Mount Olive Lutheran Church

Home » Archives for Vicar at Mount Olive » Page 14

Vicar at Mount Olive

Water and Word

 

Pastor Paul E. Hoffman

The Baptism of Our Lord, Year A
Texts: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17 

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

Luther so beautifully teaches us, baptism is not water only, but water used according to God’s command, and connected with God’s Word

And with equal beauty and power, Matthew sets out the story of Jesus’ life lived in love for others with that connection of water and Word, in the River Jordan, at the hand of John.

Do you see this powerful intersection of those immeasurable gifts in this story? Water and Word. As Jesus come UP from the water, the Word comes down from heaven.

It is not an unusual pair for our Creator to pull from the Goldy toolbox…

Crashing waters/paired with the thundering Word at Creation
Flooding waters/paired with Noah’s obedience to the Word
Parting waters/paired with the Word at the parting Red Sea
The waters of birth, bringing the Living Word into our own flesh
Cleansing waters/paired with the Word at the Jordan
Purifying waters at the Word of Christ turned to life-giving wine
Healing water, with the spoken word of Jesus, saying to
the Samaritan woman, “I see you…”
By no means the last example, saving waters flowing from the
pierced side of the Crucified, Incarnate Word.

Wasn’t it Coleridge who said,
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink?

And therein lies our problem. There is water everywhere in our sacred Scriptures. There is likewise never a paucity of the Word. With beauty and power our forebears, St. Matthew, Luther, and a host of saints more recent implore us to dive in to this soothing grace of God in Christ for us. And yet we choose instead that which does not satisfy. The very next line in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner summarizes our self-inflicted plight: The very deep did rot, O Christ/that ever this should be.

Just so, our Creator’s heart breaks as we turn away from these precious, life-giving gifts: Water and Word. Water and Word. Water and Word.

It is not for his own washing and regeneration that Christ comes John at the Jordan. Maximus of Turin, preaching in the 5th Century makes that clear for us. Listen to what he says:
It was not so that Jesus would be made holy by the water, but that the water by Jesus would be made holy.

When those cleansing waters closed around the one foretold, they are not doing so to get Jesus all shined up and ready for his own human walk of daily dying and rising. They are instead to join the waters of the world with the Word and begin the initiation of God’s New Creation. This baptism of his is the beginning of our baptismal hope.

All water for all time. The water running over the body of Jesus, then down the Jordan, into the ocean, evaporated back up into the clouds, watering the earth, flowing in the oceans, creeks, rivers, and sounds. And eventually out of our faucets and quenching, washing us. The water in which we are immersed is immersed with Jesus. The water with which you were sprinkled just today, is water that was sprinkled from John’s hand over the head, the hands, the feet of Jesus. It is holy water. Holy, holy water.

In nothing less than an act of pure, unmitigated, love and grace, God surrounds us with that holy, holy water as a daily reminder. 60% of our bodies – water. 71% of our bodies – water. 85% of a bottle of wine – water. We come into this life in a rush of water, and loving, tender hands wash us with it at our life’s end.

Because of Jesus’ immersion, not water only, but water connected with God’s Word follows us everywhere. Even when our own following fumbles, or flounders or just plain fails. No richer grace than our God’s so mercifully tends us.

On our worst days, when we are as a broken reed, God will not break us. When the wick is burning dimly, God will water us anew, rather than snuff us out.

The water. And the Word. The same water and Word who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from him. That same water, that same Word is with us. Is with you. Given for you. Shed for you. Rejoice and be glad. Thanks be to God.

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

Follow the Stars

God calls us to be open to the world before us and the ways that God reaches out to teach, even through people we might not expect.

Vicar Mollie Hamre
Epiphany of Our Lord, Year A
Texts: Matthew 2:1-12

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

Learning about other religions has greatly impacted my faith life. 

In my undergrad, I was involved in Campus Ministry as Co-President for an Interfaith group. The Interfaith Group encouraged discussion and questions about different denominations, religions, and beliefs. Through that, I became close friends with one of my peers from India, whose background is Hinduism and Buddhism. 

I recall one evening over finals week stopping by the Chapel and I saw her sitting in the sanctuary praying. She looked up, waved and I walked over to ask her what she was doing there. She told me that her mother had encouraged her to go pray to God for peace and encouragement over her difficult finals week. I wished her good luck, grabbed what I needed from the office, and left.

But internally, I was bothered by this interaction. 

I was confused at how she could go and pray in the Chapel when she was not a Christian. I found myself irritated that in all the learning and preparation I was doing for Seminary there was no way she could understand the Triune God that was a part of that space for me. And truthfully, I was jealous that someone who, I assume did not know my religion, felt peace in that space. The same space that I, at times, struggled to find peace in. 

But those differences in religion and context is where God appears in the Gospel today. 

