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...

Matthew 2:1-12 Hey Jake, what’s that song we like to sing around this time of year about the wise men? [Jake plays “We Three Kings”] No, no, no! I mean the one about the fourth wise man! [Jake plays “Rudolph”.] THAT’S IT! [The next portion is sung.] You know Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper); kings of Arabia (or Ethiopia, we aren’t sure which), Persia, and India….but do you recall, the least famous wise man of all? [Rudolf the red nosed reindeer]           Artaban, one of the Medes from Persia, [had a very shiny nose,]                          had 3 treasures for the Christ Child, [and if you ever saw it]                            but because he missed the meeting, [you would even say it glows.]            he spent one for his travel woes. [All of the other reindee...

Isaiah 60:1-6      Ephesians 3:1-12      Matthew 2:1-12 After reading the scriptures I put a blindfold on and find my way back down from the pulpit to the floor level of the sanctuary. Some of you are wondering why in the world I have a blindfold on. Some will recognize the “Bird Box Challenge” that is going viral. For some unknown reason people who are otherwise competent and reasonable are putting blindfolds on – sometimes to their great peril – and completing normal tasks without assistance. This is, of course, modeled after the movie, Bird Box, and it should be noted that an international media corporation has issued advisories against it. It makes about as much sense as those warnings on hair dryers that tell you not to use them in the tub. This is the world we live in, and here I stand as a testament to it preaching to you in a blindfold. For those who have not seen the movie, I can’t say that I recommend it. It’s violen...