Blog – Page 355

The Olive Branch, 4/9/14

April 10, 2014 By moadmin

In the midst of life…

One thing I like about a hymn festival for which I travel: it’s usually three days of intense focus – I practice, rehearse, and lead the festival, away from everything else that normally defines my days when I’m here at home. That focus really helps provide for an intense journey for the hymn festival! Each piece becomes joined in a great flow with great clarity – without distractions in my preparations.

This Sunday once again we enter into a week of intense focus: we step into the story, right into the middle of it. What I find so amazing about this week for us, is that most of us must go through it in the midst of our regular, normal (for most, busy and distracted) lives. Work, sleep, school, relationships, bill paying, car repair, etc., continue to demand our attention, yet every day we gather to retell and relive the story which defines us.

While it may seem easier if we were to all leave town and go through the week with total focus, I rather like the “in the midst of life” dimension to Holy Week for most of us. It exposes that inner part of us to our co-workers, friends, and even families. We decline invitations for dinners, parties, etc. because we have something important to do. “I’d love to, but I’m committed to be at church…” It says who we actually are. (Or rather, “whose” we are). It becomes a week of intense focus reminding us that all of our busy-ness is NOT the center for us.

The week begins this Passion Sunday with what has become a two-fold drama. The first is the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We reenact this, beginning outside (or in the undercroft, depending on the weather) and process in with palm branches. Yet, this part of the story is a great switcheroo, as the people thought –“Finally a just King,” not yet knowing they would be the ones yelling, “Crucify him!” Rather, the liturgy quickly moves to the story of the crucifixion from the Gospel of Matthew, dramatically changing the mood of the day’s liturgy.

Then on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we gather for prayer at noon. These times of devotion help me maintain a sense of focus for this week. In the center of the day, we’re brought back to the drama. For those who can make the trek, even though a short service, these draw us back to the week’s significance.

Thursday, the Triduum, “The Three Days,” includes the washing of feet, the community meal, and the dramatic stripping of the altar.

Friday, a prayer service recalling the stations of the cross – at high noon – reminding us of the pain and suffering of Jesus. This powerful service moves through the room filling it with smoke and the anguish of the story through our songs and powerful organ interpretations. At the end, the organ goes silent until the Easter Proclamation of the Easter Vigil liturgy. Once again on Friday in the evening we gather again to recall the crucifixion and adore the cross. The great Solemn Reproaches are sung: “O my people, what have I done to you?”

Saturday evening we begin in darkness and silence as we wait. Five of the great stories of salvation are told, after each we sing in response in darkness. We remember our baptism and its promises – and we dramatically proclaim Christ is Risen – to blaring bells and organ, and we sing a full throttled: “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds.” After this great liturgy, a great party! Celebrating with champagne and treats – what we love to do for life’s points of celebration!

A few hours later in Easter Sunday, again we gather – a bit blurry eyed but happily so. The choir warms up their voices, and with trumpet and organ again we celebrate a family meal of celebration: Christ is Risen!

Now what is more important than all of this? See you — each day.

– Cantor David Cherwien

Sunday Readings

April 13, 2014: Sunday of the Passion Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14—27:66
____________________

April 20, 2014: Resurrection of Our Lord
Jeremiah 31:1-6
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10

This Week’s Adult Forum

April 13: Cantor Cherwien will lead us through the musical responses for Easter Vigil.

An Invitation to Confession

During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it. I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday in Lent, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week. If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail. There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together. If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward. While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

Can You Help? Do You Know Someone Who Can Help?

We have an urgent need for two more tutors for the Neighborhood Ministries Tuesday Evening Way to Goals Tutoring Program. The tutoring program meets the 8 Tuesday evenings in April and May from 7:00 – 8:30 pm.

Tutors work with one or two eager grade school learners – sometimes helping with homework, sometimes working on basic reading or math skills, and always being a mentor. If you can help or would like more information, contact Connie Toavs in the Neighborhood Ministries office or at connietoavs@comcast.net.

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on April 12, The Book Discussion Group will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick. For the May 10 meeting they will read, The Small Hand and Dolly, Susan Hill.

Holy Week and Triduum at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday, Sunday, April 13
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week, April 14-16
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the side chapel of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 17
Holy Eucharist at Noon;
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 18
Stations of the Cross at Noon;
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 19
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord, Sunday, April 20
Festival Eucharist at 8 & 10:45 am

Dusting and Polishing Day

The Altar Guild will host a chancel-cleaning event on Saturday, April 12, from noon to 3:00 p.m. Bring your favorite duster and polishing rags, and help our worship space glow for Holy Week and the Triduum. Questions? Contact Steve Pranschke: hspranschke [at] gmail [dot] com.

Paschal Garden

Volunteers will be on hand for one more Sunday (April 13) before and after the liturgies to receive your donations to purchase Easter flowers for this year’s Paschal Garden.

Noon Liturgy on Maundy Thursday

There will be a simple noon Eucharist on Maundy Thursday this year, in addition to the Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. In the evening will be the full rite beginning the Triduum, including confession and absolution, footwashing, and the stripping of the altar.

The noon service is offered to accommodate those who have difficulty getting out in the evening, and will include confession and absolution and the Eucharist.

