Rev. Zach

Psalm 32      Matthew 4:1-11 Who remembers the WWJD Christian marketing campaign of the late 90’s? It’s still around. You can still find bracelets and hats and shirts that ask you “What Would Jesus Do”? I think it’s a good question. As followers of Jesus we should be constantly examining our life against the example of Jesus. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Jesus would have been in a lot of the situations that I find myself in. I don’t mean to say that I’m that terrible of a person. No, it’s more that Jesus never had a car loan or a mortgage. And I think that Jesus would be more concerned about the fact that there are people that lack bread than my moral dilemma over the cost of the bread I buy. I think Jesus would be more concerned with economic systems that oppress workers and food production systems that are dependent on migrant workers who are often treated as criminals. No, I don’t think Jesus much cares which bread I buy, and I think there are a lo...

Romans 10:8b-13      Luke 4:1-13 Today is Valentine’s Day, formerly known as the feast of St. Valentine. The internets have been flooded with Valentine memes over the last few days – those silly pictures with a witty phrase. People more clever than I have turned everything from dictators to sci-fi characters into kitschy fake Valentine cards. One of my favorites is the picture of the aforementioned saint with the caption, “Rose are red, Violets are blue. I was beaten with clubs and buried in darkness [there’s actually more to the legend than that] and you commemorate my martyrdom by sending each other chocolates.” Now, as for me and my beloved, we have never really celebrated this holiday – by mutual agreement. Primarily that’s because flowers that will soon die and trinkets that will never be worn are not the way we express our appreciation for one another. Expressions of love that are mass marketed, conveniently packaged, and socially expected just aren’t our thi...

Genesis 9:8-17     Psalm 25:1-10     1 Peter 3:18-22     Mark 1:9-15 “Repent and believe in the Good News!”   Haven’t we heard this before?  Yes.  Over and over again throughout our lives together as Christians we hear Jesus telling us to repent and believe in the good news.  We hear it so much that the words become like wallpaper and background noise to a faith that seems increasingly divorced from the real world.  Even those outside the church seem so familiar with these words that “repent and believe the good news” has become like a sound loop repeating empty phrases as though the church were a bar that some people enjoyed at least once a week (or twice a year).  Added to this general disconnect are special seasons with funny names and practices like Advent and Lent that don’t even make sense to many of us who practice the faith together.  A friend of mine from seminary, the Rev. Jim Moss, recently raised the ...

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 Sermon audio is available here for up to one month. Today begins the first Sunday of Lent, the season of the church year that moves us toward Holy Week and Easter. This year we began with the dispensation of ashes on Ash Wednesday, and there were a few who joined for this opportunity. We even had a few folks who saw the sign on the door and came in to receive the blessing of the church.  Of course a good number of you – even some who came – said, “Presbyterians do ashes? I thought that was a Catholic thing!” It is a Catholic thing – just like Lent and the liturgical calendar ; however it is not limited to the Roman Catholic Church. Just as we say in the Apostle’s Creed that we believe in the “Holy Catholic Church,” catholic means all encompassing. It means all who profess belief in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.  So this year we began Lent with Ashes – a somber and austere reminder of our human limitations and the...

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana February 26, 2012 – Lent (1B) Genesis 9:8-17 Psalm 25:1-10 Mark 1:9-15 In July of 1999 I was leading a group of campers from Camp Glenkirk on a canoe trip down the Shenandoah River. It was about the middle of the summer, and I had taken enough groups downriver to feel slightly cocky about my abilities. The river was low, creating a maze out of its naturally lazy curves and the diagonal formations of shale jutting out from the mountain like the skeletal frame of some ancient beast. The word “portage” (the practice of carrying your canoe from one navigable body of water to another) became as important to our vocabulary as the concepts of grace and mercy. On this particular run of the river it began to rain, and we were overjoyed- for a little while. Then it kept on raining, and raining, and raining. Three things very quickly became apparent to us. The first is that the river was the only place in the valley consistently devoid of ...