Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Lent 4B 3-11-2018 John 3:14-21 What are you looking for? What are you looking for? These are the very first words Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John.   Andrew, the one who will become his first disciple, is following him on the banks of the river like an awkward fan seeking an autograph and Jesus turns and rather abruptly says to him, “What are you looking for?” It is a question Jesus never stops asking, a question that passes eternally from his lips to our burning hearts: what are you looking for?   And it is a question that becomes especially poignant during this season of Lent, this season that exists in the shadow of the cross.   And as looming shadows often do, sooner or later, this shadow too draws our eyes to its source.   And as the days of Lent shorten, our gaze moves from the shadow on the ground to the cross, and then from the rugged wood of the cross to the ragged body of the one who is lifted up on that cross....

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 1:6-14 Look Lower Well, if we learned one thing from Acts today, it is this: some angels cannot read a room. These snarky angels are pretty insensitive. While the disciples stand by, all dazed and heartbroken, these two men in white robes suddenly appear, not to console them, but to challenge them: “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The angels know why, at least they should. The disciples' eyes are glued to the very spot in the heavens that just devoured Jesus and his cloud car. And the disciples are trying to keep their eyes on Jesus. See, that has been a pretty difficult task in recent weeks. They already lost him once; they did not want to do that again. But now he is out of sight, gone – for the second time in just six weeks. Once again they were powerless to stop him. And now all they have left is a limitless, empty sky. The second goodbye stinging their eyes even as the first wounds are still fresh in t...