Tag Archives: justice

Blessing for All

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Proper 24C. Oct. 16, 2022.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Jeremiah 31:27-24. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be to them for a god and they will be to me for a people.
2 Timothy 3:13-4:5. Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.
Luke 18:1-8. Pray always and [do] not…lose heart.

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.

We have three challenging readings from scripture before us this morning; I would like to preach a full sermon on each of them. So much is going on here; it makes my head feel as if it might explode because I have so many things to say to you. I’m wondering, do you have a few hours? Probably not;  besides, I want to get to Genevieve’s baptism, so I’ll summarize. 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 →

Abundance

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Epiphany 5C, 6 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 6:1-8[9-13]. Keep listening but do not comprehend.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Luke 5:1-11. Put out into the deep water.

O God of the Deep, 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.

Whenever our lectionary assigns optional verses, like (the bracketed verses 9-13 in) today’s reading from Isaiah 6, I exercise the option. In this case, including those verses helps keep us from getting too sentimental about Isaiah’s famous call. The verses that follow explain just exactly what Isaiah is being called to do: say to the people, “Listen but don’t comprehend, look but don’t understand,” so they will not turn and be healed. “How long [do I have to do that], O Lord?” Isaiah asks. “Until the desolation is complete,” says the Holy One. “Until there’s nothing left.” Yikes! If Isaiah agrees to be sent, this is what he can expect if he does his job: God’s Word will not be comprehended; people will not repent. I hear echoes of this story in Luke and in our own time. Is this prescriptive or descriptive? I don’t know, but I find it true. Continue reading →

Well on The Way

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Epiphany 4C, 30 January 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 1:4-10. Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a ….
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 . The greatest of these is love.
Luke 4:21-30. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

O God of Generosity, 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.

In the portion of the Gospel we heard this morning, Luke tells us that a group of people in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, who had been pleased and even astonished by Jesus, got so angry with him that they threw him out of the house of worship, ran him out of town, and wanted to throw him off the cliff. That is angry! Luke says that Jesus’ reputation as a spirit-filled leader had spread around the country prior to his return to Nazareth. Last week we heard that all in Nazareth spoke well of him, when he read from, and commented on, the scripture at the religious gathering in Nazareth. So what made them turn on him? Luke tells us what Jesus said to make them so angry; but it doesn’t sound that bad, does it? So we are left to debate what provoked them so about the story of Elijah being sent to a widow (probably a Syrophoenician) at Zarephath in Sidon and about Elisha healing the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian. Jesus was reminding them of stories that were part of their own tradition, and it made them so mad that they wanted to annihilate him. It wasn’t new stuff he was telling them; it was old, and it was a main Bible theme, not an obscure part of their tradition. The reading we just heard from the prophet Jeremiah tells about how Jeremiah understood himself to be sent to proclaim that God’s message was not just for Israel but for all nations. So what is the problem? Continue reading →

Fire of God

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Baptism of Our Lord, 9 January 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 43:1-7. Because you are precious in my sight and I love you.
Acts 8:14-17. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Luke 3:15-17 [18-20] 21-22. You are my…beloved; with you I am well pleased.

O God of fire, 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 Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, the first Sunday in the season of Epiphany, churchy season of revelations, of proclamations of justice, and of joining with others to work for the common good. Our first reading from Isaiah, Chapter 43, is a passage about the decisive love of God, who gathers the people from every direction, paying whatever it takes to bring them home, to make sure they know that “Thus says the Holy One.” When they are in over their heads, the Holy One will be with them. When they are in extremely difficult and dangerous situations (aka walking through fire), the Holy One will comfort them, because they are precious, honored, and deeply loved. (Except, Isaiah puts the voice of the Holy One in first person and the people in the second person, in an exquisite and intimate I-Thou pairing.) Continue reading →

Justa

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Proper 18B.  5 September 2021. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23. Do not crush the afflicted at the gate.
James 2:1-10, (11-13) 14-17. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Mark 7:24-37. Be opened.

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.