We hear the familiar story of the magi following the star to seek out “the child who has been born king of the Jews.” Children’s stories deem the Magi as the “three kings” because three items are brought to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, the writer does not note the number of people or even if they were kings, just that more than one person had traveled a great distance from the East. These “wise men,” being priests and astrologers from a different community, had looked into the night sky and noticed something had changed. That whatever had taken place deserved their attention and that is all it took for them to journey to where Jesus was. Their travels lead them to seek out others, to ask questions, and learn about the world around them. This culture, religion, and background they were visiting was not their own, yet they entered into it with their own tradition in one hand and openness to the other. 

And then enters King Herod.

Whose reaction to the news of Jesus’s birth is drastically different from the wise men. Instead of openness, Herod quickly panics and closes off. He calculates his loss and begins to act out of fear for his power. The coming of another “king” is bad news for Herod who has decided that his absolute rule is about to be challenged. In response, he lies to the wise men and waits for word of where Jesus is born. The wise men are curious and receptive while Herod disregards and rejects.

Now, Herod’s place of power is not the most relatable position for us today. 

As we know, King Herod’s goal was to keep his power, which relied on the Roman Empire being in charge. Obviously, his motivations are focused on what is a threat to Rome and his rule. Herod’s false statement about wanting to pay homage to Jesus does not come from a place of genuine worship, but of violence, power, and manipulation. But for the Magi, who place themselves in the story, this does not appear to phase them. They decide to ignore Herod’s request to report back, without religious motive and reason. They choose peace and kindness–is that not what we call the work of God?

And if this work appears in the Magi, people from a whole different religion, what about the other ways God appears?

What about the times that it is easier to close oneself off to seeing God in the world instead of being open? The times judging at face value is chosen instead of welcoming. Fear is chosen instead of kindness and curiosity? See, something that I learned from my friends of different religions was that learning about their practices did not take away from mine. 

They did not change what it means for my trust in God or what it means for me to be a Child of God. My friend who I found in the Chapel, was exactly that: my friend. She taught me about meditation, breathing, and patience. I was challenged to think about my beliefs and why they are important. All things I would have missed if I had decided to push her away and see her as a threat. 

We are reminded today that it is not just Christians that are on a journey to seek out God, but God comes to us everywhere. 

God comes through unfamiliar faces, cultures, and sometimes even other religions, giving us ways to connect with and understand one another. To engage conversations that could cause tension, but to tell us that it is that tension we are to navigate together. Who are we to decide the ways that God works and appears through others? 

I say this knowing that our world is not a melting pot either.

There are differences, disagreements, and important distinctions, but when creation is cared for, the neighbor is loved and justice is found, this diversity is not a hazard. What if instead it was a way that God gives us different means to seek truth together? What if God reaches out with grace in different forms? This can be a challenge to consider, especially when we live in a world that would rather push away than welcome. But this welcoming encourages us to grow, to seek new ideas, and to explore where God is found. For our Magi friends, this kind of welcoming can be a life changing event, even for the coming of Our Savior.

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

Worship, January 6, 2023

The Epiphany of Our Lord

On this day we celebrate the manifestation of Christ to the world as well as the great epiphany of the magi’s adoration of the Christ child. 

Download worship folder for Friday, January 6, 2023.

Presiding: Interim Pastor Paul Hoffman

Preaching: Vicar Mollie Hamre

Readings and prayers: Donn McLellan, lector; Bob Wick, assisting minister

Organist: Cantor David Cherwien

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

Taking Our Part

 

The Rev. Arthur Halbardier
The Name of Jesus
Text: Luke 2:15-21

We heard Luke’s familiar Christmas story again, as we did on Christmas Eve, but today verse 21 is added: “After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child, and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)

The birth was announced by angels, first to Mary. Young Mary was engaged to be married, and she was still a virgin. To her the angel says, “You are going to have a child – don’t ask how, and when the child is born you must name him JESUS.”

Now there’s nothing like a surprise pregnancy to complicate wedding plans! Mary must have wondered, “How do I explain this to Joseph, to my family?” But the angel’s words, and especially the child’s name convinced Mary. “This child is God’s will, God’s plan. And I am part of it.” Some time later, an angel comes to Joseph, her future husband . . . who is not happy with the awkward situation Mary has put him in. Was it the Holy Spirit, as she claims, or the product of a brief indiscretion?The angel tells him, “Joseph, you must marry her, and name the child JESUS, because this child will be the Savior of the world!” This is God’s plan, and you are also part of it.

JESUS – “Yeshua,” means “GOD SAVES.” God plans to rescue the world from the power of sin and death through this child, JESUS. Mary and Joseph joined the long line of individuals invited to participate in God’s plans for the world: Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, the boy Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zachariah and Elizabeth, John the Baptist.

But could Mary and Joseph have imagined how complicated or frightening the birth might be? Caesar Augustus announced a new program for collecting taxes, which meant a risky late-pregnancy trip to Bethlehem. And that was only the beginning. I confess that, conditioned by years of participating in childhood Christmas pageants, I grew up with a mental picture of an exhausted Mary and Joseph going door to door in the city of Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay. Joseph trudging from the Holiday Inn to the Bethlehem Sheraton to the Motel 6, Mary sitting uncomfortably outside on the donkey. The desk clerk shaking his head “no” to a pleading Joseph. Every hotel and B and B in Bethlehem was sold out on this most important night.

