Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

Dat Guy

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9A, July 6, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Please give me a little water.

Romans 7:15-25a For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.O God of mercy, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

You know that desert island question, if you were stranded on a desert island and could have only one book, which would it be? My tricky answer, since at least the third grade, (geek that I am) has been The Bible, because that’s when I learned that there were 66 books in the Bible (that is, the Christian Protestant Bible, or the real Bible, according to my Protestant father). Imagine my delight when I arrived at college and got my hands on the Bible that the Episcopal Church uses with 16 more books in it for a grand total of 82! Bonus! But it’s not only because there are so many books bound into one that I love the literature of the Bible – it’s that there’s hardly a part in which I cannot lose myself and find myself in the stories of the chances and challenges of the people of God. Continue reading →

Inspired, Courageous & Generous Lives

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Second Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 7A, June 22, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 21:8-21 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.

Romans 6:1b-11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 10:24-39 Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

O God of grace, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

You know, I would be hard pressed to think of three more difficult readings to preach on for a Sunday service in which we will have a baptism. In Genesis, we hear a story of Abraham’s highly questionable parenting skills, seemingly divinely directed. In Romans we learn that our baptisms are baptisms into the death of Christ Jesus. And if that’s not discouraging enough, Jesus says, in the Gospel of Matthew, “Pay attention, there are wolves out there where I’m sending you – away from here, out there into the world, so be wise – have insight and understanding like the serpent and be innocent, that is, unspoiled by what is harmful and damaging…. There are predators out there who will want to do you in. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.” This does not seem like a winning recruiting strategy. Continue reading →

Doubt or No Doubt

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Trinity Sunday (A), June 6, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 1:1-2:4 Good…good…good…good…good…good…very good.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Put things in order; agree with one another; live in peace.

Matthew 28:16-20 But some doubted.

Creating God, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

I hope you liked Carolyn’s reading of the beginning of Genesis. Although it is among the most famous passages in the Bible, we don’t hear it very often in our Sunday liturgy – scheduled, as it is, in summer every three years. I wonder if you noticed how many times God beheld the goodness of creation – six times God saw what was good. And when it came to humankind, God saw that humankind was very good. (Not perfect, but very good!) I wonder if you noticed that this is not a story about before there was anything at all. According to this story, there was darkness and there was water for the breath of God to be blowing over. The earth was there, but it was a formless void, our text says. Actually, in Hebrew it says that the earth was all “tohu wabohu” which is a little bit like it sounds – crazy chaos – helter skelter — nonsense. “When God began to create” is how the Jewish Publication Society Bible translates it. Divine shaping or creating, according to the Bible, is ongoing and incomplete. When God first began shaping, the earth was tohu wabohu. God began to get things in order, making sense of nonsense. I wonder if you noticed that this story doesn’t have God eliminating chaos or night or the frightening abyss of the sea; God began to create some order, some distinctions, to set some limits. And it was all good. Continue reading →

Extravagant Love

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Pentecost (A), June 8, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Numbers 11:24-30 Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!

Acts 2:1-11 In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.

John 7:37-39 For as yet there was no Spirit, [sic] because Jesus was not yet glorified.

O God whose call to us is irresistible, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Happy Pentecost everyone! I don’t know about you, but I am always so taken with the experience of hearing the story of Pentecost in a multitude of languages. It’s thrilling to me to think that almost 25% of the population of the world could have understood the story in their own language as read just now in our little chapel!

According to the Book of Acts, nearly two thousand years ago, devout Jews from every nation under heaven were living in Jerusalem. And others from near and far were arriving in Jerusalem for the great celebration of Pentecost. The city was bustling with Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, folks from Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and my favorite, Pamphylia, from Egypt and Libya, and Rome, all there to celebrate the ancient Jewish holiday where the first fruits of the harvest were offered to God – fifty days after Passover. The Jewish Pentecost holiday (in Hebrew, Shavu’ot) commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. It was in thanksgiving for the gift of God’s rule of love that people joyfully set aside time and wealth to give back to God from the first takings of the harvest – not from the leftovers. Pentecost is a feast of stewardship and thanksgiving. Continue reading →

Let it be me!

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7th Sunday in Easter, Year A, June 1, 2014; The Rev. Pamela Werntz

Acts 1:6-14 All of these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women…

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 (but what about 4:16?) If any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.

John 17:1-11 protect them in your name that you have given me.” … “so that they may be one as we are one.

O God our protector, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

Today, in our church calendar, we mark the time between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost – an official acknowledgement of a sort of liturgical limbo. In our New Testament narrative Jesus has triumphed over death; Jesus has gone to his heavenly reward; but comfort and the inspiration, the clarifying flame of the Holy Spirit that he promised to send has not yet arrived. The wonder is that this in-between season lasts for only nine days – because in my experience, the time between great distress and loss and comfort and clarity is usually much longer than nine days! Then I remember that our calendar days really don’t have much to do with God’s time.

Many of you know that I almost always have a bone to pick with the lessons as they are given to us in the lectionary, and today is no exception. The passage from 1 Peter skips right over some really important verses, in my humble opinion. The passage from the Gospel of John gives us half a prayer – stopping right in the middle of an idea. In 1 Peter, this line is left out: “If any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.” That seems pretty important to me – and it can be a key to understanding the reading from John that it is paired with on this seventh Sunday of Easter. I’ll read the skipped verse again. “If any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name,” that is, the name “Christian.” The name Christian was a derogatory label when it was first applied. It was a bad word. Both the writer of 1 Peter and John the Evangelist know from experience that if you’re doing your job following Jesus, you are going to suffer, because suffering is a consequence of compassion and the struggle for justice. It’s a consequence of living in community and staying in relationship! Continue reading →

Be brave in expressing yourself!

