Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 2:1-21 & Romans 8:22-27   Pentecostal Hope St. Ann's, Amsterdam, NY   All they had was unseen hope.   Because Incarnation had faded into invisible right before their startled eyes.   In a matter of weeks, these disciples had witnessed death and then life and now out of sight.   In a matter of weeks, they experienced impossible pain and unexpected joy and…what now?   Maybe both?   Jesus left again.   Not on a cross but on a cloud.   This was not the sting of death but also this time it was chosen, and so it still stung.   And anyway, he was gone.   And together they were alone.     Once again, for the second time in as many months, the future was hazy.   And in the dizzying presence of change, they reverted to old patterns.   Every time Jesus was gone, they locked up in a room.   They were disciples and, by nature, disciples follow.   The...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 1:15-17, 21-26   Faithful and Good St. Paul’s, Albany   Everything changed with the cast of a lot.   It was such a small thing that made such a big difference.   And it could have gone either way – there were two qualified candidates – but the lot fell on Matthias.   And so, when the lot settled, Matthias became the twelfth disciple, the replacement, the one who restored their number.   Filling the Judas-sized hole is a short story in the book of Acts, but it was a big deal – certainly in the history of our faith.   It was one of the very first tasks of the Easter Church; in the ten days between the Ascension and Pentecost the followers of Jesus prayed and filled out the depth chart.   That’s it; that’s the list.   Peter cared deeply about this task.   Everyone remembers Peter’s stunning speech on the day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter two, but his first sermon is what we re...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Acts 10:44-48           Afternoon Dreaming Church of the Holy Spirit, Schenevus   It all started with a dream.     Peter just couldn’t keep his eyes open; they were so heavy.   I don’t know about you, but I can relate.   Sometimes prayer makes us sleepy.   It’s just true.   Good intentions and dogged devotion are, at times, simply not enough.   And in the midst of a pious moment, we find ourselves drifting into a slumber.   It happens to the best of us – including St. Peter.     In his dream, Peter saw the heavens open – an exciting beginning, to be sure.   And then from that celestial rift descended…bedding – specifically a large sheet.   Jacob got angels climbing a ladder; Joseph: thin cows eating fat cows.   Peter gets a sheet.        It turns out the sheet, as you might remember from this sto...

 The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 15:1-8   Balloons and branches Grace Episcopal Church, Cherry Valley   Balloons: they are so simple.   In the bag, a balloon is nothing more than a little piece of limp rubber.   You can just flop ‘em around, stretch ‘em; that’s about it.   There is not much to a balloon.   But also, when I was kid, smacking an inflated balloon around the house was about as good as life got.   It was unbelievable.   Balloons are interesting.   They are really only as good as their filling.   With a balloon, what is inside is everything.   Now the basic filling is air.   You can blow up a balloon.   And with that one simple additive, breath, a balloon becomes like a ball that doesn’t break windows.   Incredible.   But then helium.   You fill a balloon with helium and it takes off.   If a balloon filled with helium gets away, it’s gone.   Water: that’s a fun f...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson I John 3:16-24   Words and Love St. Peter’s, Hobart   If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   Eloquent prophecies: they will come to an end; tongues: they will cease; knowledge: it too will come to an end.     You know these words; you have heard them at weddings.   They are St. Paul’s words; they are words about words.   Beautiful words; timeless words.   But also words written to articulate the stark limitation of our words.   Proclaimed to you today by a man who wrote words about a passage of ancient words, from the first letter of John, that implore us to not love in word and speech alone.   Because, while words are great, words...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 16:1-8   Do Not Be Afraid The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, NY   Of course they were afraid.   This is a scary world.   You heard tonight’s Scriptures.   In this world, though created good, predators stalk gardens of paradise, even Eden.   In this world, the innocent are enslaved and pursued to the point of hopelessness.   In this world, exiles long for home, sometimes long for what is left of home.   In this world, the path to the tomb can be treacherous and, because the shadows are so long, people have to travel in groups.   Even in the pages of the Scriptures.   Even in the earliest hours of Easter.   And then there is death.   In this world.   In the Easter Scriptures.   These women, the ones who walked to the tomb, they carried spices.   The spices were their gift for the dead, to cover the unpleasantness, and to give distraction to their unpleasa...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Passion according to John   Jesus Stays   It is said that in the face of mortal danger a human will naturally react in one of two ways: fight or flight.   As the first Holy Week unfolded, in the Garden of Gethsemane, this was on full display.   Peter unsheathed his sword and took a swing.   Other disciples desperately scattered from the scene.   All acting, shall we say, naturally, in the face of danger.   All except Jesus.   Jesus didn’t fight; he commanded his disciple to put away the sword.   And Jesus didn’t fly away with the others.   In the face of mortal danger, Jesus stayed.      In the near future, as Thursday melted into Friday, Jesus would face bitter accusations.   Strangers would dismiss his goodness and smear his name.   The devoutly religious would batter him with Bible verses.   The apathetic would make light of his love and mock his r...