Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 4:14-21   The Gospel of Mercy St. Luke’s, Cambridge   Definitely, they were not going to try to kill him.   They were excited for Jesus’ homecoming.   He was a good kid.   He came from a solid family.   They were glad he was going to be stomping his old stomping grounds again.   His parents probably busily readied his old room.   His friends made plans to catch up.   It would be just like that freshman year Thanksgiving break – the first time back after being away: late nights, great stories, mom’s cooking.   And so they definitely were not going to try to kill him.   And there was now a buzz surrounding him; that was fun.   People were praising him in the surrounding villages.   Jesus was becoming a big deal.   And a big deal Jesus was a big deal for their sleepy little village.   And so, again, they were excited and definitely not going to try to ...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:46-52   Mercy   Before sight, instead of money, his first request was for mercy.   Bartimaeus, the man we encounter in Mark’s Gospel today, was a blind beggar – two conditions that were, of course, in no way mutually exclusive.   He sat by the road in extraordinary need; that was obvious to everyone, and still is.   He was blind.   And so he was poor.   And, he was, based on the initial reaction of the crowd around him, something of a pariah or nuisance.   His temporal needs were vast.   But his first request, his primary plea, was for mercy.   On this particular day, the day recorded in our Gospel reading, Jesus was in Jericho.   And for the people of Jericho that was a really big deal.   It wasn’t every day that a miracle worker passed through town.   And so the buzz built and the crowds assembled.   They came to see Jesus.   And see Jesus they d...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 9:8-17   Relentless mercy and fierce love St. Boniface, Guilderland   According to the book of Genesis, death came into this world, not through disease or atrophy, but through violence.   Brother against brother.   A clash of two creatures made in the divine image.   And that shattered God’s heart.   The pain vibrated through the universe.   God laid that pathos at the feet of Cain, the first killer, saying, “Your brother’s blood is crying out to me.”   And in that horrible early moment of human history, God recognized our fatal flaw and tried to stop it.   God inscribed Cain with a mark of protection in hopes that the cycle of violence might stop.   But it didn’t and we didn’t.   The violence continued, in thought, word, and deed.   Until God gave up and made a flood.   The reason God offered Noah for the watery disaster was human violence.   Genesis tells u...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Jonah 3:10-4:11 What we like (and dislike) about God   I’m a priest; my wife is a pastor; my children are PKs twice over; and so we have, in our home, a number of Children’s Bibles.   And all of them include the story of Jonah.   Well, excerpts from the story of Jonah; definitely not the whole story.   Most of them begin with Jonah running in the opposite direction; they always include the big fish, from belly to beach; and they typically conclude with the happy ending of the book: when the people of Ninevah repent and are saved – because of Jonah. They never include this part of the story: the part where Jonah is mad because God refuses to kill all the people.   The true ending of Jonah, what we heard this morning, never makes the cut.   This is, admittedly, not Jonah’s finest moment; he does not make a great impression in today’s passage – which is the conclusion of the book that bears his name. Finally, the...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 9:1-20 Don’t Say It If you want a lesson, a takeaway from today’s sermon, I suppose it is this: If the Lord calls your name, do not, under any circumstance, respond, “Here I am, Lord.”   Just don’t do it.   Now you might be surprised to hear me say that.   Priests are supposed to encourage their members to listen for the voice of Jesus, to follow the great call of God.   But here’s the thing, I’ve read some Bible, quite a bit actually, and so I know how this goes down.   And, generally speaking, it’s not good. For example: Back in the book of Genesis, old father Abraham responds, “Here I am, Lord.”   And God tells him to kill his son.   Not good.   In the book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible, Moses responds, “Here I am, Lord.”   You might remember that story, the story of the burning bush.   And God tells him to go back into Egypt, the land he had just fled, and confront the m...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 15:1-10 Waiting for the Guests to Arrive Today's Gospel takes place in a high school cafeteria, apparently. And Jesus, how embarrassing for him, is sitting at the wrong table. And that is a real problem for the Pharisees, who, in this story, are playing the cool kids, the in-crowd. Jesus has potential; before he doesn't, at the end of the Gospel, he has a pretty strong following; so, he maybe could be one of them, one of the popular guys. But the problem is: he is sitting with the losers, with the outcasts, with the social pariahs. It's a bad look. He spends way too much time with people who don't matter. And, if we're being honest, not enough time with them. The Pharisees are jealous, angry, put out that Jesus would actually choose to grace those people with his presence. They don't understand how Jesus could possibly be interested rubbing elbows, breaking bread, with sinners. They don't un...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 21:23-32 The Good People at the Back of the Line By what authority?   Who gave him this authority?   Who asks those questions?   Who would dare question Jesus' authority?   He's Jesus.   He doesn't need permission.   He doesn't need some random dude to sign off on his actions – no matter how wild or crazy those actions may be.   He's Jesus – the Messiah – God Incarnate.   How dare anyone challenge his authority?   I mean, can you imagine? Actually, let's imagine.   Let's imagine a church – a large church – a successful church – a nice, big, money-making church with influential pastors.   A job-creating, economic hub of a church.   Maybe it's one of those well-marketed mega-churches.   And let's imagine a charismatic drifter strolls in on a busy Sunday and starts overturning the merch tables, starts chucking the fancy coffee, sets the food court on fire, and pour...