Blog – Page 150

Life Alert

November 28, 2021 By Vicar at Mount Olive

Even as the world is shaking, we stay alert and pray. Turning our head and hearts to the Triune God, who is bringing healing and transformation to our lives, communities, and world.

Vicar Andrea Bonneville
First Sunday of Advent, year C
Texts: Luke 21:25-36

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

There will be signs, Jesus says, signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the seas and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Shaken. Now that’s a descriptor for how the world feels these days. Shaking from distress among nations, displacement by terror, climate catastrophes, global pandemics, hate crimes, illnesses. Shaken by everything that traps us in fear and weighs down our hearts.

If you turned on the news in the past week, or were attuned to your community, you likely encountered something that shook you. Something that rattled your bones leaving you questioning how to put the fragmented pieces of our broken humanity together to make something whole, something filled with hope.

My mom watches the news at 5PM, 6PM, 10PM. When the news is on, she is attentive to it. A few weeks ago, while she was staying at our house, I learned she even puts a police scanner under her pillow as she falls asleep, white noise? I don’t know. My mom is the definition of “alert” when it comes to events taking place in her community.

I, on the other hand, stay as far away from the news as I can. Not so much news articles or public radio, but more so from the morning and nightly news in which in the first 5 minutes they introduce everything bad that is happening in the world only to suggest at the very end there will be an uplifting story. Like the duck, Quackers, and the dog, Max, who are best friends.

This method works and it gets me every time, even as a little kid I had to believe that there was something good happening somewhere. A way to steady myself. I want to cheer for something, and I will 100% cheer for Max, the dog, and Quackers, the duck, as they teach me about friendship.

The promise at the end—the animals, or the family reunion, or a new baby, or the heroic bystander— kept me steady and attentive through the more difficult headlines. But when I think about it, there was always good mixed throughout the “bad” news and even many of the feel-good stories stemmed from sadness and brokenness. Like in this case, Max and Quackers bonded only after they lost their sister and their best friend.

Our Gospel for today is like this. Giving us a highlight of all the bad things that are happening in the world only to suggest that if we are able to endure what is going on long enough, we will be able to turn our heads to see redemption. And hope that the brokenness that we see is only a part of our story.

What I’ve learned from my mom and her chronic news-watching is that if you stick with a story long enough, you are going to find hope some place in it. The antagonist does not and will not dominate the entire story.

Granted, sometimes you do need to change the channel or change your context if only briefly. Becaue if we turn off the news and ignore our community or get trapped in the worry or fear of the immensity of what’s going on in the world, we may become inactive or stuck.

Instead, Jesus challenges us to lift our heads and stay attuned, living alert to both the despair and hope that is all around us.

We can’t prevent the earth from being shaken by all the tragedies of this life. So, we stay alert in order to adapt. We walk through the shaking world pointing to signs of hope that are springing up all around us. Sometimes a broken foundation or even a crack makes room for something new to grow.

Our capacity to lean into the shakes are different for every one of us. But the point of it all is that we need to be attuned to the needs of our neighbors and the ways God is stirring within us. Some of us can stay alert 24/7 and others need to find different ways to engage.

Changing our perspectives is exactly what Jesus is instructing us to do today. Turning our heads to see the way the incarnate God is being revealed in our humanity and all of creation.

Turning towards our community and seeing the ways that neighbors are caring for neighbors. Contributing to building communities that go against the pattern of individualism and put community in the center. Realizing that our actions can have a significant impact on current and future generations. Living into our full potential to be agents of change, and hope, and healing.

Turning toward the font and the table. Remembering our identity as God’s beloved and God’s promise to be with us. Going with open hands and hearts to receive God’s grace and mercy and be fed to go out in service and love to be Christ in the world.

Turning… even if you don’t know where you are going. For a step in a new direction can lead us to places we didn’t even know possible and show us something different than old patterns.

Turning to God in prayer. However prayer looks like for you. Opening our hearts to God and putting trust in God who promises to remain with us. Being gentle with ourselves and finding ways to rest and nourish our spirits.

In this season of waiting, and hoping, and anticipating, we stay attuned to what is shaking and breaking. For we know that hope will come, trees will bud, light will lead us, for the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ is the ultimate transforming good news at the beginning, during, and at the end of our lives.

Where our world, and our lives, and our communities are shaking, that is exactly where we can expect to find God. Bring healing to what is broken, love to what is hurting, and hope amid despair.

There will be signs, Jesus says. Signs in creation, in our neighbors, and in our communities of hope among the people alert to the cries of all creation. People will trust and hope for what is coming upon the world, new life, God with us, to heal and transform us all.

Amen.

Worship, November 28, 2021

November 27, 2021 By Pr. Joseph Crippen

The First Sunday of Advent, year C

In our worship we ask the Holy Spirit to help us keep awake, alert, and at work in Christ’s reign as we seek Christ’s coming into our world today.

Download worship folder for Sunday, November 28, 2021.