Easter Carry-In Brunch

There will be a carry-in Easter Brunch between liturgies on Easter morning, April 20. Bring your favorite Easter treats to share.

Night On the Street

On Friday night, April 11, Mount Olive and TRUST Youth will again participate in Night On the Street at Plymouth Congregational Church. Night On the Street is an opportunity for teens to learn about youth homelessness through activities, speakers, and by experiencing what it is like to sleep in a card board box in the parking lot.

We’ve been asked to raise enough funds to provide one week’s worth of safe housing and supportive services for a homeless youth, $140 (seven days of housing and supportive services). All donations to A Night On the Street will go to Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, which provides housing and services for homeless youth. If you would like to make a donation, please contact the church office or Julie Manuel.

Capital Campaign Corner

Sometime this week you will receive a letter from Vestry President Lora Dundek and Pastor Crippen asking you make a pledge or donation to our ongoing capital campaign. As the letter explains, the Vestry is asking for everyone’s help to fully fund our designated funds and to provide a two-month cash reserve to help us cope with the ups and downs of congregational giving.
This is a financially healthy church. We meet our budget every year and give generously to causes missions outside our walls. But we need a stronger financial foundation as we move forward into the future, and this is what we hope to gain with this campaign.
Please prayerfully consider your response and return your pledge card as soon as possible. Thanks so much!

Goal: $182,000
Currently pledged: $39,200 Percent reached: 21.5%.

New Video Ministry

The Mount Olive Foundation approved a proposal to start a video ministry project for Mount Olive. The proposal included getting our own fine video camera, tripod, memory cards, and a computer with the capable of producing high quality videos.

As word of this video project has spread, I have heard from several who are interested in helping with the project. We have members with much experience in producing video and I am excited to get people involved. A word of thanks to Elisabeth Hunt for setting up the special Mount Olive YouTube channel.

The first thing I learned is that there is a reason longer movies take time to prepare, edit, add titles, and then have the computer and the internet render them for YouTube and then go through the whole upload and processing process. The learning curve is getting better but the entire process is time consuming, so please be patient. I am excited that we now have our first examples to share with everyone.

Our first video project was to record the four-part Earl Schwartz Adult Forum Series on the Book of Genesis. The entire series is now on YouTube and the links to the videos are below. When you go online to view your first video you will note that under the YouTube screen there is a note that tells you there are four videos. If you click on that note (link) all four videos will appear and you can then click on the next video you want to view. If you save the YouTube link in your “favorite” online file you will be able to access the videos quickly.

Dwight Penas and Susan Cherwien do a masterful job in organizing thought-provoking adult forum sessions throughout the year. As Dwight explains in the opening video, the Mount Olive Foundation approved a grant which allowed Mount Olive to bring Earl Schwartz in for four consecutive weeks. Before Earl’s sessions even began some Mount Olive members were concerned because they knew they would have to miss one or more of his lectures and choir members always had to step out before each session was over. With our new videos anyone can now go back and view all four sessions in their entirety
This Forum project is the first video project and you will see as you view the four videos that I have experimented with titles etc. Looking back, I see I made a title error in one of the bottom titles of video 3 and called it session 2. I hope to correct the error but it literally will take over 3 hours to make the change. I look forward to your comments so we can always improve our videos and that the videos will reflect the quality of worship and devotion we share at Mount Olive.

– Paul Nixdorf

Earl Schwartz Adult Forum Videos
Video #1 – February 23, 2014: http://youtu.be/nzsw0rvT2TU
Video #2 – March 2, 2014: http://youtu.be/JDUkEsLwCeE
Video #3 – March 9, 2014: http://youtu.be/UXTlVxamxqg
(note) an error in the bottom title says this is the second session,
it should say, the third session.
Video #4 – March 16, 2014: http://youtu.be/tNJPn2voGeU

Sign Up to Bring Tutoring Snacks

Check out the snack sign-up sheet for Way to Goals Tutoring in the lower level. Snacks for approximately 25 youth and tutors are needed on Tuesday evenings through May 27. Your help is very much appreciated!

Life Transitions Support Group to Begin May 14

Caregiver? Chronic Illness? Loss of home? Loss of loved one?
We each encounter a variety of losses throughout our lives. Have you wished for a familiar place where you could find some reassurance, share your story, discover a simple skill or two that could help in those moments when you feel overwhelmed?

Beginning May 14, join us for a four-week structured support group at Mount Olive. Cathy Bosworth will serve as facilitator for this group on Wednesday evenings. Each week a brief educational component will be offered with time for you to share personally in a confidential, supportive setting. Vicar Emily Beckering will offer guidance on the Lament Psalms, which we will use as a vehicle for prayer and healing. Tentatively, the group will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Room. We will establish a firm meeting time when we know what works best for those who wish to participate.

If you are interested in attending, or have questions, please contact Cathy Bosworth (952-949-3679, email marcat8447@yahoo.com) or call the church office. If three or more people express interest in participating, each will be contacted to confirm the group will meet as planned.

National Lutheran Choir to Present “Exalt.”

This Spring’s “Exalt” program showcases the artistic excellence of the National Lutheran Choir with works for choir and organ alongside unaccompanied choral pieces.

