Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

Unbounded Mercy

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Proper 10C.  10 July 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

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.

This parable called The Good Samaritan, found only in Luke, might be the most famous parable of them all. One doesn’t have to be a church goer to have heard of it and understand something about it. Hospitals, emergency services, counseling services, laws about liability limits, and award programs, all get called Good Samaritan. With its fame comes the enormous, sometimes crushing, weight of Protestant moral theology and Sunday-school lessons, both with 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 who have been beaten and robbed, lying in life’s various ditches, and not doing enough, or anything at all, to help. In my time as a priest, this story has provoked more confessions and more attempts at self-justification than any other I know. It reminds me of something bell hooks said, which feels like the essence of my vocation: [1]

I am often struck by the dangerous narcissism fostered by spiritual rhetoric that pays so much attention to individual self-improvement and so little to the practice of love within the context of community.

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Not the End of the Story

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Proper 9C, 3 July 2022, 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 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.

I’ve spent some time thinking about dignity in this past week as I continue to shudder at the dramatic disregard for the well-being of people whose right to bodily autonomy has been eliminated or severely jeopardized by the United States Supreme Court. Maybe you saw the guest opinion piece in last Sunday’s New York Times by Michele Goodwin, law professor at the University of California, who pointed out that in the Dodd decision, the majority of the Supreme Court failed to honor the 13th amendments which prohibits involuntary servitude and provides protection of bodily autonomy for Black women, and the 14th amendment which defend privacy and freedom. Goodwin wrote that “state-mandated pregnancy will exacerbate what are already alarming health and dignity harms, especially in states with horrific records of maternal mortality and morbidity.” [1] Her analysis was very present in my mind as I reflected on our reading for today from 2 Kings. Continue reading →

Keep your hand on the plow and hold on.

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Proper 8C, 26 June 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

1 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14. You have asked a hard thing….(Keep your eyes on me as I am taken).
Galatians 5:1,13-25.  The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Luke 9:51-62. Follow me.

O God our help and 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.

Buckle up. On Friday, I was listening to a recording of Mahalia Jackson singing the African American spiritual “Keep your hand on the plow, hold on,” when the news came that the Supreme Court of the United States had overturned Roe vs. Wade, eliminating the Constitutional right to the bodily autonomy of people who are pregnant. It hit me like the news of a loved-one’s death after a prolonged illness. The news seemed sudden and felt devastating, even though I expected it. It’s like a gut punch or, to put a finer point on it, for some of us it’s a uterine punch. The majority decision that reproductive autonomy, when it comes to pregnancy, is a states-rights issue rather than a human-rights issue, will immediately eliminate access to legal abortions in 20 states, for about 25.5 million people with a uterus who are of reproduction age (which starts at about 12, by the way, and can go beyond 50). Continue reading →

Walking in Love

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Pentecost C, 5 June 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Acts 2:1-21. Like the rush of a violent wind.
Romans 8:14-17. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.
John 14:8-17, 25-27. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.

O God of our burning hearts, 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 I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with my 9 ½ year old great-niece for the first time in six years. She asked me what I do for work. When adults ask me that question, I like to say that I run a spiritual repair shop on Newbury Street. But I didn’t think that would make much sense to her, so I said, “I’m a minister in a church” and I asked her if she knew what church is, and she shook her head no. She knows what an intentional housing community is because she lives in one, so I said, “It’s an intentional community where people who live in all different places come together to give thanks and sing and meditate and learn to love and support one another with the idea of making the world a better place. She said, “cool!” And I said, “yes it is!” I love the challenge of talking about what we’re doing here without using theological or churchy language. It takes some of the stumbling blocks away and gets to the essence or core meaning of what we’re about. Continue reading →

Holy Trinity

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Trinity Sunday C, 12 June 2022. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31. Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?…”To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.”
Romans 5:1-11. We boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
John 16:12-15. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

O indescribable Holiness, 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 Trinity Sunday! Today is the Sunday after Pentecost that Western (or Roman and Anglican and Protestant) Christians have designated Trinity Sunday, going back in the Latin Church since the Middle Ages. The Eastern Orthodox Christians didn’t get the memo, or didn’t agree with the terms, so they combine Pentecost and Trinity into one Sunday. Maybe it’s a case of “the grass is always greener on the other side of the street,” but that seems like a good idea to me. I’ve confessed to you before that I’ve never been able to get interested enough in systematic theology in general or the doctrine of the Trinity, specifically (not enough to give it its very own Sunday, anyway). Bishop Gates and I were talking about seminary recently and I said something (could have been just about anything) that prompted him to ask, “Who did you have for systematics?” I laughed and said, “I didn’t take systematic theology. It wasn’t even offered.” And that was just as well because one philosophy course as an undergrad nearly did me in. Continue reading →

Do the works of Love!

