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Be Kindled Already

August 14, 2022 By Pr. Joseph Crippen

Be kindled with the fire of the Spirit again, and God will help you be a part of the healing of all things. Even if you can’t often see it.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 20 C
Texts: Luke 12:49-56; Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

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

The fire was almost out for these people.

No flames, just fading red embers cooling. Their life of faith was sluggish, dull, stuck in malaise.

They used to be on fire. They heard the Good News and found the thrill of conversion and new community in Christ. Later, they went through a time of persecution. Some lost their property, some were imprisoned, but their fire of faith burned. Adversity banded them together, strengthened their faith.

But this community to whom Hebrews was written had cooled off considerably. Conversion and persecution were long past. They might be in the second or even third generation, and people do drift away. While those who remain just get tired. Too many problems in the world, with little to excite their faith, find hope in God’s leading.

That’s why an unknown preacher wrote Hebrews. It’s a sermon meant to fire up tired believers.

Today’s part is all about encouragement.

The preacher lifts up hero after hero from the past, beloved ones known from Scripture. Rahab, Gideon, Daniel, the widow of Zarephath. So many others. People who trusted God’s promises and lived faithful lives, served with courage and hope. Even in the face of persecution and death.

This preacher tells them to notice two things. First, all these heroes died before seeing the completion of God’s work in the world. But their trust in God wasn’t based on whether they experienced everything being made right again, or even anything good happening. Their trust was based on God’s faithfulness.

And second, these heroes are now this community’s cloud of witnesses. They’re running the race of faith and life, and these faithful witnesses are cheering them on.

So, the preacher exhorts, let’s run with perseverance the race set before us, releasing all the weight of despair and fear and anxiety and dread that drags us down. Be kindled again.

And now you see that Jesus’ desire to bring fire to the earth isn’t a threat.

Jesus feels the same as the preacher of Hebrews. After three years his disciples still aren’t getting it, still making mistakes, misunderstanding things. There’s been more and more opposition, so they’re getting anxious. And they can sense Jesus’ own growing weight of anxiety as he gets nearer and nearer to his death.

Are my followers ever going to be on fire for God’s reign? Are they ready for the setbacks and the challenges? They seem to want me to do everything. How can I get them aflame with passion for bringing God’s good news to all who desperately need it?

Jesus might also be anxious about you and me.

We’re a lot like the people of Hebrews. Most of us aren’t new converts, haven’t been persecuted. We can easily take our life of faith for granted. We can be sluggish, dull, as followers.

Partly because of the size of the problems in this world we know God wants us working on. Issue after issue, problem after problem. When you look at all the challenges in our society and can’t see much hope for changing even one of them, how do you stay charged up?

And partly for the same reason as the people of Hebrews. We live our lives of faith in our everyday, ordinary world. It’s hard to pay attention and listen to God’s voice all the time in a world where there are so many voices. It’ hard to stay excited for daily growth and challenges, to focus on all the good decisions we need to make. So we settle into patterns, habits, living our lives without much awareness of our life as Christ, for how we are vulnerable in our love, for changing the world. We just get up, do what we do in the day, go to bed, and repeat.

But Jesus says, “how I wish your fire was already kindled!” And don’t you wish that, too?

Except that will mean division, Jesus says.

If you’re fired up about your life in Christ, if the Spirit’s flame is burning in you to become more like Christ, to be a part of God’s healing and justice and mercy, that’s going to ruffle some feathers.

You know this. How many of us have stories of Thanksgiving dinners and family birthday gatherings where the division and tension over critical issues in our world was obvious and painful? How many have loved ones we don’t talk to about certain things, knowing it will get into fights and anger?

And it’s not just about politics, or even just about the United States. God’s desire for you and me and all God’s people to live in mercy and justice, to be safe and whole and loved and fed and sheltered, for all to know God’s abundant, rich life, all this is beyond your life and mine, beyond Minnesota or the U.S. God dreams this for all people.

And if the fire of the Holy Spirit draws you into that way of life, that path, that hope, you’re going to see some divisions. In families, yes. But even in the Christian faith. So many who bear Christ’s name are working against Christ’s way, God’s path the Spirit is firing us up to walk. They’re promoting hatred and destruction and oppression in the name of Christ.

Jesus would prefer all God’s children were together on the side of God’s mercy and justice, afire to work for the healing of all things. Right now, and maybe for a long time, it’s going to split people from each other. But he’d still prefer you’d be rekindled, alight with the Spirit for this work, this life.

So you and I come here every week to be relighted, rekindled.

We may not see the healing of all things, or even much of a small part, the preacher of Hebrews reminds us. But we’re following Jesus on his path and even our small part will make a difference. As Rabbi Rami Shapiro has said, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work. Neither are you free to abandon it.”[1] It is enough for you to be you, to be kindled with the Spirit to love as Christ in your place.

And remember, you and I, and all who love God’s justice and mercy and are led by God to Christ’s path, are not alone. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses of those who have gone before us, who now are joined by our brother, Gary, witnesses who know how hard it is to stay afire, how challenging the divisions can be, how daunting the world’s grief really is, and who are cheering you, and me, and all God’s faithful ones to keep at it.

We need God’s fire. There may be divisions. But in the Spirit we keep following Jesus on his path of faithfulness, trusting it is the way of life for all things, surrounded by witnesses cheering us on.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

[1] Rabbi Rami Shapiro, paraphrase and trope on a portion of the Pirke Avot (Sayings of the Fathers, Talmud)

Worship, August 14, 2022

August 13, 2022 By Pr. Joseph Crippen

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 20 C

We worship together as a community of God’s people, but also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, who encourage us in our faithful service.

Download worship folder for Sunday, August 14, 2022.

