Blog – Page 348

The Olive Branch, 9/24/14

September 25, 2014 By Mount Olive Church

Accent on Worship

This month I had the joy of joining ministerial colleagues from the Minneapolis Synod at the Bishop’s Theological Conference in Wisconsin, reflecting on what it means to welcome the “other.” One of the many ideas that struck me was the assertion that we don’t need to be fluent in all cultures, but to be clear about who we are, what we believe, and how we feel. By doing this, we can be open to others in humble confidence, aware of our weaknesses and our strengths, aware of their strengths and their weaknesses.

We were invited to reflect on our own cultures. I am a “white, female, gay, highly-educated, culturally-Catholic Lutheran from a Midwestern middle-class suburban entrepreneurial family,” and all of this influences how I show up in the world in ways that are both helpful and challenging . . . being middle-class makes it easy to succeed in a professsional setting, but I will never
fully understand the anxiety and stress of one who lives without the basic needs of food and shelter, or the sense of interdependence and willingness to pool resources that often goes along with generational poverty.

Without an understanding of my own point of view, I will by default judge others by my own yardstick, and not even be aware that I am doing so. It is easy, without this understanding, to slip into a mode of being that requires those different from us to adapt fully to us, while we stand comfortably unchanged.

I think Paul is saying something about this in this week’s reading from Philippians when he calls us to the mind and heart of Jesus, who “ emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”

The “emptying” is not a denial of self so much as it is a radical loving embrace of other human beings in a way that changes us all. When we can recognize our own unique biases and points of view, we can more easily open ourselves to someone else’s uniqueness, and receive them humbly as fellow children of God.

– Vicar Meagan McLaughlin

Sunday Readings

September 28, 2014: 16th Sunday after Pentecost (Lect. 26A)
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-9
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32
______________________

October 5, 2014: 17th Sunday after Pentecost (Lect. 27A)
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:7-15
Philippians 3:4b-14
Matthew 21:33-46

Sunday’s Adult Forum: Sept. 28

“Preaching as Living Word,” part 2 of a 2-part series presented by Pastor Crippen.
Martin Luther suggested that in preaching, God’s Word is alive and active. What does this mean for the community at worship? For the liturgy? For the preacher?

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Saturday, October 4 4:00 pm
Blessing of Animals

Bring your pets and your friends (and your friends’ pets!) to this annual service of blessing!

Congregation Meeting

The semi-annual meeting of the Mount Olive congregation will be held on Sunday, October 19, after second liturgy. Items for discussion include:
• the 2015 budget (needs congregational vote and approval)
• updates from the Visioning Committee
• a preview of on-going Stewardship work
• news from the current Capital Campaign to replenish our designated accounts and cash reserves.

Chosen: Bible Study on Thursday Evenings

The first Thursday Bible study series of this year began last week and 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 titled “Chosen.” This is an exploration of the biblical witness to Abraham and Sarah and their family, with a focus on what the Bible means by “chosen people,” and how that continues in the present both as our calling and also a challenge in a pluralistic, often violent world.

As usual, there will be a light supper when we begin. All are welcome to this study opportunity!

TRUST Seeking Grocery Transportation Driver

TRUST, through CoAM, runs a grocery transportation program in south Minneapolis. We pick up people who are mobile but no longer drive. Pick up in south Minneapolis east of 35W and transport to Cub or Rainbow on Lake Street. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings 8:30 – about 12:30 (about 8 hours a week). Use your own vehicle – must have a van, insurance and a good driving record. Pick up 2 – 5 people. $13+ an hour plus mileage. Questions? Interested? Call Nancy at TRUST at 612-827-6159 or email her at trustinc@visi.com.

Meals for the Manuels to be Continued

Thanks to all who have generously signed up to bring Friday dinners to the Manuel family. The calendar to date is filled through to November 7, with the exception of Friday, October 31. If you can bring dinner on that date (Halloween) or on any Friday from November 14 on, please let Marilyn Gebauer know at gebauevm@bitstream.net or 612-306-8872.

Julie’s treatment will continue for at least the next several months. The family is very grateful for the support of prayers and meals during this difficult time.

New Member Welcome

Mount Olive will welcome new members and associate members on Sunday, October 5, during the second liturgy. If you are interested in becoming a member or associate member, please contact the office as soon as possible via e-mail to welcome@mountolivechurch.orgor by phone, 612-827-5919. You may also contact Pastor Crippen at church, or Andrew Andersen (763-607-1689).

