, and we are certainly not the only ones praising God’s goodness and shining it into the universe.

From the beginning the Church has recognized that there are powers at work beyond what we can explain.  Something we also understand.

We don’t need much convincing to believe that there are forces of harm in the world far beyond our ability to see or understand.  Forces that work through institutions, armies, mobs, governments to cause evil and pain which seem to be greater than the sum of poor human decisions.

Ideas which receive the “ism” ending often seem to carry a life and a power of their own, such as classism, sexism, racism.  Or their cousins, ideologies of hatred and oppression, philosophies of power and domination.  Groups act in ways that seem to magnify the power of the wickedness beyond the individual actions of the members.

It isn’t necessary for us to think of little demons running around in red to recognize these many powers which seem to be at large in the world and beyond our vision and our ability to stop them.

In the face of this reality, the Scriptures and the Church, as well as the Jewish and Muslim faith traditions, proclaim that God also has spiritual servants who have not fallen, who are not working evil, but in fact are doing God’s grace and will for us and for all.  These varied but related traditions speak of God creating an order of spiritual beings who do God’s bidding, who do not have our physical bodies.

Jesus says that they watch over children, and throw parties in heaven when sinners repent.  They watch over us, according to the psalmist, that we not stumble or fall.  The Bible tells us they speak the mysteries of God to humanity, they witness great miracles, and they lead us in praise of the Eternal God.

In these readings today about one of those angels, Michael the archangel, great comfort is taken in the ability of the angels to defeat evil.  Another angel, probably Gabriel, tells Daniel of his fellow angel Michael’s struggle with an angel assigned to protect another nation, but promises that Michael will arise in the end days to protect the people.  And John the seer has a vision in Revelation of Michael leading the angels in war against the great Deceiver, the chief among the fallen servants of God.  Even Jesus says that when the disciples were casting out demons he experienced seeing Satan fall from heaven at their work.

These readings are intended as comfort to those suffering in evil, difficult times.  Do not be afraid, we are told: there may be powers at work to do harm, but God’s angels are also at work and they will ultimately prevail.

And there’s no mistaking that this is a comforting thought, God’s angels running roughshod over the powers of evil that befuddle, frighten and confuse us, powers over which we feel we have little or no control.

However, it might be needful to step away from the military, war-like imagery.  In fact, we might not even be understanding the Revelation properly when we think of this struggle as we think of human war.

In the first place, the angels, just like humanity, are servants of the Most High God, who, when he took on human flesh explicitly refused to fight evil with power and strength.  The Incarnate Son of God, in the garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal, refused the help of the heavenly armies.  As Matthew tells it, Jesus said he had twelve legions of angels to fight for him, 72,000 spiritual beings, if he wanted it.  But he had decided, the Triune God had decided, that only by the Son of God facing evil with his own being and letting it do its worst to him could it be defeated.

This is the center of our hope and life, this willing setting-aside of power that Christ Jesus does, for in dying he did not lose.  Rather, he rose from the dead and emptied evil of all its ultimate power.  But since this is the crucial center, literally, the center of the cross around which all our faith is shaped, we cannot then hope that God’s new plan is to have a huge heavenly battle to decide all.  As thrilling as that might be, that’s not what Christ Jesus calls us to be, nor is it the way he modeled for us.

And it turns out, it’s not really what John saw in his vision, either.  What John sees is that this defeat of Satan, the great Enemy, is accomplished by three things that are very different from swords and weapons of any kind.

First, they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, John says today.  That is, they recognized that the victory was already accomplished in the sacrificial death of the Son of God and his subsequent resurrection to his eternal throne.  It was that power-releasing willingness of Jesus to face the cross, John says, that was the downfall of evil.  And the center of the whole book of Revelation is that picture of the Lamb who was slain, sitting on the throne of God.

And John says, second, it was the word of their testimony to this work of Christ that also conquered evil.  The testimony of the angels, the testimony of the saints who have died, the speaking of the Good News of God’s victory over sin, death, and the devil, the proclamation of God’s reign of grace, this is what brings evil to its knees.  Not weapons.  Witness.

And last, John says, and we have to assume he means this to apply to the saints around the throne perhaps even more than the angels, they conquered evil by the fact that “they did not cling to life even in the face of death.”  The willingness of the servants of the Crucified One to also offer their lives is the turning point in the struggle against evil.

