Mount Olive Lutheran Church

The Olive Branch, 1/29/14

By

Accent on Worship

In the Gospel reading for the Presentation of Our Lord, Mary and Joseph go to the temple in Jerusalem in order to present Jesus to the Lord as their first born son.

Though all the characters in this story are quite compelling, like Simeon, who would probably be considered the main character and is the one who gave Mary the bad news about how she is going to suffer, the persons who most capture my imagination in this narrative are the women, Mary and Anna.

What draws a person like Mary to say yes to God?  Truly it was her willingness to serve, but was she also not just a bit flattered that she was chosen for the task, not realizing how hard it was going to be? Remember how excited she was when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth? The Spirit gave her only the vision of the end results. I would like to think that Mary was like many of us who are often excited and flattered into taking on the lead role in a noble venture, (one we feel called by God to do) and in the midst of it regretting our decision more times than we care to admit.  But, in the end we are glad we did it and like Mary, glad we put our trust in God and said yes.  The Gospel tells us how amazed Mary and Joseph were to hear the praise for Jesus and the prophecies of his greatness.  The mother in Mary would dwell on those things rather than on her own suffering.

Anna is the other fascinating person in this Gospel story.  I am assuming that, like most women of her time, she was a teenager when she married.  Therefore, she would have been in her early twenties when she entered the temple as a widow and never left.  I feel that Luke mentions her father and her tribe in order to make a statement about her ability to make such a decision of her own free will.  She was not a widow who went to the temple in order to be cared for.  She had family.  Therefore, it was her decision and hers alone to take on a life of prayer and fasting.  She was recognized as a prophet, which is pretty remarkable for a woman of her time.  Anna is one of only six women in both Old and New Testaments recognized as a prophet, six among forty eight male prophets, sixteen of whom have their own books in the Bible.  However, only two prophets held the Messiah and she was one of them.

– Donna Neste

Sunday Readings

February 2, 2014: Presentation of Our Lord
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
_____________________

February 9, 2014: 5th Sunday after Epiphany
 Isaiah 58:1-12
 Psalm 112:1-9
I Corinthians. 2:1-16
 Matthew 5:13-20

This Week’s Adult Forum 

February 2:  “Postures of Prayer: How our Bodies Shape and Reveal our Faith,” presented by Dwight Penas.

Book Discussion Group Upcoming Reads

For its meeting on February 8, the Book Discussion group will read and discuss The Bell, by Iris Murdoch. For March 8 they will read Howards End, by E. M. Forster.

Website Mapping Event

Do you think Mount Olive’s site could be better organized? Here’s a chance for you to offer your two cents. This Sunday, Feb. 2 between liturgies, come to the Undercroft to participate in a website mapping exercise and discussion about Mount Olive’s site. Questions? Contact bethgaede [at] comcast [dot] net.

Annual “Taste of” Festival Set For February 9

Mark your calendar for Sunday, February 9!   This year’s annual celebration will be “A Taste of Mardi Gras celebrating Lutheran Volunteer Corps!”

The Adult Forum will feature guests from Lutheran Volunteer Corps, sharing the history of LVC, its impact, and its current mission and initiatives.  Guests will include the Regional Director of Lutheran Volunteer Corps, the Development Director, and several current volunteers who are serving in the Twin Cities.  Following the second liturgy, join us for a Mardi Gras celebration with gumbo, jambalaya, slaw, dirty rice, macaroni and cheese, and bread pudding–all prepared by Mount Olive members. Feel free to invite others.

In places like New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated over the weeks ahead of “Fat Tuesday.” So let’s kick off Mardi Gras right (And this event will be a good bookend for the Fat Tuesday pancake dinner, planned with our youth.)
 Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC), is one of the supported missions of Mount Olive through our congregational giving. Each year, the Lutheran Volunteer Corps provides opportunities for young adults and others to complete a year of full-time service work at select nonprofits in cities across the country, including Minneapolis and St. Paul.  During their year of service, participants live in community and have opportunities to reflect on their commitments, their spiritual journeys, and the ways they hope to put their values into practice.

