Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson John 18:33-37   You? Christ Church, Deposit   The king was exactly where you would expect to find him.   He was standing in the halls of power, in a palace, talking with the local governor – the conversation taking place on the way to his dressing room.   Soon, at the conclusion of the brief, but grave, dialogue, the kind powerful people have, the king would don the royal garments: a purple robe and a crown for his head.   And then, stand, as kings do, before the gathered crowds.   That is both exactly what happens in this Gospel and yet not what happens at all.   Because in this case, the king in our story is a condemned peasant.   Pilate, the local governor, was a busy man.   And now he is also an annoyed man.   It was bad enough that he was assigned to govern a population that refused to worship the Emperor.   Now there was a contingent at his gate asking him to personal...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 13:1-8   When? St. Stephen’s, Schuylerville   Sometimes you just don’t know what to say to Jesus.   Have you ever had that experience?    Well, so did at least one of Jesus’ disciples.   And so he just blurted out, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”   And probably the stones were large.   And certainly the Second Temple appeared quite large, especially to a citizen of the 1 st century, in the days before skyscrapers and NYC and the UAE.   But Jesus meets that awkward outburst with something much more serious.   And then, it seems, no one talks again until they get to the Mount of Olives.   But in the silence, the disciples’ minds were racing.   They were wondering.   Because once again, they could not make sense of Jesus.   Neither could they make sense of a world that can’t seem to help but fall apart.   The disciples: they a...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson 1 Kings 17:8-16   Desperate Strangers St. Timothy’s, Westford   The excitement was overwhelming…until it suddenly and decisively abated.   The hometown crowd had been buzzing about the return of their rising star.   Jesus was making a name for himself in the surrounding villages.   And now, he was coming home, to do his thing.     It started off strong.   Jesus was amazing.   They were impressed; it was impossible not to be impressed.   His beginnings were humble but you would never know that, the way he held the crowd, the way he exuded otherworldly wisdom.   They were hanging on his every word.   He was even better than they imagined.   Jesus should have quit while he was ahead – pulled a George Costanza and walked off on the high note.   But Jesus stood back up.   He played the encore.   After wowing the crowd, Jesus decided to add a little somet...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:46-52   Mercy   Before sight, instead of money, his first request was for mercy.   Bartimaeus, the man we encounter in Mark’s Gospel today, was a blind beggar – two conditions that were, of course, in no way mutually exclusive.   He sat by the road in extraordinary need; that was obvious to everyone, and still is.   He was blind.   And so he was poor.   And, he was, based on the initial reaction of the crowd around him, something of a pariah or nuisance.   His temporal needs were vast.   But his first request, his primary plea, was for mercy.   On this particular day, the day recorded in our Gospel reading, Jesus was in Jericho.   And for the people of Jericho that was a really big deal.   It wasn’t every day that a miracle worker passed through town.   And so the buzz built and the crowds assembled.   They came to see Jesus.   And see Jesus they d...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:17-31   Won’t Let Go Church of our Saviour, Lebanon Springs   This is not a test.   Last week, in the Gospel preceding today’s, a group of Pharisees did come to test Jesus; their question was nothing more than a trap, a linguistic exercise meant to ensnare their holy adversary.   But this is different: this man, this wealthy man in today’s Gospel, is sincere.   His humble posture and dirty garments are proof of his sincerity.   He kneels before Jesus on the dusty, grimy road and asks a question of ultimate importance.   “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”   The man’s question was personal – not theoretical, not academic.   He did not ask Jesus, “What must one do?” or “What must they do?”   His question was an “I” statement.   The man was concerned about the state of his own soul.   And about the acquisition of another inheritance – one more permanent th...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:2-16   Legal Separation St. Andrew’s, Scotia   Then why even ask?   The Pharisees who approached Jesus, the ones who asked this question, this question about what is, and always has been, an emotionally fraught topic, they already knew the answer, their answer.   They could even cite chapter and verse.   Deuteronomy, the book of Moses, is fairly clear: “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.”   Write a certificate and move on.   That was the answer.   So, why even ask?   I’m not sure what these inquisitors were hoping Jesus would say, but Mark’s Gospel tells us that the question was not an honest inquiry.   It was a test – Holy Scripture as a trap.   And not the first time folks came...

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson James 3:1-12   Speaking of Tongues St. Augustine’s, Ilion, NY   One smoked cigarette, thoughtlessly and carelessly tossed aside, can burn an entire city to the ground.   A blown tire, metal beads dragging the dark asphalt, can send a tiny spark careening into the dry road-side brush and set a mountain range on fire.   A bolt of lightning, a fire cracker, a smoldering camp fire: how great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!   This is what I learned living in Colorado Springs.   Every summer in the Rockies smells like smoke.   As the snows melt, the fires light up the western half of our nation.   Most are contained before they consume civilization, but not all.   And so, residents of the west, must be ready to flee the flames.   Our home in Colorado was close to a large city park called Palmer Park.   While not as famous as the Garden of the Gods, Palmer Park, at 730 acr...