Sermons

We invite you to enjoy sermons of our rector, The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz, and others. They are collected by year with links in the column on the right.

In 2022, we began broadcasting her sermons in our livestreamed services. Please listen to her dynamic preaching about 20 minutes into our broadcasts on our YouTube Channel. Her sermons preached in Lindsey Chapel are not available on video.

Our earliest sermons are posted in an archive covering the years 2000-09 include sermons by the late Rabbi Howard Berman, The Rev. Dr. William Blaine-Wallace, The Rev. Dr. Maureen D. Kemeza, The Rev. Dr. James M. Weiss, The Rev. Christiaan A. Beukman, and others.

 

Telling Wondrous Stories about God

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Proper 6B, 16 June 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13.  The Lord looks on the heart
  • 2 Corinthians 5:6-17.  If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.
  • Mark 4:26-34. With many such parables he spoke the word to 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.

Many of you know that I was away last weekend so that I could travel with Emmanuel Music to support them at their sacred music concert at Bachfest in Leipzig. I carried you with me, and not just you who are in the chapel right now, but all those who have called themselves Emmanuelites over the last five-and-a-half decades, because Emmanuel Church gave birth to Emmanuel Music some 54 years ago. Bishop Gates once called Emmanuel Church an incubator of vocations. It’s such an apt description. Emmanuel Church has incubated and continues to incubate the vocations — the callings – of hundreds of people (maybe thousands). You might remember how theologian Frederick Buechner defined vocation as being the place where “your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”  Continue reading →

The Facts of Life

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Pentecost, 19 May 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Acts 2:1-21.  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”.
  • Romans 8:22-27.  For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?
  • John 15: 26-27, 16:4b-15. You also are to testify.

O God, the eternal flame, 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! It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Merry Christmas or Happy Easter, does it? I don’t know why that is, but for Episcopalians anyway, Pentecost just hasn’t caught on like the birth story or the life-after-death story. Maybe it’s because Pentecost is a story about breath and wind, about inspiration that is intoxicating, about passion that burns. It’s hard to come up with a mascot like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny for those things! It’s hard to talk about the power of breath and wind, of inspiration and passion, about fire in the belly, for those of us socialized to sit quietly, sing softly, and not call attention to ourselves or our faith. But I would argue that one way to talk about Pentecost is to talk about the facts of life. Continue reading →

Keeping Sabbath

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Proper 4B, 14 April 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • 1 Samuel 3:1-20.  The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:5-12.  We have this treasure in clay jars…so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies…in our mortal flesh.
  • Mark 2:23 – 3:6. The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.

O God of our delight, 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 morning, we heard the stirring reading of the call of Samuel with the fantastic introduction that back in the really olden days (prior to 1000 BCE), the word of the Lord was rare, and the ability to see clearly was not widespread! That assessment was from the perspective of hundreds of years later in the 7th or 6th century BCE! Three thousand or so years ago, people of the Holy One were going through a time of immense societal change, spiritual desolation, religious corruption, and great political danger.” [1] Eli the priest and his sons were responsible for guarding the Ark of the Covenant and its holy oracle.  Eli’s sons were violent and Eli was unable to control or improve their behavior.
Continue reading →

In the Middle of Resurrected Life

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Easter B, 31 March 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 25: 6-9.  Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of God’s people will be taken away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
  • 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11.  Also you are being saved.
  • Mark 16: 1-8. So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 

O God of life, 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.

Hello! If you love being at Emmanuel on Easter Sunday, whether in person or on livestream, I’m so glad you’re here. I’m also glad you’re here even if you’re not sure you made the right choice this morning. Of all the days to come to church, I think Easter Sunday might be the most likely day to convince you that church is really not for you:  the service is long; the stories are unbelievable. Maybe the resplendent flowers make your nose itch, our puppets seem strange and ridiculous, or the hymns are not light enough to lift your heavy hearts. I get it; I see you. You might love the cantata this morning; it has all the feels. Continue reading →

Love is bigger than anything.

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Lent 5B, 17 March 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Jeremiah 31: 31-34.  I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts.
  • Hebrews 5: 5-10.  Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears.
  • John 12: 20-33. We wish to see Jesus.

O God of our help, 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.

A year has passed in the Gospel of John since our reading from last Sunday. Suddenly, we are only a few days away from Jesus’ crucifixion. The context for our reading today is that, according to John, after spending the last few years darting in and out of hiding, Jesus has come into Jerusalem very publicly for the last time. This part of John is filled with references to the crowds who were in Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus has just ridden up to Jerusalem on a donkey, with huge crowds waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna (which is Hebrew for help us, please or save us, please). Some irritated and fearful colleagues of Jesus’ have muttered to one another about him: “You see, you can do nothing. Look the world has gone over to him.”  Continue reading →

Help, like an atheist!

