Rev. Zach

Psalm 147:1-11; John 7:37-52 As we all know, the Mardi Gras season is in full swing with all of its joy and consequences. Since we have some who worship with us online I’m compelled to say that there are members of this congregation who are crucial supporters of various aspects of the community celebration that is Mardi Gras, and I am thankful that they work hard every year to be sure that things are done as faithfully as they can be. That means that in all the formal balls and other excesses of the cultural phenomenon that is Mardi Grass in Lafayette, there are people who love deeply working to be sure that our congregation can benefit without being predatory, that we can support and encourage joyful release, and that decisions that impact our community are made with thought and care — even as we are still coming out of a pandemic that is slowly giving ground to become an endemic disease. Again, for those that are not from here — but also to emphasize for those that are — Mardi Gras p

Psalm 34:1-10 ; John 6:35-59 Before we get too far into this weird and wonderful passage about the claim of Jesus that he is the bread that gives life, I’d like to remind you where this fits with the narrative of John’s gospel that we have been exploring over the last several weeks. John’s gospel starts with the claim that Jesus is the word… the command… the Creative Spirit of God enfleshed and made present as a light in the darkness for all to see and believe and become known as children of God. As we moved into this season of Epiphany – which means enlightenment: literally a season celebrating the way Jesus makes the presence of God more obvious to us – we moved from the candlelight of Christmas and the call to join our lights together to make our demonstration of the light of Christ brighter. First, in John 1 we heard Jesus say, “Come see” to his disciples, as he invited them to join him. Then we talked about the first miracle in John 2 at a wedding where Jesus demonstrated the hosp

Psalm 40:1-5 ; John 5:1-16 The text we have received today is one in which we see a movement from competition to a greater union, or at least we have the potential for it. Before digging any deeper into that, I want to acknowledge the good and global competition going on in China right now with the Winter Olympics. Most specifically I want to lift up the Women’s Slopestyle competition. For those that do not know about it, Slope Style is like a combination of a skateboard park, downhill skiing, and snowboarding on an obstacle course made of ice on the side of a mountain. Not only do competitors hurl themselves down a sheet of ice while strapped to a board but they also must perform tricks with names that sound like trigonometry problems, defy gravity, and could easily send them to the hospital – and they must perform them with style. The cool thing about the women’s event is that it is clearly the result of several generations of openness and inclusion and incredible respect for the pro