Questions? Please e-mail Paul Schadewald at pschadew@yahoo.com.

Stories for the Journey:  Thursday Evening Bible Study

The Thursday evening Bible study meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. continues this week.  Pr. Crippen is leading a series on the parables of Jesus and how they provide us a vision of God’s reign. As with all these Thursday series, there will be a light supper when we begin. The series runs through February 20.

Attention Worship Assistants Schedule Request Deadline

The Servant Schedule for the second quarter of 2014 will be published at the beginning of March, 2014.  The deadline for submitting requests to me is February 14, 2014.  Please e-mail your requests to me at peggyrf70@gmail.com.  Thanks!

-Peggy Hoeft

Neighborhood Ministries Interim Position News

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

Godly Play Needs and Opportunities

Godly Play, our Sunday morning program with children that takes place between liturgies, is in need of people to assist on Sunday mornings by helping the children “get ready” to enter the Godly Play classroom (where we “talk more quietly and walk more slowly”) and to help with our work time and feast.  Training will be provided.  Please consider whether you might be able to serve in this wonderful ministry. Your service would be needed only once every 4-6 weeks.  For more information, or to express your interest, please contact me at diana.hellerman@gmail.com or at 612 581 5969.

In addition, the pre-school class is looking for Arch Books Bible Stories.  Do you some at home you’d like to donate? Please bring them to church.
It is a pleasure to spend Sunday mornings with the children of Mount Olive. Together with Patsy Holtmeier, Carol Austermann and Marilyn Gebauer, I thank you for this blessing and privilege and I invite you to come and be a part of this.

– Diana Hellerman

Bible Study at Becketwood

Vicar Emily Beckering is offering a second run of the six- week Bible study on human suffering at Becketwood Cooperative on five Tuesday afternoons (January 7 through February 11) from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. This study examines the Biblical witness to suffering and who God is for us in the midst of that suffering.  All are welcome!

Synod Voting Members Needed

Mount Olive is entitled to send two lay voting members (one woman and one man), in addition to Pr. Crippen, to attend the 2014 Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly May 2-3  at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Ramsey.  This is the event that deals with the business of the ELCA on both a local level and beyond.
The theme this year is “Sent Forth By God’s Blessing.”  If you are interested in attending – even if you’ve never done so before – please speak to Pastor Crippen or Lora Dundek (651/645-6636 or lhdundek@usfamily.net).  The congregation pays registration fees for voting members.

A Good Time – A Great Cause

A very good time was had by all the guests who came to the wedding shower for Cathy Bosworth and Marty Hamlin, held at the home of Tom Olson and Maury Anderson on January 19.  Cathy and Marty were married at Mount Olive this past Saturday, January 25.

Their wedding shower was a tremendous blessing for the Diaper Depot! Instead of gifts, Cathy and Marty requested diapers!  On Tuesday morning, the day after the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, thousands of diapers representing hundreds of dollars were waiting to be unpacked and put on the shelves of the Diaper Depot.

Thank you to all the guests who celebrated the union of Cathy and Marty in such a generous way!

National Lutheran Choir to Host City-Wide Hymn Festival

On Sunday February 23, at 4:00 p.m., the National Lutheran Choir will join forces with hundreds of Twin Cities’ church choir members for a City-Wide Hymn Festival to be held at Central Lutheran Church (333 South 12th St., Minneapolis). Mark Sedio, Cantor at Central Lutheran, will conduct the massed choir. David Cherwien and the NLC will perform with the help of the mighty Casavant organ.

Tickets for this event are $25/adults; $23/Seniors; and $20/Students, and can be obtained by calling the NLC office at 612-722-2301. or by visiting them on the web: www.nlca.com.

