Monthly Archives: July 2017

Laugh and grow!

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Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11A, July 23, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 28:10-19a He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
Romans 8:12-25 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Matthew 13:24-30, 26-43 Listen!

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. Amen.

Listen!  Very early on Tuesday mornings in July, people have been gathering in the Emmanuel Room to do some exploration of the Gospel lesson appointed for the coming Sunday.  We follow a process of reading the passage three times and after each time we respond to a question.  After the first reading the question is “what did you notice?”  After the second reading the question is “what is speaking to you?”  And after the third time through the question is “what will be different about your week because of this encounter with the passage?”  In other words, “how will you be changed by this experience?”  As a group we generally don’t like that question and it takes considerable discipline to make sure that we have time in the hour that we spend together to ask and respond to it.
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Brave, Foolish & Extravagant

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Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10A, July 16, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 25:19-34 If it is going to be this way, why do I live?
Romans 8:1-11 You are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Matthew 13:1-23 Listen.

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.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we’ve gone from the weeds to the water. Jesus began his third course of instruction in the Gospel of Matthew, by getting into a boat and speaking to the crowds from the edge of the Sea of Galilee, which is really a small lake, using the hills behind the crowd for natural amplification (surround sound).  I’m sorry that our lectionary doesn’t include reading chapter 12 of Matthew, because it is all about Jesus reminding his colleagues in leadership about God’s strong desire for mercy, God’s character of tenderness, God’s deep concern for all who are oppressed, and God’s hopefulness that people will turn and return to Love and to loving. Quoting material from the prophets Hosea, Isaiah, and Jonah, Jesus was reminding his colleagues about God’s extravagant faith in people, God’s great faithfulness. That is the literary mixer or equalizer for this next course of instruction, the way Matthew has composed his Gospel. (I’ve got sound systems on my mind because we’re trying out an extra speaker in Lindsey Chapel today.) Continue reading →

Weeds or No Weeds

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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9A, July 9, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49; 58-67. Please give me a little water from your jar to drink.
Romans 7:15-25a. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

O God with us, 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.

Some of the earliest Sunday School lessons I remember learning were from a class taught sitting in the weeds when I was about six years old. (When we sat down in a little circle, the weeds were over our heads.) The first scripture verse I learned was Psalm 122: “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord,” and my teacher told us that we were sitting in the house of the Lord. My dad was the pastor of a congregation that worshipped outdoors at a farm in the summer, which was a welcome respite from the gritty urban ministry that characterized the rest of the year. I remember the weather being steamy and hot and I remember being struck by how many bugs there were in the house of the Lord. That’s what came to me as I reflected on our Gospel lesson for this morning. It’s summertime and we’re in the weeds, and I’m still struck by how many things bug us in the house of the Lord. Continue reading →

Intervening to Stop Violence

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8A, June 25, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 22:1-14. Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.
Romans 6:12-23. Present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
Matthew 10:40-42. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones.

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.

Beginning last Sunday, and all through the week, so many people asked me, “what are you doing with The Binding of Isaac?” Seriously.  In emails, in person, on the phone.  And my response has been, “I don’t know! What are YOU doing with The Binding of Isaac?” Oy. So today I’m to start my sermon with a poem – it’s from David Whyte – called “Sometimes.” [1]
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