Susanna E. Metz
Rector, St. John the Baptist Church, Battle Creek, TN, Diocese of East Tennessee (2007—present)
Assistant Professor, School of Theology, Sewanee, TN (2001—present)
Education:
B. Mus. (1972) & B.A., Theology (1980), Immaculata College, Immaculata, PA
M. Ed., Elementary Education, West Chester University, West Chester, PA (1982)
M. Div. (1996) & D. Min. (2003), School of Theology, Sewanee, TN
Ordination:
Deacon, Diocese of East Tennessee (1996)
Priest, Diocese of East Tennessee (1997)
Sermons and Bible Studies
Blessed Be God, Easter 6 (A) – May 17, 2020
[RCL]: Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:7-18; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21 “Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from me.” That feels good. Let’s say that psalm verse out loud, together: “Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor withheld his love from me.” How great it is that […]
Learning from Proverbs, Proper 18 (B) – 2018
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” Is this in the Bible? I hope everyone is thinking—no! It’s a proverb, of course, but one of Benjamin Franklin’s, not from the Old Testament. However, it could have been one as the book of Proverbs is full of earthly and spiritual wisdom. We may think of proverbs […]
Learning from Proverbs – Proper 18 (B) – 2015
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” Is this in the Bible? I hope everyone is thinking—no! It’s a proverb, of course, but one of Benjamin Franklin’s, not from the Old Testament. However, it could have been one as the book of Proverbs is full of earthly and spiritual wisdom. We may think of proverbs […]
To Be One, Easter 7 (B) – 2015
“That they may be one.” We might be tempted to say, “Who are you kidding, Jesus? It didn’t happen in your time, did you imagine it would ever happen in ours?” But Jesus told his followers that they should be one in this world, in their culture and their time. It goes along with Jesus […]
Finding Comfort vs. Being Comfortable, Advent 2 (B) – 2014
“Comfort ye! … Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain made low.” What heart-lifting words we hear from our God shouted across the millennia into our very own day. Isaiah offers us images in just 11 verses that have become the focus of artists and musicians who have turned the words into pictures […]
Forgiving Seventy Times Seven, Proper 19 (A) – 2014
Five Amish schoolgirls killed, 11 wounded, by a shooter in Pennsylvania, the headlines cried in 2006. The Amish community not only comforted the shooter’s wife and children, they forgave him. The Amish were reviled by many in the press because they forgave even as they mourned the death of their own innocent children. In 1948, […]
Building the Kingdom, Stone By Stone, Easter 5 (A) – 2014
“I go to prepare a place for you. … I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” It sounds so wonderful. It sounds perhaps like what we imagine heaven to be. If that’s so, then it’s a future place, a place that we […]
Many Ways to Share, Proper 21 (C) – 2013
[NOTE TO READER: The Latin word dives, in the seventh paragraph, is pronounced “DYE-veez.”] “I always thank the person for asking, even when I don’t have anything to give at the time.” These are the words of Archbishop James Salisbury of the African Orthodox Church in America, about being asked for money by people on the street. […]
The Nature Of Miracles, Proper 7 (C) – 2013
If Elijah and Jezebel were after me, I’d run, too! Elijah was so afraid, he wished he might just die, but God had other plans for him as God often does for us. This is a wonderful story from today’s reading from First Kings about one of the great prophets who is so human in […]
Sin, Like Ashes in Our Eyes, Lent 1 (C) – 2013
The ashes are gone – washed off our foreheads – but their darkness still stains our thoughts and spirits as we begin Lent once again. Tiny grains of ash, like the darkness of sin, may have fallen in our eyes or down our faces. Annoyed, we may have rubbed our eyes or brushed our cheeks. […]
Being Gathered Up, Proper 10 (B) – 2012
“John, whom I’ve beheaded, has been raised!” Herod must have been terrified. A man like Herod, who relied on treachery, questionable political moves, the power gained through wealth, is confronted with his worst nightmare. He knew John was dead. He saw his head – yes, through a haze of drunkenness – but he saw the […]
Daring to Ask Questions, Proper 26 (B) – 2012
Isn’t it interesting? In our gospel reading today we learn that “after that, no one dared to ask him any question.” What an opportunity they wasted! Several times throughout the gospels we hear that people didn’t want to ask any more questions. Sometimes it was the Pharisees, those few who wanted to trip Jesus up, […]
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