Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 5:1-11   Believing in Miracles   Always a crowd; always pressing in on Jesus.   Before, in the previous chapter of Luke’s Gospel, it was the angry hometown crowd, trying to press Jesus right off a cliff.   And today it is a lakeshore crowd pressing Jesus into the choppy waters of the lake of Gennesaret, aka the Sea of Galilee.   Even in the best of times, this Jesus’ work is dangerous business.     Fortunately for Jesus, the mood has changed since his visit in Nazareth.   This crowd, the one by the water, is not angry, not jealous, not even murderous, they are desperate.   They are pressing in to hear the Gospel, to hear Jesus preach the Good News.     If it is possible to be overly eager to hear a sermon, this crowd is that.   They press in so hard that Jesus is forced to make alternative pulpit arrangements.   He decides to find his safety in an empty boat. ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Body Someone in this room, in the very room in which we are now gathered, is a kidney.   Someone else in this room is an eyeball.   Or at least that is what the Apostle Paul would have us believe, that is the analogy he spins in today’s reading from his first letter to the Corinthians. There are many metaphors and analogies used to make sense of the Church – this mysterious mystical Christian community of which each baptized person is a member.   The image of the Body of Christ is one of the most enduring – perhaps because we all have bodies and each of those bodies is made of basically the same parts.   Being embodied is a universal human, and divine, experience. We all have kidneys, or at least one.   And, from here at least, it appears we all have eyeballs.   And I think we can all admit that those parts are better when they are firmly connected to the other parts of our body; that ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 1:43-51 Come and See “ Come and see. ”   “ Come and see. ”   Man, was Philip asking for it.   “ Come and see ” is a dangerous thing to say; it is risky.   And of all people, Philip chooses Nathanael – his incredibly skeptical friend, his somewhat prejudiced friend.   This is the man he invites to meet Jesus; this is the one he invites to “ come and see ” . Let's backup.   We shouldn't be too hard on Philip.   It's not really his fault.   One is not born saying “ Come and see ” .   “ Come and see ” is learned.   That is some learned behavior. See, it's really Jesus' fault.   He started it.   It was what Jesus said to his first disciple, Andrew.   Andrew showed some interest, asked some questions, and Jesus said to him, “ Come and see ” .   So you see, Philip is not really to blame.   “ Come and see ” is Jesus' thing.   It is what Jesus says.   ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Flaws and All Oh, mirrors.   Every day they tempt us with us.   We give in and there staring back at us are all our flaws.   In the mirror is that one white hair in a sea of brown.   There's the solitary blemish surrounded by beautiful clear skin.   And that one tooth that doesn't quite fall in line with the others.   Amidst such great beauty, God’s own handiwork, we have this tendency to see only the flaws.   It's not that they are not there, it's just that the flaws are such a small part of who we are; they not certainly the whole story.   They are true, but they are not the truth. Most days I look right past my sparkling green eyes, and see only the bags under them.   I miss these full, pink lips, because of the little lines around them – these lines earned by age and stress.   It’s all part of the picture but no one detail is the whole truth.   There is more to me, and to you, than t...