Rev. Zach

Luke 15:1-32 Today we’ve been presented with three stories about being lost, being sought after, and being found. While I imagine that we all can relate in some way to feeling lost and perhaps even the joy of being found, I doubt that many of us like to think too much about being sought after. The thing is, we live pretty public lives, so we don’t usually talk about being “pursued” unless it’s some kind of stalker situation, or a horror film, or maybe a traffic violation. However you frame it, we don’t often talk about being pursued in a good way. Today we’re going to talk about being pursued in a good way. We’re also going to talk about the fact that the only thing worse than being lost is believing that you are not lost and yet feeling like you may as well be. Beyond all of that, we’re going to talk about what it means to be found. First, I want to talk a little about Mr. York. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, I’ll give it some context – Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and York. A bust of...

Luke 13:1-9; 31-35 The cell phone video opens on a beautiful evening in an open air pavilion at a resort. There’s an older couple sitting on the edge of a sculptured fountain enjoying the night air, and a young woman with long blonde hair – wearing what must be her “smart black dress” – asks them to move. Our videographer is shocked and keeps filming as the young woman takes command of the fountain as her personal stage for the perfect vacation selfie. Her photographer appears to be her boyfriend, who endures her constant dissatisfaction as she directs him – up until the moment when she slips and falls into the fountain to her embarrassment and to the joy of the small crowd that has been watching the show from tables nearby. Our scene ends with the videographer looking in the camera and observing, “Now, that’s karma! Apart from the ethical issues of taking videos of people and posting them online without their permission, I have to say that it’s kind of hard to disagree with her assess...

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 ...

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, ...

Malachi 3:1-4 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6 Are you ready? There are only 14 days left. Can you believe it? Are you ready? And what does that even mean – to be ready? Does it mean decorations? Does it mean shopping? Does it mean relatives and visitors? What is it that you are preparing for, and where is the space for Jesus in all of this? Last night my family went to LARC’s Acadian Village light display. We were skipping and running around the displays, and we almost ran right past an outline of the Holy Family. I told my kids that they almost missed Jesus. One of them doubled back in reverence and the other said, “Squirrel!” Because there was an illuminated squirrel running up the tree. How much are we all like that during this time of year? How much space do we leave open for Jesus? How easily distracted are we by the spectacle of Christmas. Today we hear from one of the spectacular characters in the story of Jesus. In fact, all of our readings are somewhat spectacular. B...

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 ...

First Presbyterian Church - Lafayette, Louisiana December 4, 2011 - Advent (B1) Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well... " Julian of Norwhich wrote these words in the 1400’s after a near death experience in which she claimed to have received them from God in a series of revelations. I believe these words to be a summary of the scripture lessons we have read today. "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well... " One of my favorite examples of this phrase in action is from a scene from the movie Men In Black . A giant alien cockroach has just grabbed the female lead and jumped up into a window that is a good 20 feet off the ground. Will Smith’s character holds up a gun and tries to sound authoritative while saying, “Don’t worry - everything’s OK!” She responds, “What part of this is OK?!” He readjusts, “It’s gunna be OK!” How many...