Tag Archives: lovingkindness

Help, like an atheist!

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Lent 4B, 10 March 2024. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Numbers 21: 4-9.  Look at the serpent of bronze and live.
  • Ephesians 2: 1-10.  For by grace you have been saved.
  • John 3: 14-21.  For God loved the world like this.

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.

The historical and contemporary misunderstandings and mistreatments of our Gospel lesson this morning are almost too much for me to bear. I knew when Deacon Bob read this passage to you this morning, many of you would start shutting down, going other places in your heads, perhaps leaving the building in your imagination. He had asked me if I wanted to make any edits to what he would read, but frankly I didn’t know where to begin. There are so many edits I want to make, and I’m not sure any amount of editing could solve all the problems in this passage. So perhaps I can bring your imagination back into the building with this First Nations Version rendering of John 3:14-2, a dynamic equivalence translation, which was published a few years ago. That’s a fancy way of saying that it’s a translation focused on retelling the dynamics of the story, not attempting a word-for-word translation of the original. The context for this scene is that Nicodemus, a religious leader in Jerusalem has come to Jesus in the night to learn more about him and his ministry. I’ve made a few more edits to it, so I want you to notice whether and how you respond differently when you hear the Gospel story this way: [1] Continue reading →

The story isn’t finished.

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Christmas 1B, 31 December 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 61:10-62:3. You shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
  • Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7. So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
  • John 1:1-18. No one has ever seen God.

O God of our 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.

First a poem by Irish theologian Padraig O Tuama, called “Narrative Theology #1”.  [1]

And I said to him
Are there answers to all of this?
And he said
The answer is in a story
and the story is being told.

And I said
But there is so much pain
And she answered, plainly,
Pain will happen.

Then I said
Will I ever find meaning?
And they said
You will find meaning
Where you give meaning.

The answer is in the story
And the story isn’t finished. Continue reading →

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 →

Eternal Life

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Easter 7A, 21 May 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Acts 1:6-14. All of these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women.
  • 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 [but what about 4:16?]. If any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.
  • John 17:1-11. Protect them in your name that you have given me…so that they may be one as we are one.

O God our protector, 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 in our Church calendar we mark the time between the Feast of the Ascension and the Feast of Pentecost. It’s a liturgical acknowledgement of a sort of limbo, in which Jesus has triumphed over death and but has yet to go to his heavenly reward; the comfort and the inspiration, the clarifying flame of the Holy Spirit, which he had promised to send, has not yet arrived. It’s a little bit like the in-between time at Emmanuel between the end of our cantata season and the beginning of chapel camp. Continue reading →

Begin wherever you are.

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Epiphany 4A, 29 Jan. 2023. The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Micah 6:1-8.  “[God] has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
  • 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
  • Matthew 5:1-12. “Blessed…blessed…blessed.”

O God of the strangest blessings, 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.

When I sat down to write on Friday, I’d just received an alert from the Boston Police Commissioner about anticipating protests in response to the kidnapping and murder of Tyre Nichols by police officers in Memphis earlier this month, as the horrifying body-cam video was about to be released to the public. I’m grateful that the demonstrations have been peaceful in Boston and mostly peaceful around the country. Continue reading →

The work of Christmas begins.

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Baptism of Our Lord,  8 Jan. 2023.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 42:1-9.  I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand.
  • Acts 10:34-43. Anyone who…does what is right is acceptable to [God].
  • Matthew 3:13-17.  Let it go for now, for it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.

O God, manifest in 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 is the day in the church calendar called The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. We are two days past the Feast of the Epiphany with its dramatic story of the Magi following a star with their extravagant gifts in hand. In the biblical narrative, we have advanced a generation from Jesus’ infancy to his mature adulthood. It feels too fast! I want to say, “Wait, go back!” So we have, in our first hymn and in our cantata for today; but otherwise, we are pressing ahead. 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 →

Raise your heads!

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Advent 1C.  28 November 2021. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 33:14-16 [Jerusalem] will be called [the Holy One] is our righteousness.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. Someone has testified somewhere.
Luke 21:25-36 Raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

O startling God, 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.

Good morning! Happy Advent! It’s the Church’s New Year and the beginning of a season characterized by re-awakening, of waking up to re-examine our collective systems, our institutions. Advent calls for corporate, collective reflection, and repentance. It’s like an annual check-up for our communal systems. It’s a season of waking up even more to reports of sin, chaos, and devastation among the nations confused and disturbed by the roaring sea, the waves, and the shaking, agitated heavens. Fortunately, that’s just what our Gospel reading addresses this morning. Continue reading →

A Place in This Seedpod

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Lent 1B, February 21, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Genesis 9:8-17. I will remember my covenant.
1 Peter 3:18-22. An appeal to God for a good conscience.
Mark 1:9-15. The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

O God of Love, 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.

I always love praying the Great Litany with you on the first Sunday of Lent, and I’m sad not to have prayed it chanting in a solemn procession that surrounds and enfolds the congregation in this prayer written for, and intended to be used during, times of great duress, danger, or devastation. I’ve been thinking about and hearing from some of you about how right it feels to be back in our liturgical, spiritual season of Lent. Lent is a season that aligns with much of what we are experiencing: a season of self-sacrifice, a season of recognition of when, where, and how we’ve missed the mark of Love, which is the Biblical definition of sin. Continue reading →

Take the encouragement!

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Proper 23A.  11 October 2020.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Exodus 32:1-14. And the LORD changed his [sic] mind.
Philippians 4:1-9. there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Matthew 22:1-14. Invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet or friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?

O God of compassion and justice, 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.

This morning, as I reflect with you on the Gospel lesson from Matthew, I do so influenced and encouraged by the Torah story from Exodus. It’s a story of what happens to the people when there is a scarcity of visible leadership, plenty of deep anxiety, and considerable impatience with unknowing. While there is no doctrine of original sin in Judaism, commentator Gunther Plaut tells about a midrash that “all ills which have befallen the people since that time are in part traceable to the sin with the golden calf.” [1] Divine anger threatened to utterly destroy the unfaithful nation, but Moses stood up for God’s people and reminded God of God’s promise of abundant life and God changed God’s mind.
Continue reading →