Preaching the Scriptures

T he Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 1:1-14   Hard to Believe Good Shepherd, Elizabethtown   It was hard to believe.   And they were standing right there, watching it happen.   They thought that Jesus might finally settle down, after everything, but instead he was going up.   And there was no stopping him.   Before their very eyes, he was lifted up, beyond their reach, beyond their words, beyond any feeble attempt to reason with him, or beg him to stay.   There was nothing they could do but watch him go.   And that is exactly what they did: they just stood there staring, stunned silent, mouths agape, angels lecturing and shouting instructions.   They likely arrived on the scene with some preconceived notion, some sense of expectation.   But they were not expecting this.   It was just so hard to believe.   But for the disciples, this was nothing new.   Not really.   Jesus had this tendency to surprise...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 24:13-35   A Hope that does not Disappoint St. Paul’s, Sidney   They had hoped.   But the long walk of retreat was evidence that hope was no longer on the agenda.   They had hoped.   But now, standing before an inquisitive stranger, they just look sad.   The bright glow of hope went out when the sharp nails went into Jesus’ precious body.   Where hope once reigned, there was now nothing but disappointment.   It was a very human experience that they were experiencing on the road back to Emmaus.   This is what people do: they get their hopes up only to be let down.   And those two disciples were let down…because they had hoped.   People place their hope in a lot of things – and always have.   The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with stories of misplaced hope: golden calves melted down, stone idols turned to dust, mighty kings disgraced.   As the psalmist reminds u...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 28:1-10   But Not for God   She was helpless.   Utterly helpless.   It was the Friday of a week that had spun out of control, in the very worst possible way.   And there was nothing she could do to stop the spinning.   Mary Magdalene stood at a distance now, but the distance provided no perspective, no safety – just more pain.   From that distance, she was still close enough to see the ending of a story that was, apparently, a tragedy.   For a while, it had felt like a fairy tale.   But the cross at the end proved otherwise; it was a twist ending she did not see coming.     Because he was best of us, impossibly good, completely selfless, just made of love. It was like kindness flowed through his veins.   If anyone should get the happy ending, it was Jesus.   But he got the death penalty instead.   And now here she was, looking on from a distance as his bloo...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 24:1-12   Followers Cathedral of All Saints   Unlike most preachers, Mary Magdalene was not worried about her Easter Sunday sermon.   Maybe she should have been, because, according to the Gospel, it was a flop.   But she wasn’t.   She had something else on her mind when she left the house early on Easter morning.   It had been a terrible weekend, the worst of her life.   And that is why she was dragging her listless body, her broken heart, and her satchel of spices down the barren road of a barren cemetery.   It was Easter Sunday and Mary wasn’t thinking about a sermon; she was thinking about death.   It was all she could think about.   Because what she saw on that Friday, she could never unsee.   That nightmare was burnt into her soul.   The immensity of the violence was overwhelming, of course, but the worst thing was that it was so personal.   Jesus was he...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 10:44-48           Afternoon Dreaming Church of the Holy Spirit, Schenevus   It all started with a dream.     Peter just couldn’t keep his eyes open; they were so heavy.   I don’t know about you, but I can relate.   Sometimes prayer makes us sleepy.   It’s just true.   Good intentions and dogged devotion are, at times, simply not enough.   And in the midst of a pious moment, we find ourselves drifting into a slumber.   It happens to the best of us – including St. Peter.     In his dream, Peter saw the heavens open – an exciting beginning, to be sure.   And then from that celestial rift descended…bedding – specifically a large sheet.   Jacob got angels climbing a ladder; Joseph: thin cows eating fat cows.   Peter gets a sheet.        It turns out the sheet, as you might remember from this sto...

 The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 15:1-8   Balloons and branches Grace Episcopal Church, Cherry Valley   Balloons: they are so simple.   In the bag, a balloon is nothing more than a little piece of limp rubber.   You can just flop ‘em around, stretch ‘em; that’s about it.   There is not much to a balloon.   But also, when I was kid, smacking an inflated balloon around the house was about as good as life got.   It was unbelievable.   Balloons are interesting.   They are really only as good as their filling.   With a balloon, what is inside is everything.   Now the basic filling is air.   You can blow up a balloon.   And with that one simple additive, breath, a balloon becomes like a ball that doesn’t break windows.   Incredible.   But then helium.   You fill a balloon with helium and it takes off.   If a balloon filled with helium gets away, it’s gone.   Water: that’s a fun f...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 16:1-8   Do Not Be Afraid The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, NY   Of course they were afraid.   This is a scary world.   You heard tonight’s Scriptures.   In this world, though created good, predators stalk gardens of paradise, even Eden.   In this world, the innocent are enslaved and pursued to the point of hopelessness.   In this world, exiles long for home, sometimes long for what is left of home.   In this world, the path to the tomb can be treacherous and, because the shadows are so long, people have to travel in groups.   Even in the pages of the Scriptures.   Even in the earliest hours of Easter.   And then there is death.   In this world.   In the Easter Scriptures.   These women, the ones who walked to the tomb, they carried spices.   The spices were their gift for the dead, to cover the unpleasantness, and to give distraction to their unpleasa...