moadmin – Page 65

The Olive Branch, 1/15/14

January 15, 2014 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

What’s Next?

Come Sunday our worship life enters another quiet spell, Sundays with green paraments and no incense, Sundays where we don’t process the Gospel into the middle of the nave for the reading. It is the season after Epiphany, and it’s a little welcome after a run of festivals which began in November, with only Advent to break it up a little.

But what will these weeks be like for us when we don’t have feast days to celebrate, when we have a simpler Eucharistic liturgy? The season of Epiphany is one which focuses on vocation, on the call of disciples, on our call as disciples. It’s a season which begins at the shore of the Sea of Galilee and ends on the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration. We have a long Epiphany this year, since Easter is so late, and that means we’ll also start getting into readings like the summer readings, Gospels which introduce the teaching of Jesus.

We’re in Matthew’s year, so after the next two weeks of call stories, we move into several weeks of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus will call us to be a light to the world, salt to season the world. He will challenge us to live by the spirit of God’s law, to follow the commandments to their fullest intent, to the thoughts of our hearts and minds. Jesus will command us to love our enemies and all who hate us. In short, we will be learning that this life as a disciple isn’t easy, that it asks a great deal of us. Alongside Jesus, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus will repeat both our call as children of God and what our lives of faith will look like, doing justice, caring for the poor, obeying God in all things.

This might seem daunting, but in fact we should be grateful. Were we only to hear of the call of the disciples and never what the life of the disciple is meant to be in God’s eyes, we’d be in danger of being misled. We will have ample opportunity to consider the “truth in advertising” that our Lord Jesus provides as we worship during these weeks. As we consider our call, our vocation, it will be good to hear what that will mean, lest we commit without true willingness to follow through.

But we also remember this: considering our vocation is the annual work of the Epiphany season, but the Epiphany season begins with, well, Epiphany. Our call as disciples, our life in Christ envisioned by Christ himself and supported by the prophets, all this begins and is centered on the astonishing Light God has shined into the darkness of our world, all this is grounded in our awareness that in Christ God has come to be with us. This life to which we are called, challenging as it is, is a life lived in light, not darkness, in love, not hate, and as such is a life lived in God’s grace and presence, where we’re given the power, the ability to become children of God ourselves. It’s life worth living, challenge or not. That’s the true grace of these green weeks.

Oh, and should any be missing our festivals, this year Presentation of Our Lord (Feb. 2) falls on a Sunday, so in the midst of the green we’ll put on the white once again and celebrate. But let’s pray that the green of this season truly signifies the life in Christ to which we are invited and which we most earnestly hope to see come to pass in our lives.

In Christ,
– Joseph

Sunday Readings

January 19, 2014 – Second Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49;1-7 + Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9 + John 1:29-42

January 26, 2014 – Third Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49:1-7 + Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9 + John 1:29-42

Stories for the Journey: Thursday Evening Bible Study Returns January 16

Starting January 16 and running for six weeks, there will be a Thursday evening Bible study meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Pr. Crippen will lead a series on the parables of Jesus and how they provide us a vision of God’s reign. As with all these Thursday series, there will be a light supper when we begin. If anyone wishes to provide the first week’s meal, please let Pr. Crippen know.

Bible Study at Becketwood

Vicar Emily will offer a second run of the six- week Bible study on human suffering at Becketwood Cooperative on five Tuesday afternoons (January 7 through February 4) from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. This study examines the Biblical witness to suffering and who God is for us in the midst of that suffering. The meeting room at Becketwood changes each week, so announcements will be made at the study regarding the location of the following week. All are welcome!

Wedding Invitation

Because you welcomed us, celebrated with us, loved and encouraged us, we, Marty Hamlin and Cathy Bosworth, invite you to join us as we exchange our marriage vows.

The service will take place here at Mount Olive on Saturday, January 25, at 3:00 p.m. A reception follows immediately in the Undercroft.

Please, no gifts.

Neighborhood Ministry Position News

As previously announced, Mount Olive will hire an interim person to be the Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator from the time of Donna’s departure in March until a permanent replacement is hired in the fall. A position description for this interim position is being finalized and will be ready for distribution next week. If you are interested in the position or know of someone who would be interested, please contact the church office ASAP. Cha will take names and contact information, including email if possible, and then send out the position details next week. This is work that would be eligible for job-sharing. For any questions, contact Lisa Nordeen.

