Rev. Zach

From time to time people ask me how to be sure that something is God's will. How do you know when it is God's voice calling amidst the competing priorities? Plenty of people have weighed in on this idea for centuries. In fact, I would say that is the very question that encouraged the writers of the Gospel and the selection of the sacred texts that make up the scriptures. Yet there are plenty of circumstances that don't seem to mesh with a literal reading of the Bible, and there are even passages that seem to contradict. In Paul's letter to the church in Rome we find discouragement for legalism, and Jesus' primary adversaries in the Gospels are not the Romans but the scribes and Pharisees. It seems that God has always known that we are bound to seek definitive standards that we can use to our own advantage, so the tension between definitive guidance and invitation to respond to grace remains throughout religious and non-religious Christian practices. So then, how...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana September 18, 2011 - Ordinary (26A) Exodus 16:2-15 Philippians 1:21-30 Matthew 20:1-16 Freeloaders - now that’s a term I don’t hear very often in this age of political correctness, and for good reason, too! It’s a term that assumes a certain defective quality in a particular group of people. Come to think of it, calling a group of people “freeloaders” is a pretty polarizing term. It is “us vs. them” language that puts the user in the driver seat and assumes that “they” are to blame for the problem, because their is no “we.” Although it’s a term that has been around for a while, it has always had an interesting relationship with commerce and free trade. The term actually originates from the shipping industry. A captain would contract laborers, promising payment for when the ship was full. Then he would sail away without paying - leaving them no way to catch him. In the 1950’s and early 60’s the term “freeloader” was give...

First Presbyterian Church – Lafayette, Louisiana September 11, 2011 – Ordinary (24 A) Psalm 23 Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 18:21-35 “Never forget!” These are two words that have taken on a whole new meaning in our country in the last ten years. It seems unlikely that anyone ever could forget a tragedy like the attacks of September 11, 2011, yet there are still so many stories longing to be told. Even so, the admonition by itself raises questions for me. What is it that we must remember and why? Is it the fact that some warped individuals with sin sick souls were manipulated by cowards to crash planes into buildings? Is it the fact that the relative peace and prosperity of our United States was challenged by an outside force that we used to think of as weak and fearful in our presence? Is it the stories of ordinary people becoming extraordinary heroes in the face of tragedy? Yes. All of these things must be remembered, but why? We remember to honor the dead and to give a sense of purpose a...

First Presbyterian Church – Lafayette, Louisiana September 4, 2011 – Ordinary (23A) Romans 13:8-14 
Matthew 18:15-20 [My wife, Treva, served as lay reader on this day two days after our 11th wedding anniversary.] I am reminded today of the first time Treva and I led worship together as husband and wife. It was shortly after our wedding at the church I grew up in, John Knox Presbyterian in Marietta, GA. It was a lovely service, and I greeted the congregation with no small amount of pride – introducing my bride as liturgist. After the service she graciously whispered in my ear, “You do realize that you introduced me as Treva Lewis, right?” Oh, the effects of love. Love holds you accountable. Love affects your actions. Love is at the core of our being, like a rock thrown into the abyss and creating ripples that flow through eternity. Love is the only debt worth owing someone, for love is the only currency that pays for itself. Paul has just finished telling the church in Rome that gove...