Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 On Earth as it is in Heaven I remember vividly that moment on the morning of June 12, 2016. It was a Sunday morning and I was sitting in Room 211, upstairs, meeting with folks who were interested in our EfM program. And I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text message from my wife. She doesn't typically text me on Sunday mornings; she is aware that I am generally unable to check my phone; I have a lot going on and typically a lot of layers to navigate between hand and pocket. And so, I reasoned this must be important. I checked my phone; I wanted to be sure everything was OK. It wasn't. “Did you see?” The text read. “Largest mass shooting in US history, 50 people.” And I felt instantly sick – though, I have to admit, and I am embarrassed to say this, I was not quite as sick as when I heard about Sandy Hook. I excused myself from the class and went downstairs. My head spinning; my heart breaking...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Philippians 1:3-11 Overflow I'm not sure in what year it happened, but I know it happened during the Great Vigil of Easter.   And so of course it was dark in the church.   Only the Pascal Candle lit the chancel – a single flame dancing in the font's metallic silver bowl. That night we would welcome into the Church a new Christian – a little person we would lay on the altar of Love.   As I prayed the baptismal prayer, recounting the ways in which we Christians track salvation history through water, I picked up the ewer, the liturgical pitcher, and started to pour.   And pour.   And pour.   It was so dark that I could not see that the font was growing quite full, each drop challenging capacity.   I did not realize just how full was the font until the water started to overflow – out of the font and all over the floor. It was messy.   It was a little dangerous, that baptismal water all over the floor...