Always Before and After

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Darkness covers our lives in different ways but in Christ Jesus God has entered that darkness with light; now, whether it is light or dark, we know God’s grace is always with us.  And now, we tell others of the light we have seen.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Third Sunday after Epiphany, year A; texts: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; Matthew 4:12-23

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

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.”  Such a powerful word of promise, Isaiah’s grace note.  This note, this song has continued to ring through centuries, a melody of hope in a world of darkness.  A note which Matthew heard before we heard it, and upon looking at Jesus, the Son of God, realized, “Ah: this is what Isaiah sang.  This is the light shining in the darkness.”  A melody which John the evangelist heard and also named as Jesus when he sang of the light no darkness can overcome or understand.  A song Andrew and John, James and Peter heard that was so compelling they left their work and their lives so they could walk with this light, and eventually sing of this light to others in the midst of deep darkness.

The joy of hearing such a word, such a song, comes if one has experienced the darkness.  If all is sunshine and light, such a word, though still beautiful, somehow seems like a lovely but unimportant, distant song.  “The people who walked in darkness?”  They knew they had no light.  For them, light shining meant everything.

So are we ever in the dark?  Does Isaiah’s song sing to us?

We need to know what darkness is.  If it’s literal darkness, the absence of physical light, we live in an age unlike any other in the history of the world.  We never need be in darkness, we have lights everywhere, on all the time.  Even in this building there are lights in hallways that never, ever turn off.  Unless we are in the wilderness, when can we walk and be in darkness, what with all the street lights, porch lights, car lights, sign lights?

From space, our planet looks like a great Christmas light.  We have to be told by scientists that sleep is better served by full darkness because even in our bedrooms we have so many lights hardly anyone knows what it is to be completely in the dark.  Isaiah’s song might be meaningless to us.

But maybe we’re obsessed with keeping lights on at all times because we can’t cope with darkness, true darkness.  Maybe there’s another reason that we don’t ever, ever turn all the lights off.  Maybe we, more than any other age in human history, have truly become afraid of the dark.

Like a child’s game of peekaboo, where if she closes her eyes, nothing exists, but in reverse, maybe we pretend that if we never have to face darkness we won’t have to think about true darkness, it won’t be real.

Because that’s the truth about Isaiah’s song, isn’t it, that it sings not of physical darkness, the absence of light waves and particles, but of metaphorical darkness, the dark night of the soul, the fears and worries and sadness and confusion and pain and all that which we call darkness?

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, and we’re not talking about the sun, or the moon, or candles, or 5,000 watt spotlights.  The reason this note of grace has sung in the depths of human hearts for centuries is that true darkness has nothing to do with light switches.  Darkness has long been an image which helped us describe our lives without God.  And it still works.

And we’ve played with words of light to try to describe how this works in our lives.  We’ve talked about being enlightened, said, “I see,” when we meant we understood.  We’ve talked about having “insight” when our confusion was pierced with grace.

So, if that’s true darkness, then is it real to us?  Is this truth about our lives?  Because if it isn’t, then this song will also not ring true, nor will it be necessary.

Isaiah said, “the people who walked in darkness.”  If you’re walking in darkness, you’re stumbling around, bumping your shins on all sorts of things, feeling lost the further you go.  You know there’s a problem.

Matthew, strangely, changed it a little.  He said, “the people who sat in darkness.”  If you’re sitting in darkness, you’ve either given up or you are frozen in indecision.  You’re not going anywhere, you’re not seeing anything.  You’re just sitting.  In darkness.

If this is not foreign to us, well, then, there is some very good news.

When the early believers saw Jesus, they said: God has come into our darkness.

This real darkness that pervades our lives, our fears, our confusion, all that, seems to dissipate in the presence of Christ Jesus for us, too.  His words, his grace, what he does for us, all are the same song Isaiah began 3,000 years ago.  The word of God’s forgiveness and love breaks upon us like a light in the deepest darkness.

And we see, we see.  We find clarity where once we were confused.  We find calm where once we were anxious, gladness where once we were sad, comfort where once we were in pain, hope where once we were afraid.  Life where once we were dead.

Because we know true darkness, this light of Christ is deeply real and life-giving for us.  And because of Christ, we begin to understand other things about darkness and light.  We begin to see that God is there in both places, now that we’ve come to know God is with us at all.

