Rev. Zach

Isaiah 40:1-11   •  2 Peter 3:8-15a   •  Mark 1:1-8 Last Sunday we lit a candle for hope, and we talked about the hope we have in Jesus that is expressed through our “God-sized dream.” This dream is an expression of our identity and an expectation about what it means to live in the kin-dom – the household and family of God – which is both present and yet to be. Today, our hope bears the fruit of peace. Amid busyness and conflict – amid wars and rumors of wars – we proclaim peace. I might even take it a step further to say that we wage peace. We are actively engaging in things that make for peace!  While that might mean creating safe spaces without conflict, I like the way Todd Parr defines it. He wrote a book for children called, The Peace Book , and it says things like, “Peace is everyone having socks to wear” and “Peace is everyone having a home” and “Peace is being who you are!”  I think we can all agree that these are things we are working on. Now, befo...

Matthew 1:18-24 We lit a candle for peace. Yay! So, what? What does that word even mean today – peace? I don’t mean to be rude or dark or cynical, but I feel like it’s one of those words we throw around a bit too easily sometimes...or maybe not enough. Sometimes we say it in parting, “Peace!” [flashes sideways peace sign] but what do we mean? Do we really want the other person to have peace? Do we want peace between us? Do we just want to be left alone and no longer bothered by the responsibility of interaction? Of course, some of us never say it at all – except maybe in church. That doesn’t mean that we don’t want peace between us. Maybe it’s just that some of us think that peace is a given as long as no one rocks the boat. Maybe some of us think that talking about peace – wishing each other peace – suggests that we don’t have it, and the idea of needing peace is threatening. Maybe some of us even think that peace is an outdated notion, or that it’s something personal and private, lik...

Sermon delivered on June 24, 2012 – Season After Pentecost (4B)  1 Sam 20:12–17 Acts 4:32–35 Mark 4:35–41 A tired Jesus slumps into a commercial fisherman’s boat, says, “Get me out of here!” and falls asleep. I bet it was a good sleep, too. Just yesterday I had been working on projects in the yard all day. We had dinner in the back yard, and I fell asleep in my chair. It was a good sleep. My daughter had been at a friend’s house the night before and stayed up very late. She fell asleep on the couch – barely waking when the dog was encouraged to lick her face. It was a good sleep. This passage is one of those that affirms the humanity of Jesus for me. I know, he gets all metaphysical before it is over with, but the man was tired! And when he woke up he simply looked death in the face and said, “Peace. Be still.” This word, peace – shalom in Hebrew – is not as simple a word as we might like it to be. In the tradition of the Jews it was used as a greeting – still is by some – and...

Sermon Delivered April 22, 2012 – Easter (3B) Psalm 4 Acts 3:12-19 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36-49 Some of you may have noticed that I like to sign my emails with the word, Peace. I often wonder how that is received. Sometimes I will add the word, Grace, because I believe those are two concepts that require one another. We need grace - the unmerited and undeserved favor of God - in order to truly experience peace. Still, I will confess that I sometimes add Grace to Peace because I think that makes the salutation sound a bit more ecclesiastical and a bit less hip. It’s my own little way of reclaiming something our culture has stolen from the church - or maybe we have given it away. The result is the same either way. Some time ago I was venting about some injustice to a group of colleagues. I signed the email with “disturbance” instead of peace. It was, again, my own little way of saying that I do not wish for equilibrium in the presence of injustice. My hope was not for the sublime tra...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God...Matthew 5:9 Peacemaking and peacekeeping are two terms that can often be confused with one another. The extremes of liberalism and conservatism each use these terms to benefit their own agendas, and often the meaning of peace making and peacekeeping become co-opted. Generally speaking, peacemaking tends to describe actions that bring about the condition of peace. Those who consider themselves peacemakers often use non-violent strategies that model and begin the implementation of peaceful resolutions. Peacekeeping, on the other hand, is generally understood as the means of enforcing the conditions that allow for others to co-exist peacefully. The irony of the situation is that peacekeepers often do so through the threat of violence. Ideally this seems antithetical, but in reality there is evil in this world that must be restrained with force. Weeds must be pulled to keep a garden healthy. Terrorists att...