Rev. Zach

Exodus 14:19-31 ; Romans 14:1-12 ; Matthew 18:21-35 Our readings focus on judgment and forgiveness, two great tastes that do not usually go so well together! Why is that, and what do I mean by that? To answer that, I will defer to one of the Saints of the church, Al Pfeuffer. Al lived to be 102, and he was such a great example of integrity to those of us who knew him. He lived through a century of change and even learned to use Uber to get to church. Al’s generation had to reconcile the weight of unleashing the horror of Oppenheimer’s vision in the hope of stopping worse horrors from being unleashed. They lived through the Great Depression, Vietnam, Oil Embargos, and the birth of modern concepts of terrorism. I say all of that as a caveat to a conversation we once had about Matthew 5:43, “Love your enemies and do not hate them.” in which Al confessed that he was not sure how to do that. To be fair, Al’s generation and those that followed have all lived through a lot and it has not be...

Exodus 12:1-14 ; Romans 13:8-14 ; Matthew 18:15-20 I want to begin with a confession. I know we already did that – and God heard me during the silent, personal prayer – but I need you to know that I did something yesterday that I have not done in a while. I overslept. I was supposed to be at a board meeting for The Extra Mile , which is an organization that helps families in crisis with everything from foster care to addiction issues. In fact, one of their programs, Avec Les Enfants meets in our education wing every Sunday afternoon to provide a safe and secure place for children to visit with non-custodial parents in a safe manner. Yesterday’s meeting was set up by our very own Ruling Elder, Brian Wyble, who is the President of that Board, and the purpose of the meeting was to empower the board for the work we do together. While I have no excuse apart from an ailing back from replacing a mailbox post on Friday, suffice it to say that I received a rude awakening when I saw the text m...

Exodus 3:1-15 ; Romans 12:9-21 ; Matthew 16:21-28 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” That’s what Paul told the church in Rome during the time of its formation. During that time the church opposed the state of Rome, and later it would become the religion of the state of Rome. That is not to disparage the faith of our Roman Catholic siblings. Rather it is to say how remarkable the work of God can be when we follow these words, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” There are, of course, inherent dangers when the church becomes the state religion, but that’s another sermon for another day. Also, most of us in the Reformed tradition of faith would probably agree that it does not usually end well for Jesus when religion and the state collude. We can talk about that later if you like, but right now I want to stay focused on Paul’s advice to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, and persevere in prayer.” Our hope is grounded in the ...