Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51c-60 Do it Anyway I suspect the prophet Jeremiah might take issue with today's collect. The collect for the Feast of St. Stephen, the feast we are observing today, begins: “We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen.” First martyr, huh? First martyr of the Christian Church? Sure. But first martyr? Probably quiet a few of the prophets and sages, from Jeremiah to John the Baptist, who quite literally lost his head, would object to that unqualified first. Stephen was the first post-resurrection martyr, but he was not the first to suffer for his witness, neither was he the last. Stephen takes his place within the great throng of witnesses – of those who dared speak the word of God, who risked everything for the sake of the Truth. According to the biblical witness,, God has been speaking to and through human beings since the book of Genesis. Also the Bible shows us that those wor...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 15:10-28 Heart How dare Jesus talk to them like that? They were better than him. He was a nobody from nowhere. Sure, Jesus had a handful of followers and some popularity but pretty much anybody with some charisma can brainwash a few naïve peasants. To them, to the Pharisees, he was inferior. His father was a hillbilly carpenter – if that guy was even his dad. There were rumors that his mother was already knocked up when they got married – just another loose teenage girl with no morals. It's no surprise he shows his elders no respect. Just look at the kind of family he comes from. And that group he calls his disciples. What a joke. They are a shabby bunch; they don't even observe basic purity laws. Can you imagine: they don't wash their hands before they eat. And their leader has the chutzpah to walk around like he is expert on Torah? His disciples don't even follow Torah. Torah, the Law handed down from...