When you do not fear dying, you can be a powerful force of good in the world.  Consider the difference between those who in genocide and war hide their neighbors who are being slaughtered and those who inform on their neighbors and ensure their slaughter.  The former are not willing to cling to life in the face of death, not when they can do good.  The latter are afraid of death for themselves, so they sacrifice someone else.

But there’s one more thing.  While the angels do their work, we are still needed to do ours.

You may have noticed in our consideration of Revelation that there was not only a sense of the angels’ struggle, but a gradual movement to our involvement.

As powerful as it can be to trust that God has created spiritual beings who are also working against evil in this world and who by their testimony to the blood of the Lamb and their willingness to lose in order to win will help God conquer evil, as good as that is, we must remember this: they have their jobs to do.  We have ours.

There are spiritual forces of evil and God has spiritual servants to work against them.

And there are human forces of evil and God has human servants to work against them.

And with the same things we will be a part of defeating all evil: with the blood of the Lamb which has washed us and made us whole, and which saves all God’s children, with that surrounding us, with our witness to God’s Good News in Christ for all, and with our willingness to face death without clinging to this life, evil will stand no chance.

That’s the great gift of this Revelation: hope that there are others struggling for God is given to us so that we can be encouraged for our struggle.

And so today we celebrate this great unseen company, this glorious companionship we have with our angelic cousins in service to God.

All of God’s creation is needed in resisting the evil which would destroy all things.  The wonderful good news is that we are not alone, and that they are struggling, standing against evil alongside us in ways we might never see.

But best of all we are not alone because, like the angels, we are surrounded by the strength and grace of the Crucified and Risen One who has overcome the world, overcome evil, overcome death – even if they don’t know it yet.  And that’s all we need for the courage to stand the ground on which we are planted, in the name of the grace and love of the Almighty God who made all things, seen and unseen, and whose love will ultimately bring all creation to wholeness and life.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

[1] Philip H. Pfatteicher, New Book of Festivals and Commemorations, Minneapolis: Fortress Press © 2008; p. 477.

Filed Under: sermon

The Olive Branch, 9/25/13

September 25, 2013 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

     I often disagree with the way my fundamentalist Christian friends think, but there is one concept they embrace that I do also.  That concept is the idea of a spiritual war going on, unseen by the living.  The Readings for St. Michael and All Angels makes this abundantly clear.  Jesus himself states in the Gospel how he saw “Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”  The angel who appeared to Daniel in the First Reading speaks of his struggle to reach him because of a twenty-one day spiritual battle in which he was assisted by Michael in order to get through with his message from God. And the Second Reading is about the spiritual war to end all spiritual wars in the Book of Revelation, in which Michael and his angels finally take down the dragon for good.

     Evil is manifested in our physical world – war, hunger, poverty, crime, dishonesty, corruption, oppression, self-centeredness, greed, hurtful and violent behavior toward one another- but it begins in the spiritual world.  I have witnessed so many good intentions go bad because of the spiritual evil to which human beings fall prey.  Marxism, for instance, is at its basis a vision of fairness and sustainability for all people, those who labor and those who rule.  But, because of the weakness of human desire to control the behavior of others, it turned into an oppressive and violent form of government in Communism.  How could such an idealistic vision of fairness and justice go so bad?  How can such an idealistic vision of  freedom and self-determination in Capitalism go so wrong, with one percent of the population of the United States ending up owning sixty percent of the wealth leaving forty-five million citizens living in poverty?  The only answer I could ever come up with is that evil is a spiritual force, ready to twist up good reasoning, attack good intentions, and cater to our weaknesses to have our way.

     Though we know through Scripture that evil will eventually lose, we can also be assured that evil will not have its way with us today, because of our salvation in Jesus.  Our relationship with God through prayer and reliance on Jesus is the most powerful way to win our battles with evil.  I believe that our nation is finding another way to resolve the civil war in Syria, because of the power of prayer.  Pope Francis’ call for a public gathering to pray and meditate for a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis turned the corner, but we must continually pray for peace in Syria and other hot spots. We must continually pray for human needs, the sustainability of our planet, and each other.  Faith and prayer are the most powerful weapons we possess in the spiritual battle against evil.

– Donna Neste

Sunday’s Adult Forum

• September 29: “Julian of Norwich’s Vision: Transforming Love,” presented by Brad Holt
• October 6: “What Can I Say?” presented by Allen Dundek


Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Blessing of Animals
Friday, October 4 + 7:00 pm
Bring your pets and your friends (and your friends’ pets!) to this annual service of blessing.

