Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 23:33-43   The Sign Calvary, Burnt Hills, NY   The sign is a joke.   Not a funny joke; not a joke that brings joy or happiness to the world.   It is, instead, one of those “clever” jokes, like a cartoon in the New Yorker. Maybe it doesn’t make you laugh out loud, but if you get it, if you can untangle the irony, you smile a little and feel smart.   The sign was that kind of joke.   And the joke, this joke, it is on us.   Because we clearly don’t get it, don’t get the clever irony.   We take the sign, nailed as it was just above the head of Jesus, literally.   As if that sign was an informative museum plaque.   And that is a strange stance to take, given the circumstance, in light of the terrible events of this Gospel story.       Most everyone in the story was in on the joke.   The leaders riffed on it, for the entertainment of the crowd, stand-up in ...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 12:20-33   An Answer for the Greeks Trinity, Watervliet, NY   These Greeks were strategic.   They wanted to arrange a meeting with Jesus.   But that was difficult.   During the years of his public ministry, Jesus was always surrounded by crowds of the lame, the sick, the curious, and the skeptical.   But on this particular day, the day the Greeks decide to check in, the crowds were exceedingly large.   On that particular Sunday, Google Maps would have labeled Jesus “busier than usual” – maybe even “as busy as it gets.”   Jesus’ fame was hitting its crescendo.   He had just entered the Holy City Jerusalem.   In the city, he was greeted by palms and psalms; he was greeted as a king.   And so, for the Greeks, on that day, it was especially hard to get face time.   Jesus was a popular guy under normal circumstances; but the crowds were wild that day, that day we call Palm Sun...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 8:31-38   Following Jesus St. Thomas’ Pakistani Episcopal Church   Jesus was not oblivious.   He was well aware of the excitement that followed him – a blossoming expectation that threatened full bloom.   The conversation in today’s Gospel passage follows on the heels of a miraculous banquet, the feeding of four thousand people, in the desert, with just a few loaves and fish.   Not long after the leftovers were cleared and collected, Jesus performed the stunning healing of a blind man.   Jesus was doing miracles.   And miracles make people talk and ask questions and even hope.   The disciples were not immune to the contagious excitement.   They could feel it; they were in it.   They witnessed so many miracles with Jesus, and by Jesus, that the sheer quantity could make the miraculous feel almost mundane.   They watched as Jesus’ words captured large crowds; his love transforme...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 16:21-28   Victory   And finally, since we are on a roll with these, my last announcement is this: the 2023 NFL season begins on Thursday.   And that means, once again, I will root for the Cleveland Browns to appear in their first ever Super Bowl.   Once again I will tell myself, as I have so many times before: this could be the year.   I have cheered on the Browns for as long as I can remember; the Browns are like a family inheritance: you don’t choose them as much as you get them.   And, over the years, that has, admittedly, left some scars.   As a little boy, I cried because of “The Drive.”   And then the next year, when I was seven, I cried because of “The Fumble.”   And at a young age, I developed a hatred for John Elway that required of me many prayers of repentance.     As painful as those experiences were, being a Browns fan only grew more difficult as I aged. ...