Tag Archives: abundance

Extravagantly Kind

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Proper 10A, 16 July 2023. The Very 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 13:1-9 [10-17] 18-23. Hear then the parable of the sower.

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.

There is an old Jewish wisdom teaching that God created humans because God loves stories. Two of our three readings this morning are stories. We have the story of Rebekah bearing twins, Esau and Jacob, and of the most expensive bowl of red-lentil soup there ever was in the history of the world. Our Gospel portion includes a memorable story, parable. I often think that the Apostle Paul’s letters might have been more comprehensible and less objectionable, if they focused more on stories than high rhetoric, elegant as it is. Continue reading →

Abundance

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Epiphany 5C, 6 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 6:1-8[9-13]. Keep listening but do not comprehend.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Luke 5:1-11. Put out into the deep water.

O God of the Deep, 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.

Whenever our lectionary assigns optional verses, like (the bracketed verses 9-13 in) today’s reading from Isaiah 6, I exercise the option. In this case, including those verses helps keep us from getting too sentimental about Isaiah’s famous call. The verses that follow explain just exactly what Isaiah is being called to do: say to the people, “Listen but don’t comprehend, look but don’t understand,” so they will not turn and be healed. “How long [do I have to do that], O Lord?” Isaiah asks. “Until the desolation is complete,” says the Holy One. “Until there’s nothing left.” Yikes! If Isaiah agrees to be sent, this is what he can expect if he does his job: God’s Word will not be comprehended; people will not repent. I hear echoes of this story in Luke and in our own time. Is this prescriptive or descriptive? I don’t know, but I find it true. Continue reading →

Pharisees

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Proper 22B.  3 October 2021. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Job 1:1, 2:1-10. Do you still persist in your integrity?
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12. Someone has testified somewhere.
Mark 10:2-16.  Receive the kingdom of God as a little child.

O God of the Pharisees, 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.

So how about those readings? One of the things that my clergy colleagues and I often do when we see each other in the week before particularly troublesome readings is ask one another, “Are you preaching on Sunday?” And if the answer is no, the response is, “lucky!” If the answer is yes, the follow up question is, “What are you going to do with those readings?” I usually keep this to myself, but I’ll confess to you that I actually feel lucky to engage and even debate challenging scripture texts. I think of the ways that People of the Book turn to one another for perspective, guidance, sympathy, insight, and sometimes in the form of an argument. It’s not always respectful, but I think we all know that it’s supposed to be. Continue reading →

Signs

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Proper 12B.  July 25, 2021

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 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.

 This morning we are observing the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene, transferred from July 22, thanks to our deacon, Bob Greiner’s initiative. Our observation is a little bit of a mash-up (this is Emmanuel Church, after all): the collect of the day, proper preface, and the color of our vestments reflect Mary Magdalene’s feast day, and our lectionary readings and music are for ordinary time because I didn’t want you to miss them. Besides, as Jane Redmont says, “Mary Magdalene challenges us to live in resurrection mode all the time.” So instead of hearing the Easter Day proclamation from Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles: “I have seen the Lord,” we just heard Bob read the Gospel of John’s version of the feeding of 5,000. It’s a demonstration of seeing the Lord.
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God’s Story

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Proper 23C, October 13, 2019. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
2 Timothy 2:8-15. The word of God is not chained.
Luke 17:11-19. Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?’

O God of Sacred Story, 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 sermon is going to include a list-making exercise – and so you might want to have a pen or pencil ready – or take notes on your phone. (Yes, I’m the priest who regularly tells people to use their phones during the liturgy.) You won’t need it for a few minutes, but I want you to be ready. Before that I want to offer some commentary on the readings from our First and Second Testaments. I want to highlight the surprising instructions from God through the prophecy of Jeremiah to the people who were in exile, far from home, captives in Babylon, because maybe some of you are in a similar situation. Jeremiah wrote the Word of God in a letter to them and said: “Plant gardens. Build dwelling places. Seek the welfare of the city where you are, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” The Hebrew word for welfare is “shalom.” The same word in Arabic, “salaam,” forms the word Islam. Islam is often translated “submission,” and that is also an essential part of shalom – submission is obedience; obedience is radical listening; radical listening is what God, also known as Love, commands above all else. Listening to love, submitting to love, and well-being are all one. Seek wellbeing in the new and difficult place to which you have arrived against your will. God’s blessing continues even in exile. Contribute to the welfare of the city wherever you are. Be a blessing where you are, even if you are a captive.

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Surprising Visions of Peace

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Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C
May 19, 2019

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 strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.