Nationally renowned organist, Aaron David Miller, joins the NLC for a program that is both affable and energizing. Some of the works on the program include: Benjamin Britten’s Te Deum; a world premiere of a commission by Zachary Wadsworth, Great or Small; and Frank Martin’s Mass for Unaccompanied Double Chorus.

Organ pipes and choral pipes join together for a unique experience that will leave the listener inspired and revitalized. NLC Artistic Director, David Cherwien, conducts.

When: Sunday, May 4 – 4pm
Where: St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 900 Stillwater Rd, Mahtomedi, MN 55115
Tickets: $25 Adult, $23 Senior, $20 Student
Contact: visit www.nlca.com or call 612-722-2301.

Out of the Tomb

April 6, 2014 By moadmin

Today, Jesus calls us out of our tombs and releases us from everything that binds us so that we may live anew and set others free in Jesus’ name.

Vicar Emily Beckering, Fifth Sunday in Lent, year A; texts: John 11:1-45, Ezekiel 37:1-14

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

Before we get to what God would have us hear today, I’d like to share how the Holy Spirit has been at work for us this week.

Last Sunday, after praying for God to reveal what we would need to hear in worship today, something very clear and specific emerged from John’s gospel. It was such good news and so life-giving that I thought, “Wow! That’s worth sharing!” So I did share it with some of my friends at seminary during Bible study on Monday. Afterwards, based on how the news affected them, I felt even more convicted about what God wanted us to hear.

Then, on Tuesday morning, I felt nudged, drawn—compelled, really—to read ahead in Journey into Lent, by Susan Cherwien, to her reflections for the upcoming Saturday, which was yesterday, April 5th. Upon reading it, I discovered that she and I had heard the same thing from today’s Gospel. And I thought, “Shoot! Do I really need to say it again when it’s already been written so beautifully?”

Through the people at Tuesday noon Bible study, however, and through more conversations throughout the week, it became evident that the Holy Spirit had led me to Susan’s devotion. It was as if God was saying, “Look, this really needs to be said.” Through all of this, the Holy Spirit was at work to make sure that we could all hear God’s word for us multiple times and in multiple ways if need be. Apparently, God has something very important for us to hear today, and it’s just what we need.

In order to hear it, we must first recognize that Lazarus is not the only one who is locked in a tomb; he isn’t the only one who needs to be unbound and set free.

There is much in our own lives that holds us captive, that binds us, that prevents us from being who God has made us to be. We can feel like prisoners without choices or power: we are in bondage and cannot free ourselves.

Some of us are in bondage to productivity, to accomplishment, to feeling like we always have to do everything perfectly, to have everything under control. Others of us are in bondage to other people’s opinions about us; it can be difficult to make decisions without feeling the need to please or to look good in others’ eyes.

Some of us are chained to defining ourselves by our talents, intelligence, or our perceived lack thereof. These chains can weigh so heavily upon us that we always feel the need to prove ourselves to others.

There are economic binds which we face: we worry if there will be enough, if we will be able to pay the bills and are uncertain about which decisions to make. We are also bound by unethical systems: systems in which we contribute to environmental destruction, to racism, to prejudice, to poverty. We can even be chained by anger, bitterness, unfaithfulness, and comparing ourselves to others. Although we wish that we could live differently, we may find ourselves doing that which we do not want to do; time and time again we hurt those who we love.

Sometimes, these worries and patterns of thought and behavior can become so all-encompassing that we are literally entombed: we can be locked away in a tomb of feeling helpless, of guilt or shame, of insecurity, of hiding who we are in order to win love. We can feel trapped in a grave of sickness, of mental illness, of an abusive relationship, of addictions, of perfecting our body. And of course, there is fear; fear in all of its forms. Fear of what tomorrow will bring. Fear that the end is near or nowhere in sight. Fear of failure: of failing as a partner, a spouse, a parent, a friend, a disciple. In the darkness of the tomb, we may begin to doubt whether Christ’s promises are true or are for us.

Although we are afraid, we can also be terrified by life outside of the tomb that we have come to know so well, and so we may retreat even deeper into the darkness. We may wrap ourselves tighter in that which binds us because we are afraid to deal with it. We can lock ourselves away in the tomb rather than risk exposing that which with we struggle.

All of this can feel too overpowering, too big for us to handle, too shameful for God or for anyone else to know about. Like Martha who says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days,” we can find ourselves saying, “Lord, don’t go there. Don’t bother. It’s too late. There’s only death.”

We look within our tombs and like Israel say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” “We’ve messed up too much this time, gone too far. There’s nothing left to do, nothing left to say.”

But God does have something to say, and yearns for us to hear it!

God’s word to us today is this: “I am the Lord your God: I am going to open you graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people: and I will bring you back to the land of the living. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.”

Jesus is calling each of us by name saying, “Come out! Come out of ¬fear and out of shame. Come out of loneliness and self-hatred. Be free of the guilt, you are forgiven. Let go of doubt, you are mine!”

See how Jesus loves us!

There is no darkness too thick, no grave too deep, no stone, no sin, no tomb—nothing— that can prevent Christ from getting to us.

