Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 18:33-37   You? Christ Church, Deposit   The king was exactly where you would expect to find him.   He was standing in the halls of power, in a palace, talking with the local governor – the conversation taking place on the way to his dressing room.   Soon, at the conclusion of the brief, but grave, dialogue, the kind powerful people have, the king would don the royal garments: a purple robe and a crown for his head.   And then, stand, as kings do, before the gathered crowds.   That is both exactly what happens in this Gospel and yet not what happens at all.   Because in this case, the king in our story is a condemned peasant.   Pilate, the local governor, was a busy man.   And now he is also an annoyed man.   It was bad enough that he was assigned to govern a population that refused to worship the Emperor.   Now there was a contingent at his gate asking him to personal...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 13:1-8   When? St. Stephen’s, Schuylerville   Sometimes you just don’t know what to say to Jesus.   Have you ever had that experience?    Well, so did at least one of Jesus’ disciples.   And so he just blurted out, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”   And probably the stones were large.   And certainly the Second Temple appeared quite large, especially to a citizen of the 1 st century, in the days before skyscrapers and NYC and the UAE.   But Jesus meets that awkward outburst with something much more serious.   And then, it seems, no one talks again until they get to the Mount of Olives.   But in the silence, the disciples’ minds were racing.   They were wondering.   Because once again, they could not make sense of Jesus.   Neither could they make sense of a world that can’t seem to help but fall apart.   The disciples: they a...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson 1 Kings 17:8-16   Desperate Strangers St. Timothy’s, Westford   The excitement was overwhelming…until it suddenly and decisively abated.   The hometown crowd had been buzzing about the return of their rising star.   Jesus was making a name for himself in the surrounding villages.   And now, he was coming home, to do his thing.     It started off strong.   Jesus was amazing.   They were impressed; it was impossible not to be impressed.   His beginnings were humble but you would never know that, the way he held the crowd, the way he exuded otherworldly wisdom.   They were hanging on his every word.   He was even better than they imagined.   Jesus should have quit while he was ahead – pulled a George Costanza and walked off on the high note.   But Jesus stood back up.   He played the encore.   After wowing the crowd, Jesus decided to add a little somet...