Fourth Sunday of Advent (A), December 22, 2013; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of blessing, 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.

The Gospel according to Matthew begins with a genealogy genealogy, and it’s too bad that it’s not included in our lectionary portion for today (although it’s full of tongue-twisting names and lectors all over Christendom are probably grateful for its omission)! It begins with Abraham and lists fourteen generations to David, then another fourteen generations to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah. (A handful of kings have to be omitted in order to achieve the perfect symmetry – oh well.) The best thing about the genealogy is that the list includes women, non-Jewish ancestors and several immoral characters.¹ In other words, it’s not an unblemished pedigree, in other words – it’s a mixed bag, not unlike my own ancestry! Continue reading →

Third Sunday of Advent (A), December 15, 2013; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O 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.

“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us.” Some of you might remember that I already declared my favorite collect of the day a few weeks ago. This one is also my favorites. “With great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us.” I’m sure you don’t need me to read this to you again, but I can’t hear it enough. Today, on the third Sunday of Advent, it’s the American Episcopal Church’s Stir-up Sunday.

In England, Stir-up Sunday is the last Sunday before Advent when the collect begins with the plea for God to stir things up. Maybe you know the children’s rhyme: Stir, up, we beseech thee/ the pudding in the pot/ And when we get home/ We’ll all eat it hot! In other words, the children don’t want to wait until Christmas to eat the Christmas pudding. Do you know people who don’t want to wait until Christmas to eat Christmas treats or open Christmas presents? (I’m not one of them, but I am married to one!) Continue reading →

Second Sunday of Advent (A), December 8, 2013; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God, hope of the prophets, 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.

It’s the second Sunday of Advent, and once again (in the Church, anyway) we have to go by John the Baptist in order to get to the baby Jesus. I don’t know about you, but whenever I encounter John the Baptist, in scripture or in people that remind me of him in day-to-day life, I have a strong urge to steer clear. It’s not that I disagree with John the Baptist’s message; it’s just hard for me to look at him and hard to listen to him, especially when he starts his blistering critiques of well-meaning religious teachers and priests (which is what Pharisees and Sadducees were). I feel inclined to respond, “Look, come back and talk to me when you’ve calmed down and you’ve had a good meal and a shower.” But John the Baptist never calms down. And I don’t want to look him in the eyes any more than I want to look people in the eyes who are rough and wild and eating whatever they can find out of garbage cans in the wilderness of places like the Back Bay. I don’t want to listen to John the Baptist any more than I want to listen to the angry rants about injustice from a disgruntled resident of the women’s shelter downstairs or anyone else, for that matter. Continue reading →