Rev. Zach

Exodus 19:1-6; 20:1-2 ; Mark 12:28-34 Today’s Old Testament passage brings all sorts of images to mind. First, we are presented with a new moon. It is the third one the Israelites have seen on their journey, which means that they have been traveling together for at least three months. Next, we are reminded of Egypt in all its splendor and hardship. Then we hear of the route they have taken, and we see people trudging through the wilderness and emerging at the base of Mount Sinai, living in camps as they go. Finally, we see (and hear) Moses being called out by God to ascend the mountain. We aren’t told whether it is a booming voice for all to hear, or if it is a still, small voice raised in the conscience of Moses, but this voice – and the images it offers – are all that we hear. The voice of God, however, we imagine it, instructs Moses to tell the people that they are to think of their flight from Israel as though it were as swift and strong as a bird of prey. The final image we are gi...

Psalm 8:1-9 , Romans 5:1-5 , John 16:7-15 You may or may not have noticed, but today is the day set apart in our calendar to celebrate the divine mystery of the Trinity! Now, I realize that I have to be careful about a statement like that because half of y’all are already thinking about cooking something nice with that trinity of flavors that makes Cajun cooking so good. If you aren’t from around here, I’m talking about onion, bell pepper, and celery. Of course, it’s a little hot for gumbo, but there are plenty of other things that start out that way. While it’s a little tongue in cheek to call them the “Holy Trinity of Cajun Cooking,” its actually not a bad way to talk about the divine mystery that is the Godhead – which is a fancy church word to talk about the One who is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all that is, was and shall be. We can also say, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” as Jesus did in Matthew 28, but I also like to recognize who God is by what God does. However you...

Genesis 11:1-9 ; Acts 2:1-21 As many of you know, Pentecost is one of my favorite church holy days. Those who may not be familiar with liturgical traditions that include special Sundays may not have a clue what this day is about or why it matters, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I would suggest that our Old Testament lesson stands to remind us that anything that we set up as important might not be important to God. Having said that, it may also have struck you as odd that God acted in the way God did in this passage from Genesis. Am I not always preaching unity? Why would God want to keep us from working together? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first I want to acknowledge the movement of the Spirit of God in these two passages. Taken together, along with the contexts they are pulled from, what we see today is a movement from the problem of exclusion to the problem of inclusion. At first glance, it seems that God, in Genesis 11, is the one who created the problem of e...