Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 28:16-20   Go! St. John, Delhi   Another week; another mountain.   The disciples have once again gathered at altitude to watch the resurrected Jesus leave.   It feels like we just did this.   Two Sundays ago, on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, on the Sunday after the Ascension, we heard of a similar scene, that time from Luke’s perspective, this time from Matthew’s.   And while the stories do bear a striking resemblance, there is an important distinction between these two goodbyes.   In the telling we heard two weeks ago, the disciples were told to huddle up in an upper room and prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit.   That is not the message of this Gospel passage, these final verses of Matthew’s Gospel.   In Acts, the disciples were directed to wait; here they are told to “GO”!   This “go” is famously how the Gospel of Matthew ends.   It is a stirring and memora...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Romans 5:1-5   The Unshakable Foundation St. Philip’s, Norwood   Dear Church, I know you are tired…of waking up to a world of uncertainty…of warily doomscrolling your social media…of turning on and tuning in to a steady cycle of changes, chances, and crises.   I know you are tired…of the images of pain and suffering, of war and violence, of despair.   In the nation.   In the world.   And now very much seared into your soul.   I know you are tired…because you no longer know what to do or say or how to feel, because the emotions are so mixed these days, mixed to the point of muddled.   The foundations are being shaken.   Those things long taken for granted in our society are being questioned and undermined and, in some cases, discarded.   Trust has eroded as the very technologies we believed would usher in an information age have proved at least equally adept at transmitting misinfo...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 28:16-20   Great endings   What makes for a great ending?   Well, I suppose it should leave the reader, at once, feeling satisfied and yet still wanting more.   I suppose it should emerge naturally from all that came before, hinted at in subtle ways throughout the story but also spontaneous to the touch.   I suppose it should stir powerful emotions in the soul of its audience.   I suppose it should, finally, make the reader dream up the sequel, imagine a world beyond the back cover.   All four Gospels have great endings.   Mark’s Gospel concludes with a dramatic cliffhanger: “So [the women] went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”   And that would be a sad ending to Easter Sunday – except that we know that there is more to the story.   The word did get out.   We, the readers, got the wor...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Romans 5:1-5   Suffering and Hope   Candy Land, a game “lovingly” described on Wikipedia as requiring, “no reading…minimal counting skills [and] no strategy,” is a wonderfully accessible way to introduce even the youngest of children to the timeless idea of journey.   It is true that the Candy Land journey is a bit more simplistic than the journey through life – all laid out as it is in a predictably static two dimensions.   But while the path on the board is clear, every trip has its own challenges. At times the cards you draw will set you off in the direction of your goal; at others times there are setbacks and slowdowns in the cards.   You might be forced to retrace your steps a time or two; your plastic child could at times get stuck in some sticky sugar for a turn.   But what is always true is that the road begins at the Cupcake Commons, runs past the Lollypop Woods, and ends at the Promised Land of Candy C...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Psalm 8 Beautiful Trinity This week I drove a road – the road through the mountains. I drove that road and I most unexpectedly became a witness to the agony and ecstasy of creation – as if transported to the beginning, before there was time. I saw the saw the mountains reach for the heavens with their violent thrusts, lifting their blankets of white to meet the white clouds. I saw aged peaks rounded off by the gentle caress of the wind of God. I saw two pronghorn antelopes kiss in the muted watercolors that stretch across the severe plains. I saw streams cut the rocky ground, spilling crystal clear blood, life-giving waters. I saw the agony and ecstasy of creation; I drove right through it – trying to keep my car on the road, trying to keep my breath. I saw mountains, valleys, and plains. I saw streams and lakes. I saw snow caps and creatures. I saw the love of this Triune God, poured out in this great creative expression. Spe...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 6:1-8   In the Presence of a Mystery The very stuff of God was spilling out of heaven – transgressing the assumed boundaries.   God's robe was filling the Temple – within the grasp of the earnest worshipers, in the presence of those desperate to touch the divine, within the reach of unclean human hands.   God's glory was flooding the earth – Heaven saturating the common stuff of life.   And while God was breaking the borders, so was a prophet, a man named Isaiah – a man of unclean lips in the land of holiness. It was like walking through the wardrobe or falling down the rabbit hole.   It was as if someone slipped him the red pill.   In an instant Isaiah was transported – his eyes seeing the unseen, his ears hearing the unheard.   He is an unwitting intruder in a world not his own – a world that exists outside of time, a world previous thought to be inaccessible to mortals. “Overwhelming” is pro...