Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 10:38-42   Putting Words in Jesus’ Mouth St. James, Lake Delaware   It was a bold move.   But somebody had to do it.   Because they were hosting a small village and Mary was just sitting there.   There were tons of tasks to do: beds and food and basins of water and coasters to put under drinks.   And with that many young men in the house, messes to clean up and scents to air out.   So, of course, Martha was scurrying around, checking off task after task with little to no help – no help, if you asked her.      And you know how it is: siblings don’t listen to siblings.   Mary wasn’t jumping up at Martha’s command.   Mary was tuning her out to tune into the voice of Jesus.   And, like, Martha got that.   Jesus was a great storyteller; he was interesting to listen to.   Martha would have loved to sit and listen to Jesus but there was a lot to do.   And...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Passion according to John   Good Friday: A Reflection   What now?   A hopeless disciple standing beside a woman watching her son die.   And he is dying.   The cause of death will be suffocation or excessive blood loss or maybe a broken heart.   But he will die on that cross.   The Son of God, brown skin stained with red blood, calloused hands pierced with spikes the color of gunmetal: he will die on a Roman cross with a charge of treason written above his head in three languages.   The breath that gave life to the world will run out.   The sacred heart that holds us will stop beating.   The eyes that wept over Jerusalem will close in eternal rest.   This is not a passion play.   This is passion in its truest and rawest form: immense human suffering.   This is not just a temporary setback on the way to Easter.   This is death – the most human of fates.   And it hap...

  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 dr...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 1:39-55   Carrying Jesus   Some women crave pickles, at least that is what I am told – mostly by sitcoms – and so I suppose it must be true. My wife craved chocolate milk – a glass a day, assuming there was milk and chocolate syrup in the house. Mary craved revolution, which is one of those pregnancy cravings one does not hear about often.   When she was with child, the young Mary, before Jesus stretched her body far enough to leave marks, before Jesus carved lines of grief into her angelic face, composed her timeless, prophetic song while running through the hill country – in the space between home and the future.   Perhaps rehearsing the lines, over and over again, praying and struggling to find the right words and then shouting them out to the wild beasts when they finally came.     Or maybe not.   Maybe she had no words on account of being so overwhelmed.   And maybe simply fell in...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 1:39-55 Advent IV: A New Hope A long time ago, in a hinterland far, far away... It is the period of their engagement. A young girl betrothed to a man named Joseph – he a descendant of Israel's greatest king. But that matters little now. His people, her people, are once again an occupied people, struggling to follow the God of their forebears in the days of the Empire, Rome. Their story matters to us now.   But not then, not there, not in the Empire.   This couple, they were not wealthy.   They were not powerful.   They were not important.   She was an unmarried, pregnant teen. He worked with his hands, a common laborer. They were nobodys, lost in a vast Empire that, at that time, spread from northern Africa all the way to the British Isles, spread beyond even the reaches of their imaginations. They were unknowns – certainly unknown to those who mattered, obviously unknown to the Emperor; and yet, the...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 1:26-38 A Great Cost for the Greater Good Something doesn't seem quite right here.   I think it is supposed to be Elizabeth.   That is how the story should go.   That is the way God always does it.   The special child is supposed to come out of the barren womb of the aged woman.   Like Isaac from Sarah.   Like Samuel from Hannah.   That's it; that is how God has always done it. And that would have been perfect.   The story of the Messiah's birth, it would perfectly mirrored Israel's narrative – a history of longing, waiting, just about to lose hope – and then God acts.   In an unexpected way, in a miraculous way, but also in a manner in which the people of God, those who were really paying attention, had come to expect. On paper, Elizabeth was the perfect candidate.   And not only that, people would have celebrated their good news.   They were good people.   They had been...