Presiding: Pastor Joseph Crippen

Preaching: Vicar Andrea Bonneville DeNaples

Readings and prayers: Brad Holt, lector; Judy Hinck, Assisting Minister

Organist: Cantor David Cherwien

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

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

Consider . . . Maggie

November 25, 2021 By Pr. Joseph Crippen

Trust in God’s love for you and the creation; all the rest will come from that.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Day of Thanksgiving, year B
Text: Matthew 6:25-33

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

Maybe Jesus didn’t have a dog.

When he wanted to encourage the crowds not to worry and to trust God for all things, he spoke of birds. They don’t plant seeds or harvest them or store them. But look, Jesus said, God feeds them. He spoke of flowers who don’t need to make clothing to look beautiful. God clothes them.

And of course he was saying that if God takes care of them, God will take care of you. But he also seems to suggest that they’re not worried about that.

Now, we don’t know about the inner life of birds. Do they worry where the next seeds will come from? And do flowers have feelings? Some studies suggest plants respond to music, to tone of voice. Do they have anxiety about whether they’ll burst forth in beautiful flower?

But if Jesus had a dog, this Gospel would make perfect sense to me.

So, I give you our little friend, Maggie.

Consider the Maggie of the house, Jesus could have said. She doesn’t make her meals (though if she ran freely, she’d try for a squirrel). But she looks to the food-giver, Mary, with hope and expectation each time 6 comes around on the clock. She trusts food will be given, and she joyfully eats it.

And look at Maggie, Jesus could have said. She doesn’t make blankets to keep herself warm at night. But when the couch-reader, Joseph, heads up to the loft to read, she joyfully runs ahead and leaps onto the blanket, ready to warmly lean into legs that are obviously there just for her.

And consider this, Jesus could say: for Maggie, every suggested activity is instantly her favorite thing of all time. Is she fully asleep, enjoying a nap? No matter, if the humans are preparing for a walk. Immediately that’s the longed-for activity, the long-anticipated joy.

Consider her, Jesus could have said. What if you didn’t fret about food or clothes, but simply and joyfully took life as it came?

This isn’t a silly exercise. Jesus seriously wants you to think about flowers and birds and your life with God, and find a way to let your worrying go.

I definitely want to listen to Jesus here. I want to look at the world, at our country, at the lives of neighbors and loved ones, even at my own life, and say, “It will all be well.” But it’s hard.

But Maggie daily shows what I think Jesus invites you to see: she lives her life in the moment, glad of company, glad of food, glad of warmth, glad of walks. If she worries about tomorrow, I don’t see it. If we come home after 10 minutes away we are greeted with the fullest joy she can muster, exactly as when we come home after hours away.

Of course birds and flowers and Maggie – feel free to insert the name of your favorite dog here – birds and flowers and Maggie have it easy, we say. Someone always provides. They may not worry about their food or clothing or shelter, but in the real world, someone has to worry about that.

But clearly Jesus knows that, that we have responsibilities and concerns beyond that of our fellow creatures on this planet. So if Jesus knows that, and still says, “have a look at them and consider what they’re up to,” maybe it’s worth considering.

Jesus invites you to seek to live as God’s non-human creatures do, and trust God’s goodness.

Maybe that’s the blessing of a Day of Thanksgiving. To remember to say, “thank you God, that this morning I breathed and saw the sun.” “Thank you, God, that today someone smiled at me.” “Thank you, God, that there are people who are working hard to bring mercy and justice to our world.” “Thank you, God, that I’m sometimes blessed to work with that, too.” To look at this life and say, “Thank you, God, for this food, for this rain, for this bed, for this home, for this neighbor, for that song, for this worship, for that joy, for this moment of happiness.”

Jesus invites you to lean into God’s love and look at all God is doing for the life of the world, and for your life. Even if it’s as simple as a warm fire on a cold night. Or the cashier being kind to you at checkout.

When Jesus says that worrying won’t help you add even a single hour to your lifespan, obviously that’s true.

But what if he means this: appreciate every hour you have. Singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, as he neared an untimely death from cancer, was asked what he now knew, facing death, that he’d tell others. He said, “Enjoy every sandwich.”

All of the problems Jesus says not to worry about won’t go away. You and all people need to eat. You and all people need clothes. You and all people need shelter. You and all people need love. You and all people need safety and peace with justice. Jesus just suggests that if you keep your eyes open to what is good right now, your hope fixed on the love of God in Christ that cannot be taken from you or your neighbor or the creation, all those problems won’t overwhelm your heart and mind.

That’s the true lesson of the birds and flowers and Maggie.

They all live, and even the animals do work for that living. Whether bird or fish or dog or elephant, all go about their day do what they need to do. But perhaps not overwhelmed by worry and anxiety.

That’s what Jesus offers you. The work still remains for you, for me, for the world, to make this a place where food and clothing and shelter and love and safety are shared by all.

But while you do that, try and live like Maggie, Jesus might say. Do your thing faithfully. But receive each moment with joy. Live in trust that you are loved, and all are loved. Be grateful for each moment that is yours to live, to love. Enjoy every sandwich.

And for all this, today, and all days, give thanks.

In the name of Jesus. Amen