Rev. Zach

Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ( Ephesians 4:15 ). Communication is an essential aspect of any society. In everything we do, we communicate something of ourselves with someone else. Even during times when we feel isolated - or when we choose to be - we are still interacting with goods and services that have the imprint of someone else's soul upon them. So, whether we are intentionally communicating or not, we are always interacting with others through the expression of our character. Some time ago I can recall psychologists making a big deal about nonverbal communication, or body language. Recent studies have shown there to be over ten thousand visibly differing facial expressions! Very few of us are aware of the subtle cues we give off that belie our true feelings. Gamblers call this a tell. A tell gives you away when you are bluffing. A tell is an expression of anxiety - a twitch of the ...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana January 22, 2012 - Epiphany (3B) Jonah 3:1-5, 10 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 I would imagine that most of you have had - at some point in your life - a pet. Not everyone enjoys the burdens and blessings brought on by taking one of God’s creatures into their care. Those who do are either really good at faking it or truly appreciative of the love they receive from an animal. Owning a pet is somewhat of a luxury, of course. There are many nations and cultures that think we are nuts for treating animals as family members. Americans spent around 50 billion on their pets last year - a figure that has continued to climb regardless of the economy. Pets, in our culture, fall somewhere between a connection with God’s creation and a hubristic expression of vanity - and sometimes it is a little bit of both. I say this as a new pet owner, having recently acquired/rescued a “designer dog” from ARF-LA. Being a rescued dog, Emma Jane is a...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana January 8, 2012 - Baptism of the Lord  Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 Knock, knock! The congregation responds with, “Whose there?” Water. Water, who? Water you waiting for? Open the door already! That’s how a lot of conversations start in my house these days. Knock, knock jokes show up in lunch box notes, times of silence, or just randomly at dinner time. I have to admit that there are times when I feel a bit stretched to come up with something new. We all have times in our lives when we feel that way - like even the familiar things are hard to make happen because we are just tapped out. Thirst is probably the best metaphor we can come up with for times like these. Hunger works pretty well, but that seems to be about a more particular need. Perhaps that is because our bodies are mostly water. Some say that our bodies are as much as 60-70% water. In fact, you can live for weeks without food - as long as you have water. Wi...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana January 15, 2012 - Epiphany (2B) 1 Samuel 3:1-10 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 John 1:43-51 “What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, Retain that dear perfection which he owes Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name; And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.” “I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.” So goes the impassioned plea of Juliet into the darkness of night where it finds the response of Romeo in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) . Their agreement seals their fate as “star cross’d lovers” with a tragic end - to the shock and delight of audiences young and old for more than four hundred years and counting! In this brief moment - through the risk of their conversation - they reflect the reality of the fact that we ...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana Christmas Eve - December 25, 2011 Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20 A few days ago I was listening to some Christmas music and folding some clothes after the kids went to bed. Something vaguely Celtic was playing, and I happened to pick up a long sleeved shirt. For some reason that combination of culture and worn fabric made something in my soul lurch toward another climate - not just another climate, but also toward places with people that I have shared some particular experiences with. There is something about this time of year that makes even the least sentimental of us consider our basic need for connection, and it makes us long for the familiar, for the proven, and for the people and places we love or long to be loved by. The littlest things can set us off. An ornament, a song, a smell, maybe even a cookie - these are a few of my favorite things. These are the things we are told to remember when the dog bites ...