Proper 13B, 4 August 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuell 11:26 -12:13a.  There were two men in a certain city, one rich, and the other poor.
• Ephesians 4:1-16.  Speaking the truth in love…promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
• John 6:24-35. I AM the bread of life..

O God of continual 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.

I will confess to you that when I looked at the Gospel lesson for this Sunday, I wondered if I’d made a mistake starting my vacation tomorrow instead of last Thursday. John’s emphasis on believing and his assertion that whoever comes to Jesus will never be hungry or thirsty are teachings that are complicated for me. I don’t think they were intended to be stumbling blocks, but I find that they often are. So here goes! I’m stumbling forward. Continue reading →

Proper 12B, 28 July 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuel 11:1-15.  As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.
• Ephesians 3:14-21.  That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.
• John 6:1-21. Ego eimi mey phobeisthe.

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.

Today we hear the two stories that were left out of last week’s Gospel lesson from Mark. For some reason, the lectionary assigns the Gospel reading for today from John’s version. If you’d like a homework assignment, read all six feeding stories in the four Gospels side by side! Given how very different the four Gospels are, the versions of these stories are remarkably similar. Mark’s version is characteristically a little rougher, John’s is more polished. Mark’s Jesus is in the thick of conflict and confusion all along; for John, Jesus’ feet never really touched the ground. The story of Jesus feeding a huge hungry crowd is one of the most significant stories about Jesus. It’s rare that a miracle story appears in all four Gospels. I still think that the lectionary should have stuck with Mark this week, though, because it’s complicated and confusing to mix and match Gospel stories. It means shifting gears rather wildly from one literary world to another, each with different assumptions, strategies, purposes, and even audiences. [1] Some may wonder whether the repetition and similarities of the feeding stories make them more likely memory and less likely metaphor. I don’t know. For me, the stories are equally powerful either as memory or metaphor.  Continue reading →

Proper 11B, 21 July 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuel 7:1-14a. I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day.
• Ephesians 2:11-22.  He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
• Mark 6:30-34, 53-56. You give them something to eat.

O God of compassion, 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 hope you noticed that our Gospel portion for this morning is missing quite a few verses – nineteen to be exact, and then it acts like nothing happened. These verses, in my view, are essential to the story and I’m chagrined that they never get read in church – not next week or any week. They are the Gospel of Mark’s particular version of Jesus telling the weary twelve, who were anticipating a needed rest, to use the five loaves and two fish that they had between them to feed to a crowd of 5,000. After dinner they got back in the boat without Jesus, who went up the mountain to pray. Then early the next morning, straining against an adverse wind, they saw Jesus walking on the water. Jesus intended to pass them by, Mark writes, but he saw their terror and told them not to be afraid. Then he got in the boat with them and the wind ceased. They were astounded, indeed they did not understand about the loaves, for their hearts were hardened. In other words, Jesus has just walked on water and calmed a storm and the disciples are still grumbling about the loaves. Continue reading →

Proper 10B, 14 July 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19.  David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might.
• Ephesians 1:3-14.  We should be called children of God, and that is what we are.
• Mark 6: 14-29. What should I ask for.

O God of the stony roads watered with tears, 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 past few weeks, the opening collects have really been speaking to me, and influencing my preaching. This morning, for instance, we prayed that we may know and understand what things we ought to do and have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them. That’s a lot to ask for, isn’t it? Especially when our Gospel lesson is the kind of story that makes many of us hesitant to say “praise to you, Lord Christ,” in response to its proclamation. This gruesome story of John the Baptist’s incarceration and execution as a macabre party favor is unusually long and detailed for the Gospel of Mark. And our lectionary doesn’t include the verses just before and just after this grim tale, so we’re not made aware that this is one of Mark’s story interruptions.  Continue reading →

Proper 9B, 7 July 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10. King David made a covenant with them..
• 2 Corinthians 12:2-10..  My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
• Mark 6:1-13. Jesus left that place and came to his home….Then he went among the villages teaching.