A welcome brunch will follow the liturgy for new members and for all who would like to be part of the welcome festivities.

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on October 11, the Book Discussion group will read The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid. For the meeting on November 8 they will read Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver.

The Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the West Assembly area at church. All readers are welcome!

Sign Up for Coffee!

The coffee chart is in need of names of those who are willing to serve coffee on Sunday mornings after the first and second liturgies. Please take a turn and sign up!

The chart is conveniently located in the East Assembly Room – right where coffee is served each Sunday!

Mount Olive Directory Photos Fall 2014 Schedule

If you did not get your personal, couple or family photos taken last fall there will be a time to get your photos taken in October and included in the updated directory.

We invite folks who have been worshiping regularly but are not members at Mount Olive to also have their photo(s) taken to include in the directory so that others can put
names and faces together.

Below are listed the time slots available to have your photos taken. Select the day and approximate time(s) that work best for you and call or email the church office to sign up (612-827-5919/welcome@mountolivechurch.org).

You will be contacted the week before the sessions with a specific time for your photo session. Photos will be taken in the lower level of the education building.

• Sunday, October 5 – 12:30 to 1:30 PM following the liturgy
• Wednesday, October 8 – 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
• Thursday, October 9 – 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM
• Saturday, October 11 – 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Sunday, October 12 – 12:30 to 1:30 PM following the liturgy

Once you have signed up for a date and approximate times that work for you, we will combine all of the requests and set up a schedule to take all those requesting that specific day.
If you have further questions please contact Paul Nixdorf (photographer) by phone at 612-296-0055, or by email to pn@paulnixdorf.com.

Empowering Learners Invites Our Support

Recently, Ann Sponberg Peterson spoke inspiringly to the Adult Forum about “Empowering Learners,” a philanthropic project she established to provide books and computers for schools in northern Namibia. Ann invited contributions of any kind – an invitation we echo. Ann mentioned, but we want to emphasize, that any contributions we at Mount Olive make will be matched by a donor – meaning that our contributions will effectively be double what we give. We encourage you to use the envelope from the brochures Ann provided (or there are copies in the brochure rack beside the display case in the hallway) or contact one of us for a mailing address.

This is an opportunity to provide genuinely needed and appreciated help to a significant number of children in this developing country.

– Dwight Penas and Susan Cherwien, Adult Forum planners (with approval of the Missions Committee)

MOGAL-NOW sponsors a Mid-Century Modern Parade of Homes tour and Potluck Dinner

Next Sunday, October 5, at 4:00 pm, MOGAL-NOW invites members of Mount Olive to visit two mid-century modern homes that are listed on the 2014 national tour of MCM homes.

tour the following weekend. We get a preview tour a week early, plus dinner and great conversation. (Visit http://www.docomomo-us.org/tour_day_2014_minnesota to view the website about the Docomomo tour. Their home is pictured on this site).

We will gather there at 4:00 pm on October 5 to check out the interesting architecture and landscaping at their home, and also walk three homes away to Geri and John Bjork’s home. Around 5:15 pm Lynn and Tony will begin grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and we will set out our potluck items and enjoy a meal together. We will also have a short discussion about upcoming MOGAL-NOW events. The evening will end with ice cream sundaes.

If you can join us for our Parade of Homes event please RSVP by calling the church office at 612-827-5919 or by dropping an email to welcome@mountolivechurch.org. When you email please indicate how many will be coming and also what you plan to bring for the potluck dinner that will go with hamburgers and hotdogs. Also plan to bring beverages (adult and otherwise).

MOGAL-NOW is the new and up to date version of the MOGAL (Mount Olive Gay and Lesbian) group. MOGAL-NOW is inclusive and of course, “straight friendly”. MOGAL-NOW plans to sponsor a series of social, informative and of course fun events throughout the year bringing together the entire Mount Olive community.

Kathy Wagner Funeral Oct. 4

The funeral Eucharist for + Kathy Wagner + will be held on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 1:30 p.m.
Kathy is the daughter of Ione Wagner, a member of Mount Olive, and was on our visitation list. There will be a lunch served after the Eucharist.
May God grant her rest and light eternal.

