Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 5:1-9 What We Deserve This guy was a real piece of work. I mean, I didn't know him. I don't even know that much about him, not even his name. But he just doesn't seem like a very good dude. Not that you would know that from our Gospel reading today. We got the good ending: a healed man walking into the sunset, carrying the mat upon which he helplessly reclined for weeks, months, years. It is a lovely ending – only, it's not the ending at all. The real ending is not lovely. The real ending is the religious leaders plotting Jesus' death. And it is really this guy's fault. I'm telling you: this guy was a real piece of work. First, Jesus finds him lying beside the pool by the Sheep Gate. I should be clear, this wasn't like a public swimming pool for the neighborhood kids; he wasn't sun-bathing. He was sick and so was everyone else parked by this pool. They were the blind, lame, an...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 21:33-46 More than we deserve What do you think you deserve?   Maybe a nicer home, a bigger paycheck, more respect, a promotion, perhaps?   What do you think you deserve? This is the piece I find most fascinating, and disturbing, about today’s Gospel reading from Matthew.   I mean, there is plenty of disturbing to go around.   It’s actually a very violent story.   But in a chilling twist, the parable ends with the owner of the vineyard sending his son, his heir, into the vineyard to collect the produce and the tenants kill the son.   The reason they kill the son is because they think, with the heir out of the picture, the owner of the vineyard will will the vineyard to them – that they would be next in line.   Through some kind of twisted logic they convince themselves that the vineyard owner will reward their murderous tendencies, will treat them as sons.   After all, for all of their hard w...