2013 Contribution Statements

Year-end contribution statements for 2013 are being mailed from the church office to all contributors this week.

If you do not receive your statement, please contact the church office and another will be sent or emailed to you.

Book Discussion Group

On January 18 (one week late due to Liturgical Conference) the Book Group will discuss Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively, and on February 8, The Bell, by Iris Murdoch.

Church Library News

For many, a new year provides a new beginning, a new challenge or focus with many assurances that our Lord is there to guide and support us each step along the way. This means we can live with a sense of spontaneity and tranquility — what a blessing! However, there are others who do not find a new year to be especially happy or peaceful. They may be facing a myriad of difficulties, including illness, depression, loneliness, and for those who are long-time caregivers (I remember those days/years well) a very real sense of weariness. It is for those particularly that our newest display of books in the library was developed but everyone is encouraged to stop in soon to browse. Included are:

• Anatomy of An Illness (as perceived by the patient), by Norman Cousins
• Make Your Illness Count (a hospital chaplain shows how God’s healing power can be released in your life), by Vernon J. Bittner
• Christian Caregiving: A Way of Life, by Kenneth C. Haugh
• Caregiving for Your Loved Ones, by Mary Vaughn Armstrong
• Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired, by Philip L. Hansen
• Emotions: Can You Trust Them?, by Dr. James Dobson
• Living With Cancer, by Mary Beth Moster
• Journey Through Cancer (My Story of Hope, Healing and God’s Amazing Faithfulness), by Emilie Barnes
• We Lived With Dying, by Margaret Woods Johnson
• Meeting Life’s Challenges, edited by Ted Miller
• Being a Caring Father, edited by Ted Miller

The closing quote this time is by Rita Dover — “The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world.”
– Leanna Kloempken

Annual “Taste of” Festival to Be Held February 9

Mark your calendar for Sunday, February 9! This year’s “Taste of” will take us to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras celebration for Lutheran Volunteer Corps. In places like New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated over the weeks ahead of “Fat Tuesday.” So let’s kick off Mardi Gras right with gumbo, jambalaya, slaw, dirty rice, and other fare. (And this event will be a good bookend for the Fat Tuesday pancake dinner, planned with our youth.)

We will celebrate and learn about the work of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC), one of the supported missions of Mount Olive through our congregational giving. Each year, the Lutheran Volunteer Corps provides opportunities for young adults and others to complete a year of full-time service work at select nonprofits in cities across the country, including Minneapolis and St. Paul. During their year of service, participants live in community and have opportunities to reflect on their commitments, their spiritual journeys, and the ways they hope to put their values into practice.

We will be joined during the adult forum by the Regional Director of LVC, the Development Director, and several current and past volunteers. Then after the second service, head downstairs for the Mardi Gras meal.

The Missions Committee is still looking for people to cook an item and bring it to church for the meal on Sunday, February 9, and we are still looking for help in decorating and setting up the day before “Taste of.” If you can help, please e-mail Paul Schadewald, at pschadew@yahoo.com

All are welcome at “Taste of Mardi Gras.” Bring friends!

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Festival Worship

The RIC Team of Reconciling Works-Lutherans Concerned/Twin Cities invites all people to join with members of RIC churches across the metro area for our ninth annual Metro Area Festival worship on Saturday, January 25, 2014, 4:30 p.m. at Lake Nokomis Lutheran Church, 5011 31st Ave S., Minneapolis. The Rev. Jen Nagel will preach.

The RIC program rosters Lutheran congregations that welcome and affirm LGBT persons in their full sacred worth. Both the Minneapolis and Saint Paul Area Synods are RIC Synods along with dozens of RIC worshiping communities. Please join us in this Word and Sacrament celebration of the welcome we extend to the whole people of God. A light supper will follow the service.

All are welcome!

The Olive Branch, 1/8/14

January 8, 2014 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

The Baptism of our Lord

We begin this time after Epiphany in the same way in which we will end. This Sunday, the Baptism of our Lord, and again on the Transfiguration of our Lord, we will hear God say: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” God the Father only speaks two times directly in the gospel of Matthew, and both times God makes it clear to us who Jesus is: he is the Son of God, and in him, God is fully present.