The resurrection is not only a future promise that we will be with God in eternity; resurrection is happening right now! Christ is making us new. God would have us live anew, live again today!

But the resurrection is not for us alone; it does not stop here with us.

Jesus speaks to Lazarus and to all who have gathered around him. He says to the crowd: “Unbind him and let him go!”

Sometimes we are so tightly bound in our wrappings that we need the community around us to help set us free. This is why God has given us one another: so that we can surround each other with love in our suffering, remind each other what Christ has promised us, and help each other be on the lookout for what God is doing in our midst. We are at once Lazarus and the community at the tomb. There are many other people already in our lives and some whom the Holy Spirit has yet to lead us to who also long to hear Jesus’ words: who need to be released from everything that ensnares them, from everything that weighs on them.

The Spirit of the Lord has been poured out upon us in our baptisms; God has anointed us to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to let the oppressed go free, and to preach the Lord’s favor. We do this when, with actions and with words, we sow love where there is hatred, seek union where there is discord, and offer forgiveness in response to wrong. Jesus is sending us out today saying, “Unbind them, and let them go!”

When we do this in Jesus’ name, then by the power of the Holy Spirit, out of the tomb of darkness shall come light, out of despair, hope, and out of the tomb of death, God will bring life for all.

Amen.

The Olive Branch, 4/2/14

April 3, 2014 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

Do You Believe?

I love this Lent, in year A. Each week we have magnificent stories by John which show people encountering Jesus and finding God, though they may have thought they were seeking something else. Nicodemus, the unnamed ones – a woman at a well, a man born blind – and then the family from Bethany. This week we get those three friends of Jesus: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Siblings, but so different.

Lazarus is desperately ill, and then Lazarus is dead. Mary is deeply in touch with Jesus’ teachings and listens carefully when he’s there, and then Mary is weeping at her brother’s death. Then there’s Martha, dear, direct Martha. Martha is hospitable, loving, active when Jesus comes, and then feistily holding Jesus accountable for abandoning them in their hour of need. These are real people, people like us. And Jesus blesses them, and so blesses us.

Lazarus is given more years of life. Perhaps that isn’t a great blessing; one wonders if he might have regretted having to come back. Mary is given love and compassion, not instruction. Her Lord and Master stands at her side, at the tomb, and weeps with her. But Martha gets the most, I think, maybe because she’s so forthright, so honest, so willing to share her anger and disappointment in her Lord.

What she “gets” is faith. Confronting Jesus for his apparent lack of care for them in need, Jesus turns to her and asks if she believes in him. Perhaps to her surprise, Martha realizes she does, in fact. “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

– Pastor Joseph Crippen

Sunday Readings

April 6, 2014: Fifth Sunday in Lent
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45
____________________

April 13, 2014: Sunday of the Passion Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 26:14—27:66

This Week’s Adult Forum
April 6: “Hungry Neighbors,” presented by the Rev. Nancy Maeker from A Minnesota Without Poverty.

Midweek Lenten Worship on Wednesdays: March 12 – April 9

• Noon: Holy Eucharist, followed by soup luncheon
• 7:00 pm: Evening Prayer, preceded by soup supper, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

An Invitation to Confession

During the season of Lent I am making myself available at some regular times to hear individual confession and to offer absolution to any who desire it. I will be in the chancel from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. each Monday in Lent, and continuing through the Monday of Holy Week. If you wish to come for confession, simply come to the altar rail. There will be a worship book so we can follow the rite together. If someone is already there, please wait near the back of the nave and when I’m free, come forward. While waiting, even if I’m free and you want to prepare yourself, praying the psalms in the pew or reading Scripture is worth considering.

– Pr. Joseph Crippen

Paschal Garden

Volunteers will be on hand for the next two Sundays (March April 6 and April 13) before and after the liturgies to receive your donations to purchase Easter flowers for this year’s Paschal Garden.

Noon Liturgy on Maundy Thursday

There will be a simple noon Eucharist on Maundy Thursday this year, in addition to the Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. In the evening will be the full rite beginning the Triduum, including confession and absolution, footwashing, and the stripping of the altar.

The noon service is offered to accommodate those who have difficulty getting out in the evening, and will include confession and absolution and the Eucharist.

Easter Carry-In Brunch

There will be a carry-in Easter Brunch between liturgies on Easter morning, April 20. Bring your favorite Easter treats to share.

Lenten Centering Prayer Group

Sue Ellen Zagrabelny is leading a Centering Prayer group this Lent. The monastic discipline of Centering prayer is an emptying of oneself in prayer in order to be accessible to the Spirit. This Centering Prayer Group has one week left, meeting on Tuesday after Bible Study, from 1:15 to 1:45 on April 1; and on Wednesday, April 2, before the Soup Supper at 5:30 to 6:00 Both sessions will meet in the library.

Notice of Congregation Meeting

The April Semi-annual congregational meeting will be held after the second liturgy this Sunday, April 6. Business before the congregation will include election of officers and Vestry members for 2014-2015, annual report of the Mount Olive Foundation, and an update on the Capital Campaign.

