{"id":342,"date":"2017-02-22T10:05:17","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T16:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/?p=342"},"modified":"2019-03-13T12:41:32","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T18:41:32","slug":"simeons-song-presence-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/","title":{"rendered":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Today&#8217;s post is from<\/em><em>\u00a0Peg Schultz-Akerson, Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Master, Los Angeles, CA.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-347 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg\" width=\"367\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-250x165.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-530x350.jpg 530w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 367px) 100vw, 367px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32, also known as the Nunc Dimittis) continues to shine in these latter days of the season after Epiphany. Christians live \u201caccording to the word\u201d made flesh in Jesus through whom \u201csalvation is prepared in the presence of all peoples.\u201d Jesus calls us to <em>all peoples<\/em> with the glorious promise: \u201cWhen you welcome the stranger, you welcome me!\u201d (Matthew 25:38-40)<\/p>\n<p>How awesome and extraordinarily available is this promise in these days when more people are immigrants or refugees than since WWII. (See <a href=\"http:\/\/lirs.org\/our-work\/people-we-serve\/refugees\/\">Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>My eyes see this promised encounter with Christ every Sunday where I serve as Interim Pastor with the people of Lutheran Church of The Master, Los Angeles. Our church is blessed to be located in the Little Tehran neighborhood of West Los Angeles where Santa Monica Blvd is the busy stretch also known as Route 66.<\/p>\n<p>Ours is an historic road and we do historically vital ministry as we welcome all who come to neighboring streets. Our church sign along the boulevard makes clear our \u201cWelcome\u201d in Persian, Arabic, Spanish and English. <em>God loves you<\/em> is also written in these four languages on our Facebook page, because it\u2019s true. God loves us all.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: left\">We are now a worshipping home to over a dozen who first came among us as strangers. We are blessed to worship, serve, light candles for peace, and share meals as friends. These new friends have come to Los Angeles from Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Australia; from Lebanon, Armenia, Peru and Mexico; from El Salvador, Sweden, Switzerland and Iran.\u00a0Some come for opportunity. Many for safety. All are brothers and sisters in Christ. As strangers-become-friends looking upon each other, we each see the smiling face of Jesus whose love\u00a0makes us one.<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">Welcome!<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7454\" style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a0\u0627\u0647\u064b\u0644\u0627\u0648\u0633\u0647\u064b\u0644\u0627 (Arabic)<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7422\" style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a0\u062e\u0648\u0634 \u0622\u0645\u062f\u06cc\u062f (Persian)<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7421\" style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a1Bienvenidos! (Spanish)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<div id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7456\" style=\"text-align: center\">God loves you!<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">\u00a0\u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u064a\u062d\u0628\u0643 (Arabic)\u00a0\u00a0<br id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7390\" \/>\u062e\u062f\u0627 \u0634\u0645\u0627 \u0631\u0627 \u062f\u0648\u0633\u062a \u062f\u0627\u0631\u062f (Persian)\u00a0\u00a0<span id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7391\">&#8230;<\/span><span id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7392\"><br id=\"m_6830563196252035293yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1487032894798_7393\" \/>\u00a1Dios les ama! (Spanish!)<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"text-align: left\"><em>Note on the pictures: The top photo is by Carlos Valera showing Pr. Peg preaching at Lutheran Church of the Master, and the second photo is of LCM&#8217;s world map featuring pins for all the places their community has come from.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Today&#8217;s post is from\u00a0Peg Schultz-Akerson, Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Master, Los Angeles, CA. &nbsp; The Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32, also known as the Nunc Dimittis) continues to shine in these latter days of the season after Epiphany. Christians live \u201caccording to the word\u201d made flesh in Jesus through whom \u201csalvation is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":241,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Today&#8217;s post is from\u00a0Peg Schultz-Akerson, Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Master, Los Angeles, CA. &nbsp; The Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32, also known as the Nunc Dimittis) continues to shine in these latter days of the season after Epiphany. Christians live \u201caccording to the word\u201d made flesh in Jesus through whom \u201csalvation is [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA Worship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"363\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ELCA Worship\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ELCA Worship\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ELCA Worship\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668\"},\"headline\":\"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":380,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/\",\"name\":\"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/342\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/\",\"name\":\"ELCA Worship\",\"description\":\"Resources, stories and news from the ELCA Worship Office.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668\",\"name\":\"ELCA Worship\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ELCA Worship\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worship\\\/author\\\/legacy-241\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship","og_description":"&nbsp; Today&#8217;s post is from\u00a0Peg Schultz-Akerson, Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Master, Los Angeles, CA. &nbsp; The Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32, also known as the Nunc Dimittis) continues to shine in these latter days of the season after Epiphany. Christians live \u201caccording to the word\u201d made flesh in Jesus through whom \u201csalvation is [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/","og_site_name":"ELCA Worship","article_published_time":"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":363,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ELCA Worship","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ELCA Worship","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/"},"author":{"name":"ELCA Worship","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/#\/schema\/person\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668"},"headline":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples","datePublished":"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/"},"wordCount":380,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg","articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/","name":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples - ELCA Worship","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-22T16:05:17+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-13T18:41:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/#\/schema\/person\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2017\/02\/LCM-worship-preaching-photo-w-Bilal-300x198.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/342\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Simeon\u2019s Song: in the Presence of All Peoples"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/","name":"ELCA Worship","description":"Resources, stories and news from the ELCA Worship Office.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/#\/schema\/person\/825990f0de4af532a635ae352e576668","name":"ELCA Worship","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7f226a543506049fbc2ff5a3bc95d2a004984cf8e5979c3c8bda935005afabed?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ELCA Worship"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/author\/legacy-241\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/241"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}