These words, however, don’t only reveal who Jesus is; they tell us who we are.

Tara was one of my most influential friends in high school; her witness is always with me. At the age of 16, Tara’s father asked her to move out of the house because taking care of her meant that he couldn’t do the things that he wanted to do or live the way that he wanted to live. Tara’s mother agreed to take her in as long as Tara paid her rent. It was evident to Tara that she was not wanted, and she was sure that her parents weren’t the only ones who felt this way. If only she were sweet enough, generous enough, thoughtful enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, fun enough, then people might love her. She spent her adolescent life working to win this love.

One summer at Bible camp, she found what she was looking for.

At worship Wednesday night that week, the whole camp gathered at the lake. In remembrance of our baptisms we went to the water’s edge, and our counselor made the sign of the cross on our forehead, saying the familiar words, “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”

At these words, Tara wept. That night at worship, Tara connected with her baptism in a way that she never had before. She whispered to me: “Now I know for sure that I am loved. I know who I belong to.”

Tara, like all of us, needed to be reminded. How often we seek meaning and identity in people and things that will not satisfy! Searching, hoping to find the affirmation for which we long.

We need look no further. In our baptism, God has claimed us as God’s own. God proclaims to us: “You are mine, beloved. I am pleased with you.”

As we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, we hear again Jesus’ true identity, and we are reminded of our own. In life and in death, we belong to the Lord.

– Vicar Emily Beckering

Sunday Readings

January 12, 2014 – The Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 42:1-9 + Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43 + Matthew 3:13-17

January 19, 2014 – Second Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 49;1-7 + Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9 + John 1:29-42

Conference on Liturgy: This Weekend!

By now you should have received the brochure for this year’s Conference on Liturgy, to be held January 10-11, 2014. The theme of this year’s conference is, “The Psalms: Humanity at Full Stretch.”

The conference begins with a hymn festival on Friday, January 10, at 7:30 p.m. Leadership for the hymn festival this year will be by the Mount Olive Cantorei, Cantor David Cherwien, and the Rev. Dr. Don Saliers. Don Saliers will be the keynote speaker for the conference this year, and will also be guest preacher at Mount Olive that Sunday for the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, January 12.

Please note that the cost for Mount Olive members to attend this year’s conference is $35/person.

Hymn Festival, This Friday, January 10

Mount Olive is offering its annual hymn festival (connected to the Conference on Liturgy) Friday, Jan 10 at 7:30. This event is open to the public, and you do not need to be registered for the conference activities on Saturday in order to attend. The more singers the merrier! The program will be led by the Cantorei and Cantor Cherwien, with reflections by guest theologian Donald Saliers, Professor Emeritus at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

The theme is “Psalm Dimensions” and focuses on various aspects of the Psalter, singing a variety of Psalms (in a variety of ways!) and hymns around the same topic. Themes include praise, lament, comfort, narration, supplication, thanksgiving and hope. Well known hymns as well as some new ones will be sung – also in a variety of ways.

The hymn festival format was firmly established by Cantor Paul Manz, and is now a tradition practiced many places. Our continuing these events is an important contribution to the church and its song. Bring friends!

Stories for the Journey: Thursday Evening Bible Study Returns January 16

Bible Study at Becketwood

Vicar Emily is offering a second run of the six- week Bible study on human suffering at Becketwood Cooperative on five Tuesday afternoons (January 7 through February 4) from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. This study examines the Biblical witness to suffering and who God is for us in the midst of that suffering. The next session will be in the West Dining Room at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14. The meeting room at Becketwood changes each week, so announcements will be made at the study regarding the location of the following week. All are welcome!

It’s Cold! Think Warm!

The May Day Parade needs us! Add the parade on May 4, 2014 (first Sunday in May) to your calendar now and plan to come to the May Day Parade. Bring your wagon and water and join the rest of our neighborhood for a good time. We will walk Bloomington Avenue to Powderhorn Park. All of our neighbors will be there, so let’s plan to be there, too!

