CMC Scripture and Sermon 11/13/22 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

Sermon | Looking back, looking forward 

Text: Matthew 1:1-1-16
Speakers: Joel Miller and Mark Rupp

Joel

It was Carl Sagan, the American astronomer, who first popularized the idea that the elements that make up our bodies were made by the stars.  Stars are an in-gathering of the most simple element, hydrogen, which fuses to form helium, carbon, oxygen, all the way up to iron, with higher elements forming from other star events like supernovae and neutron star collisions.  The lesson, both scientifically sound and poetically beautiful, is that all things – everyone and everything we see – share a deep kinship and common ancestry, traceable back to the stars.  “We are their children,” Sagan would say.   

This universal kinship is something worth highlighting often in a worship setting, almost unavoidable when we get to biblical stories like God taking Abraham out to look up at the stars.  Childless Abraham is fearful there will be nothing of himself that gets passed to future generations.  God offers a promise that Abraham will indeed be an ancestor to many by having him gaze up at his own ancestors – the uncountable, unimaginably distant yet pervasively present stars.

In the last decade or so I’ve become interested in my more recent ancestry.  I’ve told some of these stories in sermons and blogs.  There’s my mother’s father’s side, the Lehmans, Mennonites pushed off their land in Switzerland, facing near starvation during a series of harsh winters, migrating to northeast Ohio for religious freedom and economic opportunity.  There’s my mother’s mother’s side, the Planks, who migrated here accidentally, boarding a ship in the Netherlands to say goodbye to friends and having the ship set sail before they could get…

CMC Scripture and Sermon 110622 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

Sermon | Chief Lawrence Hart and the sacred ground we share

Text: Matthew 5:13-16; 38-48

Speaker: Joel Miller

After the funeral service and burial the mourners gather in the community center for a large meal – beef, fry bread, and other favorites.  As everyone is eating the family gathers around the pile of gifts.  These are not gifts they have received, but gifts they will give out.  It’s the giveaway, the traditional Cheyenne practice of honoring those who have been part of their life. 

The first to receive the gifts are chiefs who led the singing and prayers during the ceremony, then others who played a part in the service.  Then everyone in attendance.  People are called forward by name.  Gifts are given.  Hugs and condolences exchanged.  A final call for anyone who has not yet received a gift to come forward and share in the thanksgiving.

In earlier times the giveaway had served to share with those in need, making sure everyone in the community had enough.  It had evolved into a practice of showing honor and gratitude – Like a photographic negative of how we do birthday parties and baby showers.  Here it’s the host who gives out the gifts in appreciation for the guests’ presence in their lives. 

In the early settlement years the giveaway had been banned by the US government for five decades.  It was seen as uncivilized, disregarding the values of private property and wealth accumulation, anti-capitalistic.  But the Cheyenne found ways to keep the practice alive.  It was alive and well at the funeral of Chief Lawrence Hart who died earlier this year at the age of 89, eight months ago today, March 6, 2022.  The Cheyenne…

CMC Scripture and Sermon 10/30/22 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

Music credits:

Soul Work. Text & Music: Phil Hart, 2021. Used with permission.

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CMC Scripture and Sermon 10/23/2022 from Gwen Reiser on Vimeo.

The video includes the scripture and the sermon.

Sermon | Locusts and swords, dreams and visions
Text: Joel 1:1-7; 2:21-31
Speaker: Joel Miller
 

Of the 150+ Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, exactly one includes a passage from the book of Joel.  I take no personal offense at this.  I’ve always liked that my biblical namesake is considered to be one of the “minor prophets.”  It does take some of the pressure off.  Or as fellow CMCer Joel Call recently said of the name, it’s like an indy label.  I’m waiting for his band “Joel and the minor prophets.”  Add in small business owner Joel Copeland, and we’re kind of everywhere around here.          

One of my first Bible memory verses of my own choosing was Joel chapter 1 verse 1.  “The word of the Lord came to Joel, son of Pethuel.”  I had no idea who Pethuel was, and still don’t, but I kind of liked the sound of the word of the Lord coming to Joel.  With that and John 11:35, “Jesus wept,” I was pretty sure there were at least two Bible verses I could remember word for word.

Of the many times I’ve preached through the lectionary, I don’t think I’ve ever focused on the three-chapter book of Joel.  So today is the day.  It’s a much less daunting task to do in one sermon than, say, the book of Mark.  

If you’ve been around church a while, chances are you’ve heard this prophet referenced.  Every Pentecost Sunday we read from Acts chapter 2.  The story takes place about 50 days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, after his ascension, when a group of Jesus followers are all gathered together in Jerusalem.  Suddenly…

The video above includes the full service, except for the time for sharing.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained through One License with license A-727859. Copyrights for songs given after the sermon text.

Itching Ears

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:4

I was asked if I would give a short meditation today as part of our hymn-sing service, but my hope is to leave space for as much singing as we can possibly fit into these precious few minutes of our Sunday morning together. A hymn-sing is a great day to continue exploring my sabbatical theme of creativity and spirituality, so I looked to the lectionary to see if any of the texts for today fit that theme. The one I chose might seem like an odd choice, but there was something about these words to Timothy that I couldn’t quite shake as I thought about what it means to practice faith from a place of creativity and expression. 

This is one of the many books in the Bible attributed to Paul but which most scholars believe was not written directly by him. What’s more, many scholars also believe that by the time this letter was written, the person named Timothy would have been long dead. So, this letter is what one commentator calls a work of “epistolary fiction.” The names of Paul and Timothy are used as stand-ins to provide rhetorical weight to the author’s goals of instructing the churches.

It’s religious fan-fiction that somehow got incorporated into the official canon of scripture. In the last few years, it seems like there has been an explosion in the use of the word “canon” as fans of various book series, movies, or comics argue over what counts as officially part of the story and what can…