Rev. Zach

Isaiah 55:1-13 ; John 4:13-14 Every year, without fail, someone will ask me why we light a pink candle on the third Sunday of Advent. I wonder if any of us know? Pop quiz, but don’t answer if you are retired clergy or were raised Roman Catholic – yes, we have a few of each. They are among us. [I wait for a response to repeat or clarify.] Yes! It is the candle for joy! Our Roman Catholic siblings call it “Gaudete Sunday” because they begin with the words Gaudete in Domino Semper – Rejoice in the Lord always. Sound familiar? It’s from Philippians 4:4. The reason today is the day to be reminded to rejoice in the Lord every day is that Advent, from the beginning of its celebration in the church, has been to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. It’s not just a time to decorate and get ready for the celebration of the birth of Christ, it’s a time to reorient your lives around the fact that God revealed God’s true nature in Jesus. Advent is a time to repent of the ways that we have neglected the...

Zechariah 8:3-13 ; John 14:27 Today we lit a candle for peace, and it has me wondering, what’s happened to all the songs about peace? As a child of the 70’s I grew up in the echo of the Civil Rights movement, and I remember those anthems like Jim Croce’s Peace Train, the Byrd’s Turn, Turn, Turn, and John Lennon’s Imagine. I don’t think the present generation of artists has given up on anthems of peace, but I’m not sure it sells as well as it used to. It may be that I just don’t listen to enough new music, but it seems to me that I hear more songs about the lack of peace than the presence of it. Regardless of the awareness of my playlist of songs of peace, we do live in a world where conflict sells headlines and clickbait and any kind of ad space that can be sold, so it’s good that we have a different type of messaging coming to us from scripture today! As we approach that message, I want you to take a moment and imagine a city street. You can close your eyes if it helps, but I want yo...