Every Church a Peace Church January Meeting

Every Church a Peace Church’s bimonthly potluck supper meeting will be held on Monday, January 13, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. at Spirit of St. Stephen’s Catholic Community, 2201 First Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404.

The speaker this month is Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, and his presentation is entitled, “Maintaining Hope in Hard Times.” Pallmeyer is Associate Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He is an activist academic whose life and work over the past thirty has been have focused on addressing the political, economic, faith, and foreign policy dimensions of hunger and poverty.

This event is organized by Every Church A Peace Church, and co-sponsored by Twin Cities Peace Campaign and WAMM End War Committee. FFI: Call 612-522-1861 and/or visit them online at http://www://groups.yahoo.com/group/MnECAPC/messages.

Neighborhood Ministry Position News

As previously announced, Mount Olive will hire an interim person to be the Neighborhood Ministries Coordinator from the time of Donna’s departure in March until a permanent replacement is hired in the fall. A position description for this interim position is being finalized and will be ready for distribution next week. If any member of the congregation is interested in the position, or might know of someone who would be interested, please contact the office ASAP. Cha will take names and contact information, including email if possible, and then send out the position details next week. This is work that would be eligible for job-sharing. For any questions, contact Lisa Nordeen.

Book Discussion Group

On January 18 (one week late due to Liturgical Conference) the Book Group will discuss Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively, and on February 8, The Bell, by Iris Murdoch.

Help for Victims of the Cedar/Riverside Explosion/Fire

The Minneapolis Area Synod invites prayers for the Cedar-Riverside victims and the neighborhood as it recovers from the New Year’s Day explosion and fire.

Trinity Lutheran has been organizing ways in which help can be given. Donations of food and clothing can be made at the Brian Coyle Community Center at 420 15th Street, or through Trinity Lutheran Congregation, 2001 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454.

Financial donations may be made through the Brian Coyle Community Center online at http://www.puc-mn.org/donate – note “Cedar-Riverside Fire Disaster Relief”. Financial donations may also be made through Trinity Lutheran Congregation; write “Fire Disaster Relief” on the memo line. Donations will go to the survivors of the fire and their families and to the family-owned business that was destroyed.

For updates, check the Minneapolis Area Synod Facebook page.

Mount Olive T-Shirts

Gail Nielsen is selling Mount Olive t-shirts for $7 each. These shirts come in small, medium, large (red, black, royal blue, purple), and extra large (red, royal blue). These shirts will be sold until they are gone, at which time different colors could be ordered if desired.

If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please contact Gail Nielsen (gmninmpls@hotmail.com).

Thank you

We would like to thank everyone for welcoming the extra visitors who came to witness our marriage at the Advent 3 worship. It was a joy to share Mount Olive through music, liturgy, and welcoming. We thank you for the deeply meaningful experience of being held by you on that day. And our thanks to everyone that helped with the food and organization that comes with a big crowd; it is especially appreciated.

– Randy Werner and Peter Tressel

Disaster and Refugee Support

Thank you to Mount Olive for supporting the ELCA’s call for contributions to support those affected by the typhoon and Syrians uprooted by war. Individual Mount Olive members responded by contributing approximately $2,700 toward the ELCA’s efforts to provide typhoon assistance and $150 toward the ELCA’s support for Syrian refugees.

Found by a Star

January 7, 2014 By moadmin

We, like the Magi, are called to seek Jesus in the world. We trust that the Triune God is leading us and knows us well enough to call us in ways that we can recognize.

Vicar Emily Beckering, The Epiphany of Our Lord; text: Matthew 2:1-12

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

All of the great wise men of history have made their discoveries. Here are a few: Sir Isaac Newton: the Laws of Motion and Universal Gravitation. Benjamin Franklin: electricity. Ibn al-Shatir—not Copernicus—planetary motion.

And there is a fair share of wise women, too. Marie Curie conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. Maria Mitchell discovered a comet and that sunspots were an independent phenomenon and not a type of cloud. Barbara McClintock: the technique for visualizing maize chromosomes and for microscopic analysis to demonstrate many fundamental genetic ideas.

