Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 12:1-9   Go   The momentum had stalled.   The first eleven chapters of Genesis, and, by extension, of the Bible, begin with a tremendous explosion of life.   In the beginning, God created.   And in the context of that wildly productive expression, God made all of these diverse and vibrant perpetuating lifeforms.   God intended that the spark of life, spoken forth by a divine word, would grow and spread, be fruitful and multiply.   But instead, it stalled.   The author of Genesis, before telling the story of Abram and Sarai, leads us into a surprisingly barren land, a world in which death and desolation had taken hold, a world in which hope had hit the wall.     The teeming possibility of Eden’s Garden had withered.   No longer in those paradisal bounds, the story is set now in Haran.   And there was no hope in Haran.   In the final verses of the previous chapter, we...

  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 Acts 2:1-21   What do we do with this fire?   What do we do with this fire? Breaking into locked spaces Scorching one-hundred and twenty faces Undermining homeostasis   In the upper room Where they were waiting It blew in on the breeze   At first among them And then on them Living lighters Just milling about Each saw one hundred and nineteen fires The others’ fires Everywhere Spotlighting the frenzied faces of friends and fellows Each person saw mant, but felt just one, one tongue of flame And one was enough   You don’t need to see what can be felt It’s like faith But in the hair On the scalp Like a burning bush: Consumed but not consumed   Disruptive To the days of silent prayer And talking And pacing And waiting Waiting for something To come down from the skies Like the angels promised   But not this No one expected this: To be set...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 17:1-11   Beautiful and baffling   Have you ever read a poem that you know is good – it’s one of those poems that is included in all the anthologies, professors assign it in their college lit classes, it is easy to find on the internet, hundreds of MFA students make it the topic of their thesis – but you have no idea what it means?   Has that ever happened to you?   I know at least of few of you know what I am talking about; I see your faces when I read poetry during Bible Study.   Have ever read a poem that at once is beautiful and baffling?   John 17 is like that.   We know it is good.   It is in the Gospel.   Spoken by the mouth of Jesus.   Precious to generations of Christians.   Beautiful but also baffling.   I am you and you are me and they are yours so they are mine and so I will give them your words which are my words but are now their words.   Also glorify...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 14:1-14   Do Not Let Your Hearts be Troubled   This was not how things were supposed to go.   They had a nice little evening planned.   They had reserved a spacious room for a special meal.   And together they, all thirteen, were going to celebrate salvation, the ways in which God had written this powerful story of liberation on the muddled mess of human history.   They were going to eat and drink and tell stories.   They were going to sing hymns and say prayers.   It was going to be lovely, holy, perfect.   But it wasn’t perfect, not at all.   Instead, from the moment the settings were placed, things started falling apart, coming unraveled.   It was just one thing after another.   The party, as it progressed, took on a suffocating pall.   And everyone could feel the life drain from the room.     The foot washing, in retrospect, was the beginning of the e...

  The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 20:1-18   Jesus: There and Here   Mary was in the dark.   Early on the first day of the week, while the world was still shrouded in darkness, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb.   After the shock of Friday and the overwhelming grief of that empty Saturday, she was finally ready to confront what she knew but still could not believe: Jesus was dead.   The one who loved her and healed her and saved her was lying dead in a cold, stone tomb.   It was dark that morning but, during her bitter walk, her eyes had just enough time to adjust to the lack of light and she could see that the tomb, sealed on Friday, was standing wide open.   Her heart dropped further, if that was even possible.   It was yet another bad twist in her waking nightmare.   It was Easter Sunday and things just kept getting worse.   Mary was in the dark; she was devastated and spiraling.   The stone was rolled aw...