2014 Sermons

Unless noted otherwise these sermons were preached by Emmanuel’s Rector, the Reverend Pamela L. Werntz.  For other years, please see the links on Sermons.

Extravagant Love

Posted on by

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!

Posted on by

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 →

Through Beloving

Posted on by

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.

Posted on by

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 →

Meditations on the Passion

Posted on by

Palm Sunday A, April 13, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 50:4-9a I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
Philippians 2:5-11 He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.
Matthew 27:11-66 .

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew §1 – congregation is seated

11Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” 14But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. 15Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. 16At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. 17So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. 19While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” 20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.21The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” 23Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” 24So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”25Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Meditation I

This year, in conversation with the members of Emmanuel’s Worship Commission, I decided that I want us to abstain from engaging in the custom of reading the Passion Narrative as a play script with members of the congregation taking various dialogue parts, and the congregation as a whole representing the crowd. I cannot imagine how it is edifying – that is, how it might provide moral or theological instruction that would build up the body or how this practice might glorify God in any way. If any of you in the congregation are longing for a greater voice, more participation in liturgy, a deeper involvement in the narrative of salvation history, this turns out to be a most terrible place to start. No good can come from imagining ourselves as members of an angry mob. No good can come from re-enacting the highly implausible scenario that Pontius Pilate or any other Roman authority would have even permitted a crowd to gather in the occupied capital of an occupied country during the time of a great feast celebrating the notion of freedom from oppression, freedom from economic and political enslavement. Nor would a Roman governor give people a vote about whom to crucify. Continue reading →

Discernment

Posted on by

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!

Posted on by

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 →

Spelling It Out

Posted on by

Epiphany 5A, February 2, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 58:1-12 You will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
1 Corinthians 2:1-16 So that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Matthew 5:13-20 You are the salt…you are the light.

O God of salt and light, 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 don’t know about you, but from time to time someone tells me that they don’t believe in or that they don’t like “organized religion.” My knee-jerk response is to shake my head and say, “We’re really not that organized.” But if I can keep quiet a minute and ask what it is that the person doesn’t believe in or like, it’s usually hypocrisy. I can eagerly affirm that I share the feelings of disgust for hypocrisy. And then, if the person is willing to continue the conversation, I muse out loud that much of the Bible -– both the first and the second testaments -– is devoted to calling religious people to account for hypocrisy. The Bible may have been written for the people who need the most help. (I am one of them.) Continue reading →

Listening to Anna

Posted on by

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple,  February 2, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Malachi 3:1-4 Who can stand when he appears?”(Anna can.)
Hebrews 2:14-18 Free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.
Luke 2:22-40 There was also a prophet, Anna.

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.

Because today is fortieth day after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, which the Gospel of Luke tells us occurred, as required, when Mary and Joseph took their infant into the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate him to God and to celebrate the return to purity of his mother. There actually is no known requirement or even custom of presenting an infant in the temple, but there was a rite of purification for a mother after delivering a baby.

In Jesus’ time, a mother of a son could return to a state of purity after 40 days with the offering of a sheep and a dove if she could afford it, or the offering of two doves if she were poor. The mother of a daughter took 80 days, twice as long to regain purity (whatever). The Church celebration of this feast on February 2 used to be known as The Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mother. In 1969 the name got changed by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Episcopalians followed suit in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer. When February 2 falls on a Sunday, the Feast trumps the usual Sunday lectionary appointments. Since February 2 doesn’t fall on a Sunday very often (the last time was in 2003), we typically don’t hear this part of the infancy narrative so long after Christmas. Perhaps it’s a little jarring. You might notice that it’s completely incompatible with the Gospel of Matthew’s story of the Holy Family’s escape to Egypt to avoid King Herod. Continue reading →

The Beauty of Holiness

Posted on by

Epiphany 3A, January 26, 2014; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 9:1-4 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18 I appeal to you…that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you.
Matthew 4:12-23 Follow me, and I will make you fish for people…Immediately they left.

Merciful and 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.

Today is the day that we hold our Annual Meeting at Emmanuel and celebrate 154 years in the City of Boston of subverting the dominant paradigm. Our subversive work has undoubtedly ebbed and flowed through the years, but as far as I can tell, it’s in the DNA of this place. (So we’re looking forward to more!) Our archives are replete with predictions that we would never survive (and we still might not), but look how far we’ve come! I will confess to you, that as your Rector, anticipating our Annual Meeting, I am especially drawn to Paul’s plea to the church in Corinth that the people all be in agreement and that there be no divisions or quarrelling among them – that they all be of the same mind and purpose. That sounds so appealing to me, but I’m sure Paul never got his wish, and I’m not even sure that lack of division or dissent is healthy. So please know that when we say that all are welcome, we include those with dissenting voices. I don’t like dissent or quarrelling, but I do like a healthy community, and I know that dissent is a necessary ingredient. Continue reading →