And the Wise Men whom we hear of on this and every Epiphany? They are credited for discovering the Star of Bethlehem. These Wise men—or Magi—these astrologers are the only ones, it seems, who notice this star and pay attention to what it means: a king is born to the Jews. But they are not Jews; their questions to Herod convey this. Although they understand that a significant king has been born, they do not know where or comprehend fully what this king means for the Jews. What they do know is this: a king unlike any other king has been born and only one thing can be done: they must travel to meet this king for themselves.

It would have been easy for them, upon seeing the star rise, to celebrate their own cleverness. It would have been easy for them to take credit for the discovery of this star and use it to bring themselves glory and recognition by interpreting its meaning in front of kings and rulers in their land. It would have been easy for them to record this sighting and their interpretation of the rising star, and then move on to making their next discovery. It would have been easy—reasonable even—for the Magi to do any of these things. It would have made much more sense for them to record their findings and move on, or to rejoice among themselves, than it would for them to pack up and set out to find this king without knowing exactly where they were going or what awaited them along the way. It would have been safer—smarter according to most wisdom—to stay put.

But they do not. This revelation demands a different kind of response from them; they are not content to go on with their lives as usual. They must see this king for themselves. They are moved to make a journey, and a long one, most likely, in order to be with this king. They move toward this star even before they completely understand it, even before they know exactly where it is leading them or what difficulties they might face along the way. They go out, searching, trusting, and moving forward toward the sign given to them.

By responding in this way, these Magi, these outsiders show us insiders the way of discipleship.

They teach us that the good news given to us, the good news that we have heard throughout this Christmas—that God loves us, has come to live with us, to be with us, and has made us God’s own children—all of this good news cannot stop with our hearing it. We cannot be content with cherishing this news in our hearts, or with letting its only effect in our lives to be that it fills us up today so that we can return to business as usual tomorrow. The discovery of the birth of Jesus draws the Magi out of the comfort of everything that they know, and draws them toward Jesus. They realize that they really only have one option: they must trust the sign that they have been given and follow it. They must go where this king is.

The beckoning that God extends to the Magi is the same call that we receive. There is really only one option open to us as well: we must go where Jesus is. We, too, are called out of ourselves, called out of safety and security, called out to seek our Lord Jesus in this world, and to follow where he leads us. We do not live faithfully if we do not go out where we are sent or follow where God leads us.

As is true for the Magi, responding to God’s beckoning will lead us on a path that is not without danger. By setting out to follow the star, and seeking the newborn king, the Magi expose themselves to unknown threats: threats like the potential wrath of Herod, and the dangers of robbery and exposure in the wilderness along the open road. Certainly, if we are following where God leads us, then we will also encounter the dangers of this world because the way of Christ, as we know, is the way that leads to the cross.

But following this beckoning will also lead to joy that we could not have fathomed. The Magi would not have been able to experience the joy of being in the presence of God if they had not set out on the journey or if they had allowed obstacles along the way to deter them. If they had allowed the fact that the Jews in Jerusalem and Bethlehem—this king’s own people—did not recognize him, to make them doubt the star that they themselves had witnessed, they would not have beheld the joy of being in God’s presence.

If we learn any wisdom from these Wise Men, it is that in our life of faith together, we as a congregation must seek God in the world in order to be with our Lord, even when this seeking goes against our reason, requires us to make different decisions than business models would suggest, or calls us into uncharted territory. In order to respond faithfully to the Word that Christ has come into the world, we must go out into that world to be with him.

If we take this call on our lives seriously, then the question becomes: how will we know where Christ is or where we are being led? In response to this question, the story of Epiphany gives us very good news. The way of faith, the power to move forward and to follow Jesus where he is, doesn’t begin with us. The Wise Men were given the star as a sign: God was able to call them in a way that they could recognize.

In the history of Israel, it was not typical for God to communicate God’s will or Word through the stars. Instead, God most often spoke directly through people like Moses, King David and the prophets and preferred to be known in the context of relationship with them. By contrast, astrologers, diviners, and interpreters of dreams are often spoken against in both the Old and New Testaments. According to the whole of scripture, those who study the stars or dreams for meaning are not to be trusted, and God’s people are commanded not to participate in these practices so that they will not be led astray to worship false gods. Yet, for these Magi, these astrologers, God uses what they know to draw them to the One whom they don’t yet know. God uses the stars to reach these people who study the stars. God gives dreams to warn these people who interpret dreams. God speaks to the Magi in their own language.

