Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 2:1-20 Nativity Every year, one simple family interrupts the entire whirling world – introduced each December, encased in an impossible porcelain innocence.   In the hustle and bustle of our Christmas chaos, there is something about that simple nativity scene that causes the swirling scramble of life to take pause, to take notice.  It is a simple scene that somehow carries a story so ancient and mysterious that it defies even time – a story at once steeped in cosmic grandeur but so intimate that it hugs your soul warm, if that makes sense to you.  So intimate that, on this special night, it feels like we might be able to cradle a miracle in our hands.   The scene is like a desert fairy tale preserved in snow globe preciousness.   There’s that beautiful baby face.  And the young mother with her shy smile.  And the new father, both nervous and proud.  And the curious animals that frame the scene.  And that star – shining so impossibly bri

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 35:1-10 Holy Defiance There were no crocuses, no majestic cedars brushing the clouds with their branches, no reeds or rushes swaying in the gentle breeze.   There were no refreshing pools of water in which to escape the summer sun.   They were just a dream – all of them.   They were products of the prophetic imagination of the prophet Isaiah.   He was looking for the Garden of Eden in a golden sea of sand.   It was a fool’s errand.   But so is most of the prophet’s work, and so this was par for the course.   Isaiah’s task was to dream contagious dreams, to kindle the delicate flame of hope in a hopeless people living in a hopeless world.   It was his job to remind them that, on the other side of their pain, God had a better future in mind.     Isaiah wasn’t asking them to be optimistic; he was challenging them to have hope.   And there is a difference.   Optimism is a flimsy thing.   It floats untethered from reality – intentional

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 3:1-12 Repentance The first religious leader who appeared in John’s audience was likely caught off guard – by the attention he received and the intensity of the rhetoric.   Like the person in the crowd singled out by a comedian: unaware, going in, that he was about to be featured in the show.   But the Gospel says that there were many Pharisees and Sadducees who ventured to the banks of the Jordan.   And that I find curious.   After the first guy slunk away red-faced, humiliated, each subsequent religious leader should have known better.   And still they came.   That either speaks to the overwhelmingly magnetic charisma possessed by this desert prophet.   Or perhaps to the limited entertainment options of the 1 st century.   Or, maybe, something else entirely.   The Gospel is not terribly clear on this point. But the Gospel does say that those religious leaders, the clergy folk, who stood on the shore, came to be baptized – jus

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 24:36-44 Advent Purpose Today begins a new year in the Church.   And so this morning is, in a sense, our New Year’s party.   Happy New Year! But I do realize this is probably not like any New Year’s party you’ve ever attended; we do things a little differently in here.   I mean, yes, we do have wine and music.   But we also read this epistle that says, “let us live honorably…, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness.”   No drunkenness or debauchery.   So, like I said, this New Year’s party is probably not exactly like any you’ve attended before. In fact, all of our Scripture lessons today, this first Sunday of the Advent season, noticeably lack that party vibe.   It is not just the letter to the Romans, it is also the Gospel.   Unless that woman grinding meal in Jesus’ little apocalyptic tale of terror just needed some “me” time, the sudden disappearance of her friend was likely not a cause for celebrati

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Haggai 1:15b-2:9 The Problem of Nostalgia and the Promise of the Future Haggai.   We don’t talk a lot about the book of Haggai.   Actually it’s a bit of a stretch to even call it a book; it is only two chapters long.   You heard a fairly high percentage of the entire volume this morning.   Haggai really kinda puts the ‘minor’ in minor prophets. It appears that even his career as a prophet was rather abbreviated.   The prophecies contained in the book bearing his name occur over just a four month period.   Besides a couple of name drops in Ezra there is no other mention of him in the Bible.   And even those two mentions give us nothing as far as biographical information is concerned.   It seems that God took out a short-term lease on him; hired him for a very specific task: to cheer on a building project.   Probably not exactly the orders he expected when he said, “Here I am, Lord.   Send me.”   But this wasn’t just any old building proje

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Ephesians 1:11-23 The Sea of Souls I stare out into the vast expanse, the vast expanse that is this ocean.   And my mind goes to poetry but poetry absent of words.   Because there are no words, no answers, no explanations that don’t feel crass – just feelings and impressions and dreams for which even the interpretations need to be interpreted.   And I stare because this is one place in the world in which staring is acceptable and not odd.   And I breathe.   I breathe in the air, a flavor unique to the shore – though many candles promise to capture it and to domesticate it – all unsuccessfully.   I breathe it in in slow, shallow breaths, as if a deep or suddenly intake of air might scare away the mystery before me.   The air is more than air; it carries the essence of this great sea, like how incense somehow puts form to holiness.   And as I slowly and cautiously inhale, I can feel that this ocean is now, somehow, living inside of me, like a holy

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 18:9-14 Honest Prayers and God’s Grace Now, you can say what you want about the Pharisee in today’s Gospel, but I’ll tell you this: the man is honest.   I have no doubt that he meant every word he prayed.   “God, I just, I just want to thank you…thank you…that I am not like other people.   Thank you for making me so much better than the rest of these disgusting humans – a collection of thieves, rogues, and adulterers.   And, you know, while I am offering you this beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, let me add this: Thank you for making me better than that guy, that guy over in the corner.   Amen.”   That is an honest prayer.   I mean, most people think stuff like that.   But not many people are bold enough and confident enough to pray that.   And so for all the flaws that the Pharisee does have, at least he is honest; his prayer is heart-felt. And what about that guy across the room, the one beating his breast in isolation?   Well, he’s a