Tag Archives: healing

Inspired, Courageous & Generous Lives

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Proper 7A, 25 June 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Genesis 21:8-21. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
  • Romans 6:1b-11. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
  • Matthew 10:24-39. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

O God of love, 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.

May I just say how glad I am that we are not celebrating a baptism today? For two of the last three times I’ve preached on the lessons we just heard, we’ve had special guests in church because of baptisms. These are readings that I’d rather not have read at all in church, and especially not when we have company!

It’s hard for me to listen to this portion of Matthew without thinking, “Gosh, Jesus was so crabby! Where is our tender shepherd? Where are Jesus’ family values? Is Matthew’s Jesus calling for violence?” I think the Apostle Paul would answer, “By no means!” But what is going on here? Our Gospel reading for today is a continuation of the portion of Matthew from last week, in which Jesus summoned twelve disciples (learners or followers) and empowered them to heal diseases and sicknesses and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He sent the authorized disciples out, thereby making them apostles (which means sent out). They were to take their newly-bestowed spiritual power with them along the way, but not their stuff – no money, extra clothing, or food. Jesus assured them that their power to heal, to bring peace, was going to be enough to move people to provide hospitality; and if the people didn’t welcome them, the apostles were to continue on with their peace returned to them, their wellbeing intact. So far so good; it sounds as if everything is going to be all right.  Continue reading →

Depth Perception

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Lent 4A, 19 March 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • 1 Samuel 16:1-13. The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul?”
  • Ephesians 5:8-14.Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
  • John 9:1-13, 28-38.  So that God’s works might be revealed in him, we must work the works of [the One] who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

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.

Today’s lessons hold special power for me; they were the appointed readings for a pivotal moment in seminary, when I was learning to grapple with difficult Biblical texts (as it turns out, most Biblical texts are difficult if we’re taking them seriously). They were the appointed readings for my first Sunday as your priest, 15 years ago, when I asked our head usher Steve Babcock to pass out red pencils with the bulletins. I’ll get back to that in a moment. Then three years ago, these were the readings on the first Sunday of the pandemic shutdown, when my wife Joy live-streamed the service on Facebook using her phone. And here they are again, in this strange time being called post-pandemic, but certainly not post-COVID. Continue reading →

The Space Between: On the Healing Power of Gaze

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For the last three years, many of us have socialized and worked on Zoom, which, while convenient, is simply not the same as in-person, human-to-human contact, particularly in therapeutic contexts, particularly when it comes to affect regulation. This last Sunday at Tikkun Time, wanting to gently introduce a gazing exercise, I drew from Marina Abramovic’s work The Artist is Present as well as classic theater works. Gazing is a powerful, and often very hard, exercise. Trauma-informed bodies and neuro-divergent brains often struggle to sustain eye contact.

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Proportional Thanksgiving

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Proper 23C. 9 October 2022.  The Very 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 morning at Emmanuel Church we are giving thanks for the life and love of Joan Nordell, who was the President of the Board of Emmanuel Music when I arrived at Emmanuel almost 15 years ago. Her steady and generous leadership made a world of difference during a time of instability and uncertainty. Her commitment to Emmanuel Church was remarkable and continued to grow even after she completed her service on the board. I hope my sermon would delight her, because it’s inspired by her. I should let you know that this sermon is going to include a list-making exercise. I want you to have a pen ready or take notes on your phone. (Yes, I’m a priest who tells people to use their phones during the liturgy.) Or you could just make a mental list when the time comes.  Continue reading →

Welcome our new expressive-arts interns!

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Wan-li

I am Wanyi, a second-year graduate student studying Art Therapy at Lesley University. Having grown up in Taiwan, I had the chance to learn fine art for my bachelor’s degree and was fortunate to have lived and taught in three different countries. During those time periods, I found the therapeutic power of art through leading art-making sessions in my communities. To further my knowledge in using art as a therapeutic medium, I came to the US to learn from the best.

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You are set free from your ailment.

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11th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 17C, August 21, 2022; The Rev. Dr. John D. Golenski

Luke 13:12.  When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”

In our Gospel portion today, the authors of Luke describe an encounter between a woman living with long-term consequences of something like Guillain–Barré Syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, or tuberculosis of the spine.  As so often happens in the Gospel stories, when a diseased, wounded, or psychically-damaged person encounters Jesus, a profound healing results.  These accounts of Jesus’s cures, however, are not selectively recounted in the Gospel just to convince us that Jesus is divine.  Usually, there is a message or lesson embedded in the account of the healing. Continue reading →

Forgiveness

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Easter 7C, 29 May 2022.  The Rev. John Golenski

John 20: 19-31. Jesus appeared and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  Then the disciples rejoiced when they recognized the Lord.

Like so many of us, I had plans this week.  My plans included the better part of a day preparing this sermon.  Then May 24th in Uvalde, Texas happened.  Sometimes, in spite of everything we intend, Life intrudes with undeniable demands.  No matter how much effort I put into focusing on the Scripture, Uvalde intruded.  So, this is the unintended, unplanned reflection on God’s Word speaking to what is happening now in our country. Continue reading →

Living in Love

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Epiphany 6C, 13 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 17:5-10. In the year of the drought it is not anxious and it does not cease to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20. The first fruits of those who have died.
Luke 6:17-26. Blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed….Woe…woe…woe…woe.

O God of the Sabbath, 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 I want to call your attention to some powerful connections between our readings from Jeremiah and Luke, but I think I’ll leave the brain-scrambling passage in 1 Corinthians about resurrection and the dreadful cantata text for another sermon! The prophet Jeremiah is addressing his nation with judgment and lamentation for abandoning its covenant relationship with the Holy One. He says the ways in which the nation has missed the mark of Love are engraved on the hearts of the people because their obstinate behaviors go so deep; they are marred to the core (heart). Jeremiah uses the metaphor of a dried-up shrub to describe the nation that has turned toward its own strength and away from the Holy One. Jeremiah says the nation is so compromised it will not even see when relief comes, when good comes. It’s an ancient way of saying, “They wouldn’t know a good thing if it knocked them in the head.” 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 →

Your love changes everything.

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Epiphany 3C, 23 January 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10. Do not be grieved; the joy of the Lord is your strength.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Luke 4:14-21. Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

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.

Before I address Luke’s signature story about the miraculous beginning of the ministry of Jesus, I want to make sure you noticed that two verses are omitted from our lectionary-appointed reading of Nehemiah this morning: verses 4 and 7. I hope you wondered what was missing when you looked at the citation. Maybe you even guessed that I would tell you? (I will!) The verses contain long lists of names. Verse 4 lists the names of the thirteen people who stood with Ezra as he read the Torah, on a wooden platform, which had been made for the purpose. He was standing with his leadership team. [1] And then in verse 7 is a list of thirteen other people, who were there to help the congregation to understand the sacred text. [2] Let’s not miss the idea that the scripture has always been challenging to understand, and that it’s best engaged in conversation, in community. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, has also left us a pep talk about what it means to be a part of a gathering – one body with many members with a variety of gifts, who have great need of one another. The passage we heard this morning tees up his treatise on love, which we will hear next Sunday. Continue reading →