Tag Archives: dishonesty

Being Faithful

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Proper 20C, 18 September 2022. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1. The summer is ended and we are not saved.
1 Timothy 2:1-7. “First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.
Luke 16:1-13. You cannot serve God and wealth.

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.

Welcome to this grand sanctuary, this haven of beauty, whether it is surrounding you because you are here in person, or you’re seeing it online again through the lenses of cameras. Welcome to this magnificent community whose mission is to welcome you, no matter how long you’ve been here, no matter how long you’ve been away, and wherever you are on your spiritual journey, even and especially if you are not in such a good place! Welcome to a gathering of people whose mission is also to love you just the way you are and love you too much to let you stay that way! Welcome to a church that is very likely to change you for the better. Welcome to a worship service in which the readings are usually challenging and sometimes confounding, the prayers of the people are often disturbing, and the music is reliably lovely! Welcome to a community long on questions and short on answers, and yet, one where one beggar can always show another beggar where to get some bread. Although we may have been apart for a time, this is not, “Welcome back”; this is, as I like to say, “Welcome forward”. Continue reading →

The Parable of the Dimes

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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 20C, September 18, 2016; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1. Is there no balm in Gilead?
1 Timothy 2:1-7. I am telling you the truth. I am not lying.
Luke 16:1-13. You cannot serve God and wealth.

O God of our struggle, 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 readings for this morning, we heard Jeremiah tell us what we already know: the summer is ended and we are not saved. Poor people are not being properly cared for. Poor people are hurting and that hurts the heart of the Holy One. The epistle of Timothy is urging prayers for kings and others in high positions – presumably this instruction is directed to people who do not wish to pray for those in power – presumably because it is the powerful and the wealthy who benefit from economic systems that trample on people who are needy, people who are poor. And Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, seems to be celebrating and encouraging dishonesty. What? Continue reading →