Pastor’s Sabbatical

Pastor Crippen is working with the Vestry on initial planning for his upcoming sabbatical. The sabbatical will be from April through June of 2015, beginning on the Monday after Easter.
At this point there aren’t many details to share, but as more is known, it will be put in the Olive Branch. The budget being presented by the Vestry for 2015 also will reflect the costs of the sabbatical.

First Music & Fine Arts Event of the Season to be Held on October 12

On Sunday, October 12, at 4:00 pm, Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts is pleased to present a recital by organist Aaron David Miller. He will play works of Bach, Sweelinck, Gigout, and improvisation.
Aaron is Music Director and Organist at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. He is known as one of the finest organ improvisers in the country, having won several international awards and given concerts across the nation. The improvisation for this concert will be an on-the-spot creation, using themes gathered from the audience! Don’t miss it!

A reception will follow.

Former Vicar Neal Cannon to be Ordained

All are cordially invited to attend the ordination of former Mount Olive Vicar, Neal Cannon (2012-13) on Reformation Sunday, October 26, 2014, at 4:00 pm. The service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois.

Neal has received a call to serve as Associate Pastor of Youth and Family at Christ Lutheran Church, Belvidere, Illinois.

Please remember Neal and Mary in your prayers.

Alive Together

September 21, 2014 By moadmin

Go and learn what this means, Jesus says, “I desire mercy;” saved by God’s grace alone, that is our identity, our way, our life, and our lives are made in Christ to be mercy as we look at others in the world.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The feast day of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Sunday, September 21, 2014
texts: Ephesians 2:4-10; Matthew 9:9-13

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

Let’s get one thing clear from the start.

Matthew was, in fact, a tax collector. We can assume, given what such folks did, he probably cheated his neighbors while collecting taxes for the Romans. No one in the Gospel denies who Matthew is, what he’s done.

The rest at dinner were also either tax collectors or, in a simple catch-all, “sinners”. Again, this is not in dispute. We don’t have to think too hard to imagine what kind of sin got a person the public label “sinner”. But once more, let’s be clear. No one has ever claimed that these people with Jesus weren’t who they were, weren’t people who’d done things wrong. In fact, they specifically had done things wrong that attracted public notice, public comment.

What’s troubling is that this encounter doesn’t seem to matter to us.

We’re comfortable criticizing the Pharisees for criticizing Jesus. We’re even happy to talk about following a Savior who hangs out with sinners, not holier-than-thou types. We fail to realize that in such attitudes, we are the Pharisees.

Jesus is addressing us today. “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” He’s quoting Hosea, who says no worship, no temple sacrifice supersedes mercy, literally, “steadfast love,” for others. He’s sending the Pharisees away, telling them they have biblical homework to do. They need to go and learn something, bring it into their lives, their actions, their thoughts. Go and learn what this means, “I desire steadfast love, mercy.”

He is speaking to us. We’re pretty good at the theoretical, the head stuff. We know all sinners can be forgiven; we can list all sorts of sins and admit that yes, God can forgive them. But we act as if our heart’s in a very different place. We have become a people, a culture, who live and breathe the Pharisees’ judgmentalism. Somehow we’ve convinced ourselves it’s not the same for us, though.

Really? Jesus says. Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy.

We don’t make people wear a scarlet letter identifying their sin anymore, as Hawthorne famously related. But we are the same people who did.

When our ancestors wanted to publicly address certain sins, the identified sinners would sometimes be put into stockades in the public square, for taunting and the throwing of abuse both verbal and physical. You needed to know who the real sinners were.

Now we do it on Facebook. We do it at coffee, over lunch, at dinner in our homes. We do it at office water-coolers. We declare someone to be worthy of judgment, worthy of mockery, worthy of shaming, certain we are right to do so. They are food for our conversation and our thought. We “tut tut,” and we “oh my,” and we “did you hear that?”

This week we had one close to home, a beloved local sports figure accused of hurting his child. Having once idolized this person, the public now demonizes him, our favorite game with public figures. People smugly post opinions on Facebook, share photographs, titter or are indignant with family members and friends about the scandal. This isn’t new. There will be another in a month or so; there always is. Because that’s truly the kind of people we are.