New Members To Be Received October 6

     At Mount Olive we welcome people who are at many different points in their Christian faith journey.  That welcome is expressed in any number of ways.  Some folks need a place to worship coming and going quietly. We provide that.  Some seek friendship within a community of Christian believers with whom they share common faith convictions. We work at doing that. Some need to observe for a while to see if what is said about and within this community of faith is reality. That is just fine with us. Some desire a place where they can more fully share their faith and live lives of service.  That is Mount Olive, too.  To have a place to officially call my church” is important for many people of faith. Mount Olive is that.  What works for you is fine with us.

      If you are seeking a place to call your church home, we welcome you at Mount Olive.  New members will be received on October 6, 2013, during the second liturgy.  A welcome brunch will follow the liturgy for new members, their guests, and Mount Olive members.  

     If you are interested in becoming a member at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, please contact the church office at welcome@mountolivechurch.org or 612.827.5919. You may also speak with Andrew Andersen, Director of Evangelism, or contact him at andrewstpaul@gmail.com or 763-607-1689.   Pastor Crippen is also available to discuss membership. He can be reached at 612.827.5919 or via e-mail at pastor@mountolivechurch.org.

Follow Mount Olive on Facebook and Twitter

     Have you liked Mount Olive on Facebook yet? Are you following us on Twitter? If not, we encourage you to! We are now using these sites to spread the word about events, sermons, Bible studies, and other things happening at Mount Olive. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MountOliveMpls or on Twitter at twitter.com/MountOliveMpls.

Way to Goals Tutoring to Begin Soon

     Tuesday, October 1st is the first day of our school year program, Way to Goals Tutoring, and we meet most Tuesday evenings after that until the last Tuesday in May.  We begin at 7:00 p.m. with an hour of tutoring followed by a half hour activity and snack time, and ending at 8:30 p.m.

     If you would like to help as a volunteer tutor of one or two elementary school students, call Donna Neste at Mount Olive for all the details.

 Freedom of the Christian: Bible Study on Thursday Evenings

     The first Thursday Bible study series of this year began last Thursday, Sept. 19, and it runs for six weeks.  Meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Pr. Crippen is leading a study of the book of Galatians, one of Paul’s most vital and important letters.  As usual, there will be a light supper when we begin.  All are welcome to this study opportunity!

Te Deum laudamus: Let us praise God: A Hymn Festival Celebration in Honor of Paul Westermeyer

     Join Master of Sacred Music graduates as they come together to thank Paul, wish him well in his retirement, and celebrate the gift of music. This hymn festival will be held this Saturday, September 28, at 4:00 p.m. at the Chapel of the Incarnation in the Olson Campus Center at Luther Seminary, St. Paul.

     Featured participants will be musicians James Bobb, Catherine Rodland, John Ferguson, and Mark Sedio, with reflections by Susan Palo Cherwien. Plan to come and sing, and bring your friends!

Mount Olive Greeting Cards

     A set of three greeting cards with photographs taken around Mount Olive Lutheran Church have been designed by Paul Nixdorf. Cards will be available for purchase at church on Sunday mornings.

     Single cards are priced at $2.50 each.  For quantity of 5 or more the purchase price is $1.75 each.  Pricing covers production costs. The cards are being made available through sponsorship by the Evangelism Committee.

Book Discussion Group
     Mount Olive’s Book Discussion group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. at church. For the October 12 meeting they will discuss The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, and for November 9, Parade’s End, by Ford Madox Ford.

Theology on Tap

     Theology on Tap is a group at Mount Olive that meets once a month at local bars/restaurants to enjoy a good beverage and dialogue about faith and life (no preparation or book reading is required, only your personal insight).  Everyone is welcome to join in the conversation!  Contact Lisa Nordeen (brwgrl@gmail.com) if you would like to join us or have questions about Theology on Tap!

Upcoming Event Details:
Where: Mosaic Cafe, 3019 Minnehaha Avenue just south of East Lake Street
When: Thursday, October 3, 7:30-9:30pm
Discussion Topic:  Prayer – scripted, contemplative, spontaneous…
Facebook: Mount Olive Theology on Tap – “Like” the page to get more updates!

Coat Confusion?