Psalm 139 begins to make sense to us in ways we hadn’t known when we thought all was dark.  “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

That now makes sense, because of course our fears come back, our confusion returns.  Our pain, or new pain, strikes once more, and anxiety rears its head just when we thought it had gone.  And death always looms.

But now, now we know the truth: we are not alone, and God has brought light into this darkness.  So even when it seems dark again, we have a secret to which we can cling and find hope.  We have become children again, and our heavenly parent has turned the lights on in our room and said, “See – it’s all safe, it’s all fine.  It’s only a coat sitting over a chair that you were afraid of.  And when the lights go off again, now you know: I’m here, and it’s all going to be fine, even if for awhile it will be dark.”

That now is our life and our joy: now the darkness cannot truly frighten us anymore.  We can sing, “the LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” and know that to be true.

Darkness will come again, it always does.  But now we know the truth, and more, we know where the light is.  Who the light is.

And now we can look at Andrew and the others for a moment.

This call of Jesus to them we just heard is different perhaps than we thought.  After hearing John’s account last week we now see differently what really happened on that beach.  We see that this call of Jesus wasn’t a cold call to these four, wasn’t their first encounter.

First Andrew and John, then Simon Peter, met Jesus and learned the truth about who he was.  Then they went about their work and lives.  Until the day Jesus came to them at their place of work and said, “Now we need to go, and I need you to help.”

They knew what darkness was and in Jesus they saw light.  They saw what they were looking for, hoping for.  So when he came to them later and asked them to follow, they were ready, they were willing.

They were willing to go into dark places with others on his behalf.  Probably not at first.  Probably at first they followed because he was light and they were in darkness.  But later, after the resurrection, they all did it.  They all, like Jesus, entered the darkness in which other people sat, or walked, and brought light.

And that, of course, is our call, too.  To follow, not just so that we can see light always, even when it’s dark.  But so that we can be light-bearers to others in darkness.  So we can listen to others in their darkness and speak of the light.

So we can sing Isaiah’s song to them by our very presence with them.  So we can say, though it is fearfully dark, “I have seen a light, and I will walk with you in that direction until you can see it, too.”  And so we can sit with those who cannot yet imagine how to walk or even to get up, and by being with them, be the light of Christ in their darkness.

As much as we talk about witnessing, this is the real gift, the real thing.  We know what light in the darkness really is, what God has really done.  We are the ones, the only ones, who can hold that light for someone else in darkness.

We prayed in our Prayer of the Day today this confidence: “Lord God, your lovingkindness always goes before us and follows after us.”  Let that be our witness.

Because we know it is true: darkness is not dark to God, darkness is as light, and so before us and after us, wherever we walk, God’s light is with us.

We might not have any other thing to offer someone else in darkness, any other skills.  But we have seen this light.

That, that we can share.  That, that is our gift to offer.  And in the dark, it’s all you need.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

