2022 Sermons

Sermons of The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz and others at Emmanuel Church in the City of Boston

Walking in Love

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Pentecost C, 5 June 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Acts 2:1-21. Like the rush of a violent wind.
Romans 8:14-17. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.
John 14:8-17, 25-27. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.

O God of our burning hearts, 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.

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with my 9 ½ year old great-niece for the first time in six years. She asked me what I do for work. When adults ask me that question, I like to say that I run a spiritual repair shop on Newbury Street. But I didn’t think that would make much sense to her, so I said, “I’m a minister in a church” and I asked her if she knew what church is, and she shook her head no. She knows what an intentional housing community is because she lives in one, so I said, “It’s an intentional community where people who live in all different places come together to give thanks and sing and meditate and learn to love and support one another with the idea of making the world a better place. She said, “cool!” And I said, “yes it is!” I love the challenge of talking about what we’re doing here without using theological or churchy language. It takes some of the stumbling blocks away and gets to the essence or core meaning of what we’re about. Continue reading →

Holy Trinity

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Trinity Sunday C, 12 June 2022. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31. Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?…”To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.”
Romans 5:1-11. We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
John 16:12-15. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

O indescribable Holiness, 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 Trinity Sunday! Today is the Sunday after Pentecost that Western (or Roman and Anglican and Protestant) Christians have designated Trinity Sunday, going back in the Latin Church since the Middle Ages. The Eastern Orthodox Christians didn’t get the memo, or didn’t agree with the terms, so they combine Pentecost and Trinity into one Sunday. Maybe it’s a case of “the grass is always greener on the other side of the street,” but that seems like a good idea to me. I’ve confessed to you before that I’ve never been able to get interested enough in systematic theology in general or the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically (not enough to give it its very own Sunday, anyway). Bishop Gates and I were talking about seminary recently and I said something (could have been just about anything) that prompted him to ask, “Who did you have for systematics?” I laughed and said, “I didn’t take systematic theology. It wasn’t even offered.” And that was just as well because one philosophy course as an undergrad nearly did me in. Continue reading →

Do the works of Love!

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Proper 7C, 19 June 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

1 Kings 19:1-15a. What are you doing here Elijah?
Psalm 42.  Deep calls to deep,
Galatians 3:23-29.  For all of you are one.
Luke 8:26-39. Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.

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

I grew up with the expectation that, as theologian Karl Barth taught, preachers should “preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” My dad always did that. It’s my intention too, but some days my hands are just not big enough and, though I have two, I don’t have as many as I need. Today is one of those days. On one hand, we have the story of Elijah on the run, of the deep calling to deep that we are to put our hope in God and give thanks to God who is our ever-present help in the Psalms. Then there’s Paul’s brilliant teaching in his letter to the Galatians that when we clothe ourselves in Christ Jesus, there is no Jew or Gentile, enslaved person or freed person; there is no male and female. And then the story of the Geresene demoniac – I could work on the study of that story for all the Sundays left in 2022. Continue reading →

Homemaking

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Easter 6C, 22 May 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 16:9-15.  Come and stay at my home.
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God.
John 14:23-29. We will come to them and make our home with them.

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.

Most times, when I begin to write a sermon for a Sunday morning at Emmanuel, I look at the liturgical calendar and the parish calendar and I think, “well we have a lot going on!” And today is no different. On the 6th Sunday of Eastertide, we’re at the last Sunday of our glorious cantata season, we have a brilliant new motet written by Omar Najmi, we are nearing the end of the Bach Institute May Intensive course, and celebrating the baptism of Michael Paul Weis, III! Our texts are from Acts of the Apostles, The Revelation to John, The Gospel of John, with additional words of Walt Whitman and BWV 37, which is a reflection on Mark 16:16. Continue reading →

A New Commandment?

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Easter 5C. 15 May 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 11:1-18. The spirit told me…not to make a distinction between them and us.
Revelation 21:1-6. I am making all things new.…To the thirsty I will give water as a gift.
John 13:31-35. I give you a new commandment, [in order] that you love one another.

