Rev. Zach

Psalm 148:1-14       1 Corinthians 13:8-13        Revelation 13:1-10, 14:1-5 Well, that just got weird. Hearing these bizarre and fantastic visions it is hard to imagine them as real, and yet it seems equally as hard for some of us to try to understand them in any other way. Repeatedly throughout Western history these visions have influenced literature and art as we have attempted to wrestle with these powerful images. Yet we truly do not know if these writings were coded messages, or an actual dream, or even the result of some medicinal herb, mushroom or flower! And even though Martin Luther only agreed to include John’s Revelation in the Bible as a tool to critique the Roman Catholic Church – and John Calvin didn’t even include it in his commentaries – the church has kept these writings in the canon of scripture for centuries. So, I maintain the position that the Revelation of John at Patmos was an expression of faith in Jesus as God’s self-r...

Psalm 23        Revelation 7:9-17 We are now on our third week in a sermon series on the lectionary readings from the Book of Revelation. We began with the idea that Jesus is God’s self revelation, and this book is a particular expression of hope for a particular people who believe in Jesus as the One who revealed the heart of God. Because the language of this book is symbolic it can offer us a word of hope for our time as well. So, people of God, listen to what the Spirit is teaching us today through this reading from Revelation7:9-17. 9After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the...

Psalm 30        Revelation 5:11-14 As we move from Easter to Pentecost – the celebration of the unleashing of God’s Holy Spirit into the world through the church – we are working our way through the book of the Revelation of John. Last week we talked about this book as a particular description of the way in which God has revealed, and continues to reveal, God’s self through the person, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. And so, we have some natural questions that go along with these readings. Who was John, and what in the world was he talking about might be some good places to start. Most scholars believe that John was a Jewish follower of Jesus who wrote about God’s self-revelation about 60 years or so after the ministry of Jesus. His writing style reflects the tradition of prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel, but it may have been a fairly common style for his day. He wrote primarily to Roman Christians that were being hunted for sport and abused ter...

Psalm 118:14-29        Revelation 1:1-8 Today is the day that the church breathes a collective sigh after the rigor of Lent and the hospitality of Easter. The lilies are still with us, but they beg to be taken by anyone who will have them. The extra family members that took up the spaces of those members visiting their own families in other congregations have returned to their homes. Hopefully some who came for the pageantry of Easter might have returned to see if the Spirit of God they experienced is more than an idle tale. And we who follow Christ must ask ourselves if anything has changed since Easter. That question is the essential struggle of the Book of the Revelation of John. The resurrection was not in question – not for those who followed Jesus and called him the messiah. The divinity of Jesus was not a particular concern, either. For John’s generation of followers of the way of Jesus, particularly those who were Jewish or who were considered “God-fearing”...

Isaiah 65:17-25 Acts 10:34-43 Luke 24:1-12 “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” he said. “He is not here. He is risen.” Out of all of the liturgically correct responses we hold dear in the church, I have to say that “He is risen indeed!” is one of my favorites. The resurrection of Jesus is so very basic and fundamental to our proclamation about God, and yet for many it seems to be an “idle tale.” It seems that the more we know about scientific processes and discoveries, the greater claim we want to make on our ability to understand the mysteries of the universe. The unknown is simply the “not known yet.” Scientific curiosity is certainly a good thing, but it can at times become a sticking point for those who do not believe what they cannot observe. Likewise, the more we know about the human body and disease and metabolic processes, the more impossible it seems that the resurrection of Jesus could have ever occurred. Of course, this point has been argued fro...