Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson 1 Kings 19:1-15a Done I think I know what is going on here: Elijah is trying to get fired.   He’s done.   He wants out and he wants out now.   I mean just look at the story we heard this morning from the first book of Kings.   Elijah runs away from the job site, falls asleep on the job, and then tells his boss that he would rather be dead than punch the clock one more time.   This prophet is practically daring God to hand him his walking papers. But it wasn’t always like this.   In fact, Elijah is coming directly off of his biggest professional triumph.   The chapter preceding today’s Old Testament lesson details his epic showdown with the prophets of Baal and with the royals of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.   You might remember that one: in an astounding display Elijah calls down fire from heaven to devour offering and altar after the whimpering prophets of the Canaanite deity Baal fail to conjure as...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 2:1-21 The Invasion Do not be fooled: this Pentecost story, the one written in the Acts of the Apostles, was not a one off.   It was not an isolated event.   It is not an historical footnote confined to dusty old books.   Yes, it did take place many centuries ago.   And it is true that the exact events of that day – including those mysterious flames and the spontaneous language skills – are hardly typical.   But don’t be fooled: this was not an isolated event.   It was the beginning of something quite significant; it was the beginning of the invasion. It is not as if this Pentecostal occasion was the first time the Holy Spirit visited our planet.   In fact, the same Spirit first hovered over the primordial waters, in the very beginning, when chaos was first being put in order.   But this was different.   This time, in these last days, it was more like a contagion that meant to spread through t...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 16:16-34 Salvation Is this what salvation looks like?   As today’s story from Acts shifts and jumps, shakes and quakes, and the Holy Spirit of God working in the story does the same, it is this question that, repeatedly, at each twist, turn, pause, and break is begged.   Is this what salvation looks like? The passage begins innocently enough – if one can ever call the work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts innocent.   And the vast number of apostolic arrests in this book suggests that maybe one cannot.   But it is the case that when Paul and his companions enter into the Macedonian city of Phillipi, they decide, blinders on, halos firmly affixed, to head straight for the place of prayer. They were not looking for any trouble. But trouble finds them.   In the guise of a slave girl – a slave girl who just happens to be possessed by a spirit – a spirit that takes a special interest in these men who are defi...