But that’s not what St. Luke says. Luke wrote, “There was no place for them in THE INN.”

The prophet Micah declared Bethlehem to be “least among the cities of Judah.” Why Bethlehem is even called a “city” I don’t know. Bethlehem today is still a small town, fairly quiet unless there are tourists in town – what is sometimes called a “one-horse” town. Luke tells us that Bethlehem was also a “one inn” town . There is one innkeeper given the chance to have the Savior of the world born under his roof, but he was too busy.

So, as Mary’s labor began, Joseph did what homeless people still do when facing a night on the streets: He looked for a place to make a makeshift bed so Mary could give birth with a little protection from the winter cold. The couple huddled together for warmth in a dark, cold, unsanitary, smelly stable. Certainly no place to give birth to a fragile child.

Did they wonder that night, “What is God thinking?” “What kind of plan is this?”

God’s plan was to risk rejection, danger, misery – even death for us, from Day 1 of human life. Through Jesus’ life and preaching, and eventually his dying and resurrection, God announced a new world where justice, peace, and compassion ruled. For this plan, God enlisted Mary, and then Joseph to take part. And as the birth was happening, enlisted a small group of shepherds to help spread the news. Shepherds! As unlikely a group of messengers as can be imagined.

But then, shepherds are not the last unlikely messengers God would enlist. God still searches out unlikely and unreliable folk to participate in bringing about the new life of the world. Of course, almighty God could have created a new heaven and earth alone, with just a word. God did it once. Certainly recreating wouldn’t be a “heavy lift” for the almighty.


But instead, God engages unreliable humans, and still does.

In baptism, we are invited to carry God’s invitation to a lost and often hostile world. “Let your light shine before others;” to “bear God’s creative and redeeming word to all the world.” Why does God make us part of that plan? Teresa of Avila explained it this way: Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the hands through which Christ blesses all the world. You are the body of Christ.”

We are invited to join the long line of the faithful who accepted the holy challenge of making God’s new era of justice and mercy real. But what can one lone individual do to impact the massive problems of homelessness, hunger, prejudice, systemic injustice? What can one individual do to challenge entrenched corruption and rampant greed which grinds up the poor and powerless to its own advantage? What can one lone individual do to alter the values of society, get the attention of political leaders, challenge cruel immigration policies, stop the curse of drugs and gangs?

There are things we can do. We can advocate, vote, campaign, contribute to organizations that support our values – and we must do those things. We can pray for the sick, the unemployed, the hungry – and don’t ever underrate the power of those prayers. Stacked against the weighty issues of our world, it’s hard to feel our individual efforts are more than small drops in a very large bucket.


God doesn’t call us to single-handedly create a new heaven and new earth. God has already accomplished that in Jesus Christ. But God does invite us to be faithful to making this a better world for someone. We can face with honesty the influence of our prejudices and behavior on others. We can discern in ourselves the fears and excuses that keep us at a distance from others. And consider how on a person to person level we can participate in God’s work of recreating this world. Remember the strong words of Teresa of Avila: Christ has no hands, no feet on earth but yours. You and I can put flesh and blood to the love of Christ for others.

During Advent, I read some devotions by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and these sentences of his have stuck with me these past weeks:

“God comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. God confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor.”

I’m privileged to be part of this community. Here, at Mount Olive I’m inspired by the witness of dozens of bold yet humble individuals. For months, Heather and Thomas have been a fixture on 31st street with their signs. I was deeply touched several times recently to see either Heather or Thomas in our East assembly room. Invited by one of you for a warm beverage, a snack – and to sit with you as you listened to their stories. I saw the words of Bonhoeffer acted out over a mug of coffee and a snack. Christ was there. For Heather, for Thomas, and for those who invited and sat with them.

I’m inspired by those who keep in ongoing contact with those who are sick or grieving. By those who faithfully give rides to others to church, to doctor visits, who visit in hospitals. Who write notes of encouragement and thanks, often to people they hardly know. These people encourage me. And they challenge me. If you shop in this neighborhood, it’s not unusual that someone outside the grocery store will approach you for help. “I’m hungry. I don’t have money to buy food?” I know of one person here who frequently will invite that person to come into the store to shop with her. They share a shopping cart, walk the aisles of the store together, discuss the foods they like. My friend will help her new friend select items, at the end she pays the bill for both of them. Christ is present there, also. For both persons, in that moment.

In our liturgy, we frequently have brief rituals when people take on a responsibility. They state their intent to do their best, saying “I will, and I ask God to help and guide me.” God invites each of us to be part of the holy task of bringing about a new world of compassion, love and care for others. What invitation may Christ be holding out to you? As Bonhoeffer wrote, Christ confronts me (and you) in every person that we meet. It’s a daunting notion, that God looks to us for a part in God’s holy work. Daunting to say “yes” to God. But this is certain: God will indeed help and guide us.