The Olive Branch, 1/22/14

By

Accent on Worship
The people who walk in darkness…
     The first reading for this Sunday’s lectionary took me to a topic which was quite prominent both at our Conference on Liturgy January 11, and the workshop I led this past weekend for the American Guild of Organists in Tucson, Arizona.  
     Here in Minneapolis, the topic was the psalter – and the issue of “memory” came up often.  Rather than change translations we use too often, we need to recognize the value of memorizing the psalms so that we have these songs when we need them.  Staying with the same translations aids this process.
     The topic this past weekend in Arizona was the “future of the church.”  They had many more in attendance than they expected.  This is because folks are worried about the future of the church.  (Thank goodness it wasn’t only one age demographic present).  One thing was clear there: people who had been deeply a part of the church are feeling pushed out!  Memory played a huge part of that discussion as well, perhaps in a slightly different way.
     Sunday’s reading from Isaiah (Is. 9:1-4) took me there again because I thought of those who suffer from Alzheimer’s.  I can’t imagine a darkness as extreme as this.  People appear to become bodies void of a soul.  Yet I’ve heard story after story about when hymns are sung to an Alzheimer’s patient,  they perk up,  and perhaps even sing along.  Don Saliers (our main speaker at the Conference on Liturgy this year) thought song-memory, including psalms, is one of the last things the mind loses. It can perhaps be through hymns and psalms (another form of song) that we can remember Christ as our light, even in this darkness.
     This can be instructive to us in a number of ways.  We can/should perhaps work harder at memorizing what we can while we can, and scrutinize that which we do commit to memory.  That is why I don’t encourage jumping from translation to translation (even if a newer one is good!) unless we’re confident the new one will be around long enough for us to go through the work of learning its new version. “Praise to the Lord” is printed with two translations:  ELW 858 (the former) and 859 (a new inclusive language version).  We sing 858 to nurture that as memory, because we should know that 859 is going to stick around before going through the work of revising our memory.  
     This is not to say that inclusive language is not important. There is an imbalance in our hymnic imagery of God.  We have plenty of God/Father and God/King hymns – we need other images represented in scripture which are equally helpful to create a better balance.  
     Memory is something we need to take seriously.  When the church – either churchwide or local congregation – denies its memory, its past, its journey along with the contributions of each era and place,  it becomes a church of Alzheimer’s.  A body without soul.
     It is important to “remember the future” (as Susan put it in hymn 548, Rise, O Church).  We need to keep the future connected – keep its “membership”; it’s connection to its past.  We are a reforming church, and reforming children of God through baptism, not something without a past in our path, not something we’ve completely reinvented from scratch.  And as individual souls of God, we need to remember from whom we get light – in spite of darknesses.  It turns out darkness is not something to fear.  Let the songs help us remember!
– Cantor David Cherwien


This Week in Adult Education

January 26: Cantor Cherwien will offer a report on his recent sabbatical


Stories for the Journey: Thursday Evening Bible Study 

     The Thursday evening Bible study meeting in the Chapel Lounge from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. continues this week.  Pr. Crippen is leading a series on the parables of Jesus and how they provide us a vision of God’s reign. As with all these Thursday series, there will be a light supper when we begin. The series runs through February 20. 

Bible Study at Becketwood

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


Wedding Invitation

     Because you welcomed us, celebrated with us, loved and encouraged us, we, Marty Hamlin and Cathy Bosworth, invite you to join us as we exchange our marriage vows. 
     The service will take place here at Mount Olive this Saturday, January 25, at 3:00 p.m. A reception follows immediately in the Undercroft.  
     Please, no gifts.


Neighborhood Ministry Position News

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

2013 Contribution Statements

     Year-end contribution statements for 2013 were mailed to all contributors last week.  If you have not received your statement, please contact the church office and another will be sent or emailed to you.

Book Discussion Group

   For its meeting on February 8, the Book Discussion group will read and discuss The Bell, by Iris Murdoch.

Annual “Taste of” Festival to Be Held February 9

     Mark your calendar for Sunday, February 9!  This year’s “Taste of” will take us to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras celebration for Lutheran Volunteer Corps.  In places like New Orleans, Mardi Gras is celebrated over the weeks ahead of “Fat Tuesday.” So let’s kick off Mardi Gras right with gumbo, jambalaya, slaw, dirty rice, and other fare.  (And this event will be a good bookend for the Fat Tuesday pancake dinner, planned with our youth.)
     We will celebrate and learn about the work of the Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC), one of the supported missions of Mount Olive through our congregational giving. Each year, the Lutheran Volunteer Corps provides opportunities for young adults and others to complete a year of full-time service work at select nonprofits in cities across the country, including Minneapolis and St. Paul.  During their year of service, participants live in community and have opportunities to reflect on their commitments, their spiritual journeys, and the ways they hope to put their values into practice.
     We will be joined during the adult forum by the Regional Director of LVC, the Development Director, and several current and past volunteers.  Then after the second service, head downstairs for the Mardi Gras meal.  
     The Missions Committee is still looking for people to cook an item and bring it to church for the meal on Sunday, February 9, and we are still looking for help in decorating and setting up the day before “Taste of.”  If you can help, please e-mail Paul Schadewald, at pschadew@yahoo.com
     All are welcome at “Taste of Mardi Gras.”  Bring friends!

