Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 22:15-22 The Things that are God's You can almost hear Jesus' eyes roll in this Gospel. One might argue that we are perfecting the art, but partisan bickering and political entrapment are not inventions of the 21 st century. Were it not for Jesus' confrontational immediate response, we might be fooled into thinking that this is a sincere inquiry on the part of the Pharisees and Herodians, but there is nothing genuine about the question these political adversaries are asking Jesus. They are trying to drag him into that old soul-crushing abyss: the partisan divide. Politically savvy as they are, they know either answer, yes or no, has the potential to compromise his base of support. Now, every preacher has been told, at one time or another, to keep the politics out of the pulpit. It's just that the Bible is chock full of politics. It's not the politics we care about, but much of the Bible, including today...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 On Earth as it is in Heaven I remember vividly that moment on the morning of June 12, 2016. It was a Sunday morning and I was sitting in Room 211, upstairs, meeting with folks who were interested in our EfM program. And I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text message from my wife. She doesn't typically text me on Sunday mornings; she is aware that I am generally unable to check my phone; I have a lot going on and typically a lot of layers to navigate between hand and pocket. And so, I reasoned this must be important. I checked my phone; I wanted to be sure everything was OK. It wasn't. “Did you see?” The text read. “Largest mass shooting in US history, 50 people.” And I felt instantly sick – though, I have to admit, and I am embarrassed to say this, I was not quite as sick as when I heard about Sandy Hook. I excused myself from the class and went downstairs. My head spinning; my heart breaking...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Exodus 17:1-7 Trust in the Desert Days The story starts in tears. The people of Israel cried out to God from the land of Egypt. At one time, long ago, in the days of Joseph, Egypt had been a place of refuge. But years past and so did Pharaohs and four hundred years after their arrival the people were no longer welcomed as refugees but feared as invasive outsiders. So came the hard labor. For these people, living now as slaves, Egypt was the only home they had ever known. Ten generations had lived and died, had married and buried, by the Nile. And then the winds shifted – suddenly and without warning. But it wasn't the shift that caused the tears. It wasn't even the hard labor. The people cried out to God because the land of refuge had become, for them, a land of death. You see, hard labor was not punishment enough for their being different. The Pharaoh wanted to break this people, to put them in their place; and so he de...