Advent 1C, December 9, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God 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.

This Advent, like most every Advent, I find myself wishing for some pre-holiday quiet – at least in worship! But John the Baptist is always loud. It’s hard to get a sense of just what kind of loud he is from the first six verses of Luke, chapter 3, when, in many of our heads, the prophet Isaiah’s words are accompanied by beautiful music from Handel’s Messiah. But in verse seven, which we will hear next week, John the Baptist shouts to folks who have come out to be baptized by him – mind you, they have come to receive the very baptism of repentance that he was calling for – and he yells at them, “you brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. If you don’t, you are like a tree that is cut down and thrown into the fire.” John the Baptist is loud and he’s in a very bad mood. He’s wild-eyed and hopping mad. John the Baptist is not the patron saint of sipping tea through a peppermint stick for a straw. Continue reading →

Advent 1C, December 2, 2012. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O unsettling 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.

Ready or not, we are beginning a new church year. It’s Advent!  If you were here late last night for the Christmas Oratorio, I bet this feels a lot like New Year’s Day. You’ll notice changes in our liturgy that mark this season of preparation and repentance: changes in color, in our music and prayers – whether you like them or not, the changes will probably feel unsettling or unfamiliar. Our Gospel readings in this liturgical year will be mostly from Luke. Whereas last year’s Gospel of Mark was terse and spare prose, interested in getting down just the most basic facts of the ministry and teaching of Jesus and of the circumstances of his death; the language of Luke is expansive and poetic, dramatically and outwardly focused — mission oriented. Ironically, we begin each new year with a teaching from Jesus about the world as it is known ending. This is no coincidence – all of the Gospels were written through the lens of the crucifixion and the experience of Love more powerful than the grave, and the longing for a world where the justice and peace of God will reign once and for all: all time and all people. Continue reading →

Christ the King, Proper 29B, November 25, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of hope, 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.

Proper 28B, November 18, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

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.

Some weeks feel more challenging than others to be a lectionary preacher! The other day I was sitting with a group of colleagues who were all talking about how they had changed the lessons for this Sunday – to celebrate Thanksgiving or various other events in the life of their parishes. I thought glumly, “why didn’t I think of that?” It’s highly ironic to me to pray the beautiful words of the opening collect about scripture – to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest – on a day when our appointed Gospel lesson is the beginning of the apocalypse in Mark. Episcopalians generally don’t like dwelling on the fact that we have apocalyptic scripture. Continue reading →

Proper 27B, November 11, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of vision, 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.

Many of you know that we have been steeping in Jewish commentary on the New Testament now for more than six years at Emmanuel Church. Having a Rabbi in Residence should and does change the way we sing our songs, say our prayers, and read our scripture. So when a Gospel portion like this one today comes along, we are challenged to put on our “corrective lenses” to see Jesus in his Jewish context, which is not the way most of our eyes were trained to see Jesus in Sunday School or in adult education or in our Christo-centric popular culture. Continue reading →

All Saints, Proper 26B, November 4, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of all things new, 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.

Some days in the life of the church are really big – Christmas Eve, Easter Day, Pentecost and All Saints are generally the four biggest for us. Today is the Sunday in the octave (or eight days) of the great feast day of All Saints, a day on the Christian calendar to celebrate the saints, known and unknown. This past Friday was All Souls’ Day – the day set aside in the church calendar for commemoration of those who have departed this life. So this is a Sunday to remember the past – to honor all those who have gone before us – all saints and all souls. Continue reading →

Proper 24B, October 21, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O generous 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.

 The Jesus I love was a master at asking questions, and perhaps the best one of all is: “What is it you want me to do for you?” In the Gospel passage from Mark that Susanne just read, James and John say, “teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Jesus doesn’t say, “okay, sure!” or “you know I can’t agree to that,” or “are you kidding me?” or any number of things he might have said in response. He doesn’t answer with a statement. Rather, he asks, smiling I imagine, “What is it you want me to do for you?” “What is it you want me to do for you?” Continue reading →

Proper 20B, September 23, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of radical welcome, 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.

“A capable wife who can find?” Well I certainly found one! And if you’ve been reading religious news headlines this week, it’s feasible that Jesus did as well! Intriguing as the possibility is, though, that’s not where I am feeling called to go with you this morning in my sermon! Continue reading →

Proper 19B, September 16, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

O God of compassion, 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.

Our Gospel lesson this morning finds Jesus and his disciples on their way into what we might call Caesarville. Caesarea Philippi was a seat of political, military and economic power: oppressive, corrupt, and idolatrous. In other words, they were right in the thick of it, on their way.  They were, you may remember, called people of The Way. And this episode lies at the exact center of Mark’s gospel – it is Mark’s centerpiece. In ancient literature, this means that it is a very important passage. It is the heart – the core [1] message – the crux, a turning point when Jesus moves from the ministry of healing and feeding into an articulation of the ministry of suffering with – the ministry of compassion – a ministry which will cost everything. This is also a story of how Peter almost didn’t make the turn on the way! Continue reading →

Proper 18B, September 9, 2012; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

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.

Our lessons from Proverbs and James today kind of preach themselves. They make it very clear – abundantly clear – about the blessing upon those who are generous, who share their bread with people who are poor. The evidence of blessing is not simply prosperity, according to Proverbs; but it’s the sharing or distribution of abundance so that everyone gets enough to eat. The evidence of blessing is the sharing. And James says that mercy triumphs over judgment – mercy trumps judgment — every time in the realm of God. (Here are two texts I want Biblical literalists to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.) Continue reading →