Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 6:1-21   More than Enough   There are no bad ideas: this is something people actually say – often desperate people who find themselves leading all-too-quiet brainstorming sessions.   And everybody knows, it’s not true.   St. Andrew knows.   He realizes it just as his bad idea escapes his mouth.   Once it’s out there, you can’t put it back.   And so he tries to cover.   “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.”   You can practically hear Andrew’s thoughts fill the space between the sentences: “why did I say that?   That was so stupid…”   And so he smoothly adds, “But what are they among so many people?”   Well, the answer is, and Andrew knows it: not much.   Perhaps a decent meal for the boy who packed it.   But in a crowd of 5000 people – 5000 hungry people – it was so little, it was insignificant.   The truth was: they did not have enoug...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 14:13-21   Such a Mom Jesus: he is such a mom.   There has been a death in the family.   And he is worried about food.   He's got to feed all these people; they're hungry.   And, of course, just like a mom, he makes way too much. When he first heard about John the Baptist ’ s death, he tried to get away, to find place to be alone.   With his thoughts.   To pray.   To cry.   To grieve.   To remember.   Jesus is human too, don't forget; he is broken-hearted.   Of course he is.   John the Baptist, whom Herod killed, was special to him.   And the death was sudden and terrible.   But the fantasy of alone-time didn't last long.   The people followed him.   Like a toddler following his mother into the bathroom, not a moment of solitude or silence, they follow Jesus.   Emptying out the towns and the villages, they go after him.   That qui...