Rev. Zach

Genesis 45:3-11, 15      1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50      Luke 6:27-38 Well, here we are, once again, in the season of weird stuff and shiny things! Of course many will tell you that it started on January 5th with the 12th Night of Christmas. In days of old that marked the end of the 12 Days of Christmas and the coming of Epiphany. Most of us know it locally as King Cake Season. Seriously, this is a weird time of year. We’ve already dealt with controversies over who makes the best King Cake and why naked cake babies were banned from Facebook. The parades have begun, and we know that for some people it’s just an excuse for excess. All things said and done, it’s just a fun time to be around, but it does get a little weird. Although, I guess if you're used to it, the weirdness is more of a balance between personal expression and testing the boundaries of what we believe to be acceptable. Sometimes those boundaries get broken. Sometimes they get shattered. Sometimes it

Jeremiah 17:5-10      1 Corinthians 15:12-20      Luke 6:17-26 I’d like to begin by reminding you of the journey that we’ve been on since we encountered the wise men and the star they followed. First, we talked about Jesus as the revelation of God’s active presence in the world, and many of us took “star words” to guide us through the year. Mine was “devotion.” Since then we celebrated the baptism of Jesus and the pattern living it set forth for us. We went to a wedding in Cana and considered how those with a servant’s heart are the first to know of the miracles in their midst. We talked about gifts of the Spirit and heard about the calling of prophets and disciples and communities of faith and love. Last week we talked about how confronting the presence of God can be in our lives and the horrible temptation to turn to things that are more familiar when God calls us into deep water to cast our nets. I want to pick up there and begin with a little confession of one of the w

Introduction to the gospel reading: Last week we heard that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise of redemption made through Isaiah. We talked about the way in which the fulfillment God’s promises not only happened in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus but also in those moments of our lives where people demonstrate love and grace and mercy. Over the last few weeks we’ve also struggled with the question of whether this promise of redemption is simply for those that believe or are they for those that believe to demonstrate and offer to all the world. Listen now to what Jesus has to say about all of that, and what the Spirit might teach us today. [ After reading Luke 4:21-30 I began the sermon by singing a verse from San Francisco by the Mowglis.] I’ve been in love with love And the idea of something binding us together You know that love is strong enough I’ve seen time tell tales about that systematic drug Yeah that heart that beats as one It’s collect

 Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)      1 Corinthians 15:1-11      Luke 5:1-11 I brought a casting net with me today. I’ve never actually used it. It came to me with a bunch of other things when my mother moved from Florida, though I’m not sure why she had it either. Have any of you ever actually tried to catch fish with a casting net? It’s hard! It’s hard to keep it from tangling. It’s hard to throw it in such a way that it spreads out, not to mention the fact that any self-respecting fish that hasn’t been caught unawares in the shallows would be startled by it. Of course, Simon and James and John were probably using more of a dragnet, the kind you drop and pull through the water and collects indiscriminately. They had been fishing all night. They were tired, and they knew there were no fish to be had. After all, they were fishermen. Yet, there was something about this Jesus. It wasn’t just the crowds or the rumors. No, at some point as he wandered in and around the region – probably b