Presiding and Preaching: Pastor Joseph Crippen

Readings and prayers: Louise Lystig Fritchie, lector; David Engen, assisting minister

Organist: Cantor David Cherwien

Download the readings for next Sunday for this Tuesday’s noon Bible study.

Click here for previous livestreamed liturgies from Mount Olive (archived on the Mount Olive YouTube channel.)

Called and Ready

August 7, 2022 By Vicar at Mount Olive

God’s compassionate call pushes us to have readiness for the reign of God. We are to trust God’s calling and trust that God is a part of that calling.

Vicar Mollie Hamre
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, year C
Texts: Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, Luke 12:32-40

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

When rock climbing, you have two options: hang on tight and climb to the top of the wall–or fall off the wall.

Either way, the options are anxiety-inducing, forcing you to be ready for action. This is a situation I frequently find myself in when I go indoor rope climbing with my husband and brother. Rope climbing involves three important aspects: the climber, the belayer, and the rope that holds them together.

It is the belayer’s job to keep the climber safe by managing the rope supporting the climber through a pulley system connected to the ceiling. Trust between the belayer and climber is incredibly important because if, or when the climber falls, they are caught by the rope the belayer is in charge of.

The first time I climbed, I was anxious.

How am I to trust that I will be caught while 60 feet up in the air?

As I climbed up the wall, with my brother as the belay, I carefully chose where I wanted to put my hands and feet, making sure that I had everything under control, but the further up the wall I went, the more limited my options became.

I paused as I held on to the wall looking around, realizing as panic seized me: I would have to jump to the next place for my hand.

My arms started shaking, I slowly turned to look down at my brother. “You sure you got me?” I called down. My brother looked back and replied, “yes, you got this.” So, with my trembling arms, I jumped and reached for the next part of the wall. Despite my anxiety, I knew there was a wall ahead of me to climb and had to trust in my brother belaying on the ground.

“Do not be afraid Little Flock”

We hear these kind and comforting words from Jesus, amidst a backdrop of anxiety-inducing challenges. Sell your possessions, be dressed for action, and be ready: the son of God is coming at an unexpected hour. Although the statement of readiness feels uncomplicated, such as just climbing to the top of a wall, we know that there is a lot more that goes into following the call of discipleship. Jesus’s first statement about not being afraid gives us comfort as we enter into the discomfort of the text.

There are two parts to the Gospel reading. The first reminding us of the loving, parental connection that we have with the Triune God, while the second describes being ready at the door for action whether that be the return of a master or a thief in the night.

Take note, Jesus states his words of comfort at the beginning of the Gospel for a reason. If we hear only the statements of readiness and intensity, we have lost being told that God is with us. The Greek tense tells us that God is not in the action of giving God’s Reign, but it has already been given. Jesus is here with us, this is not something that is far off in the distance. You are dearly loved and held, now. God delights in us being a part of God’s reign, but we are faced with the question: how are we actively a part of it?

This is a question Abram knows far too well.

Abram has the knowledge that God walks with him and receives a similar message: “do not be afraid.” Yet, Abram has questions about an unsure future. How will God’s promises be fulfilled? What am I supposed to be doing right now to live out my calling? Who will be the heir of my house? God’s answer to Abram appears to be simple: come outside, look at the stars, and have faith and trust in the call as it comes. In the coming chapters, Abram appears skeptical of what God’s call means as Abram’s journey takes twists and turns. Did Abram see all of these promises fulfilled in his lifetime? No, but as Hebrews text, today says, he looked from a distance, saw, and greeted God’s promises.

So when we are anxious about our callings, how do we trust?

The first time I climbed with my brother being the belay, I climbed 5 ft into the air and asked if I could experience what it would feel like to let go. Obviously, this was a commitment that I still held some control over, but I needed the reassurance of knowing that he was there.

This is how trust and faith grow. So often faith is examined as a thing that we can acquire with enough knowledge or if we read enough, but when we shift faith into the lens of trusting, we see that it takes time, growth, bravery, and a community to uphold one another. The kind of alertness that Jesus speaks of is attention to one’s call that comes from seeking and trusting, living into the promise of God’s Reign. Jesus tells us that because we are loved, there is a call to action that comes as a result of living into this love. Trust, be alert to God knocking at your door: how does this call appear in your life? Does it come in the form of trust as you enter into a new career? Maybe it is risking perfectionism in order to change and learn. Or taking the jump being vulnerable in a relationship?

And what about when it feels as though God is not present?

One aspect that I did not anticipate when climbing was when I fell, I would experience a millisecond of free fall before the rope would catch. This millisecond fall could feel like years when trusting in the presence of God, whether that be long-term illnesses or major decisions that can impact for a lifetime.

Often the upward climb on the wall is a lot more intimidating than the option to stay on the ground. Abram knew that weight when looking at the intimidating expanse of the stars and we still know that today when we anxiously look at the world. Looking at the Gospel, we learn that trust and the anxiety that can come with it go hand-in-hand. God tells us to trust in how we are being called and if that anxiety arises, to look to God for guidance, even when we are unsure where God’s presence is. We do not know at what hour God appears, but what we do know is that we are to answer that call and to trust that God will catch us if or when we fall.

As I continue to go climbing, my anxiety is still there.

When I reach the top of my climbs and have to go back down, sometimes I am able to happily let go, trusting that the 60-foot drop will be taken care of. Other times, anxiety takes over and I ungracefully scratch at the wall with thuds on the way down. The consistent part is that either way, my brother, who is belaying me, brings me to the ground safely.

“Do not be afraid, little flock” God walks with you, being the solid ground as you climb. Be ready for ways that God will appear, have curiosity and courage to open the door, greeting the calling.

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