It’s rare that I love three scripture lessons appointed for a Sunday as much as I love ours today. They make it abundantly clear that the blessing of God is upon those who are generous with their actions, not only with their thoughts and prayers — those who share what they have with people who do not have enough. The evidence of blessing is not simply prosperity or good fortune. I often hear people who are experiencing abundance expressing gratitude, giving thanks to God and saying, “I am (or we are) so blessed.” But according to Proverbs, it’s not the fact of abundance that is a blessing from God; it’s the re-distribution of abundance so that everyone gets enough that is a blessing from God. The evidence of the blessing of God is in the sharing. Sharing is how the heavens get opened up for one another. And in the process of sharing, James says, mercy triumphs over judgment:  mercy outshines judgment; mercy is better than judgment, every time in the Realm of God. That’s a hard concept for many of us, so it takes practice. Whenever there’s a conflict of biblical values or teachings or interests, ask yourself which approach is more merciful, and go with that. And whatever you do, do not crush the afflicted at the gate (or in the doorways). Continue reading →

Turn around and run for it!

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Proper 21A
September 27, 2020

Exodus 17:1-7. So that the people may drink
Philippians 2:1-13. For it is God who is at work in you
Matthew 21:23-32. Even after you saw it you did not change your minds.

O God of of mercy and pity, 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.

In today’s appointed collect, or gathering prayer, I’m struck by the idea that God declares almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: mercy being forgiveness, and pity being sympathy for another’s suffering. It might not be the kind of almighty power we want, but I think it is what we need. Whenever we are invoking the mighty power of God, it behooves us to look for forgiveness and sympathy first, as evidence of God’s response. It is God’s forgiveness for our sins and sympathy for our suffering and for the suffering of others that we are running to obtain, so that we can be partakers of that treasure.

Continue reading →

Worth Our Salt and Light

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Epiphany 5A
February 9, 2020

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 mercy and 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, “yes, church is often completely unbelievable and we’re really not that organized.” But if I can keep quiet a minute and ask what it is the person doesn’t believe in or doesn’t like, it’s usually hypocrisy, and 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 testaments – is devoted to calling religious people to account for hypocrisy. The Bible may have been written by and for the people who need the most help. (I believe I am one of them.)

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Rejoice!

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Third Sunday of Advent (A), December 15, 2019.  The Rev. Pamela L. Wermtz

Isaiah 35:1-10.  A highway shall appear there, which shall be called the Holy Way.
James 5:7-10. Beloved, do not grumble against one another.
Matthew 11:2-11. Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?

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.

Today is the Sunday in Advent called Gaudete Sunday. (Gaudete means rejoice.) Our liturgical color for the third Sunday is rose; that’s why we have a rose-colored candle in our Advent wreath and rose in our vestments. It is a Sunday set aside to fill our imaginations with joyful anticipation of what God might be up to in creating new heavens and a new earth. It is a Sunday to pick our heads up and rejoice in the faithfulness of God, in the midst of everything that grieves us, in the midst of oppression and violence, in the midst of hunger and illness and imprisonment, even in the midst of destruction and death. I’ve spent considerable time this week wondering how to rejoice always in spite of wide-spread violence and hate crimes, the rise of fascism, and the wanton disregard for the well-being of our planet. It’s a hard choice, I think, not to give in to despair; it’s hard, even scandalous, to choose to rejoice. Rejoicing, however, is not the same as “holiday frolicking”, as William Stringfellow once wrote; and rejoicing certainly doesn’t mean letting up on our non-violent resistance and our actions to end oppression of all kinds.

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Repent as a group!

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Second Sunday of Advent (A)
December 8, 2019

Isaiah 11:1-10 and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. (that’s some powerful bad breath!)
Romans 15:4-13 …on behalf of the truth of God.
Matthew 3:1-12 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

O God of 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.

Last week at Emmanuel Church, the musical through line of our worship service was Wachet Auf (or wake up). In our musical through line today we are calling on the Savior of the nations (or a little more rudely, Savior of the heathens) to come now! Do any of you worry about calling on the Divine so boldly? Do any of you think of Annie Dillard’s famous warning about how we should be wearing crash helmets when we blithely invoke the power of God,. She adds that church “ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense; or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.” It can and does happen.
Continue reading →