At the April 2013 congregation meeting, the congregation approved a limited capital campaign that would help to put Mount Olive and its many ministries on firm financial footing in 2014 and beyond. A target of $182,000 was approved to be used for two purposes. The first is to restore funds that the congregation borrowed over a number of years from its restricted accounts (funds given by individuals who designated them for specific purposes); and the second is to create a cash reserve to help cover routine future expenses at times when donations are insufficient.

Vestry Nominees

At the semi-annual congregation meeting on April 6, the following slate of nominees for Vestry positions will be presented to the congregation for voting. Nominations may also be made from the floor.

President: Lora Dundek (second 1-year term)
Vice President: Robert Gotwalt (first 1-year term)
Secretary: Peggy Hoeft (second 1-year term)
Treasurer: Kat Campbell-Johnson (third 1-year term)
Director of Education: John Holtmeier (filling third year of a vacated 3-year term)
Director of Missions: Judy Hinck (first 3-year term)
Director of Stewardship: Donn McClellan (first 3-year term)
Director of Youth: Amy Thompson (filling third year of a vacated 3-year term)

Night On the Street

On Friday night, April 11, Mount Olive and TRUST Youth will again participate in Night On the Street at Plymouth Congregational Church. Night On the Street is an opportunity for teens to learn about youth homelessness through activities, speakers, and by experiencing what it is like to sleep in a card board box in the parking lot.

We’ve been asked to raise at least enough funds to provide one week’s worth of safe housing and supportive services for a homeless youth, $140 (seven days of housing and supportive services). All donations should be made payable to “Night on the Street.” Donations will go to Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, which provides housing and services for homeless youth. If you would like to make a donation, please contact the church office or Julie Manuel.

Dusting and Polishing Day

The Altar Guild will host a chancel-cleaning event on Saturday, April 12, from noon to 3:00 p.m. Bring your favorite duster and polishing rags, and help our worship space glow for Holy Week and the Triduum. Questions? Contact Steve Pranschke: hspranschke [at] gmail [dot] com.

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
Sunday, April 13
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week,
April 14-16
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the north transept of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 17
Holy Eucharist at Noon;
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 18
Stations of the Cross at Noon;
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 19
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord: Sunday, April 20
Festival Eucharist at 8 & 10:45 am
Carry-in Easter brunch between the liturgies at 9:30 am

Sign Up to Bring Tutoring Snacks
Check out the snack sign-up sheet for Way to Goals Tutoring in the lower level. Snacks for approximately 25 youth and tutors are needed on Tuesday evenings through May 27. Your help is very much appreciated!

Luther College Cathedral Choir to Perform at Mount Olive Saturday

The Luther College Cathedral Choir will perform in concert at Mount Olive this Saturday evening, April 5, at 7:00 p.m. No tickets are needed, but a freewill offering will be received at the concert.

The Cathedral Choir, directed by Dr. Jennaya Robison, performs a varied program of sacred music, including choral masterpieces by J.S. Bach, Hassler, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. At the heart of the program is Estonian composer’s Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Stars” for choir, water-tuned glasses and Tibetan singing bowls.

All are welcome!

Life Transitions Support Group

Caregiver? Chronic Illness? Loss of home? Loss of loved one?

We each encounter a variety of losses throughout our lives. Have you wished for a familiar place where you could find some reassurance, share your story, discover a simple skill or two that could help in those moments when you feel overwhelmed?

National Lutheran Choir to Present “Exalt.”

This Spring’s “Exalt” program showcases the artistic excellence of the National Lutheran Choir with works for choir and organ alongside unaccompanied choral pieces.

Organ pipes and choral pipes join together for a unique experience that will leave the listener inspired and revitalized. NLC Artistic Director, David Cherwien, conducts.

When: Sunday, May 4 – 4pm
Where: St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, 900 Stillwater Rd, Mahtomedi, MN 55115
Tickets: $25 Adult, $23 Senior, $20 Student
Contact: visit www.nlca.com or call 612-722-2301.

Book Discussion Group’s Upcoming Reads

For their meeting on April 12, The Book Discussion Group will read Elizabeth and Hazel, by David Margolick. For the May 10 meeting they will read, The Small Hand and Dolly, Susan Hill.

Midweek Lent 2014 + A Servant Community (Paul’s first letter to Corinth)

April 2, 2014 By moadmin

Week 4: “Many Members, Yet One Body”

Vicar Emily Beckering, Wednesday, 2 April 2014; texts: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Mark 10:35-45

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

Now our Lord would like us to really learn what “together” can mean. That is where we left off last week, and that is our focus this week. To help us learn this, we are given one of the most vivid and cherished metaphors in scripture of life together: the Body of Christ. We claim this for ourselves each Sunday in the liturgy of sending, when we say, “We, who are many, are one body in Christ, sharing one bread, one cup.”

Though we know this to be true, we do not always live like it is so.

We do not live as the body of Christ when we dismiss ourselves. Some of us may find ourselves asking: “Lord, why couldn’t you have made me more like her? A little more like him? If only I could be more articulate, more confident, more accomplished, more attractive, more interesting, more friendly, more approachable, then I could really matter here. Then I could really be part of the body.” In other words, we say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.”

For some of us, the problem is not overlooking our own value, but the value of the members of the body around us.