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Festival Worship

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

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

National Lutheran Choir to Host City-Wide Hymn Festival: “Gather”

     On Sunday February 23, at 4:00 p.m., the singers of the National Lutheran Choir will join forces with hundreds of Twin Cities’ church choir members for a City-Wide Hymn Festival to be held at Central Lutheran Church (333 S. 12th St., Minneapolis). Mark Sedio, Cantor at Central Lutheran, is set to conduct the mass choir. David Cherwien and the NLC will perform with the help of the mighty Casavant organ. 
     Tickets for this event are $25/adults; $23/Seniors; and $20/Students, and can be obtained by calling the NLC office at 612-722-2301, or by visiting them on the web: www.nlca.com.

A Note of Thanks from TRUST

     Thanks to the following volunteers from Mount Olive who delivered Meals on Wheels for TRUST during the fourth quarter of 2013: Gary Flatgard, Art Halbardier, Elaine Halbardier, Bob Lee, Connie Olson, and Rod Olson.
     All of us at TRUST are grateful for their dedicated service.

If You See Something

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Our call is pretty simple: if we’ve seen the grace of God in Jesus, if this is life to us, we are asked by our Lord to tell others, to say “Come and see!”  Even if we don’t think we’re that important to the enterprise.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen, Second Sunday after Epiphany, year A; texts: John 1:29-42; Isaiah 49:1-7

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

It’s interesting how much we Christians like the apostle Peter.  It was one of his two feast days yesterday, the Confession of St. Peter.  The Conversion of St. Paul is next Saturday, and then the two of them share a day, June 29.  Peter’s the star of the twelve, isn’t he?  Confesses that Jesus is Messiah, leads the twelve, along with James and John.  Becomes, as tradition tells it, the first bishop of Rome.  Two New Testament letters are attributed to him, even if it’s possible he didn’t write them, and even Mark’s Gospel has sometimes been attributed to Peter’s teaching and message.

We love his faults, too.  Every time Peter stumbles, sticks his foot in his mouth, or doesn’t understand a word of what Jesus is saying, we rejoice a little.  If even the great St. Peter can be such an idiot, perhaps there’s hope for me.  Plus, Peter provides terrific comic relief in many of the Gospel stories.  Peter’s great.

And then there’s his little brother, Andrew.  St. Andrew only gets one feast day, not two, and since November 30 is almost always in Advent, it doesn’t get celebrated much.  Overshadowed by a much more colorful and famous brother, Andrew is kind of one of the forgotten of the twelve.  If he wrote any letters, none have survived, none have been attributed to him and made the canon.  The three leaders of the disciples were Peter, James, and John.  It might sometimes escape our notice, but the four Gospels do agree that the first four disciples called by Jesus were the two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John.  Somehow, Andrew slipped into second-rate status.  He’s didn’t make the Big Three.

But did you see what happened in John’s telling this morning?  There are two disciples of John the Baptist who take note of his witness to Jesus as the Lamb of God.  Two disciples, Andrew, and an unnamed one, whom we assume to be John, the brother of James and the one from whom this Gospel finds its source.  Andrew and John follow Jesus, and then, at the end of the story, Andrew runs and finds his brother Simon.  He tells Simon that they’ve found the Messiah, and he brings his brother to Jesus.  Jesus promptly changes Simon’s name to Peter, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Andrew steps aside for his brother, probably not for the first time and certainly not for the last, and Peter assumes his starring role.

But do you know what sticks out to me in this story?  The one who doesn’t stick out.  I can’t stop looking at Andrew in this story, and in the ministry of Jesus.  Because maybe we’ve been modeling ourselves after the wrong brother.  Maybe we need to pay attention to the one who draws no attention to himself.

Maybe the good news of this story, and of the twelve, is that we are more like Andrew than Peter.

There are several things that we notice once we start looking at Andrew.

