Tag Archives: community

Let Love become us!

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Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B, April 29, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L.Werntz

Acts 8:26-40 (This is a wilderness road.)
1 John 4:7-21 God is love.
John 15:1-8 Abide in me.

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

During the Great Fifty Days of Easter, our schedule of scripture readings, called “The Revised Common Lectionary,” eschews readings from the First Testament of our Bible in favor of stories from the Book of Acts, which is the sequel or companion volume to the Gospel of Luke. Many of you know that I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I appreciate that readings from Hebrew Scripture are not explicitly being employed to prop up resurrection narratives (the way I think they get used to prop up Jesus’ birth narratives during Advent). And I love the portions of the fantastic stories from the Book of Acts of people who were completely carried away by the inspiration of spreading the Good News that even the most horrific death had not destroyed the mighty Love of Jesus in God. However, without reading the wisdom of the Tanakh – that is, the Torah or the Prophets or the Writings of Hebrew scripture – we risk not understanding the content and context of this Good News.
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Looking More Resurrected

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Second Sunday of Easter, Year B, April 8, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 4:32-35 There was not a needy person among them.
1 John 1:1-2:2 If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves.
John 20:19-31 Peace be with you.

O God of our wildest dreams, 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.

Today is the eighth day of Easter. Eight out of fifty of Easter – so it’s still early. The puppets from our grand first-day procession last week have been returned to their storage places, but the flowers are still pretty fresh, and there are still good Easter hymns left to be sung. We have a baptism to celebrate today. Emilia Julu Hudson Houge has brought together family and friends from near and far to join her Emmanuel Church peeps for a ceremony of Christian belonging. Thank you all for being here today. Almost any day in the church year is a good day for a baptism, as far as I’m concerned, and today is especially rich because the theological message for the second Sunday in Easter is always: “you should believe it whether or not you’ve seen it.” Because of Emi’s baptism, I’m reminded of what one of my seminary professors was fond of saying: “I believe in infant baptism, heck, I’ve seen it!” I want to make sure you know that you don’t have to have a baptism ceremony to belong here at Emmanuel Church, but why not give the community another reason to rejoice?
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It’s funny. Live in the along!

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Easter, Year B, April 1, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 10:34-43 I truly understand that God shows no partiality.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Also you are being saved.
John 20:1-18 I have seen the Lord.

O God of laughter, 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 April Fools’ Day everyone! I’m so glad you’re here. You look very beautiful (and that is no joke). Welcome to those of you who are here for the first time; welcome to those of you who have been here more times than you can count, and welcome to everyone in between!  Thank you for coming to Emmanuel Church to begin the festival of the Great Fifty Days of Easter.  You honor us with your presence this morning. We are glad that you’re here whether you love this holiday, or you don’t so much, but you are here because it matters to someone you love, or you are here for a sadder reason.  Maybe some of you don’t even quite know the reason you’re here – and I’m grateful that you’re here too!
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Diving into the Wreck

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Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B, March 11, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Numbers 21:4-9 So Moses prayed for the people.
Ephesians 2:1-10 And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
John 3:14-21 Those who do what is true come to the light.

O God of infinite 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.

When I’m writing a sermon, I often think of songs or poems. For today it was Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck.” The connection in my mind is our gospel lesson from John – the wreck of misunderstandings and mistreatments of this text – it’s almost too much for me to bear. I knew that when our Deacon Bob read this passage to you, many of you would start shutting down, going other places in your heads, perhaps leaving the building in your imaginations. I’m not going to recite the whole poem, but listen to these lines from the middle:

I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail…

the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth [1]

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The Marks of Love

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Third Sunday in Lent, Year B, March 4, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 20:1-17 Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.
John 2:13-22 He was speaking of the temple of his body.

O mysterious God, 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.

Many of you know that one of my life projects is increasing Biblical literacy, so I’m always on the lookout for books and articles that are accessible to people who are interested in learning about our sacred texts. Episcopal priest Lauren Winner has recently written a slim volume in the new Episcopal Church teaching series, called A Word to Live By, about engaging scripture with curiosity and confidence. It’s less than a hundred pages, less than $10, and it’s fantastic. In her introduction Winner invites readers of Biblical literature to “expect to be delighted. Expect to be discomfited… .[and] expect to be puzzled… .because the Bible is opaque, and puzzlement means you’re paying attention to, rather than filtering out, the opaque bits.” [1]
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Plans Questioned & Prayers Answered

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Fifth Sunday after the Epipany, Year B, February 4, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 40:21-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning?
1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge.
Mark 1:29-39 So that I may proclaim the message.”\

O God of our liberation, 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.

