Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 3:14-21   At Home in the Dark   Are you afraid of the dark?   I must admit: when I was a child I was.   I was afraid of the dark for the very reason Jesus gives in today’s Gospel.   Because darkness gives cover to the evil deeds of nefarious people.   And when I was a child I was afraid one of those depraved individuals would break into my house while I was sleeping.     You see, we lived beside a junkyard, actually shared a driveway with the junkyard.   And from my bedroom, which was at the end of the house closest to the drive and farthest from my parents, I could hear the cars creeping over the gravel through the darkness.   In those chilling moments of the night my body would tense, my breathing would slow, my ears would become as attentive as those of potential prey: I wanted be ready in the event that my house was indeed the intended destination.   Most importantly, I ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Good Friday 3-30-18 Good Friday: Dark I’ve only been buried alive once.   Now, the guide called it spelunking, but I know better.   The first thing you notice down there is the darkness. I had never before, and have never since, experienced that kind of darkness.   It was so thick I could feel the weight of it on my skin.   I felt like the air down there must be turning my lungs black.   It was as if the outside world no longer existed, like before God spoke “Let there be light.”   Under the earth, in that abyss, there was a complete absence of light.   It was so dark you almost forget what light is. Something else that I remember from the caves was the moment it occurred to me that this was all very real.   It was not an amusement park.   There were no neatly marked paths or guiding lights, no exit doors for the faint of heart.   It was just me and my head lamp in a vast unmarked, unmapped ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 2:1-20 Christmas in the Dark Christmas: it comes under the cover of night, like a covert mission by a holy Spirit. As a weary world sleeps, Christmas comes – so silent and unnoticed that it is shocking. The light of the world smuggled into the deep darkness. When I close my eyes and picture Christmas this is always what I see. My imagination carries me into the night. I see the shepherds in the fields, huddled for protection against a deep darkness that has long since gone extinct. I see the angels, their radiant light made all the more impressive against the backdrop of midnight sky. And I see the precious nativity scene, with that tiny angelic baby perfectly framed by his human and animal admirers, lit only by an impossible star. And I see Charlie Brown and Linus pondering the profundity of the tiniest tree in the cold, dark lot. I know that last one is not biblical, but it always seems to slip in none the less. This is Chr...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 32:22-31 God in the Dark Some people find God in the Light. Some people see God's face in a beautiful sunrise. Some watch the Spirit dance on the golden horizon, all tingly warm embrace, all peace and comfort. But some only seem to encounter God in the dark. Jacob was one of those men. And in a way, I guess it is fitting. He was the kind of guy who was always on the run, staying in the shadows, like a fox who can't help but feel the warm breath of the hounds. He always heard footsteps. I mean, to be fair, he chose this life. That day he strapped goat skin to his arm – his first great scheme, snatching the blessing from his older brother – there was no going back; he set this course. And in some ways, the treachery and scheming made for him a good life. He did arrive at the Jabbok with his two wives, his two, well, the text says maids, but those maids were more than just maids, they were two of the four mothers o...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 20:1-18 It begins in the dark Easter always begins in the same place: in the dark. When Mary arrived at the tomb of Jesus on that first Easter morning, the world was still shrouded in night. The sun was not yet shining; the birds were not yet chirping. There were no signs of life – only the darkness. And even if the sun had been shining, there was still the dark cloud that hung over Mary's heart. Her friend Jesus was dead, crucified on a Roman cross, and she journeyed to his grave that day, not for an Easter story, but to visit his final resting place. It was the first Easter, and she was in the dark. I'm not sure how long the walk to his grave was, but it certainly wasn't long enough to erase the memory of Good Friday. There was no forgetting that. Mary stood near his cross as her friend died. It was real. It was devastating. It was death. She heard his last words. She watched as his broken body went limp. Sh...