Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Epiphany 3C 1-23-22 Luke 4:14-21   Finding Yourself in the Story   What happens immediately before today’s Gospel story is that the Devil tries to convince Jesus to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the Temple.   What happens immediately after today’s Gospel story is that the people with whom Jesus grew up try to throw him off a cliff.   In between those two assassination attempts, Jesus took his turn as a lector. And, I’m not saying this is the point of the Gospel, but maybe those who read this morning should avoid steep heights, for at least the rest of the day.   Forty days: that is how long Jesus was alone in the wilderness.   Well, not exactly alone; I’m sure there were singing birds and curious beasts and also there was a very chatty and conniving Devil.   But there were no friends, and perhaps more significantly, no food.   And so Jesus returned to Galilee like a college freshman coming home for Christmas break: excited to see

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 3:15-17, 21-22   Power   The Gospel of Luke has been building to this very moment.   John and Jesus: they are the miracle babies featured in the opening chapters of this book.   We know they are special; their stories dominate the seasons of Advent and Christmas.   And everything in those now ubiquitous stories tell us that these two are unique: angels and prophecies and immaculate conceptions and a host of inspired canticles.   Luke goes out of his way to show us that these two babies, Jesus and John, are a big deal – a cosmically big deal.   And so it is fair for us to expect, since the book does continue after the first two chapters, that those two extraordinary infancies will produce two extraordinary, noteworthy men.   And, that those two men will most likely feature at least somewhat prominently in the remaining twenty-two chapters of Luke’s Gospel.     Chapter three picks up decades after the manger scene.   We find ourselves on th

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 2:41-52   Losing Jesus   She couldn’t help it.   The angel’s words just kept playing in her mind, on this seemingly endless loop.   They wouldn’t stop; neither would her tears.     The image of that angelic face, burned into her maternal memory, haunted her now, as she frantically scoured the bustling city streets.   When Heaven showed up and asked her to carry a child, she responded immediately and affirmatively.   She went along with the crazy plan.   But now that she needed something from Heaven, a little help, a little guidance, she got back nothing but silence.   When a parent cannot find their child, time slows to a crawl – one minute stretches into an eternity.   And for Mary it had been three days – of searching and crying and trying to keep it together, oh, and praying unanswered prayers.   Three agonizing days.   Every minute introduced yet another drop of despair.   She tried not to think the terrible thoughts that pa