     A light, longish khaki-colored trench coat has been languishing in my closet for lo, these many months (since spring?).  With the advent of cooler weather I got it out to wear to church and discovered the coat in my closet is not mine!  Is someone missing a woman’s coat of this description? I have since returned this coat of mistaken identity to the church coat room.

     And has anyone made the same mistake I did?  Mine is a short coat of the above description with a hood.  If it were to miraculously appear in the church coat closet, I would be most thankful and happy.
– Eunice Hafemeister

The Snack Chart is Up

     Fall is here and on October 1 the Way to Goals Tutoring Program will begin for this year.  The snack chart is up for those who would like to support our tutoring program by signing up to bring a snack and beverage for 25 students and tutors.  You will find it on the Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board by Donna Neste’s office in the Undercroft.  If you have any questions feel free to call Donna at church 612-827-5919.

An Afternoon of Music

     Recently, our Flentrop chamber organ has been installed in its new home, The Baroque Room in Lowertown, St. Paul. The organ has recently been voiced to baroque chamber pitch by The Dobson Organ Company.

     All are invited to a gala opening afternoon of music on Sunday, October 6, beginning at 3:00 pm. Featured artists include Jacque Ogg, Henry Lebedinsky, Asako Hirabayashi, Paul Boehnke, Bruce Jacobs, Don Livingston, and Tami Morse. A reception will follow the music.

     The Baroque Room is located on the second floor of the Northwestern Building in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood at 275 E. 4th St., Suite 280, St. Paul, MN  55101.
– Elaine and Art Halbardier

Please Schedule Your Photo Session Appointment

     We have now complete photo sessions for about 30% of the households at Mount Olive. Thank you for your response so far!

     We want to encourage you if you have not yet signed up, to call in the next week to make your appointment to have your photo taken before October 15, 2013. You may also sign up this coming Sunday after both liturgies.

     If you cannot locate your letter or the e-mail regarding the procedure, please call the church office or send an e-mail to welcome@mountolivechurch.org, and we will direct you to the appropriate person to help with scheduling your photo session.

Behind the Scenes at Mount Olive

     A major THANK YOU from the Property Committee and the Aesthetics Committee for some major work that has been done recently to restore, repair and beautify Mount Olive.  If you ever wander through the back hallways, entries, and stairs of Mount Olive you will see the beginning of some much needed work to repair and upgrade those not so visible parts of our building.  Members of Mount Olive and our guests are moving throughout our building and often we forget that the passageways need to be kept looking as inviting as our main meeting areas.

     1.  Mark Pipkorn led a team including John Gidmark and Tim Pipkorn in a major project of resurfacing and refacing the large back entry ramp and steps.  This was no simple project and while enduring high heat and humidity they have brought that important entry to our building totally up to date and made an inviting portal to Mount Olive.

     2.  Over the next few weeks you will see work proceeding on transforming the Narthex into a brighter more inviting space.  New carpeting to the balcony and lighting will soon be installed. Thanks to Brian Jacobs for his help in ordering materials and coordinating installations for this project.  In anticipation of the new carpet, Steve Pranschke, Bob Lee, John Meyer, and Sue Ellen Zagrabelny took on scrubbing down the years of accumulated dirt and grime on the walls leading upstairs to the balcony.  Thank you!

     3.  The back passageway leading from the East Assembly room to the main church had been painted a dark orange color, possibly from when the Education building was added in the mid 1950’s.  That was until Victor “Michelangelo” Gebauer transformed this dark and ominous space into a bright, vibrant passageway.  Thank you, Victor!
     4.  In a not-so-behind-the-scenes project, you may have noticed that Mount Olive now owns, thanks to the Foundation, a large 55” flat screen TV on a convenient stand with an upgraded sound system and it’s own laptop so anyone can use the large monitor for presentations.  Thank you to Andrew Andersen for getting the entire unit assembled and to David Molvik for programming and setting up the computer.

     We also owe thanks to the Mount Olive Foundation and the Mount Olive members who helped to put in place other recent additions: hanging the Christina Habibi art exhibit mounted in the Chapel Lounge and west reception area, and new artwork in the Office, and also the bicycle racks installed near the Chicago Avenue entrance.  Special thanks to Paul Nixdorf for acquiring and mounting the beautiful artwork.

     We hope you will take an opportunity to check out these projects! Thanks again to everyone who gives so much time to help keep Mount Olive a beautiful and prayerful worship space.

Filed Under: Olive Branch

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MOUNT OLIVE LUTHERAN CHURCH
3045 Chicago Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55407

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