We do not live as the body of Christ when we dismiss one another. Here at Mount Olive, it is evident that we are deeply committed to loving each other and to being a welcoming congregation. I have seen the people of Mount Olive visit the sick, comfort the lonely, and feed the hungry. I have also witnessed time and time again how people at Mount Olive seek out newcomers and welcome them into life together. The circles of conversation on Sundays and Wednesdays are more open than not, but do these circles always overlap? Are there some people with whom we always visit, and some with whom we never do? Are there some people who we always invite to our parties and some whom we don’t? Are there some opinions that matter to us more than others? Sometimes, out of frustration, do we find ourselves tuning out, rolling our eyes at, or explicitly shooting down the feelings and ideas of our brothers and sisters?

Although we want to love and welcome everyone, by following these patterns, we live as though some of us do not have much to offer. When we disregard ideas, ignore certain opinions, or do not make an effort to have relationships with every person in this community, we are, in effect, saying exactly what Paul warns against, “I have no need of you.”

These same patterns of dismissing ourselves and each other, which we see in our relationships with one other, can also manifest themselves in our relationship with the Church as a whole. Sometimes at Mount Olive, we dismiss ourselves as a member of the whole body of Christ. Now, we are aware of our membership to the whole body in our deep commitment to being rooted in the tradition of the greater Church, which is expressed particularly in our worship together. Sometimes, however, we can dismiss ourselves in relation to other Lutherans. Because not all congregations in the ELCA have found how we worship to be as life-giving as us, there is sometimes a tendency for us to anticipate rejection. We might expect other congregations and leaders in the ELCA to write us off. We may even begin to bristle before we enter into relationship with other Lutherans in anticipation of being dismissed.

While these patterns come from a place of deep hurt from being misunderstood by some of our brothers and sisters, the question before us becomes this: what do we lose by resigning ourselves to not belonging, to feeling dismissed, or to being content on our own?

It is a very common human reaction when we feel attacked to rise up and defend ourselves. One of the ways that this can happen in our life together is that we sometimes dismiss the particular worship styles of others congregations. Here’s something that I’ve heard people from Mount Olive ask a newcomer on more than one occasion: “Have you ever experienced God’s presence like that?” On the one hand, that question comes from a deep place of love. It comes from the joy of experiencing God’s presence with us, of God leading us out of our deserts and bringing us together in order to drink deeply of Christ’s love. We desire for everyone who worships with us to experience this love and presence as well.
On the other hand, when we ask, “Have you ever experienced God’s presence like that?” the underlying assumption is that they haven’t, and it can be experienced as a dismissal of how God has encountered them in the past.

What do we lose when we dismiss others in this way? How can we honor how other congregations have been met by God while still being faithful to who God has called us to be?

In response to our individual and communal patterns of dismissing ourselves and one another, Jesus gives us the same words that he gives James and John in today’s Gospel: “It is not so among you.”

Notice that this is neither a command, “Let it not be so among you,” nor a future promise, “It will not be so among you.” Instead, it is a present condition of fact because of who the Triune God has made us to be. In our baptisms, God the Father has claimed us as his own. God the Holy Spirit has poured out gifts on us and united us with Christ in his death and resurrection. We are raised to live as Christ. Week after week, Christ comes to us in the Eucharist and makes us one again at his table. We are a new creation. When Jesus says, “It is not so among you,” he is saying, “This isn’t who you are.”

Who we are is the body of Christ. We are arranged in this body just as God chose. “You did not choose me,” Jesus tells us, “but I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” Because it is God who chose us and bound us together, none of can say, “I don’t matter” and none of us can say “you don’t matter.” Each of us, and every congregation, is a vital part of the body.

When we doubt our place in this community or in the Church at large, God asks us: “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?” God would have us stop comparing ourselves to others and instead see ourselves, one another, and Mount Olive as God created us: valuable, irreplaceable members of the body.

But then, when we are frustrated with or embarrassed by members of this congregation or the whole Church and wish to distance ourselves from those Christians, God asks us, “If you were the whole part, where would the body be?” God values the body itself. The goal is not that we can function independently by being every part, but instead that we are part of the body. The body is what God desires because the one body, and only the whole body with all of its members, can be Christ in the world. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you” because in fact the eye does need the hand. The eye cannot do what the hand can do and the hand cannot offer what the eye offers. Each will suffer without the other.

We are most commonly drawn towards people who are like us, but God knows that we are strengthened by our differences. We are given one another so that we can nourish and be nourished. We need the gifts and perspectives of each other, even—and perhaps especially—the perspectives of the people, congregations, or denominations that we think are the most off track, because we can’t see what they can see and they can’t see what we can see.

Therefore, we can’t dismiss one another. We need to take everyone’s concerns seriously and treasure what they bring to the table. Unlike in other organizations and groups that we are a part of, we don’t get to choose who belongs to the body of Christ. We don’t get to say, “He’s just a jerk,” or “she’s ridiculous,” or “Thank you, God, that we aren’t like them” because God has bound us together; we belong to each other. God would have us look beyond ourselves and discern the whole body of Christ: that is, attend to the gifts and needs of all of our brothers and sisters. We are to trust that we all have something to offer and something to learn. We depend on one another, so by binding us together, God has given us just what we need. God knit us together in baptism. We are fearfully and wonderfully made for each other.

