Rev. Zach

Luke 18:31–19:10 Well, friends, we are deep into the 40 days of Lent! In fact, next Sunday is Palm Sunday. For those that have given something up for the season of Lent, I hope that you are enjoying the freedom of knowing that whatever you gave up is something that you probably don’t need after all! If you did not give anything up, don’t feel bad about it, any day is a good day to let go of things that get in the way of your relationship with God, and the invitation is always there. There are, of course, those that have taken on a new discipline, such as a devotional practice or acts of kindness. I can tell you that Jessica Trahan, our campus minister over at the Wesley Campus Ministries, was overjoyed by the boxes of food that some of you have given as a part of your Lenten journey in support of the Campus Cupboard! We made a nice little video of it on Facebook for those that are interested. For those who are new to the idea of “Lent” as a church thing, it is part of our preparation f...

Luke 16:19-31 “...between you and us a great chasm has been fixed so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” Doesn’t it feel that way in so many scenarios these days? Lines are being drawn everywhere. There are political divides and personal conflicts. There are educational divides and disagreements over funding and resourcing. There are conflicts over the means of participating in free and fair elections. Even the opportunity to worship has people angry depending on how they feel about the availability of the vaccine, or the probability of spreading COVID 19 through gatherings in closed spaces, or just the fact that some congregations are or are not meeting in-person or at all. Let’s not forget that we still have a broken immigration system; and that congregations who don’t declare themselves to be welcoming to LGBTQIA people are assumed not to be; and the fact that Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in our...

Luke 15:1-32 Today we’ve been presented with three stories about being lost, being sought after, and being found. While I imagine that we all can relate in some way to feeling lost and perhaps even the joy of being found, I doubt that many of us like to think too much about being sought after. The thing is, we live pretty public lives, so we don’t usually talk about being “pursued” unless it’s some kind of stalker situation, or a horror film, or maybe a traffic violation. However you frame it, we don’t often talk about being pursued in a good way. Today we’re going to talk about being pursued in a good way. We’re also going to talk about the fact that the only thing worse than being lost is believing that you are not lost and yet feeling like you may as well be. Beyond all of that, we’re going to talk about what it means to be found. First, I want to talk a little about Mr. York. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I’ll give it some context – Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and York. A bust of...

Luke 13:1-9; 31-35 The cell phone video opens on a beautiful evening in an open air pavilion at a resort. There’s an older couple sitting on the edge of a sculptured fountain enjoying the night air, and a young woman with long blonde hair – wearing what must be her “smart black dress” – asks them to move. Our videographer is shocked and keeps filming as the young woman takes command of the fountain as her personal stage for the perfect vacation selfie. Her photographer appears to be her boyfriend, who endures her constant dissatisfaction as she directs him – up until the moment when she slips and falls into the fountain to her embarrassment and to the joy of the small crowd that has been watching the show from tables nearby. Our scene ends with the videographer looking in the camera and observing, “Now, that’s karma! Apart from the ethical issues of taking videos of people and posting them online without their permission, I have to say that it’s kind of hard to disagree with her assess...