Tag Archives: prayer

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (17B), September 2, 2018; The Rev. Susan Ackley

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe…
James 1:17-27 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him…

Here we are, you and I, at the official beginning of Pam’s sabbatical.

Pam left us with a particular intention for this three months so that it might be a time for her and Emmanuel to walk paths, not precisely parallel, but definitely meandering under the same stars.

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Diving into the Wreck

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Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B, March 11, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Numbers 21:4-9 So Moses prayed for the people.
Ephesians 2:1-10 And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
John 3:14-21 Those who do what is true come to the light.

O God of infinite 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.

When I’m writing a sermon, I often think of songs or poems. For today it was Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck.” The connection in my mind is our gospel lesson from John – the wreck of misunderstandings and mistreatments of this text – it’s almost too much for me to bear. I knew that when our Deacon Bob read this passage to you, many of you would start shutting down, going other places in your heads, perhaps leaving the building in your imaginations. I’m not going to recite the whole poem, but listen to these lines from the middle:

I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail…

the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth [1]

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Plans Questioned & Prayers Answered

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Fifth Sunday after the Epipany, Year B, February 4, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 40:21-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge.
Mark 1:29-39 So that I may proclaim the message.”\

O God of our liberation, 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.

One of the many things I love about the Gospel of Mark is his economy of words – both the amount of information packed into a few verses, and the enormous amount of room for the reader or hearer’s imagination, because the details and definitions are not all specified. Of course, this was viewed as a deficiency by later evangelists (Matthew in particular), but I appreciate the spare and breathless prose. Our reading today picks up after just 28 previous verses in which Mark has proclaimed that the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ was that John the Baptist was calling for the heart’s transformation, citing the prophet Isaiah as his authority, John the Baptist was calling for immersion in forgiveness and amendment of life. A whole lot of people answered this call, including Jesus from Nazareth. The experience was a complete life changer for Jesus, who emerged from the Jordan River with dawning understanding that the Spirit from the heavens (the Ruach, the breath of the Holy One) was delighted in him. Without more time than a heartbeat, that same spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for a quarantine (40 days of separation) where he was being tempted by the Accuser and divine messengers ministered to him. (All that is in just the first 13 verses.)
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It’s a miracle!

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Sunday in the Octave of the Feast of All Saints’, November 5, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L Werntz

Revelation 7:9-17. These are they who have come out of the great ordeal.
1 John 3:1-3. See what love [God] has given us.
Matthew 5:1-12.  Blessed… .blessed… .blessed.

O God of All Saints, 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.

From time to time I feel the need to confess things to you, that you probably already know, but I still want to say them. Today I have two such confessions. First, I am a Church geek. I love the Bible, warts and all. I especially love Jesus, although I don’t always understand him, and he often takes me where I do not wish to go. I love the feasts and fasts of our liturgical calendar, especially All Saints’ Day. I love singing hymns and sharing bread and wine when we gather for worship. I also love vestry meetings and annual parish meetings, and overly full Diocesan Conventions like the one we had yesterday at our Cathedral on Tremont Street. In spite of the energy it exacts from this introvert, I love the wide and wild assortment of folks that come together to lead the church in the most crazy, messy, democratic way. I love budget deliberations. I love raising money for and spending money on things that matter, things that promote the well-being of our common life. I love resolution debates about our affirmations of and aspirations for the common good. I love people who express their incredulity, saying to me, “budget and resolution debates? Really, Pam?” Really.
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Turn around!

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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 21A, October 1, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 17:1-7 Is the Lord among us or not?
Philippians 2:1-13 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, …it is God who is at work in you”
Matthew 21:23-32 What do you think?…Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

O God of mercy, 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.

Between last week’s Gospel portion and this week’s Gospel portion, a lot has happened in the Gospel according to Matthew. Last week Jesus and his companions had left the Galilee and were drawing large crowds in the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River. After a whole lot of teaching about sincere discipleship and how to get along with one another in community, Jesus headed for Jerusalem, continuing to teach and to heal, moved with compassion, as he went.
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Vote, pray, love! (with audio)

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Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24C, October 16, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 31:27-34 I will put my law within them, and I will write it in their hearts, and I will be their God and they will be my people…they shall all know me.
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Carry out your ministry fully.
Luke 18:1-8 Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

O God of our 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.