We are thirty-five days into Eastertide, and our scripture lessons today describe visions: Peter’s vision, John of Patmos’ vision, and John the Evangelist’s vision. While Peter was in a trance of prayer, he had a life-changing dream that revealed there is no distinction between “them” and “us.” In other words, when it comes to the redeeming urge or work of the Holy One, (also known as Jesus Christ for Christians), there is no Jew or Gentile, no free or slave, no male and female, [1]  no insiders and outsiders, no gender binary; all people are one. While there are always those in the center and those on the margins, those with more power and those with less, those of us who have and use more than our fair share of resources and those who do not have their basic needs met, we are all one. Peter realizes that he should not be hindering the work of God by deciding who is inside and who is outside of God’s reach when it comes to sacred and profane practices. Here’s where we often get tripped up as Christians. How does any of us decide what is godly is and what it’s not? Well, for starters, as our Presiding Bishop Curry is fond of saying, “if it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” Of course it gets complicated, but that’s where we start. If it looks like there are competing interests that all have to do with love, we might need to enlarge our view. We might need to look at the situation from 30,000 feet where differences become imperceptible.

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Always a Catch

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Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany (C)
February 10, 2019

Isaiah 6:1-8[9-13]  Keep listening but do not comprehend.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Luke 5:1-11  Put out into the deep water.

O God of the deep, 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 a part of Isaiah that I bet most of you are not familiar with. The verses that follow the famous call story of Isaiah, explain just exactly what Isaiah is being called to do: say to the people “listen but don’t comprehend, look but don’t understand,” so they will not turn and be healed. “How long, O Lord?” Isaiah asks. Until the desolation is complete, says the Holy One. Until there’s nothing left. If Isaiah agrees to be sent, this is what he can expect if he does his job: God’s Word will not be comprehended. People will not repent. I hear echoes of this story in Luke and in our own time. Is this prescriptive or descriptive? I don’t know – but I find it true.

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Vision & Compassion

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Second Sunday after the Epiphany (C),
January 20, 2019

 

Isaiah 62:1-5 Your land married for the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Varieties of gifts…of services…of activities…for the common good.
John 2:1-11 (Though the servants who had drawn the water knew)

 

O God of the servants, 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 before us a scripture passage from the first testament, that lies at the very heart of the part of Isaiah that gets called “third Isaiah.” Your land shall be married – so shall your God rejoice in you. The land shall be called Beulah – the Hebrew word for “married to” means “properly governed” or “valued and cared about” (they all mean the same – here is a Biblical definition of marriage for you to cite if that ever comes up in your conversations about heteronormative monogamy! Or does that only come up in my conversations?) Beulah Land or properly governed land, or valued and cared about land, here, is about encouraging people to rebuild what has been utterly devastated – in this case, the devastated city of Jerusalem, the city of peace. The people are crying out in fear and pain, feeling utterly forsaken. Isaiah’s message to them is about rebuilding hope and about creating signs or signals of hope for others. And it lies at the very heart of a part of scripture that contains radical proposals for an inclusive community – it’s a treatise written to defend an inclusive and expansive group against the actions of those who wanted to strictly limit the access and benefits of the community. Every three years, when this passage gets read in church, I think, “oh we need to hear this now more than ever.”

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Calling for a Better Future

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The Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year B,January 14, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz
January 14, 2018

1 Samuel 3:1-20 The Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God and that you are not your own?
John 1:43-51 I saw you.

O God of our hope, 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.

 

Sometimes our lectionary seems to lob softball pitches for helping us to make meaning of current events and equipping us to better navigate our future. In our first reading from the first Book of Samuel, we read that in the old days, the word of the Lord was rare, and the ability to see clearly was not widespread. Back in the year 1100 BCE, Israel was going through a time of immense societal change. Biblical scholar Bruce Birch calls it “a time of spiritual desolation, religious corruption, political danger, and social upheaval.” [1] Eli the priest and his sons were responsible for guarding the Ark of the Covenant and its holy oracle. Eli’s sons did not behave well at all and Eli wasn’t able to get them to change their violent ways. This is a story of the transfer of authority from Eli to Samuel that highlights Eli’s wisdom and integrity, and Samuel’s responsiveness and bravery. The word of God, here, is like a light that is both harsh and bright – exposing what is shameful and shining like a beacon to light the way. The call that Samuel hears is to prophetic work of declaring both judgment and hope, both repentance and return to the way of obedience to Love (which is another word for God). It’s a call for a better future.
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Love is calling you.

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Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 13C, July 31, 2016, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Hosea 11:1-11 I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.
Colossians 3:1-11 The wrath of God on whose who are disobedient.
Luke 12:13-21 The land of a rich man produced abundantly.

O God of abundance, 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 a pair of scripture readings that take the cliché and inaccurate characterization of OT “god of wrath” and NT “god of love” and turn it on its head. Colossians warns of the wrath of God on those who are disobedient. But through the prophet Hosea, a compassionate and merciful Holy One is telling the story of falling in love with the “god strugglers” (which is what Israel literally means) when they were children. God fell in love with those children when they were in a tight spot, a bind, a narrow place (which is what Egypt literally means). God called those children, but the more God called, the more the children ran in the other direction. They kept giving their precious resources to the wrong gods (gods of everything BUT love); they kept offering their devotion to worthless causes, placing their hopes in idols or dummies. And yet, God knows that they will eventually come trembling back from the narrow place (Egypt) and the militarized place (Assyria) and God will return them to their homes. Continue reading →