Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Micah 6:1-8   Human Humans St. Andrew’s, Albany   The offerings of offerings grew increasingly absurd.   The possibilities: from plausible to impossible to preposterous.   One cannot decipher tone from the written words on a page, but “ten thousands of rivers of oil” does not feel like a serious offer.   It seems like hyperbolic at best, spiteful venom at worst.   The sixth chapter of the book of the prophet Micah begins mid-argument – an argument between frustrated mortals and the Immortal One.   And, by the time we reach the sixth verse, maybe it still is.   Displeased with the state of their world, the people call God out.   Life is hard, the world unfair, and God must be, at least partially, to blame.     This blame hurts God’s feelings – and elicits a mournful plea: “What have I done to you?”   And elicits then a strong defense.   In response to the people’s ...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Jeremiah 26:1-9, 12-15   Grant us wisdom, grant us courage   God of grace and God of glory, on thy people pour thy power: these were the first words to ever shake the pews of the famous Riverside Church in New York.   These enduring words were written by the pastor of that church, Henry Emerson Fosdick.   Originally set to the tune Regent Square, the hymn accompanied the opening opening procession in their new building.   The poetry was actually written for the dedication of that majestic new edifice, a celebratory moment to be sure, but it was also written against the backdrop of the Great Depression, at a time of immense wealth disparity in our nation, and between two World Wars.   The hymn was a prayer, gifted by a pastor to his people, a people living in a world beset by dread and destruction, a people called to proclaim the good news in a time of harrowing headlines.   Fosdick was invited to pastor the c...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 2:1-21 The Wind They immediately noticed the mighty, rushing wind because, generally speaking, a mighty, rushing wind does not happen indoors.   That is why that wind was so noteworthy, why we are still talking about it so many centuries later.   It was impossible – and yet it happened.   There were no ceiling fans wobbling above their flaming heads in the first century.   There were no industrial strength hair dryers blowing in the upper room.   There was no David Watts standing over a smoking thurible with his gigantic fireplace bellow in that ancient gathering place.   They were inside; and that is not where one typically finds a violent breeze. Inside, behind closed doors, is not where a mighty, rushing wind even belongs.   It doesn’t work.   It is simply too disruptive.   It messes things up.   It stirs the curtains and twists the sheets.   A mighty, rushing wind rustles the pag...