O God of grace, 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 our Gospel reading for today, Mark tells us that Jesus left the place where the hemorrhaging woman was healed and Jairus’ daughter was raised, and came to his hometown. I used to assume that Mark meant Nazareth when he said that Jesus came to his hometown, but now when I read this story with what comes before and what comes after, it seems clear to me that it’s not Nazareth at all; Jesus and his disciples are along the Sea of Galilee, and Mark has already mentioned in chapter three that Jesus, originally from Nazareth, was at home in Capernaum. Jesus had made a new home, a bigger home to accommodate not just his biological kin, but his kin in the kin-dom work of repentance, reconciliation and right relationship.  Continue reading →

Proper 8B, 30 June 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27. O daughters of Israel..
• 2 Corinthians 8:7-15.  It is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need.
• Mark 5:21-43. They were overcome by amazement.

O God of the whole truth, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after that truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

If I asked you about the Parable of the Three Women, you would probably look at me blankly and say you’ve never heard of it. You have actually just heard it in our reading from the Gospel of Mark, but you’ve never heard it called the “Parable of the Three Women,” because I just made that title up. Now you might be thinking, “wait, that Gospel lesson was about two women – an older woman and a girl. Who’s the third?” The third woman is the girl’s mother. Part of problem is that none of the women are named, so they’re easily forgotten. I thought about this when I noticed today’s opening prayer which speaks to God Who has “built [their] Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.” I bet that a lot of you could name men who were foundational apostles and prophets, but would be at a loss to name many women who were foundational apostles and prophets. Some of you have heard church leaders say that only men can be ordained priests or pastors because Jesus only called men. That’s just not true. A few women apostles and prophets are named in the Bible, but many more are not named, and that has more to do with the patriarchy of the Church than it has to do with Jesus’ life and teachings. You know, someday I think we should base a religion on following what we know of the teachings and behaviors of Jesus! (Just saying.) Continue reading →

Proper 4B, 14 April 2024. The Very 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.

This morning, we heard the stirring reading of the call of Samuel with the fantastic introduction that back in the really olden days (prior to 1000 BCE), the word of the Lord was rare, and the ability to see clearly was not widespread! And that assessment is from the perspective of hundreds of years later in the 7th or 6th century BCE! Three thousand or so years ago, people of the Holy One were going through a time of immense societal change, spiritual desolation, religious corruption, and great political danger.” [1] Eli the priest and his sons were responsible for guarding the Ark of the Covenant and its holy oracle.  Eli’s sons were violent and Eli was unable to control or improve their behavior.
Continue reading →

Pentecost, 19 May 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• Acts 2:1-21.  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”.
• Romans 8:22-27.  For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?
• John 15: 26-27, 16:4b-15. You also are to testify.

O God, the eternal flame, 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 Pentecost! It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Merry Christmas or Happy Easter, does it? I don’t know why that is – but for Episcopalians anyway, Pentecost just hasn’t caught on like the birth story or the life-after-death story. Maybe it’s because Pentecost is a story about breath and wind – about inspiration that is intoxicating, about passion that burns. It’s hard to come up with a mascot like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny for those things! It’s hard to talk about the power of breath and of wind, of inspiration and passion, about fire in the belly, for those of us socialized to sit quietly, sing softly, and not call attention to ourselves or our faith. But I would argue that one way to talk about Pentecost is to talk about the facts of life. Continue reading →

Easter 6B, 5 May 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

• Acts 10:44-48.  Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?
• 1 John 5:1-6.  The Spirit is the truth.
• John 15:9-17. I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.

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.

You know, it’s still Easter – in the Church’s 50-day season for praising God and reveling in God’s grace so abundantly given that transforms the horror of the crucifixion into the power of the Risen Lord. We’re still in that Great Fifty Days of celebration. I don’t know about you, but apart from worship at Emmanuel, often the details of my life and the details of the world weigh me down. I feel weighed down by what looks like too much to do and not enough time; too much need and not enough resources being directed to the right places; by news of people at war, by news of militaristic aggression at home and abroad, by layers upon layers of damage done by white supremacy, by corruption and famine, by climate change, by all kinds of oppression, and on and on. It all seems to conspire to keep me from reveling in the abiding love of God for more than a few hours on a Sunday. And today’s Gospel makes it clear to me that abiding in love and bearing fruit are part of the same thing – of reveling in God’s unearned and abundant grace. How can we celebrate Good News when we get so weighed down by bad news? Continue reading →