Rev. Zach

Jeremiah 31:31-34    Psalm 119:9-16    Hebrews 5:5-10     John 12:20-33 Some Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”   Philip goes to Jesus, and Jesus responds by launching into a lesson about seeds and fruit. I must say, this is one of those times when I feel that I can truly relate to Jesus.  I’d love to say this is the “highly distractible” Jesus, but it’s not.  Jesus is not too distracted to respond.  Instead he receives the request like a call to action.  The fact that these God-fearing Greeks have come to call means that his time has come.  I still find it odd that he never seems to answer them, but that probably has more to do with the storyteller than the people in the story. And in this teachable moment the author of John’s gospel proclaims the truth of the message of Jesus – it’s not about you.  It’s certainly not about me, either.  By “it” I mean the essential purpose of l...

Numbers 21:4-9     Ephesians 2:1-10     John 3:14-21 As a child – I must confess – I grew up in relative paradise.  We lived on a five acre plot in Northeast Georgia surrounded by twenty undeveloped acres that were owned by someone who lived in New Hampshire – which might as well have been another planet as far as I knew.  I spent many a night outdoors camping and playing.  I was never afraid of the dark.  I can remember sneaking out at night and having no fear other than the possibility of getting caught.  Many years later I found myself in a cave with a church youth group.  Our guide had us turn off all lights to experience total darkness.  I remember being astonished that my hand touched my face without expectation from any visual cue.  We were told to consider this to be like the formless void of creation, the abyss of nothingness, the womb of the earth, or perhaps the presence of God even in the absence of bein...

Exodus 20:1-17      1 Corinthians 1:18-25     John 2:13-22   A little over two years ago our congregation began a process called “New Beginnings” to determine where God might be leading us in the years to come.  There was an initial assessment from a denominational representative that was very affirming and hopeful.  We were told that we have an excellent location and that we are financially stable.  Our facilities, however, were noted as aging and not meeting the expressed needs of the congregation’s ministry, because we have a lot of unused space.  In general, we were described as a congregation that was in decline due to our average age and our emphasis on maintenance and administration over and above development and community engagement. So not a bad grade overall, but we definitely felt like steps needed to be taken to move us from decline and into growth.  The next thing we did was to meet in small groups in various m...

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16     Romans 4:13-25     Mark 8:31-38 I imagine that if I were to ask you what you think of when I say the word, “hack,” you might come up with a variety of things.  You might say an imposter, a cheat, or – if your vocabulary is really fancy – a charlatan.  Of course, these days the word hack is most likely used when talking about computers.  Hearing that might make you think of one of the great the boogey men of our day – identity theft. Although you may think of computer hacking as some nefarious person sneaking in through the internet and robbing you blind, there is a lot more to it than that.  Hacking has become a more general term for any kind of rule bending and out of the box thinking that you can come up with.  It is not good, nor is it bad.  It just is. Take video gaming as an example.  For those of you who do not know, in the world of video games – which is a multibillion dollar indust...

Genesis 9:8-17     Psalm 25:1-10     1 Peter 3:18-22     Mark 1:9-15 “Repent and believe in the Good News!”   Haven’t we heard this before?  Yes.  Over and over again throughout our lives together as Christians we hear Jesus telling us to repent and believe in the good news.  We hear it so much that the words become like wallpaper and background noise to a faith that seems increasingly divorced from the real world.  Even those outside the church seem so familiar with these words that “repent and believe the good news” has become like a sound loop repeating empty phrases as though the church were a bar that some people enjoyed at least once a week (or twice a year).  Added to this general disconnect are special seasons with funny names and practices like Advent and Lent that don’t even make sense to many of us who practice the faith together.  A friend of mine from seminary, the Rev. Jim Moss, recently raised the ...

2 Kings 2:1-12     2 Corinthians 4:3-6     Mark 9:2-9 I was recently looking through some old photos and thinking about the changes that come with life’s events.  Most particularly I was looking through photos of my wife’s early life in ballet.  Of course that was just one part her life, but it was a fairly substantial part.  From the outside looking in, it is amazing to see the changes that have resulted in the astonishing woman that I now call my wife.  As she and I look back over our own children’s lives it gives us great joy to see how they have grown and changed.  Of course it is easiest to see the changes we all go through in our younger years.  You might even argue that entire economic systems revolve around masking physical changes as life goes on.  No matter what we do, change is a constant, metabolic reality that we experience every day. We may not like it, but for the most part we live with it.  We take ...

Isaiah 40:21-31     1 Corinthians 9:16-23     Mark 1:29-39 “And Jesus went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.” Have you ever wondered what that message might be?  We have portions of what we believe were some of his sermons, but can you imagine hearing him preach for yourself?  Talk about a message that transforms your life!  Think about the most inspiring message you have ever received, and then imagine that the person who delivered it was able to remove all of your doubts and fears and make you feel more complete and purpose filled than you ever thought that you could. I don’t mean to dumb Jesus down to the level of a motivational guru, but isn’t the message of Jesus that repentance draws you into God’s presence in a way that connects you with all of creation?  Isn’t salvation as much about our lives today as it is the promise of eternity?  Isn’t that the Gospel – the Good N...