These Wise Men might not have known God, but God knew them. God knew their ways and their hearts, and God knew how to get through to them. God saw to it that these people from the East were drawn in close to their king and savior so that they too might know and see and love the God who loved them. It wasn’t the Wise Men who made the discovery after all: they didn’t find God. When they saw the star, they were the ones who were found.

We, like the Magi, have also been found by God and drawn into God’s own family through Christ. Although we can never comprehend the mystery of God, and we might not yet know where God is leading us or what form our ministry in this city will take, we do know that we belong to a God who knows us. We also know from the prayer and discernment of our visioning process that God is calling us to work. We don’t have to have all the answers or everything figured out before we set out into this work because God knows us and God knows how to reach us.

This is not to say that this is all about us or that God feeds into our preoccupation with ourselves. Rather, in telling us this story and giving us this gospel, Matthew testifies that the Creator of the universe and all of its stars is also the God who comes to us as this baby, and the God who has the hairs of our head counted. This God knows us well enough to know how best to reach us. As God did for the Hebrews with the prophets and with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and as God did for the Magi with the star over Bethlehem, God will also lead us and call us in ways that we can recognize. We will know the sound of God’s voice.

God the Father is out ahead of us, ever-drawing us in, God the Son, our bright and morning star, guides us by his light, and God the Holy Spirit will give us both the wisdom to recognize Christ and the strength to follow him.

We do not yet know what the new year will bring for us here at Mount Olive or where we might be led. We know only that God is leading us, God’s love is supporting us and that our God goes out before us and with us. That is enough. With that, we can go out with courage.

Amen.

To those who received him

January 5, 2014 By moadmin

Adopted as children of God, inheritors of God: these are our titles, our promise, but in fact they are also our identity, our reality, and our life in Christ is the Spirit’s making the Incarnation live in us for the sake of the world.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Second Sunday of Christmas; texts: John 1:(1-5) 10-18; Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-14

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

Though it doesn’t always happen the same way, and sometimes there are divergent behaviors and personalities, quite often it is true to say that children grow up and are imitations of their parents. Behavior traits, patterns of thinking, even quirks of speech, children learn and copy from those who rear them, who love them, who teach them. It’s a remarkable thing, but the more important inheritance we receive from our parents is what we learned from them, for good or for ill, and how that affects who we are in the world, far more than any material inheritance.

We sometimes seem to forget this when we consider our claim that we are children of God. Paul, in this introduction to the letter to the Ephesians, speaks of the believers being adopted as children, receiving their inheritance in Christ, which we sometimes think of as limited to receiving life after we die. But if we read the entirety of this letter it’s clear that the true inheritance is not as much about life after death as it is a life lived as Christ, in imitation of and filled with the Spirit of our Lord Jesus, a life which is lived now and, in Christ’s resurrection, after we die, both. “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received,” Paul will say later. And, “you once were darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

As we continue in our celebration of the birth of the Son of God, then, we are confronted by the very truth that gives us hope: we are children of God but are called to live as if that were true. To imitate our sibling Jesus with our lives. And when we consider what we hear today about what the coming of God into the world is supposed to do, what we claim the Triune God began in coming in this child Jesus, we also are faced with the truth that the only way that all this will be accomplished is if the rest of God’s children start living as this Child, this Son of God, showed us how. If we start looking like our Brother.

This is pretty important, because what Jeremiah promises today about what God is doing is something we desperately need in this world.

Jeremiah’s promise here is that God will come and save.

Salvation for those in exile – the context of these words – is restoration, the gathering of the scattered. And that’s what God promises: those scattered all over the world will be brought back from all the coastlands far away, like a shepherd gathers a flock.

Those who are not whole – from the blind to the lame, and any other pain or infirmity, physical, spiritual, emotional, any ailment we could add – will be brought back, too. Their brokenness will not bar them from coming. Our brokenness will not bar us from coming.

And all will walk by brooks of water for refreshment, the prophet declares, and on straight paths so they won’t stumble. And joy will be the word of the day: celebration, feasting, merriment, dancing. Mourning turned into joy. Sorrow turned into comfort. God’s people will be brought together as one, under the care of the shepherd, and all will be well. This is the promise.

