Rev. Zach

Isaiah 43:16-21      Philippians 3:4b-14      John 12:1-8 Today is an exciting day in the life of our congregation, as we give thanks to God for the life of Al Pheiffur (and his twin brother Elmer). Al has become what a friend of mine once told me that he aspired to become – a centenarian ! Thinking about all that Al has lived through is a little overwhelming, and I imagine there are some parts that he may wish to forget just as there are many memories to cherish and hold dear. One thing that Al can certainly teach us is that life is full of changing priorities. What matters to a boy of 10 is not the same as that of a man of 22. Likewise the things matter to a woman of 22 are not the same as a woman of 65. All of us, in turn, are motivated by different passions and priorities. Sometimes we have so many tugging at us that we may not even know what it is that matters most other than hitting the snooze alarm – one more time. Certainly we all have goa...

Joshua 5:9-12      Psalm 32       Corinthians 5:16-21       Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 “Is love ever wasted?” That question was asked in a discussion about this week’s texts on the Pulpit Fiction podcast. It was asked in relation to the parable of the prodigal son, but I think it is an important interpretive idea for all of our readings today. Each passage celebrates the abundance of God’s providence in different ways, and at the core of it all is a celebration of God’s never failing love for us. Of course, when we see ourselves as the recipients of grace and mercy we typically do not think of God’s love as having been wasted. How could we? Yet when we think about those whom we find hard to love, those who take advantage of others, and those who do not seem to meet our standards of responsibility it gets a little harder not to think of God’s love as wasteful. Or maybe it’s not the love that’s wasteful. Maybe it’s the missed opportunities to ...

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 ...

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18        Philippians 3:17-4:1        Luke 13:31-35 So, what are you getting for Lent? That’s kind of a weird question, isn’t it? Normally we think of giving something up for Lent. You might even think of that as a Roman Catholic thing to do. Certainly it comes from their tradition and history, which is also our tradition and history. Some protestants may think that it is somewhat of a “works righteousness” kind of thing to do. Or maybe it is, like in the movie Chocolat , an unreasonable measure of control that isn’t really connected with kindness or compassion. All of these things may be true, but they aren’t the whole story. First off, giving up something for Lent is a way that we can participate in something as the church catholic – meaning all who follow Jesus. And while some may think of giving things up as earning bonus points or sky miles, it can also be understood as a type of Spring Cleaning for your soul. The word L...

Romans 10:8b-13      Luke 4:1-13 Today is Valentine’s Day, formerly known as the feast of St. Valentine. The internets have been flooded with Valentine memes over the last few days – those silly pictures with a witty phrase. People more clever than I have turned everything from dictators to sci-fi characters into kitschy fake Valentine cards. One of my favorites is the picture of the aforementioned saint with the caption, “Rose are red, Violets are blue. I was beaten with clubs and buried in darkness [there’s actually more to the legend than that] and you commemorate my martyrdom by sending each other chocolates.” Now, as for me and my beloved, we have never really celebrated this holiday – by mutual agreement. Primarily that’s because flowers that will soon die and trinkets that will never be worn are not the way we express our appreciation for one another. Expressions of love that are mass marketed, conveniently packaged, and socially expected just aren’t our thi...

Jeremiah 1:4-10       1 Corinthians 13:1-13       Luke 4:21-30 “Have you ever noticed that when someone says, ‘no offense’ it means that they want to say something offensive.” I was reminded of that last Sunday by one of our youth. Not because she said, “No offense.” but because she made the observation about that phrase. Her comment reminded me of some other disclaimers, such as, “I’m not trying to be mean,” or “I’m just saying.” All of these are phrases that can sneak in to our vocabulary and mask the true nature of our feelings, our beliefs, and our fears. Fear is a very real thing that we all have to manage and live with. It has been described as a monster in the closet or under the bed, and when we do not recognize how fear motivates us then we can become its prisoner. We become the monster. We lose the ability to become motivated by love. I think that’s why scripture tells us, and characters like Jeremiah, over and over again not to fear. Of course,...

Nehemiah 8:1-10       1 Corinthians 12:12-31a       Luke 4:14-21 Have you ever had one of those moments when it was confirmed deep within your soul that what you were doing was wrong? I don’t mean simple mistakes. I’m talking about realizing that some of your actions – or even patterns of behavior – are entirely disconnected from your values. All of us have some moment like that – some dark night of the soul – if we live long enough, or at least I hope that we do. Otherwise we may never see ways to correct our imperfections and truly become what we have been created to become. Otherwise we might live our lives like a spare part and never know it. Most of us have drawers full of those little parts that we hold on to because they might be useful someday – an extra screw or one of those weird little rubber things that went to a shelf, or a desk, or something. The Israelites in today’s passage were certainly confronted with the idea that they had been less th...