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Lent 4B, 10 March 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Numbers 21: 4-9.  Look at the serpent of bronze and live.
  • Ephesians 2: 1-10.  For by grace you have been saved.
  • John 3: 14-21.  For God loved the world like this.

O God of love, 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.

The historical and contemporary misunderstandings and mistreatments of our Gospel lesson this morning are almost too much for me to bear. I knew when Deacon Bob read this passage to you this morning, many of you would start shutting down, going other places in your heads, perhaps leaving the building in your imagination. He had asked me if I wanted to make any edits to what he would read, but frankly I didn’t know where to begin. There are so many edits I want to make, and I’m not sure any amount of editing could solve all the problems in this passage. So perhaps I can bring your imagination back into the building with this First Nations Version rendering of John 3:14-2, a dynamic equivalence translation, which was published a few years ago. That’s a fancy way of saying that it’s a translation focused on retelling the dynamics of the story, not attempting a word-for-word translation of the original. The context for this scene is that Nicodemus, a religious leader in Jerusalem has come to Jesus in the night to learn more about him and his ministry. I’ve made a few more edits to it, so I want you to notice whether and how you respond differently when you hear the Gospel story this way: [1] Continue reading →

Not Insurrection, but Resurrection

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Lent 3B, 3 March 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Exodus 20:1-17.  I AM
  • 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.  Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
  • John 2:13-22. They believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

O God of Love, 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.

Sometimes when I sit down to work on a sermon, I get tripped up by the first few words of a reading and fall into a deep exegetical hole! This week the words were “The passover of the Jews was near.” Why get stuck on that, you might wonder. Well, I’m going to tell you. It’s because Passover is probably not a good translation of the Hebrew word Pesach or the Greek word Pascha. There’s a long history of rabbis arguing about the etymology of Pesach, which can mean skipping over or hopping over or even limping over. There is, however, an even older meaning: to have compassion for or to make a sacrifice of mercy. [1] So we might understand that, according to the Gospel of John, very early in Jesus’ ministry, he made a pilgrimage up to Jerusalem to observe the festival celebrating God’s compassion or mercy, a Festival of Freedom from Oppression. In Jesus’ time, the Romans had taken the place of the Babylonians, who had taken the place of the Egyptians as the oppressors. Continue reading →

The story isn’t finished.

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Christmas 1B, 31 December 2023. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 61:10-62:3. You shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
  • Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7. So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
  • John 1:1-18. No one has ever seen God.

O God of our sacred story, 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.

First a poem by Irish theologian Padraig O Tuama, called “Narrative Theology #1”.  [1]

And I said to him
Are there answers to all of this?
And he said
The answer is in a story
and the story is being told.

And I said
But there is so much pain
And she answered, plainly,
Pain will happen.

Then I said
Will I ever find meaning?
And they said
You will find meaning
Where you give meaning.

The answer is in the story
And the story isn’t finished. Continue reading →

Sing a song of love.

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Advent 4B, 24 December 2023. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16. I will not take my steadfast love from him.
  • Romans 16:25-27. The revelation of the mystery…is now disclosed.
  • Luke 1:26-38. But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

O God in whom is heaven, 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.

Every once in a while, our liturgical calendar gives us the Fourth Sunday of Advent in the morning and Christmas Eve in the evening. It always seems to take us by surprise even though it’s possible to see it coming for a long time. The last time was in 2017, and the next time will be in 2028. Plan accordingly!

Over the past weeks, our scripture readings have been full of prophetic calls to vast numbers of people for large scale relational and economic repair projects, leveling the playing fields and making it easier for all people to experience the love of God. Today, in a dramatic downshift, we are invited into intensely intimate scenes between David and Nathan, between Mary and Gabriel. You can almost hear our theological engine revving as we slow down to make this big turn. For the Gospel of Luke (and the Gospel of Matthew), this passage from Samuel about David and Nathan was essential to understanding just who Jesus would be. Continue reading →

Finding Magnification of the Lord

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Advent 3B, 17 December 2023. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11. To give them a garland instead of ashes.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing.
  • John 1:6-8, 19-28. This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

O God of hope, 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.

So, are you ready for Christmas? It’s hard for me to think of a more annoying question at this time of year. It jangles my nerves as it conjures up conversations to have, plans to make, places to go, bulletins to prepare, and sermons to write. It also conjures up the yawning gap between how I want the world to be and how it is at this moment – wracked by war and alienation, torn apart by greed and fear, peoples estranged from one another in hopes of finding safety and security. The question conjures up in me the recognition of the emotional freight of this tricky season. It conjures up those who are broken-hearted, captive, imprisoned, those who are being crushed by debt or other kinds of devastation, those who are huddled in doorways and alleyways without adequate and dignified shelter or even access to toilets. “No!” I want to shout. “No, we are not ready.” “How could we be ready?” And our scriptures smile and say, “Well, ready or not….” Continue reading →