Now it’s likely that these words were chosen to be read on the Second Sunday of Christmas because they speak of the messianic reign which we see fulfilled in Jesus. But just as we heard such promises in Advent, and realized that we haven’t seen this yet, we see that here, too.

God’s people aren’t gathered together in joy, they’re scattered. Even if we limit that group only to Christians, which isn’t warranted at all by this text, we are as divided as a body of over a billion could be. Though we all confess that Jesus is God’s Son, we find much to separate us.

And all the rest of God’s people, those who don’t recognize Jesus this way, but believe in God, or don’t even believe in God, well, we’re separated from them, too, barely recognizing them as sisters and brothers at times.

So the picture of God’s children gathered together in unity, walking on safe paths, fed, fulfilled, in God’s care, well, that hasn’t happened yet.

But before we complain that God hasn’t done it, or that Jesus isn’t really fulfilling it, we should look at John’s words for a moment (keeping Ephesians in mind as well). Because there’s something important about the Word becoming flesh that we often seem to miss.

John declares that God became one of us. But then he tells us that it’s so we, we, can become God’s children ourselves.

John says that all who receive this Word-made-flesh, who believe in him, are given power to become children of God, born not of anything but of God. That’s amazing. Because we haven’t always understood the Incarnation that way.

We recognize that God became one of us, dwelled among us, literally “pitched a tent” with us. But we usually limit that to Jesus: Jesus is God-with-us, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is God’s answer to the world’s problems. And that’s true.

But in the same place that John tells us that about Jesus, he says that we, too, are made children of God. And in John’s words what is inescapable is that we are literally children of God like Jesus. Born not of human will or flesh and blood, John says, but of God.

Now of course we’re flesh and blood. But John also seems to be saying that because of Jesus, God-with-us, we, too, are God’s incarnation in the world ourselves. We have the power to become children of God. And that means we are God’s agents of promise, we are God’s hands to heal.

The Incarnation of the Son of God seems to have been only the beginning of God’s planned restoration. We’re the continuing of that plan, God’s Word continuing to be enfleshed in the world.

Now we say this a lot, that God works through us. But as we celebrate the birth of the Son of God, maybe we need to use that image for ourselves more as a way really to believe what we say.

You are a child of God. I am a child of God. Literally. Not figuratively.

So when God promises to heal the world, it isn’t only through Jesus. God’s intent, God’s plan, is that all of the children of God will participate, will make things new.

And then the promises of Jeremiah start making sense. If all God’s children are a part of the gathering of peoples in God’s love, part of the restoring of the creation, it’s almost easy to see how this new world God hopes for could come about.

Believing in the Son of God, receiving him, as John puts it, is anything but passive. It’s never about sitting back and rejoicing at the birth of Jesus, even his life, death and resurrection, and saying, “OK, when’s this world going to be fixed?” Even the disciples had to learn that, before the ascension.

It’s always about seeing this Son of God as the one who always turns to us and says, “Follow me,” who needs us to continue this healing, this restoration, this light in the darkness that cannot be overcome.

It’s about receiving him, literally, taking in this Word-made-flesh. In this first chapter of John, that’s the dividing line: “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him,” John says. “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”

And as for how this happens for each of us, I believe that it’s the case that God wants us to figure some of this out ourselves, and make a difference.

God needs our ingenuity, our willingness, our hands. To make this plan truly be what God needs it to be, not imposed from above but joined in willingly by the very people God needs to save. The only way the restoration of the world can happen is if many are involved, and all their gifts are used.

But also by involving us in this healing and new life, it becomes how we’re going to grow and mature into the people God envisions us to be. When we live out our true calling as children of God, we are living into the fullness of what God intended in the first place by coming in person as one of us.

And I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’ve just done the easy part. The hard part is to come.

The easy part is to recognize who we are. The hard part is to live it. How do we take this from here and live it? How do we take seriously and joyfully that we are God’s incarnate children, we are filled with God’s Spirit, we are God’s answer for the world?