Now remember, the question is not about the sin, not for Matthew, not for today. In this case, the state of Texas and the state of Minnesota are doing their duty to sort out if laws were broken and what punishments should apply. They are doing what they should do to protect the child and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

But what kind of people are we to believe we can sit over anyone, as our entertainment, our small talk, our judgment, our every day life?

What does that make us? I don’t just mean this case, I could give you a dozen other recent examples. Is it so we feel better about ourselves? Are we better for it? Whatever good this person may or may not have done in his life, there are many who, from this point on, will think only ill of him, for this one thing. It’s a bad thing, that’s why an indictment was handed down. But when we do this to anyone, label them in our minds and in our hearts as “sinner,” how are we not the Pharisees?

Most examples of this are public figures; sometimes we justify our judgment on those grounds. They should live up to higher standards, we say. Is this the kind of people we want to be, people who feel it is our right to set people up or tear people down?

What of the other people in our lives to whom we do this who are not public figures, where their mistake, their problem, becomes the thing we think of when we think of them, the thing we talk about? When they become the someone we mock, judge, or use to entertain others with our wit? My sisters and brothers, as your pastor in Christ I tell you I have seen this among us, between us, and beyond, against family and co-workers, against brothers and sisters here. Again, I’m not disputing wrongs are done. I’m wondering about our self-righteous smugness.

Go and learn what this means, Jesus said. I desire mercy, steadfast love.

Perhaps true mercy begins with self-examination and honesty.

Is there anyone here who would like to take their worst moment, photograph it, and have it publicized for the world to see? Their worst moment as a parent, a partner, a friend, a human being? Who would like themselves to be identified forever after not as the person they are but as that sinner? Would we want that to be what people thought whenever they looked at us? I can think of enough moments in my life, enough negative characteristics, bad judgments, wrong actions, that I would be crushed if people saw any of them as the defining truth about me.

Could we learn mercy by first recognizing our own need for it? Recognizing that each of us lives moderately good lives but with plenty of moments to regret, be ashamed of, even fear that others might discover? Plenty of things we, and God, call sin?

I came to call not the righteous, but sinners, Jesus said. Could we begin to learn mercy by realizing how good it is to know that about Jesus? How important to our very lives it is that he looks at all people, including us, and sees us, not our sins? That he looked at Matthew and saw a potential disciple, not a cheater?

This is the gift of the Son of God, that he came for all, sinful as all are.

Paul’s beautiful song of grace in Ephesians is also stark and honest. Like Jesus, he doesn’t deny that sin exists in us, he names it. He says it is like death to live with such a weight of sin in our hearts. To live in fear we’ll be judged not by our good but by our wrongdoing. That we’ll forever carry the label “not good enough,” “sinner,” “bad person.”

You have been saved by God’s grace, Paul says. Not by your doing. Not by carefully denying the bad snapshots of your past, or erasing them from existence, or doing enough good to overbalance them. You are loved by God in Christ Jesus, and in his dying and rising from death have been given new life. A new identity, “forgiven child of God”.

But notice Paul’s plurals: “you all have been saved”, he says, not just you individually. God “made us alive together with Christ.” “We are what he has made us.”

I came to call not the righteous but sinners, Jesus said. All of them. All of them. Together.

What does that mean for our lives? Does it change us?

We are made for good works to be our way of life, Paul says. We have been saved by grace so that we are people of grace and mercy, not people of judgment. Does it matter if the person we’re judging smugly is public or private, guilty or innocent? Isn’t the real question, what kind of person did Christ Jesus make us to be? How does he call us to love?

What if mercy became how we lived? If we studiously worked at learning the mercy of Christ, the steadfast love of God, and held ourselves to that standard? That we would try, and we would pray God’s Spirit to help us look at others and see them as who they are, not identifying them by what bad they might or might not have done. That we would seek the Spirit’s grace to close our mouths and open our hearts, so that we’re not passing gossip or judgment or mockery or shame on anyone.

Because God so loved the world he sent his only Son, to save it, not to judge it. Go and learn what that means, Jesus says.

Go and learn how that is your life, your path. You want to talk about the way of the cross? This is it. If we truly desire to be who we are made to be in Christ, that is, to be Christ, we have some learning to do. Our hope and our promise is that the Holy Spirit is ready and willing to be our teacher, strength and guide.

God is showing steadfast love and mercy to all the people of this world, who have been made alive together with us. Let’s go learn, together, what such mercy means.

In the name of Jesus. Amen