O God of all, 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 are deep into Eastertide, and our scripture lessons and our cantata lesson today describe the visions of Peter, John of Patmos, and John the Evangelist, and Bach’s vision of peace and joy, comfort, calm, and quiet at the last. We’re also giving thanks to God for the five decades of the gentle and inviting presence of Stephen Babcock as chief usher and greeter. For more than thirty of his fifty+ years at Emmanuel, Sunday after Sunday, no matter what the weather, Steve stood just outside of the massive doors of a daunting stone structure in the first block of an intimidating location to offer graceful welcome. The vestry has named the doors to our west lobby “The Babcock Doors”, and just before we exchange the Peace today, we will dedicate and bless them. Continue reading →

Song-Infused Days

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Easter 3C, 1 May 2022. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20). Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen.
Revelation 5:11-14. And the four living creatures said, “Amen!”
John 21:1-19. Come and have breakfast.

O God of resurrection, 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.

Many of you know that Emmanuel Church is between parish administrators in these weeks after Easter, so I am getting an eye-opening and humbling opportunity to serve as both your rector and your interim parish administrator. I’ coordinating and supporting the generous offerings of volunteers and learning about the endless and perplexing challenges of the ministry of the front office, which I’d only heretofore imagined or knew second hand. I have always appreciated the ministrations of administrators, and my admiration is surging at the moment! Administration, at Emmanuel anyway, is jammed full of details and procedures that are always in service to our mission of radical hospitality, advocacy and alliance, spirituality and the arts, and good stewardship of resources entrusted to our care. Continue reading →

The Discipline of Love

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Easter 2C, 24 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 5:27-32. Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
Revelation 1:4-8. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.
John 20:19-31. Peace be to you.…I send you….Receive the spirit of holiness.

O God of inspiration, 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.

Our lectionary in Eastertide turns away from readings from the First Testament and toward the Acts of the Apostles, volume two of the Gospel of Luke. This makes a lot of sense because Acts of the Apostles contains the stories of what Jesus’ followers did after Jesus’ execution, how they were inspired with a spirit of holiness to carry on lives dedicated to Jesus’ ministry marked by justice and right-relationship, by compassion, mercy, and peace. Although the book is more romance than history (in the way we think of history), the stories show that experiences of the resurrection in the early church are not as much about theological or philosophical ideas, but about the consequential actions of being in relationship with the Divine in public practice. Jesus and then the apostles were teaching about calling people to make choices that would shape the well-being of the larger community by their living in greater fidelity with God and one another in the midst of the oppression of an occupying army.  Continue reading →

The Splendor of Grace

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Easter Sunday C, 17 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 65:17-25. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.
1 Corinthians 15:19-26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Luke 24:1-12. Amazed at what had happened.

O God with us, 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.

Good morning! Good job getting here, whether you are here in the sanctuary or here via livestream. I’m so glad that you’re here whether you love this holiday, or you’re just trying to get through it. Maybe you couldn’t wait to celebrate Easter at Emmanuel for the first time in three years, and maybe you’re joining us for the first time ever. Maybe you are here because it matters to someone you love, or you are here for a sadder reason. I love to say, whether you have come for celebration or solace, whether you are energized or exhausted, excited or grumpy, whether you have skipped or stumbled into this Easter celebration, my hope for all of you is that you will leave here today knowing more deeply that you are loved, that even if (and maybe especially if) you don’t feel like you fit in, still you belong with us today. Emmanuel Church is a place where we actively practice belonging to one another no matter what. It’s not always easy, I assure you, but it is always worth it. This is a parish where we focus our efforts and attention not on whether we (or anyone else) will get into heaven, but on whether any heaven will get into us. This is a parish where we focus not so much on implausible ideas, but on fidelity in relationship. Continue reading →

Entering the Gates of Holy Week

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Palm Sunday C, 10 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 50:4-9a. It is the Lord God who helps me.
Philippians 2:5-11. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Luke 23:1-49. Watching these things.

1.  They had been enemies.  
You know, each of our four canonical Gospels tells its own story of the Good News of Jesus as the Christ. Each has its own voice, its own intended audience, its own character. I believe that we hear and understand best when we hear the distinctive voices telling different stories, when we do not try to make a puree by blending all of the ingredients of the four Gospels, seasoned with church traditions. Continue reading →

Forgiveness

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Easter 7C, 29 May 2022.  The Rev. John Golenski

John 20: 19-31. Jesus appeared and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  Then the disciples rejoiced when they recognized the Lord.

Like so many of us, I had plans this week.  My plans included the better part of a day preparing this sermon.  Then May 24th in Uvalde, Texas happened.  Sometimes, in spite of everything we intend, Life intrudes with undeniable demands.  No matter how much effort I put into focusing on the Scripture, Uvalde intruded.  So, this is the unintended, unplanned reflection on God’s Word speaking to what is happening now in our country. Continue reading →