Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4   What are you waiting for?   What is he waiting for?   What is this ancient prophet, with his unusual name, waiting for?   What is this holy man, standing at his watch post, shouting from his tattered soul, praying from his deepest depths: what exactly is he waiting for?     Because nothing good is on the horizon; nothing good is coming his way.   Destruction and violence are before him.   Is he waiting for them to finally arrive?   Strife and contention are on the rise.   Is he waiting for them to reach their full stature?   A foreign army is at the gate, eager to seize dwellings that are not their own.   Is he waiting to hand over his keys?   The enemy is on a mission to gather captives like one might gather up the sand of a vast desert.   Is he waiting to be swept up and carried away?   What is he waiting for?   The prophet and h...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 6:1-8 Call Stories It was a truly stunning moment of beauty.   Isaiah the prophet, but not yet a prophet, was in the Temple.   And in that holiest of places, the world suddenly melted away.   Around him no longer stone, no more parachuting specks of dust floating lazily through the sunlight, no more stubborn sacrificial bulls bellowing out in panicked protest, all of it gone; until there was just God, with a robe that spilled from the heavenly throne like a lava flow, unavoidable and encompassing.   Divine presence: not in the way one assumes or theologizes that God is always with us but silent and unseen; this was divine presence in that thick, tangible way, like when a dream becomes true.   It was a vision but it was as real as anything or maybe more real than everything.   Sometimes life pivots on something that cannot be touched, cannot be held, can only be experienced soul-deep.   And this was li...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 17:1-9 Vision What really happened up on that mountain?   Maybe that is a strange question. I mean, the details, while clearly extraordinary, are recorded in a pretty straightforward manner.   What we know is this: the three, Peter, James, and John, followed Jesus up the mountain – not long after Peter's confession.   And we know they came back down.   And we know that according to those witnesses whatever happened up there was big, huge.   We also know that there were no other witnesses.   And so the testimony comes entirely from those three men. And it's pretty shocking testimony.   They climbed the mountain with one called Jesus – a popular teacher, the son of a local craftsman, enemy of the state.   Now, the report, presumably from the only witnesses, says that on the mountaintop, Jesus started glowing, his clothing became dazzling white.   And apparently two men, Moses and Elijah, b...