Rev. Zach

Isaiah 60:1-6 • Matthew 2:1-12 I would like you to take a moment and think of your favorite movie. On the count of three, I want you to shout the name of your favorite movie. One. Two. Three. Excellent! I learned so much about you all just now! Do you want to know what mine is? It’s Casablanca. While I could talk about why I’ll just highlight one important scene at the beginning of the film. For those who don’t know, Casablanca was set during World War II in a town where numerous Europeans are stranded after having sought refuge from Nazi occupation. Rick, an ex-pat from the US, is running his cafe, as he does, and is asked by Bougarti to hold two letters of transfer that will allow anyone safe passage to America. Bougarti tells Rick that he hopes he will be more impressed with him after the lucrative sale of these letters of transfer. After Rick notes a recent murder of two German couriers carrying the same kind of letters, he says, “Why yes, Bougarti, I am rather impressed with yo...

Isaiah 11:1     Mark 1:1-8 This year has seemed to last forever, and yet suddenly it seems like Thanksgiving came and went so fast it was a blur. Now Christmas is approaching like a car on a roller coaster going clack, clack, up the hill before rushing down and around and into all kinds of twists and turns that are going to happen whether you like it or not.  It’s times like these that we look to our traditions for comfort and solace. Maybe that’s why I hear so many people say that they just can’t wait to put up their Christmas lights and sing their favorite Christmas songs. Not that we’re able to sing them this year, at least not together, but I can tell you that I’ve been listening to them a little earlier than usual this year. I can’t help but to agree with Angela Lansbury's privileged plea as the high society player, Mame, who lost it all in the Great Depression,  “ For we need a little music Need a little laughter Need a little singing Ringing through the rafte...

Isaiah 2:1-5     Romans 13:11-14     Matthew 24:36-44 Hope Can’t Wait, a poem by the Rev. Sarah Are:             Someone once told me that hope was naive—      A foolish game that children play When they pray that summer won’t end,            And bedtime won’t come.                                                             Someone once told me that hope was naive as they Cradled pessimism in their lap like a sleeping cat, Stroking their ego while they stoked a fire within me.        ...

Readings: Acts 10:34-43 , Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 , John 20:1-18 Followers of Jesus throughout the world are gathering together on this Easter Sunday to celebrate the most basic confession of the Christian faith. He is risen! (Congregation responds: He is risen indeed!) So much has already been said in these few words. The man born as Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One of God who revealed God’s true nature for once and for all. This Jesus died and was raised by the power of God ( Acts 2:23-25 ), and because he is risen we know that there is no power, no other defining moment, no force of will or nature that can divert or dislodge or dissolve the claim of God’s love upon our lives! He is risen! (Congregation responds: He is risen indeed!) Yes! And because of that, faithful believers and curious seekers have followed the same pattern set out in scripture since day one. It is the pattern we see in our Gospel reading, and it is most likely a pattern that you experienced this ...

Isaiah 55:1-9       Psalm 63:1-8       Luke 13:1-9 Mind Blown [poof] – that’s what we sometimes say when we hear or see something that changes the way we understand the world around us. Marketing companies like to use this phrase to tell you that they have the answer that you’ve just never thought of, and it is available for low monthly installments and terrible interest rates.     Fangirls and fanboys – that’s a term for people who are relatively obsessed with something like a book series, a movie, or a brand – like to use “Mind. Blown.” when there is some new insight that changes the way they understand the thing they adore. For those of us who are fans of scripture, and even more so of God’s self-revelation through Jesus, I think that we have received some fairly mind blowing texts today! The passage from Isaiah reads like some socialist manifesto (How does one buy food without money, anyway?). And then we have this oddly ...