Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Matthew 5:1-12 The Song of the Resistance He lived in polarized times. And as he ascended the mountain, he knew the crowd was waiting for his endorsement – because that's how things go in polarized times. Both sides want your allegiance; everyone needs to know if you are one of them. One side was the Empire, the most powerful nation on the planet – a war machine with a superior economy – all led by a jealous, insecure Emperor who lined the streets with the bodies of those who stepped out of line, his perceived enemies. On the other side were his people, an occupied people longing for freedom and power, and they were looking for a Messiah to lead the revolution, a king to lead them to victory; their swords were sharpened; they just needed their new King David. And they had their eyes on him, on this Jesus. Both sides wanted his allegiance; both wanted his heart and his soul. And so the crowds gathered as he climbed the hill. An...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 49:1-7 Dream Bigger Nothing seems to be working. “I have labored in vain,” says the prophet Isaiah. “I have spent my strength for nothing.” That is a terrible feeling. Investment with no return. Effort without progress. I have labored in vain. The prophet has a word from God, but no one is listening. The prophet is called to bring the people hope, but they are hopeless. The prophet is a dreamer in the land where dreams go to die. It is a frustrating place to be. And so he cries out to God in holy protest: “I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing.” The prophet's task was an unenviable task. The line between platitudes and a word of hope is often uncomfortably thin – made even more uncomfortable because the wrong words in this situation would sting, would add insult to injury. Let's be clear, the prophet was not sent to turn some frowns upside down. Deep gloom enshrouds this people, this nati...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Christmas Eve 2016 Luke 2:1-20 One Tiny Flame I can't explain this. I hope you understand. It all came out of God like poetry instead of prose – beautiful but hard to make sense of. How did the one who spoke creation into being get caught up in the small town drama of a pregnant teen who see angels? How did the God who spilled the stars across the universe like marbles become enclosed in the cramped, black space of a virgin womb? See I can't explain this. I hope you understand. Christmas presents us with more questions than answers. Christmas, I think, means to leave us tongue-tied, at a loss, in awe and wonder, clinging desperately to whatever faith gives us the eyes to see God in that manger. Christmas means to leave us breathlessly pondering all these things in our hearts. So Christmas is, of course, mysterious; it is, after all, God wrapped in packaging much, much too small. But also Christmas is teaching me...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 35:1-10 Hope in the Desert Hope needs a desert in which to bloom. This is what Advent tells us. Elizabeth and Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus: new life born in impossible places; hope blooming in the desert. This also reminds us, this season of Advent, that we don't come by hope easily. It is not mere optimism, born of some dishonest naivety, like a cheap salve more likely to bring infection than healing. Hope digs in deep; it has to. Henri Nouwen makes the distinction saying, “While optimism makes us live as if someday soon things will go better for us, hope frees us from the need to predict the future and allows us to live in the present, with the deep trust that God will never leave us alone.” 1 And so, in that sense, maybe the chasm separating the two is filled with trust. Optimism justifies our lack of trust. Hope needs trust to survive. But like most things in the desert, hope is also dangerous. So whi...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 11:1-10 Visions of the Messiah Today is the second Sunday of the Advent season. And we have yet to catch a glimpse of the pregnant Virgin Mother or of the dazed and confused Joseph. We have yet to see angels. It seems, surely by now,, we should have arrived at the gates of Bethlehem. And yet, our readings have yet to speak of any of those most familiar Advent nouns. Instead we get guesses, the predictions of prophets and poets – prophets and poets peering into a hazy future their eyes would never see. The visions of Isaiah and the Psalmist – visions as ominous as they are thrilling as they are hopeful – speak of the world as it might be. But not only that, they speak also of the Messiah – long promised, long expected – who will finally make the dream the reality. The prophet Isaiah dreams of the peaceable kingdom. A world in which the wolf snuggles the lamb and leopards nap with baby goats. He dreams of a world in w...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Isaiah 2:1-5 Expecting Folks do tend to confuse the seasons of Advent and Lent. It's understandable; it is not hard to do. There are some clear similarities: they both end in the same sound: -ent; some churches use the same liturgical color for both seasons; at this parish we worship in old-style language only during the two seasons of Advent and Lent; and both are often, unfortunately, greatly overshadowed by the feasts they precede: Christmas and Easter. And so when people ask me to explain the difference between these two seasons, and that has happened many times in my decade of ordained ministry, I always say the same thing: “It is the difference between preparing for a death and preparing for a birth.” I have prepared for a birth – a couple of times actually. I know that time. That pregnant time is unlike any other time. The days, so filled with expectation, seem at once to move too slowly and too quickly. You wait for th...

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Luke 23:33-43 The King Who Lost the Vote Jesus stood before the voting public one time . Just once. Like a King awaiting his royal throne, he stood before them, wearing an elegant robe and a custom-made crown. The winner would win freedom. But the crowd chose someone else; they voted for the other guy – and it wasn't close. But then, they also cast their vote for him. In one united voice the rallying masses chanted, “Crucify! Crucify him!” Jesus had healed their sick; he had fed their hungry; he had raised their dead. But standing before them now, he did not look like a king. His robe mocked him; his crown drained him. It was obvious to them. They needed a strong king; someone who would fight. And he was weak. He gave nice speeches. And he dreamed of impossible kingdoms. But they needed someone who would take real action; not someone who snuck away to quiet prayer gardens. And so they voted Barabbas. He would actu...