Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Revelation 7:9-17   Great Multitude   It might just be that we are all standing on the edge of the apocalypse.   That perhaps apocalyptic vision belongs not only to entranced prophets and the writer of the book of Revelation; that apocalyptic talk is not strictly the domain of street-corner preachers and fervent Pentecostals; that apocalyptic experiences are not reserved for the movie screen.   But for those who are permanently stained with baptismal waters, those who sway to the songs of the dead.   The word “apocalypse” is widely misunderstood in our culture and even in the Church.   For most it brings to mind cataclysmic disaster, unprecedented trauma, Rapture anxieties, even the end of the world.   But the apocalypse is not the end of the world; the apocalypse is not made of earthquakes and hurricanes. But it is an act of God: it is the moment God opens our eyes so that we can see the world for what...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 21:25-36 Strange Hope Christmas is a mere twenty-three days away.   So it seems like this Gospel reading should be Joseph and a very pregnant Mary and a weighed-down donkey.   We should be standing at the edge of Bethlehem.   And yet here we are standing at the edge of the apocalypse. Advent is supposed to be romantic, nostalgic.   Advent is Mary saying yes to the angel in the intimacy of her bedroom.   And Joseph honorably standing by his gal as rumors swirl.   And shepherds huddled around a warming fire.   And a cozy manger flanked by a fuzzy lamb.   Advent is as quaint as a nativity scene that seems to have misplaced that tiny baby Jesus.   Advent is a sepia-toned arrival that arrived so long ago it now feels like a fairy tale, one that spills into our lives every Christmas before Happy New Year’s returns it to storage. But we, today, begin our Advent not on the dusty road to Bethlehem ...