One of the many things I love about the Gospel of Mark is his economy of words – both the amount of information packed into a few verses, and the enormous amount of room for the reader or hearer’s imagination, because the details and definitions are not all specified. Of course, this was viewed as a deficiency by later evangelists (Matthew in particular), but I appreciate the spare and breathless prose. Our reading today picks up after just 28 previous verses in which Mark has proclaimed that the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ was that John the Baptist was calling for the heart’s transformation, citing the prophet Isaiah as his authority, John the Baptist was calling for immersion in forgiveness and amendment of life. A whole lot of people answered this call, including Jesus from Nazareth. The experience was a complete life changer for Jesus, who emerged from the Jordan River with dawning understanding that the Spirit from the heavens (the Ruach, the breath of the Holy One) was delighted in him. Without more time than a heartbeat, that same spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness for a quarantine (40 days of separation) where he was being tempted by the Accuser and divine messengers ministered to him. (All that is in just the first 13 verses.)
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The Ordering Principle

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Fourth Sunday after Epipany, Year B, January 28, 2018; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 This is what you requested.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Love builds up.
Mark 1:21-28 They were astounded by his teaching.

O God of peace, 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 our reading from Deuteronomy this morning, we hear a portion of Torah teaching about maintaining the welfare of the community. It comes after this instruction, “If there is among you anyone in need within the land that you inhabit, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand…give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so…open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor.” It’s worth remembering that compassion is one of the hallmark values of Deuteronomy. [1] Compassion is an ordering principle for Torah. Continue reading →

The Great Emergence

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Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 25A, 500th Anniversary of Protestant Reformation, October 29, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 I have let you see it with your eyes.1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Entrusted with the message of the Gospel.

Matthew 22:34-46 No one was able to give him an answer…nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

O God of our Holy Scripture, 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.

About a month ago, toward the end of my sermon, I said something that made the head of one of our beloved young children snap to attention. It’s not what I intended – I did want that response from the rest of you. So I’m going to start today with what I said last month, and if you’re near a young child, cover their ears, but the rest of you, listen up. “The truth is that the world is ending,” We can see that in the deterioration of the Church, social and economic systems stressed beyond the breaking point, financial corruption and abuses of power increasing the already yawning gap between rich and poor, widespread dissatisfaction and discontent resulting in violence. Nationalism on the rise; war and health crises threaten the well-being of the people. Improvements in communication and access to information just amplify and accelerate the process of disintegration because it’s impossible to control messages and figure out what is true.
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The Next Right Thing

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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 22A, October 8, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 20:1-4,7-9, 12-20 Then God spoke all these words.
Philippians 2:1-13 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 21:33-46 Listen to another parable.

O God of grace, 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 is the Sunday that we formally begin our annual pledge stewardship campaign for 2018. This year, our theme is “Generosity on the Journey.” Letters have been sent from Nancy Coppelman and Liz Levin, asking you to begin to plan your financial commitment to this parish’s mission next year. While the amount that you pledge for next year is a very individual and personal decision, the fact of your pledge is a much-needed promise to support this community’s work for justice and peace, for healing and renewal. Your pledge is an indication that the ministry of this community matters greatly and that Emmanuel Church is worthy of your generous support. Pledge cards will be mailed to you in a few weeks. If you are not currently on our mailing list and would like to be, please fill out a pew card and put it in the offering plate or speak with me after the service. Pledge fulfillment provides nearly 100% of the cost of staff and programs at Emmanuel Church.
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Turn around!

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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 21A, October 1, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 17:1-7 Is the Lord among us or not?
Philippians 2:1-13 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, …it is God who is at work in you”
Matthew 21:23-32 What do you think?…Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

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.

Between last week’s Gospel portion and this week’s Gospel portion, a lot has happened in the Gospel according to Matthew. Last week Jesus and his companions had left the Galilee and were drawing large crowds in the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River. After a whole lot of teaching about sincere discipleship and how to get along with one another in community, Jesus headed for Jerusalem, continuing to teach and to heal, moved with compassion, as he went.
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