Our need for each other goes even deeper than what we do or how we function. Just as the Trinity is inherently relational, so too are we, as creatures in God’s own image, created for relationship.

As such, we long to love and be loved. God knows that more than anything else, what we most need is relationship so honest, so truthful, so real that we are loved—not because of what we do or in spite of what we do—but for who we are.

This is how God loves us, and this is how we love one another.

Christ makes this possible. We no longer have to fear if we are enough or if we will have enough because Christ promises that we are and that he and his body will provide what we need. We no longer have to put up barriers between us to protect ourselves, to assert our identity, or to hide certain parts of ourselves in order to be loved. In Christ’s death and resurrection, all of these threats that would otherwise prevent us from loving each other have been overcome: they have no power over us. We are defined by Christ and Christ alone. Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are bonded into one by their love for one another, so too are we, in our union with Christ, bound by love to the Triune God and to each other.

Now with threats overcome, barriers broken, and God’s love binding us, we can be a community where we reveal our deepest pain and brokenness to one another because we trust that our weeping will be met with tears, our joy with rejoicing, our sin with forgiveness, and our love with love for who we are in Christ.

We can be a congregation where we are so secure in one another’s love that we never have to doubt our worth, suppress our thoughts, assert our place, or forget how much we need one another.

We, with all the people of God, can risk being a Church that gives itself away for the world.

The body of Christ is an invitation to dream what life could really be like together and then to wake up and realize that it is not a dream after all, but a reality that the Triune God makes possible through love.

We are the body of Christ, and we, though many, are one.

Amen.

Midweek Lent 2014 + A Servant Community (Paul’s first letter to Corinth)

March 26, 2014 By moadmin

Week 3: “Knowledge Puffs Up; Love Builds Up”

Pr. Joseph Crippen, Wednesday, 26 March 2014; texts: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Matthew 18:1-7

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

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Isn’t it interesting, then, that the apostle Paul, later in this first letter to Corinth, says “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) It seems as if we have opposing points of view. Are we to become like children in faith? Or are we to mature, grow up, and set aside childish ways?

And what are we to make of Paul’s accommodations to those who are weak in the Corinthian community, that is, those who are still threatened enough by the presence of idol worship that they are at risk of losing their faith? Surely the mature response of faith is the one Paul describes first, that idols are non-threatening since they obviously aren’t real. There is one God, made known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. So even if someone has offered meat in a temple to an idol, and now sells that meat in the market, it’s perfectly fine for Christians to eat it. That’s clearly the more mature faith stance.

And yet Paul argues against it, on the basis of love. He tells his people in Corinth that they are to pay attention to their weaker members, those whose faith or understanding or knowledge isn’t quite what the others have, and accommodate them, lest they falter in faith. Yes, it’s okay to eat meat previously offered to idols. But, Paul says, don’t do it if it’s going to cause someone else to stumble.

It turns out both Jesus and Paul agree on their one major concern: that believers do not cause other believers to stumble in their faith. Both believe the community of Christ is shaped by a deep and abiding concern for all members, even those who are perhaps seen as weaker, less strong.

But it’s Jesus’ words about children that actually cause us to see another level of understanding of the community: it isn’t only that we are to accommodate those who are weaker. The community of Christ actually needs all believers, of all kinds and all strengths and all developments. We all actually have things to teach each other. And that’s the key to all of this.

Let’s start with the controversy, though, and with the recognition that this sort of thing happens in the Church today.

We may not have problems with meat offered to idols, but we’ve got the same pattern of condescension and dismissive behavior to those whom we consider “less” advanced.

I remember when I first came into ministry that there were basically two kinds of older pastors who related to me. One kind were the ones who were a great gift – my supervisor on internship, other clergy in colleague groups in my first call – because they respected me, while sharing their knowledge and experience. They treated me as if I belonged at the table, raw as I was, and yet were also able to share what they’d learned on the road, with respect and care.

The other kind were the ones I learned to avoid. They were the ones who said, “When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you’ll feel differently.” Or, “When you’ve been around the block a few times you won’t have that enthusiasm.” Or, “When you’re a little older you’ll see that just can’t work in the church.” Things like that. The tone was always that I was naïve (which I probably was) and inexperienced (which I certainly was), and therefore my hope and excitement for ministry was inappropriate. Or at least dismissable.

And that latter piece was the part where they lost my interest in listening. Both types of pastors had experience and knowledge I needed, and would have been worth having me know. Only the ones who respected me and treated me with kindness and weren’t patronizing or dismissive actually were helpful to me. And I think a big part of it was they believed I had something to offer as well, that it wasn’t only their experience that was important in the conversation.

The same thing happens when you are a young parent. There are some people who simply can’t help dismissing the concerns of parents of toddlers with the injunction: “Wait until you have teenagers – then you’ll know what hard parenting is.”