First, though he remains in the background, always, he’s also always an access point to Jesus.  Today, he brings Simon Peter to Jesus, and starts the path of a deeply important disciple, someone Jesus needed very much.  Andrew is the reason his brother believes.  Because Andrew brought him to the One he saw, he recognized, as Messiah.  Peter’s confession doesn’t happen without Andrew’s confession.

But when we look for Andrew in the Gospels we find him pretty much only on lists.  Except in John’s Gospel, drawn from the teaching of the one of the twelve who apparently was Andrew’s best friend, John, John’s Gospel tells this one, and then two other stories of Andrew.

Do you remember the great sign Jesus gives, feeding well over 5,000 people with a couple fish and five barley loaves?  Of course you do.  Do you want to hazard a guess as to which disciple actually had made friends with a little boy who’d brought a lunch, and was able to tell Jesus they had at least a little food?

That’s right.  It was Andrew.  Maybe he didn’t make friends, but it sure looks like Andrew was the guy who paid attention to people; who, because he wasn’t dominating the scene, was able to see things others didn’t.

And a little later, there are these Greek-speaking believers who want to meet Jesus, so they talk to Philip.  Philip is a Greek name, so presumably Philip was a Greek-speaking Jew, probably from a family of Jews who had lived in the diaspora.  But Philip doesn’t take them to Jesus.  Philip takes them to Andrew.  And Andrew leads them to Jesus.

It’s becoming familiar, isn’t it?  Andrew, whom we hardly think of, keeps on bringing people to Jesus.  Andrew, who’s not important, is someone people can come to if they want to know Jesus.

Second, Andrew, according to John, is the first who recognized what he was seeing, who looked at Jesus and saw he was the Anointed One, the Messiah.  He sees, in just one day, what Jesus is all about.  At first he only calls him “rabbi,” “teacher.”  But after he and John stay with Jesus for an evening, the next day he runs to his brother Simon and says, “We have found the Messiah!”

This is the first time Jesus is called the Messiah in John’s Gospel, and this confession of Andrew predates Peter’s by several years.  Andrew’s encounter with Jesus causes him to see the truth.

And third, Andrew witnessed to what he saw.  Just like John the Baptist.  “Seeing” and “looking” are important themes in John’s Gospel.  Again and again, people are looking for truth, looking for God, are invited to see.

But what is important here is telling others once you’ve seen.  John sees something new about his cousin Jesus, so new he says he didn’t really know who Jesus was, he sees that he is, in fact, the Son of God.  The Lamb of God.  So he witnesses to it.

Andrew, not knowing Jesus at all before this apparently, also sees this truth.  And tells his brother.  Actually, he does more than tell.  He brings Simon to Jesus.  Just like he brings the little boy with a lunch.  Just like he brings the Greek-speaking believers.

Andrew’s not content simply to know who Jesus is in his life.  He needs to let others know, too.

This, then, is our model: if we have, like Andrew, seen something, it’s time to tell others.

We are made to be servants of God in our baptism, called to witness to what God is doing.  To tell people what we’ve seen.  All so God’s salvation, God’s light, can reach to the end of the earth, Isaiah says today.  Which will only happen when those who have seen tell others to “come and see,” like Andrew did.

Like Andrew, our relationship with our Lord Jesus causes us to see who he is, to know his grace and hope in our lives.  We gather here each week to meet the Triune God who has come to us in this Anointed One, and to be blessed and fed by the grace of God we have come to know.

That is what we have “seen.”

And it’s worth remembering that if we don’t share this, then others won’t see themselves.  What would the Church be like without Peter?  Well, without Andrew, there is no Peter.  If Andrew had kept it to himself, what would have happened?  If Andrew hadn’t been approachable, how many wouldn’t have known Jesus?

If people are to hear and believe, and know God’s saving love, then we, too, need to follow our call.  We need to copy Andrew.  Because how will anyone hear if we’re so involved in our own issues and lives that we forget to invite others, to say “come and see”?

How will anyone know if we act in our lives toward each other and in the world as if the coming of Messiah means little or nothing to how we speak and act in the world?

How will anyone see if we simply keep the Good News of our inclusion in God’s love and the reality that is in our lives to ourselves and don’t share?

