Rev. Zach

Malachi 3:1-4      Philippians 1:3-11      Luke 3:1-6 This week, as we draw near to the truth of God’s amazing love for us, let us begin with a message of hope from Sarah Are’s poem, Draw Near to Truth. Truth is like sand— slipping through my fingers every time I turn on the news. So day after day, I gather the dust at my feet and build sand castles of the world I want to see— Sand castle cities with fair housing, no walls, families united and a name like Love. And when the waves threaten to tear them down, I will rebuild. For the truest thing I know is that God is love, and love is stronger than fear. The truest thing I know is that God is love, and love is stronger than fear – that’s a good place to start from, and it’s like a compressed version of the truth we discovered two weeks ago when we heard Pilot ask (rhetorically), “What is truth?” The answer we received from scripture is that there is a God. God is active and p...

Malachi 3:1-4      Philippians 1:3-11      Luke 3:1-6 Well, you’ve survived another Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. Some of us ignore these days. Some of us embrace them. A colleague and friend recently noted a theological response his session made to these attempts to frame our experiences of consumerism and generosity. They resolved to call last Wednesday, “Give it a rest Wednesday.” In like manner, today could be called “messenger Sunday”. Our Old Testament reading is from Malachi, whose name means, “my messenger.” Our New Testament reading from Philippians is a message of love and hope from Paul, and our Gospel reading is confirmation that John is the one preparing the way of the Lord as promised in Isaiah. We hear this same message about this time every year, and I think that – if we aren’t careful – it can become like the Christmas music in the shopping mall. We hear it, but we don’t listen. It makes us feel good to know it’s there, ...