I don’t have all the answers, but I have a couple thoughts. It’s a new year, a good time to make a resolution. Here’s what God might suggest for us: when we see a difficulty, a problem, a challenge, something we’d like to see different, something we’d like God to make right, why don’t we first ask what we can do? What options we have, what wisdom we bring, what energy we can put to use? We’re not doing this alone: we are God’s children, and all our gifts come from God. God will give us all we need. But the willing heart, the joyful “I’ll help,” that God needs from us. So we can grow and mature. And so it all can get done.

And second, perhaps God might suggest this: that whenever we are considering how we live, what decisions we make, how we treat others; whenever we’re dealing with other people, looking at our own successes and failures, simply living, why don’t we first always remind ourselves of our true identity? Remind ourselves that we are in fact God’s children, not anything else, and let that profoundly shape us.

The good news is God’s got a plan. The good news is also that we’re a part of it. But the best news of all is that John says we’re “given the power” to become the children of God we are. The Spirit will fill us with all we need to live in this way, learn from our brother Jesus, become what we are made to be, and so change the world. God will help us to be the children we’re meant to be for the sake of the world, that’s a promise.

So let’s be about being who we are. That will be our Christmas gift to the world, wherever we are planted, wherever we go.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

The Olive Branch, 1/2/14

January 2, 2014 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

Presiding Bishop’s Christmas Message

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant.”

We all know the story. The shepherds traveled to Bethlehem and found the little Lord Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. But what I think we often overlook is what the shepherds did after they left the manger.

“When they saw this, they made known what had been told about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them” (Luke 2:17-18).

The shepherds shared the good news that God is now with us, has become one of us and remains with us, bringing abundant life to all. As we gather this Christmas to celebrate the birth of the Christ child and hear the wondrous story, let us join together as a church to proclaim the good news. “Christ the child was born for you!”

This time also marks the completion of our observance of over 25 years together in Christ as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We are a church that belongs to Christ, and we give thanks and praise to God for the many ways in which the coming of Jesus has blessed this church and our world.

It is all too easy for us these days to be constantly aware that this world is fraught with turmoil and danger. The same was true for the world in which Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus lived. But the ultimate hope for all people across all times is the hope God gives us in the Word made flesh, our Lord Immanuel.

“O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

Christmas blessings,
Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Sunday Readings

January 5, 2014 – Second Sunday of Christmas
Jeremiah 31:7-14 + Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14 + John 1:1-18

January 12, 2014 – The Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 42:1-9 + Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43 + Matthew 3:13-17

Thank you, thank you!

Many thanks to the people of Mount Olive for the generous Christmas gifts we received, and for all your kindness and support throughout the year! You are Christ to us in so many ways, and we are deeply grateful for you in our lives. Blessings and peace to you all in this new year in God’s care!

– The staff of Mount Olive: Emily Beckering, David Cherwien, Joseph Crippen, Donna Neste, Cha Posz, and William Pratley

Conference on Liturgy: Jan. 10-11, 2014

Please note that the cost for Mount Olive members to attend this year’s conference is $35/person.

Hymn Festival, Friday, January 10

Stories for the Journey: Thursday Evening Bible Study Returns January 16

Bible Study at Becketwood

Vicar Emily will offer a second run of the six- week Bible study on human suffering at Becketwood Cooperative on five Tuesday afternoons (January 7 through February 4) from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. This study examines the Biblical witness to suffering and who God is for us in the midst of that suffering. The first session will be in the East Dining Room at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 7. The meeting room at Becketwood changes each week, so announcements will be made at the study regarding the location of the following week. All are welcome!

Help with the Greens – Down They Come!

The taking down of the greens and trees will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 a.m. In particular, this last task requires a lot of hands, so having a good group come will make the work much easier.

Mount Olive T-Shirts

Book Discussion Group

On January 18 (one week late due to Liturgical Conference) the Book Group will discuss Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively, and on February 8, The Bell, by Iris Murdoch.

Brunch Brochure

In the brochure racks at Mount Olive is a small guide to recommended brunch places within, at most, three miles from the church. Most restaurants are within 1½ miles. If you notice deletions, additions, or corrections that need to be made to the brochure, please contact Susan Cherwien (scherwien@aol.com) sometime during the month of December, so that we can have the corrected version ready and available for our guests at this January’s Liturgical Conference.

Every Church a Peace Church January Meeting