Many of you know that I was away last week for my middle daughter’s wedding.  It was a lovely and joyous opportunity for my extended family to gather.  One of the many blessings of my family’s gatherings, for holidays or for ceremonies, is seeing four generations of siblings and cousins all together, and noticing how similar they all are in appearance and expression.  Then I returned to Emmanuel on Tuesday, in time to get ready for the Yom Kippur Kol Nidre service, and I had a chance to recall that one of the blessings of being in an interfaith family, like the interfaith family Emmanuel Church and Central Reform Temple make together, is sharing in one another’s holiday celebrations, and seeing and hearing the ritual and theological relatedness of our traditions, how similar our traditions are in appearance and expression. Continue reading →

A Holy Spirit

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Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12C, July 24, 2016, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Hosea 1:2-10 Children of the living God.
Colossians 2:6-19 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit.
Luke 11:1-13 Because of his [lack of shame or honor].

O God of dignity, 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 seems to me that the themes of our scripture lessons for this morning are fidelity and honor in difficult circumstances.  What excellent timing! Our three readings are saying, “Stay true. Hold fast to the reconciling Love of Jesus Christ. Don’t give up your dignity.  Don’t give up your integrity. Don’t give up.” Continue reading →

Ministry Checklist

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Seventh Sunday in Pentecost (9C), July 3, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

2 Kings 5:1-14 …had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel and she served Naaman’s wife.
Galatians 6:1-16 If anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a Spirit of gentleness…bear one another’s burdens.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

O God of the plentiful harvest, 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 covers a LOT of territory for a holiday weekend in the summer time! The story goes that Jesus has appointed 70 others (or 72, depending on which ancient manuscript of Luke you read) to be sent out – meaning Jesus has appointed apostles. Apostle means one sent – as in an agent or ambassador (according to Luke there were not only 12 apostles). The Lord appointed the number of all the nations. Some ancient authorities believed there were 70 nations in the world; others insisted on 72. The number is also reminiscent of the number of elders appointed by God to help Moses. In the Hebrew language version of the Bible, the number was 70. In the Greek translation, the Septuagint, the number was 72. The point is, a whole lot of people were willing to be appointed to go out to the whole world, importantly, in pairs. In other words, they were instructed not to go alone. It’s not just more fun to go with a partner; it’s the law. Two is the minimum number for witness and for safety and for fun. The rule is, when you’re going out to do work for the reign of God, always use the buddy system! This is true whether the work you are doing for God is in your household or extended family, or your workplace or your school or your neighborhood or your church or someplace else altogether! Two is so much more than twice one in any endeavor. And if you want to build something sustainable – the minimum number is three (but that’s a lesson for a different day). Continue reading →

Pass the peace! (with audio)

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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 21B, September 27, 2015; The Rev Pamela L. Werntz

Esther 7:1-6,9-10; 9:20-22 Days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
James 5:13-20 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise…
Mark 9:38-50 Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

O God of our redemption, 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 have just heard a part of the great story of Queen Esther, beautiful, brave, patient and smart, who used her position and her gifts, and risked her own life on behalf of her people. Esther’s name appears more times than any other woman in the Bible, and she speaks more than any named women except for Judith. She is the ideal against which Herodius, in the Christian testament of the Bible, was compared and was found to have utterly missed the mark, when a king, intoxicated by wine and the beauty of a woman, offered to do anything she wanted. Queen Herodius coached her daughter to ask for murder. Queen Esther asked that all of her people be saved from scheduled massacre. The Feast of Purim, which celebrates Queen Esther’s courage, compassion and creativity, is observed by Jews each year at the end of winter (in the Northern Hemisphere) with celebrations that include presents for people who are poor, and gifts of food for all. Continue reading →

Be swift to love, make haste to be kind!

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The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17B, August 30, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
James 1:17-27 Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.

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.

This Sunday we turn back to the Gospel of Mark in our lectionary for the rest of the season of Pentecost in our liturgical year. [1] I’m tempted to dive in to this libelous text, to defend Pharisees and certainly to defend hand and dish washing, and also to deplore hypocrisy and all the evils that can come out from within our polluted hearts. I’m tempted to point out that this should be a troubling text for people like Episcopalians who cleave to traditions, sometimes at the expense of healing and feeding and freeing people who are ailing, undernourished and stuck in narrow places. Continue reading →