Author Archives: Matt Griffing

Clear Vision

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Christmas 2B, January 3, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Jeremiah 31:7-14 Their life shall become like a watered garden . . . and my people will be satisfied with my bounty.
Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you.
Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 We observed his star at its rising.

O God of our dreams, 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. Amen.

Before the year 2020 began, I thought a lot about the idea that 20/20 is a term to express visual clarity. 20/20 is what optometrists strive for when prescribing corrective lenses, and did we ever see more clearly in this past year. We have seen “with the eyes of our hearts enlightened” where we have missed the marks as a society when it comes to the equitable distribution of resources, and we have seen “with the eyes of our hearts enlightened, what is the hope to which God has called us.” We have risen to previously unthought of challenges, and we have acknowledged our vulnerabilities. We have seen (in others and in ourselves) foolishness and bravery, self-absorption and self-emptying, grasping and giving away. Since hindsight is 20/20, it might take a little time before we are completely clear about all that we’ve seen and what it means for us going forward.
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Everything happens next.

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Advent 4B, December 20, 2020. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16. The Lord will make you a house. (Poof!)
Romans 16:25-27. Now to God…be the glory forever. Amen.
Luke 1:26-38. Here I am, the servant of the Lord.

O God in whom is heaven, 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.

This Advent, Emmanuel Church has begun repenting of – turning-around from — theological and liturgical words and images that set up “darkness bad/light good” teachings, because language is a powerful tool, which we can use in dismantling white supremacy in the Church, especially the unconscious kind. We have stopped using darkness as a metaphor for sin or for evil, because the Bible teaches us that to God, darkness and light are both alike. [1] Therefore, darkness cannot be only profane, and lightness only holy. Dark and light can both be beautiful and grace-filled. Dark and light can both be terrifying and terrible.
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Fantastic News!

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Advent 3B, December 13, 2020. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 66:1-4, 8-11. To give them a garland instead of ashes.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. May the God of peace sanctify you entirely.
John 1:6-8, 19-28. There was a man sent from God….He came to testify to the light….The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

O God of grace and 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.

This Advent, I’ve been paying particularly close attention to our opening prayers, our collect for each Sunday. Our collect for this third Sunday in Advent pleads with the Holy One to stir up power and with great might come among us with bountiful grace and mercy because our sins are sorely hindering us. I love this prayer, and it also scares me. It’s not that I disagree with the idea that our sins are sorely hindering us; it’s just that I’d rather be praying, “Settle down, O God, so that we can have a peaceful and happy holiday season. Settle us down, O Desire of Nations, so that we can read or listen to the news without anxiety, fear, rage, or despair. Dear Jesse’s Branch, please don’t stir us up too much, because we’ve already been through it this year, between the ravages of COVID, the ravages of racism, and the ravages of weather-related disasters.” Here, however, is John the Baptist bearing witness to the powerful brightness of the coming Christ.

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Turn around!

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Advent 2B, December 6, 2020. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 40:1-11 Cry out!
2 Peter 3:8-15a Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
Mark 1:1-8 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

O God of the prophets, 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.

Every year our branch of Christianity gives us a new year, advent, a new season for longing to hear and respond to lessons of prophetic wisdom and calls for repentance writ large. This morning our collect for the day gathers us as one to beg for grace to heed the prophets’ warnings and forsake our sins, our collective sins: the sins of our communities, corporations, governments, and churches. We beg for grace because we surely cannot forsake our sins without grace. If the good news is that God’s grace is abundantly available to us, all around us, completely accessible for the asking, then what? How do we drink from the deep well of God’s grace so that we heed the prophetic warnings and forsake our sins?
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Repentance, Repair & Reconciliation

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Advent 1B, November 29, 2020.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 64:1-9. O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.…We are your people.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 13:24-37 Keep awake.

O God of Repentance, 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.