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Common Art organized and held one of its biggest art shows at the Prudential Center last weekend. City Heart had more than thirty Common Art artists who signed up to display and sell their work to Boston. The community was so excited last Wednesday and the studio filled up quickly with many faces I had not seen in a while. So many members of the community worked so hard to get the final details in order and make sure that everyone who wanted to be included in the art show was. They really did a great job. Among the many amazing pieces I saw, was colorful, glittery city scene. An artist who I have not gotten to know very well because she does not regularly attend was painting it and the painting made me stop my rushing around; it was so unique to her own artistic style, fashion, and voice and its sparkle made me smile. It was as if the painting were alive. I admired this woman’s vitality and bold yet playful way of expressing herself. All of the Common Artists remind me to be brave in my own expression, which seems funny coming from an Expressive Arts Therapies student, but you know what it is true, the Common Art artists’ ability to let their art speak is truly inspiring! I am thankful that Amanda could be there to represent the interns and I can’t wait to hear how the show went. Continue reading →

Through Beloving

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Easter 2A, April 27, 2014; The Rev Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 8:6-16, 9:8-16 Go out of the ark.

1 Peter 1:3-9  So that the genuineness of your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

John 20:19-31 Peace be with you…Peace be with you.

O God of grace, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have a tradition in Christianity of congregations receiving pastoral letters, written by a bishop (in those variations of Christianity that have bishops). Some of the earliest pastoral letters came to be known as Holy Scripture in our Bible. When a bishop sends a pastoral letter, it customarily contains admonition, instruction, directions or consolation, and it is intended to be read out loud in parishes and missions on an appointed day.

In our Episcopal Church tradition, a bishop is not our boss, she or he is our chief pastor, elected through a most democratic process and then consecrated, or set apart, and charged with the gargantuan task of being our guardian. In our case that means watching over almost 200 congregations in eastern Massachusetts. When we refer to the Diocese of Massachusetts what we are talking about is not the bishop’s staff, but about 65,000 Episcopalians of all sorts and conditions! Our Diocesan Bishop, Tom Shaw, is about to retire after being our Bishop for 20 years. He has sent a pastoral letter to be read today. It’s not a letter of admonition, instruction, directions, or consolation. It’s a letter of gratitude – his gratitude for all of us – as he nears the end of his time as our bishop. I hope you will take the opportunity to respond to him with your own words of gratefulness in a book that will be available for that purpose in the parish hall after church today and for the next few weeks. Continue reading →

We look.

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Easter A, April 20, 2014, The Rev. Pamela L. Wertz

Jeremiah 31:1-6 I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Colossians 3:1-11 Christ is all and in all.
John 20:1-18 I have seen the Lord.

O God of mystery and mischief, grant us the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

I love that children’s story of The Three Trees and I read it every Easter. One of my favorite Emmanuel Church Easter memories is from a few years ago when a young girl, urged by her mother to come forward for the story, plodded up the aisle scowling and saying, “I’ve already heard this story before!” Maybe some of you feel like that too sometimes! Continue reading →

Discernment

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Lent 4A, March 30, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

1 Samuel 16:1-13 The Lord said to Samuel,’How long will you grieve over Saul?’
Ephesians 5:8-14 Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
John 9:1-13, 28-38 So that God’s works might be revealed in him, we must work the works of [the One] who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

O God of Love, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have just passed the half-way point on our journey through Lent – 22 out of 40 days. (Yes, the answer to “who’s counting?” is, “I am!”) How is it going for you? It’s time for a check-in. Have the first 22 days gone by quickly or slowly? Have you been taking the Church’s prescription for Lenten disciplines? Are you feeling that these disciplines are preparing you to be able to celebrate Easter? Have the been too hard? Too easy? Do you need to make adjustments in your Lenten exercises so that you are better prepared to celebrate the abundant glory of God in another 18 days (not counting Sundays)?

The words of the Proper Preface for Lent – that part at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer that changes depending on the day or the season – comes to my mind: (we pray to God) “you bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.” I’ll sing it in a little while – but I want to ask you to reflect with me now about your response to the bidding that you cleanse your hearts and prepare with joy for Easter – through prayer and works of mercy, through engaging scripture and sacramental worship – so that your experience of grace becomes fuller than ever. And I want you to check in with yourself about how it is going. Any surprises? I hope so. Continue reading →

Be a blessing!

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Lent 2A, March 16, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 12:1-4a I will bless you…so that you will be a blessing.
Romans 4:1-17Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
John 3:1-17 How can these things be?

O God of mercy, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

There are two things I want you to know about the famous passage of the call of Avram or Abram from the Book of Genesis that we just heard. The first has to do with translating the pesky verb in the second verse. The Hebrew says, I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and I will cause your name to grow, and be a blessing – what’s not so clear in English is that the verb is imperative. Be a blessing. It’s a command, rather than a prediction of the future. Lech l’cha is the song we sometimes sing when Rabbi Berman preaches. Lech l’cha. Go, (also an imperative) go, for your own good, from everything and everyone you know to a land and people you do not know, and be a blessing. The second thing I want you to know is that, although our lectionary ends the reading in the first half of verse four, the second half seems really important to me. In the last part of verse four, the Torah tells us that Avram was 75 years old when he embarked on this journey. And I daresay that 75 was a lot older 3,000 years ago, when this story is set, than it is now. So in our time, for any of you who are under the age of 100, I think this story might apply to you. Be a blessing. Continue reading →