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Proper 7C, 19 June 2022, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

1 Kings 19:1-15a. What are you doing here Elijah?
Psalm 42.  Deep calls to deep,
Galatians 3:23-29.  For all of you are one.
Luke 8:26-39. Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.

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

I grew up with the expectation that, as theologian Karl Barth taught, preachers should “preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” My dad always did that. It’s my intention too, but some days my hands are just not big enough and, though I have two, I don’t have as many as I need. Today is one of those days. On one hand, we have the story of Elijah on the run, of the deep calling to deep that we are to put our hope in God and give thanks to God who is our ever-present help in the Psalms. Then there’s Paul’s brilliant teaching in his letter to the Galatians that when we clothe ourselves in Christ Jesus, there is no Jew or Gentile, enslaved person or freed person; there is no male and female. And then the story of the Geresene demoniac – I could work on the study of that story for all the Sundays left in 2022. Continue reading →

Homemaking

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Easter 6C, 22 May 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 16:9-15.  Come and stay at my home.
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God.
John 14:23-29. We will come to them and make our home with them.

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.

Most times, when I begin to write a sermon for a Sunday morning at Emmanuel, I look at the liturgical calendar and the parish calendar and I think, “well we have a lot going on!” And today is no different. On the 6th Sunday of Eastertide, we’re at the last Sunday of our glorious cantata season, we have a brilliant new motet written by Omar Najmi, we are nearing the end of the Bach Institute May Intensive course, and celebrating the baptism of Michael Paul Weis, III! Our texts are from Acts of the Apostles, The Revelation to John, The Gospel of John, with additional words of Walt Whitman and BWV 37, which is a reflection on Mark 16:16. Continue reading →

A New Commandment?

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Easter 5C. 15 May 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 11:1-18. The spirit told me…not to make a distinction between them and us.
Revelation 21:1-6. I am making all things new.…To the thirsty I will give water as a gift.
John 13:31-35. I give you a new commandment, [in order] that you love one another.

O God of all, 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 are deep into Eastertide, and our scripture lessons and our cantata lesson today describe the visions of Peter, John of Patmos, and John the Evangelist, and Bach’s vision of peace and joy, comfort, calm, and quiet at the last. We’re also giving thanks to God for the five decades of the gentle and inviting presence of Stephen Babcock as chief usher and greeter. For more than thirty of his fifty+ years at Emmanuel, Sunday after Sunday, no matter what the weather, Steve stood just outside of the massive doors of a daunting stone structure in the first block of an intimidating location to offer graceful welcome. The vestry has named the doors to our west lobby “The Babcock Doors”, and just before we exchange the Peace today, we will dedicate and bless them. Continue reading →

Song-Infused Days

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Easter 3C, 1 May 2022. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20). Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen.
Revelation 5:11-14. And the four living creatures said, “Amen!”
John 21:1-19. Come and have breakfast.

O God of resurrection, 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.

Many of you know that Emmanuel Church is between parish administrators in these weeks after Easter, so I am getting an eye-opening and humbling opportunity to serve as both your rector and your interim parish administrator. I’ coordinating and supporting the generous offerings of volunteers and learning about the endless and perplexing challenges of the ministry of the front office, which I’d only heretofore imagined or knew second hand. I have always appreciated the ministrations of administrators, and my admiration is surging at the moment! Administration, at Emmanuel anyway, is jammed full of details and procedures that are always in service to our mission of radical hospitality, advocacy and alliance, spirituality and the arts, and good stewardship of resources entrusted to our care. Continue reading →

The Discipline of Love

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Easter 2C, 24 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 5:27-32. Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
Revelation 1:4-8. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.
John 20:19-31. Peace be to you.…I send you….Receive the spirit of holiness.

O God of inspiration, 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.

Our lectionary in Eastertide turns away from readings from the First Testament and toward the Acts of the Apostles, volume two of the Gospel of Luke. This makes a lot of sense because Acts of the Apostles contains the stories of what Jesus’ followers did after Jesus’ execution, how they were inspired with a spirit of holiness to carry on lives dedicated to Jesus’ ministry marked by justice and right-relationship, by compassion, mercy, and peace. Although the book is more romance than history (in the way we think of history), the stories show that experiences of the resurrection in the early church are not as much about theological or philosophical ideas, but about the consequential actions of being in relationship with the Divine in public practice. Jesus and then the apostles were teaching about calling people to make choices that would shape the well-being of the larger community by their living in greater fidelity with God and one another in the midst of the oppression of an occupying army.  Continue reading →