Today marks the beginning of a new Church year with the first Sunday in Advent. The Christian new year doesn’t begin with festivities or celebrations, but with lamentation in Isaiah, with a letter from Paul written in response to reports of in-fighting – of quarrelling in the church in Corinth, and with the Gospel of Mark’s “apocalypse” – Jesus’ prediction of the end of life as his disciples know it. The end, according to Mark, will be a very good thing because of the enormity of suffering, because of the desolation being experienced. I get this at a deeper level than I ever have before because of the revelations and devastations of this past year.
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Restoration

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Last Sunday after Pentecost, November 22, 2020.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will guard!
Ephesians 1:15-23. So that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you
Matthew 25:31-46. Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.

O God of Restoration, 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 marks the end of our liturgical year in terms of Sundays, and the end of our year of readings from the Gospel of Matthew. We have reached the end of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel narrative. This passage is the conclusive teaching before the Passion. It’s combined in our lectionary with another great sorting description from the prophet Ezekiel, and an interlude from the letter to the Ephesians. In each of our readings for the day we have bad news and good news. In my family, we always wanted (and usually got) the bad news first.
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Shehechyanu

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Proper 27A
November 8, 2020

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. So that you may not grieve as others who have no hope
Matthew 25:1-13. Keep awake therefore

I don’t know how many of you heard the Gospel passage that Bob just read and felt a sense of vague anxiety or maybe even stronger – a sense of indignation or anger about who is in and who is out. It’s striking to read this in the context of our nation, divided nearly in half politically. It sounded different to me at the beginning of the week compared with the end of the week. Maybe some hear this Gospel passage and feel secretly smug because you are someone who is always prepared – you know, who never lets your gas tank in your car go below half full. Maybe you are elated by the results of the presidential election. I will confess to you that I am someone who is often driving on empty, and I’ve been on the losing side of votes many times.
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Sing the songs of Love!

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The Feast of All Saints
November 1, 2020

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.

Today we observe the Feast of All Saints in the Church, with a special celebration of “A Saint for All Saints, The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray,” the first Black woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, sponsored for ordination by Emmanuel Church before any woman had been ordained in the Episcopal Church. I hope that you will be able to join our webinar program at 4:00 this afternoon about her life and legacy – there’s still time to register by going to Emmanuel’s web page. You may also want to download the program booklet.
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Make no peace with oppression!

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Proper 24A
October 18, 2020

Exodus 33:12-23. But you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
1 Thessalonians. Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
Matthew:15-22. Whose head is this, and whose title? i.e., whose image is this and whose inscription?

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.

The other day I heard a lecture by Episcopal priest Reed Carlson, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at United Lutheran Seminary, that made me want to go back to the end of last week’s Gospel lesson and last week’s sermon. You might remember that I posited that the story of the king that binds the hands and feet of one who is not properly dressed is not a story about how God works, but how human kings work. The verse at the end of the Gospel portion says, “For many are called but few are chosen,” or more literally, many are called but few are called out. It has always seemed like a non-sequitur to me, but I don’t believe non-sequiturs actually exist in Biblical literature. The apparent disconnect is always on our end, not the narrative’s end.
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Take the encouragement!

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Proper 23A.  11 October 2020.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 32:1-14. And the LORD changed his [sic] mind.
Philippians 4:1-9. there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Matthew 22:1-14. Invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet or friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?

O God of compassion and justice, 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.

This morning, as I reflect with you on the Gospel lesson from Matthew, I do so influenced and encouraged by the Torah story from Exodus. It’s a story of what happens to the people when there is a scarcity of visible leadership, plenty of deep anxiety, and considerable impatience with unknowing. While there is no doctrine of original sin in Judaism, commentator Gunther Plaut tells about a midrash that “all ills which have befallen the people since that time are in part traceable to the sin with the golden calf.” [1] Divine anger threatened to utterly destroy the unfaithful nation, but Moses stood up for God’s people and reminded God of God’s promise of abundant life and God changed God’s mind.
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