Preaching the Scriptures

  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 Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15   Investing in Hope St. Luke’s on the Hill, Mechanicville   Jeremiah didn’t really need another property.   He already had a home.   And he spent all of his time there.   Because he was under house arrest.   As a political prisoner.   Because of treason.   King Zedekiah, it seems, was not a fan of Jeremiah’s work.   He did not like those poems at all.       Already plenty stressed out, it does not appear to be the ideal time for the prophet to get into real estate.   But you know what they say, “Strike while the iron is hot.”   And, in Jeremiah’s defense, there were some deals to be had.   For sale signs were popping up everywhere.   Folks, like Jeremiah’s cousin Hanamel, were desperate to unload their properties.   But still Jeremiah wasn’t exactly living in, what you might call, a buyer’s market.   Because of the siege...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Revelation 7:9-17   Hope from the Margins St. James, Oneonta   Everything changed in the fourth century.   Historians argue the details.   Christians debate the merits.   But what is undeniable is that during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Church was thrust into the Halls of Power for the first time in its history.   When the Emperor found Jesus, he made sure everyone else did too – whether they wanted to or not.   After centuries of exclusion, oppression, humiliation, and persecution, the sudden experience of comfort and influence was as dizzying as it was difficult to resist.   The enemy Empire of the book of Revelation, Rome, abruptly affixed the cross of Christ to its weapons of war and marched out to conquer the world.   And as the years passed, and the footprint grew, the Church and its leaders began to forget the little Church of the Book of Revelation.   That Church, s...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 21:25-36   A hopeful perspective St. John’s, Cohoes, NY   My family has only rather recently started watching the Marvel movies.   These blockbuster superhero films have dominated the cineplex for more than a decade, but my boys were mere toddlers when the franchise was really hitting its stride.   Now that they are growing into their teenage years, we are slowly catching up.   And I must admit that watching the films more than a decade after their release does temper some of the tension.   One worries less about Tony Stark’s fate in the first Iron Man film, when Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3, featuring Tony Stark, have already been famously released.   You have a pretty strong sense that he will make it through the first round of danger when you know he stars in the sequels.     And that knowledge breeds hope.   When it looks like everything is hopeless, like the hero is facing im...

The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Psalm 23   In Good Hands Christ Church, Pottersville   In the bustle of this hectic age, Psalm 23 seems to slow the world down.   It speaks from another time and place, one now buried under the weight of industrialization and technological sprawl.   It feels utterly, and happily, detached from the persistent demands of the email inbox, the heightened expectations of school and work, from deadlines and task lists.   It feels calm in a way that the world does not; simple in a way that feels lost.   With the opening verses, the psalmist paints for us an idyllic picture: the soft, cool grass of the green pastures; the peaceful still of deep waters.     In a sense, this psalm has come to conjure in its readers the same feelings vacationers hope to find in these mountains, in the Adirondacks.   Urbanites flock here in the summers, drawn by the beautiful green and the refreshing waters, hoping to find...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 2:1-21 & Romans 8:22-27   Pentecostal Hope St. Ann's, Amsterdam, NY   All they had was unseen hope.   Because Incarnation had faded into invisible right before their startled eyes.   In a matter of weeks, these disciples had witnessed death and then life and now out of sight.   In a matter of weeks, they experienced impossible pain and unexpected joy and…what now?   Maybe both?   Jesus left again.   Not on a cross but on a cloud.   This was not the sting of death but also this time it was chosen, and so it still stung.   And anyway, he was gone.   And together they were alone.     Once again, for the second time in as many months, the future was hazy.   And in the dizzying presence of change, they reverted to old patterns.   Every time Jesus was gone, they locked up in a room.   They were disciples and, by nature, disciples follow.   The...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 40:21-31   By the Rivers of Babylon Zion Episcopal Church, Morris, NY   They sat, forlorn, by the rivers of Babylon.   And they wept.   Their tears fell in torrents from the dark clouds around their souls and was absorbed by the hostile land.   As they cried, they were assaulted by the smug looks and barbed taunts of their tormentors.   They sat by the rivers of Babylon: eyes burnt with sorrow, tongues pressed hard against the roof of their mouths.   Because there simply were not words.   Just a suffocating grief, a searing pain, a heart-break that felt eternal.   Even in Babylon, they were haunted by the memories.   The ghosts followed them into exile.   Once there had been good days, but they now the memories felt like thin remnants of a past life.   The first sign of their impending doom were the terrible rumors.   Then brought to life by the pulse of distan...