Rev. Zach

Psalm 23 1 John 3:16-24 John 10:11-18 Truth and action - there is a relationship between truth and action. You’ve heard this said a thousand times in just as many ways. People say things like, “The proof is in the pudding, actions speak louder than words, or practice what you preach.” There is another phrase that involves another phrase that my mother taught me not to say, and especially not from the pulpit (my kids will never let me hear the end of this). The phrase is, “Shut up and dance,” and it has shown up in pop culture repeatedly over the last decade as song titles, band names, and blatant challenges to act. It’s a challenge to act on opportunities, and it is a challenge to stand up and demonstrate what you believe in. In fact, Shut Up and Dance was even the title of a recent fundraiser in New Jersey held by the Pennsylvania Ballet netting $150,000 for a group called MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance). MANNA is similar to our Meals on Wheels program,...

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...

Sermon Delivered April 15, 2012 – Easter (2B) Psalm 133 Acts 4:32-35 1 John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31 “Question Everything” read the bumper sticker on a friend’s car in seminary. It was right next to another that read, “Eve Was Framed.” That was my first introduction to what they call bumper sticker theology over at C.U.P.S. I decided to go and get my own immediately, but it was some time until I found an appropriate expression. Finally I happened upon a bumper sticker that said, “Denial Is Not A River In Egypt.” My beat up truck with its snarky statement generated a lot of laughs, but it never approached the severity of a statement like “Question Everything.” At first I thought the idea of questioning everything was cool and rebellious, but later I realized that the demand of such a statement was much higher than I wanted it to be. Question everything - really? I thought for sure this must be some kind of nouveaux hippy kind of thing. Yeah - question those who are in power, because ...

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana Sermon Delivered April 8, 2012 Isaiah 25:6-9 Acts 10:34-43 Mark 16:1-8 The Shorter Ending of Mark Before reading the Mark passage I acknowledged that the oldest Greek manuscripts stopped at verse 8. Manuscripts containing the longer ending (vv9-20) can be dated to around 200 CE. Manuscripts with the shorter ending can be dated to around 400 CE. After reading verses 1-8 there was a moment of silence, followed by the shorter ending. Scholars believe that Mark’s gospel is probably the oldest text of the synoptic gospels, possibly preceding Matthew’s gospel by 15 years. I want you to know that I have beautiful feet. It’s true! Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” An old mentor of mine told me about that many years ago. He was the same one who told me about preaching in a small country church and being told his sermon was awful. It turns out that the person meant “awe-full” or “filled with awe.”...

Sermon Delivered Sunday, March 25, 2012 Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 5:5-10 John 12:20-33 Everything is about social networking these days. Yoono you can Yelp a Tweet to your Facebook page about a place you found out about through FourSquare , but be sure to tell everyone about the deal you got through Groupon (which may or may not be as good as the one you found through LivingSocial ). Now, chances are that many of you sitting in the pews have no idea what I am talking about; however, most of the folks that read my blog (yes, both of you) know exactly what I am talking about. In fact most savvy social networkers (a term itself that is becoming passé) would roll their eyes as though I have just proclaimed 2+2 to be a complex equation! Even though Betty White rightfully proclaimed on Saturday Night Live (in one of the funniest opening monologues EVER) that these social networks (particularly Facebook - where the campaign to have her on was started) are a colos...

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana March 11, 2012 – Lent (3B) Exodus 20:1-20 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 John 2:13-25 Have you ever noticed that there are certain words and phrases that mean different things over the years? Take the phrase “selling out” for example. A generation or so ago it referred to scarcity, and - depending whether you benefited from it or not - it could be good or bad. Either way, things used to be less disposable, and because of that you either worked harder to maintain what you had or you figured out how to do without. Many people still live that way, but most of us act as though there is no end to the supply. To some extent that is true. Globalization has provided many opportunities, not the least of which being the idea that labor or products can always be found cheaper somewhere - except when it can’t. The truth is that no one’s hands are clean in the chain of supply and demand, and the best we can do is to become as aware as possible of th...

First Presbyterian – Lafayette, Louisiana March 3 , 2012 – Lent (2B) Genesis 17:1-7:15-16 Romans 4:13-25 Mark 8:31-38 Some of you are aware of my not-so secret habit of writing sermons and doing research in one or more of the coffee shops around town. I’ve even been so bold as to claim one of them as an “adjunct office.” There are many reasons I can give to justify this habit. The simplest is the fact that I am too easily distracted by the myriad of possibilities and assumed responsibilities of the office or of my home. The distractions of the coffee shop are far less important to me, though no less appealing. The parallels between the coffee shop and the church often fascinated me. Sometimes the coffee shop seems equally sacred. Usually I observe others as a fly on a wall while I read commentaries and make notes. Sometimes I meet with colleagues to discuss the lectionary, discuss the work of the church, and hold one another accountable. Sometimes a complete stranger will share so...