If we model ourselves after Andrew, we find that this witness can happen in different ways.  It can happen in our speaking, in telling the Word, as he did: we have found the Messiah, this is the Son of God!  As believers, we have lots of opportunities to speak the Good News to others, to tell them of the joy we know from God.  To tell them they are loved by God.  To do Andrew’s work.

It can happen in our inviting to come, too, bringing people with us to worship, to meet the Lord in Word and Supper, in the community of faith.  This happens around here, probably more than in many places, but we could all take a page from this faithful disciple and take it as our primary role, our call.  We have the privilege of inviting people to come and see God in our midst, in Word, Meal, Community, and to know and see what gives us life.

And, last, like Andrew, our telling can happen in our lives of love and service, being the presence of the Messiah to others.  Something about him led people to trust him and come, hoping to see Jesus.  As we live in love toward each other, live lives of concrete and active love in the world, live transformed lives, we witness again and again, “come and see” what we have found!

Andrew’s greatest gift to us, though, may be the ability to see our importance in spite of seeming evidence to the contrary.

Andrew models faithfulness, not success.  He is the first to confess the Messiah, but Peter gets all the fame, all the notice.  Having grown up with volatile, exuberant Simon, surely he had to know what would happen if he became a disciple, too.  Still, Andrew goes and tells his brother anyway.

Like John the Baptist, who loses disciples to Jesus once he points him out as Lamb of God, as they immediately abandon him, that’s Andrew’s way.  Andrew brings Peter to Jesus, and immediately assumes second (or third, or fourth) place.

Our call is not to “success” in life, in faith, but to faithfulness.  It’s hard to know, but it seems as if Andrew doesn’t mind.  Maybe Andrew already understood what two others of the Big Three, James and John, had to be taught by Jesus much later.  When they wanted honor and privilege and important seats, they were told that being faithful, even unto death, was what being a disciple was all about.

Maybe Andrew already knew that.  Be that as it may, what matters for us is that we faithfully witness to all we meet that we have seen the Messiah.  Not that we’re a success, whatever that means anyway.

It isn’t important that any of us are important.  Because what Andrew knew was that it would be the Messiah himself who would take care of the giving of faith.  You see, he just brought people to Jesus.  Jesus took care of the rest.  Like turning a small lunch Andrew found into a massive feast.  He didn’t think he was a savior, he didn’t think he was a big deal.  But he did know what he had seen, and that he wanted to share.

And that’s our path, too.  It is the Spirit of Christ who will bring others to faith, to life.  All we can do is, if we’ve seen something, tell someone.

It seems kind of simple when we think about it.  Just tell folks what we’ve seen.

But from Andrew’s viewpoint, it’s a source of joy.  He saw God’s Messiah.  And he told people.  And people saw him and trusted him, and through that, they came to Jesus.

And no, he didn’t make the Big Three.  He’s hardly mentioned in the Gospels.  But I suspect that’s what makes him the best model for us.  We, who will likely never make the history books as the greatest evangelists of our age, we who think we aren’t very good at it.

If we follow the little brother here, we learn that’s not the point.  If Messiah is come, that’s all the strength and talent we need, right there.  Our job is just to point and say, “look at that!”  “Come and see!”

It’s not a hard job.  But it is critical.  And all of us can do it.  That’s what Andrew says, anyway.

In the name of Jesus.  Amen

The Olive Branch, 1/15/14

By

Accent on Worship

What’s Next?

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Christ,
– Joseph
 

Sunday Readings

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

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

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

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

Bible Study at Becketwood

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

Wedding Invitation

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

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

     Please, no gifts.

Neighborhood Ministry Position News

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

2013 Contribution Statements

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

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

Book Discussion Group

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

Church Library News

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

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

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



Annual “Taste of” Festival to Be Held February 9

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

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

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

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

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

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Festival Worship

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

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

     All are welcome!

MOUNT OLIVE LUTHERAN CHURCH
3045 Chicago Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Map and Directions >

612-827-5919
welcome@mountolivechurch.org


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