Tag Archives: mercy

Non-Hate

Posted on by

Epiphany 7C, 20 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 45:3-11 & 15. He kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50. Someone will ask, “How are the dead raised?”
Luke 6:27-38. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap.

Most Merciful and Compassionate, 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.

As I began the process of preparing my sermon for you over the last ten days or so, I found myself surprised by our readings and wondered if you’d recognize them. It’s rare to have a 7th Sunday in Epiphany; I don’t think that there has been one in lectionary Year C in my 20 years of ordained ministry! My first clue that there was something unusual going on was the lesson from Genesis about Joseph encountering his brothers in Pharaoh’s court. We’ve been hearing portions from Isaiah and Jeremiah through Epiphany and, suddenly, unexpectedly, stunning high drama of the end of Genesis falls into our laps? I wonder, how many of you even know the back story. If Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat wasn’t a part of your cultural experience in the 1970’s, or you didn’t have at least half a dozen years of Sunday School, how would you know? Continue reading →

Well on The Way

Posted on by

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 →

Justa

Posted on by

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!

Posted on by

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 →

A Light You Have Carried

Posted on by

Last Sunday After the Epiphany (A)
February 23, 2020

Exodus 24:12-18 Come up to me on the mountain.
2 Peter 1:16-21 You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place …until the morning star rises in your hearts.
Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus came and touched them, saying “Get up and do not be afraid.

O God of majesty, mercy and mystery,[1] 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 come to the last Sunday after the Epiphany – the Sunday we tell the story of the Transfiguration, the story of Jesus and his friends and their mystical and mystifying mountaintop experience. But if you heard the Gospel lesson last week, you, like me, might still be stuck in the weeds of a different mountain, pondering Jesus’ hard teachings, even after our Deacon Bob’s marvelous sermon. Last week, we heard Jesus teaching things like – it’s not only murder that violates God’s law, it’s being angry with another, or insulting another, that will make one liable to the flaming trash heap called Gehenna, also known as hell. It’s not only adultery that violates God’s law, it’s looking at another person with lust in one’s heart. It’s not just swearing falsely, it’s swearing at all. And, though we didn’t hear it last week, what follows is the instruction of turning the other cheek, giving away one’s cloak, going the second mile, giving to everyone who begs from us, and loving our enemies.  These are all rendered as examples of Jesus’ assertion to his followers that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter. Just for the record, I don’t think he was kidding, and I don’t know any translation tricks that offer wiggle room. It’s a wonder that Jesus had any followers left by the time he got to the mountain with Peter and James and John.  

Continue reading →

Come to the party!

Posted on by

Proper 19C
September 15, 2019

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Skilled in doing evil but do not know how to do good.
1 Timothy 1:12-17 But I received mercy.
Luke 15:1-10 This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.

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.

Oh I have so much I want to say to you this morning about the ancient scriptures we’ve heard just now: Jeremiah, Psalm 14, 1 Timothy, the Gospel of Luke, and we haven’t even heard Psalm 42 yet – that will come after communion. Our oldest reading today is about 3000 years old, and the newest is about 1900 years old, give or take. Old. They tell us that in ancient times there were foolish people who said in their hearts, “There is no God.” By the way, this is not a critique of individual philosophical or theoretical atheism; this is an ethical critique of a people who did not think it mattered how the most vulnerable in society were treated: widows, orphans, and aliens. In ancient times people thought that prosperity and power and security and status were all that mattered; they were corrupt and committed abominable acts. In ancient times, there were people who profaned what was sacred, who pursued others in order to oppress them, who engaged in violence, who cheated and mistreated people, who were serving wealth instead of fidelity to love. In ancient times, people who believed that doing justice and loving kindness and walking with humility were not the ones in power very often. Maybe not ever. The staying power that these ancient texts have, the wisdom that they contain, is staggering to me.

Continue reading →

Resist!

Posted on by

Proper 11C
July 21, 2019

Amos 8:1-12  A famine…of hearing the words of the Lord.
Colossians 1:15-28  Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
Luke 10:38-42  She had a sister named Mary, who [ALSO] sat at the Lord’s feet

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.