Which as a parent of four children, most of whom are adults now, I can say is completely ridiculous. Every age of our children was both a challenge and a joy. It was no harder dealing with the painfulness of adolescent teen children finding their way than it was to deal with the emerging personality of a two year old who needed to be able to say “no”. If anything, each age of our children was just enough challenge and joy for our own age and experience. A parent of a baby has just as much wisdom about how to love that baby as a parent of an adult, even though they obviously will learn much more as the years go by.

But this is not unheard of in congregations, either, and Paul would want us to recognize that.

I’ve led a lot of Bible studies over the years, and I’ve noticed that there are sometimes tendencies among participants that are exactly as Paul describes in this situation, with similar results.

How often have you seen it, too, that in a Bible study someone makes a comment or asks a question that another person, who’s perhaps studied the Bible more or even might have a professional degree, then shoots down as wrong or incorrect? Or dismisses as unimportant?

The first person not only starts to learn that their contributions aren’t welcome, he or she also begins to believe that they have no insight, that they’re not of value. That their concerns aren’t important, because “smart people” have already figured it out. It’s not far from there to stumbling in faith.

So you have the situation where I’ve had any number of conversations with people over the years who fear coming to Bible studies because they don’t know enough, they’d feel dumb, they don’t have anything to offer. Surely Paul would say that those are precisely the people we hope come to Bible studies?

This problem in a Christian community Paul describes is not unknown to us, because it’s a human tendency, a sign of our human brokenness. We like to show off our knowledge and understanding, and often at the expense of those who don’t have what we have, often dismissing those who are asking questions we feel we’ve learned already. Children also bear the brunt of this in congregations, their questions often dismissed as worthless, as unimportant, as ignorant, instead of being honored and listened to and carefully answered.

But here’s the really compelling thing about God: God, according to the Scriptures, seems very interested, committed even, to the idea that we best become who we are meant to be by growing up into it.

None of the people of God in the Scriptures start out where God needs them to be. They always have growth they need to do, places they need to go, learning they need to accomplish. Even the greats like Moses, Elijah, Sarah, any of the disciples, they all are invited into a path of growth.

And of course, God has designed us to be infants first, then children, then adults, and placed us together in families and communities where all ages are found. That might tell us something.

But perhaps most significant is the coming of the Son of God. Jesus doesn’t appear on the clouds, fully formed and ready to be Messiah. Even the Son of God has to start out at the beginning, as a vulnerable infant. Even the Son of God had to learn to spell, to think, had to learn how to get along with others, to ask questions in order to learn and understand.

It seems clear that becoming human is something we have to learn, we can’t start at the end. Which at the very least suggests that we respect and love our fellow sisters and brothers at whatever stage they are, because it’s where they need to be.

That is, it would be better if the Corinthians didn’t dismiss those who struggled with idols. That they chose to avoid eating meat not just because Paul told them to, but rather because they loved them and appreciated where they were.

In fact, the deeper we grow into Christ, the more we mature spiritually, the less we need to puff ourselves up about how wise we are. It’s typically a mark of immaturity that someone needs to put themselves or their knowledge or development over against another. But perhaps Jesus is inviting us to take even one more step and relish the differences as essential to the life of the community.

This seems to be the center of these readings today.

There is certainly a call by both Paul and Jesus to honor and accommodate each other at whatever stage of development and maturity we are. That’s obvious.

The Christian community, shaped by the cross ourselves, called to love sacrificially, is a community where all are loved and respected and honored, whatever they bring, wherever they are in their growth. And we aspire to adjust our behaviors if they are causing problems to others, even if we think we could justify them theologically or ethically or spiritually.

Because of the love of Christ we have for each other, that’s how we are together. That much is clear.

But the next logical conclusion, given God’s need for us to learn as we grow, is actually to see how we need everyone at every stage because of what they bring. So, for example, Jesus tells us that if we want to know what faith is all about, we should look to the children. They know how to trust without any proof, they know how to be loyal even when it seems illogical, they know what it is to depend fully on another. They’re beautiful models to cynical, weary adults of what it would be to trust God with our whole hearts, lives, everything.

And so it is with everyone else in our community. So it is that those who haven’t studied the Scriptures much sometimes ask the questions we most need to hear. I can’t tell you how often that has happened to me when leading a Bible study, that the simplest, perhaps least informed question, has been the one thing we really needed to consider, the one thing the Spirit of God needed us to hear.

So it is also that people who feel more on the outside of a community are often the ones who have the eyes to see what’s really going on, and those inside need to hear them and learn from them.

And so it is that the young among us see with joy and enthusiasm, which those of us who sometimes feel very tired on the journey need to have infused into us. And those who have walked this journey of faith for eight or nine decades have such a gift of wisdom and long-vision that some of us who are impatient in getting where we are going need to hear and learn from.

This is the gift of our community in Christ: we’re all growing into maturity of discipleship, together.

And our call is to love each other at every stage of that growth, because every stage is needed for the community, and every one is needed. We don’t want to cause others to stumble, that’s true, both Jesus and Paul say that. But even more, we want to help each other when stumbling happens, catch each other, and learn from each other where the cracks in the road are, where the potholes are, and where the good paths are. And you never know just who it may be in the community who can see that at any time.

This is the great gift of our Lord, that we live this faith together. Now our Lord would like us to really learn what “together” can mean.

In the name of Jesus. Amen