Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15   Investing in Hope St. Luke’s on the Hill, Mechanicville   Jeremiah didn’t really need another property.   He already had a home.   And he spent all of his time there.   Because he was under house arrest.   As a political prisoner.   Because of treason.   King Zedekiah, it seems, was not a fan of Jeremiah’s work.   He did not like those poems at all.       Already plenty stressed out, it does not appear to be the ideal time for the prophet to get into real estate.   But you know what they say, “Strike while the iron is hot.”   And, in Jeremiah’s defense, there were some deals to be had.   For sale signs were popping up everywhere.   Folks, like Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel, were desperate to unload their properties.   But still Jeremiah wasn’t exactly living in, what you might call, a buyer’s market.   Because of the siege...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Jeremiah 18:1-11   A Crozier Story St. John’s, Johnstown   The prophet Jeremiah went down to the potter’s house.   And in the house he found, no surprise, a potter.   The potter was working at his wheel, spinning clay into earthen vessels.   Or at least trying to turn clay into earthen vessels.   Sometimes the clay did not quite cooperate.   And so Jeremiah watched as the potter took a deep breath, slowed the wheel, wrapped some messy fingers around the awkward lump, and started again.   Until that lump of clay became what the potter dreamed it would be.   Tuesday is the two-year anniversary of my election as your bishop.   Election day was a wild day.   The family woke up early – because mountain time zone – unsure if everything or nothing in our lives would change.   A few hours later, it was everything.   The election thrust us, suddenly, into a season of total tra...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Jeremiah 26:1-9, 12-15   Grant us wisdom, grant us courage   God of grace and God of glory, on thy people pour thy power: these were the first words to ever shake the pews of the famous Riverside Church in New York.   These enduring words were written by the pastor of that church, Henry Emerson Fosdick.   Originally set to the tune Regent Square, the hymn accompanied the opening opening procession in their new building.   The poetry was actually written for the dedication of that majestic new edifice, a celebratory moment to be sure, but it was also written against the backdrop of the Great Depression, at a time of immense wealth disparity in our nation, and between two World Wars.   The hymn was a prayer, gifted by a pastor to his people, a people living in a world beset by dread and destruction, a people called to proclaim the good news in a time of harrowing headlines.   Fosdick was invited to pastor the c...