  • I have an exercise for you. Choir and altar party, you too.
    If you love the heat of the summer because you can finally get warm, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
  • If you feel wiped out by the heat, stand on the pulpit side. (and thank you very much for being here, in spite of the heat). Now to the Gospel story we just heard.
  • If you identify as more of a Martha, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you identify as more of a Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
  • If you sympathize more with Martha, move to the pulpit side of the chapel. If you sympathize more with Mary, stand on the lectern side of the chapel.
  • If you really dislike this story of Jesus with Martha and Mary, stand on the pulpit side of the chapel. If you love this story, stand on the lectern side. How many of you really want to stand in the middle but there’s not enough room? Okay – you can return to your seats.

Thank you – I wanted to see how divided you are when it comes to this Gospel story, which is wedged between the story of the Good Samaritan and the story of Jesus’ teaching about how to pray, and it is trouble with a capital T packed into five short verses. I could have also asked you to stand on one side if you are aware of the divisiveness of this story and on the other side if you, prior to now, have been blissfully unaware of any conflict! This is a story that always reminds me that whenever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there will be a disagreement! This particular story pits women against each other and invariably fuels resentment and division in groups that study it together, no matter what the participants’ gender identities. And since it is a story about two sisters, through the ages, it has had the powerful effect of stopping and shutting up women – scolding Marthas and making sure Marys stay quiet.

Continue reading →

Love the one who shows mercy!

Posted on by

Proper 10C
July 15 2019

Amos 7:7-17 The Lord said to me, ‘Go prophesy to my people Israel.’
Colossians 1:1-14 Grace to you and peace from God.
Luke 10:25-37 But wanting to justify himself.

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.

Following my sermon last week about Galatians, I thought I might do some teaching about the letter to the Colossians, but I just couldn’t let the story called “The Good Samaritan” go unaddressed. It’s such an iconic story that one doesn’t have to be a church goer to know it. You don’t have to be a Christian to have heard of it or understand something about it. Hospitals, emergency services, counseling services, rules of law about limits of liability, award programs, all get called Good Samaritan. This parable called “The Good Samaritan,” found only in Luke, might be the most famous parable of them all. And with its fame comes the enormous and crushing weight of Protestant Moral Theology, Sunday School lessons, and a hefty dose of Christian anti-Jewish bias. The preaching challenge for me seems formidable because of what we all think we already know about this story, and the guilt that has been wired into most of us about seeing people in life’s various ditches and not doing enough or not doing anything at all to help. In my time as a priest, this bible story has provoked more confessions and more defensive attempts at self-justification than any other I know.

Continue reading →

Sabbath Delight

Posted on by

Second Sunday after Pentecost (4B), June 3, 2018; The 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.

Today Emmanuel Church is celebrating an abundant harvest, the ordinations yesterday of Helen McKinney to the permanent diaconate and Tamra Tucker to the transitional diaconate. Helen and Tamra were both sponsored for ordination by Emmanuel Church and so we are blessed and thrilled that they’re both able to be here today to worship with us in their new roles in the Episcopal Church. Following our service and a bit of refreshment, I invite those of you who are able and interested, to join in a conversation about the ordination process. Helen and her sweetheart, Rebecca are going to have to dash to catch a plane back to Albuquerque, but Tamra will have time to stay and talk – she’s staying in Boston!
Continue reading →

Inheriting Love’s Blessing (with audio)

Posted on by

First Sunday in Lent, Year B, February 18, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 9:8-17 I will remember my covenant.
1 Peter 3:18-22 An appeal to God for a good conscience.
Mark 1:9-15 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

O God of love, 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 began our service for this first Sunday in Lent, as is our practice, with The Great Litany sung in solemn procession. The first liturgy published in English, The Great Litany is intended to be used during times of great distress or danger or devastation. I think what is going on in our nation right now qualifies, don’t you? Sixteenth century Anglican theologian Richard Hooker’s defended praying the Great Litany even when a particular community is not suffering. He wrote: “if we for ourselves had a privilege of immunity, doth not true Christian charity require that whatsoever any part of the world, yea, any one … elsewhere doth either suffer or fear, the same we account as our own burden? What one petition is there found in the whole Litany, whereof we shall ever be able to say at any time that no [one] living needeth the grace or benefit therein craved at God’s hands?” [1} The Great Litany serves to remind us that we belong to one another. We share one another’s joys and we bear each other’s burdens. Continue reading →