Rev. Zach

2 Peter 1:1-15 I’ve had a lot of time to think recently. Sometimes that can be a good thing, sometimes not. I don’t know that I have come closer to solving any of life’s puzzles, but I have tried to become a little more aware of its patterns. Each generation seems to have its shot at getting things right or making things worse, and while we tend to blame things on one generation or another, no generation operates in a vacuum. Usually, there are two or three generations that either work together or against one another to create the present reality that becomes their legacy. As I look back on the last 50 – 60 rotations around the sun, it seems to me that each decade has its big defining event for us as a people who live in the U.S.A. In the 1960’s we were nearly torn apart over the struggle for Civil Rights for women and people of color. After that – and the conflict in Vietnam – we found ourselves in the 1970s just trying to figure out how to live together while we tested the boundaries

Romans 12:9-13 When I came to Louisiana 10 years ago the lore of recovery and stories of survival from Katrina and Rita and the role of the Presbytery of South Louisiana were already legendary. In fact I had even been one of the “PDA Blue Shirts” who came to help restore the region! It felt great to be a part of it all. It impacted the faith and the lives of the youth that came with me tremendously, but we had no idea what it was like to be part of a culture where such storms were seasonal possibilities. Even after 10 years of it, I thank God that Delta is the most closely targeted storm I’ve experienced – apart from the floods of 2016 – and I’m even more thankful that we’ve been able to impact the recovery of the region as partners in disaster recovery with PDA, Rebuilding Together Acadiana, AmeriCorps, and NEHAMA! One thing I do remember in those calm years in between major storms is that there was a committee in our Presbytery seeking to remain vigilant all along. It was the Disaste

Leviticus 23:39-43;    Matthew 21:33-46  When I was a boy, I remember the expression “a month of Sundays” to describe an unreasonably long time. I really never expected anything to take that long, yet here we are. This is the first in-person service that we have held since March 15, 2020. That was 28 Sundays ago. It’s actually true that I have not seen some of you in a month of Sundays, and some of you I still haven’t seen – at least not in person! I never thought I would see such a day, and I certainly never thought that I would say that it is good and right for things to be this way. Clearly, none of this has been what any of us want. Clearly, everything we have done as a church has been a faithful attempt to demonstrate our dependence on God’s grace. So here we are, under tents, in camp chairs, and looking more like a tailgating party than a worship service. Of course, we can argue about the good theology of a tailgate party done well, but that may be another story for another day.