Rev. Zach

  Love is the Way: Desmond Tutu, Dolly Parton, and You The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser 1 John 3:16-24; Psalm 43:5 Over the last two weeks, we’ve asked and answered questions about loving in the way that we have been loved. First, we asked, “How do I find the energy to keep loving when the world seems to be going the other way?” The answer we received was, to be honest about our history, to be guided by our traditions as we honor God, to recognize that we have been and are loved by God, and then respond to the world out of the love we have received. Hearing the call to love, we realized that loving as God loves requires us to give up some things. We give ourselves over to others – and we give up some measure of control – and so we asked, “Will loving everyone sacrificially make us all doormats?” The answer we received was, “No.”  As we looked into that further, we came to the realization that loving sacrificially helps us understand more fully who we were created to be in the first ...

Acts 4:5-12     Psalm 23     1 John 3:16-24     John 10:11-18 [There is a Jenga game next to the pulpit as a visual aid.] While I would love to say that today’s scripture passages fill me with comfort and peace, I have to admit that they do not.  Well, at least not the type of comfort and peace that I might have if I listened selectively to the good parts.  The Lord is my shepherd, [move Jenga piece] and Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life [move Jenga piece].  This Jesus is the cornerstone that pulls everything in line [move Jenga piece]. These simple truths are what I want to remember about these passages, but there’s a lot more to them than those simple words of comfort.  When I read the rest of the story I suddenly find myself feeling like Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther.  You may remember how he hired a butler named Cato and instructed him to lie in wait and attack him every time he came home just to kee...