Rev. Zach

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29        Mark 11:1-14, 20-25 [Our service began with a procession of palms from the Fellowship Hall, accompanied by an accordion, a fiddle, and a sousaphone]. We began today with our procession of palms, as is our tradition. We may have broken that tradition somewhat with the additional musical accompaniment, but it was fun, right? The goal was to recapture some of the excitement of the original event, which is a little hard to do since we are not waiting for a warrior king to throw out our government. Not only that, we know the whole story. We know that in the first Procession of Palms, Jesus entered the city gates as the righteous one of God.   We know that because of him, we entered these doors as the righteous ones of God. That’s not to say that we are inherently good or better than anyone else. That is to say that we know the burden of our sin, and we know that God has given us the opportunity to be free of it. ...

Jeremiah 31:31-34         Hebrews 5:5-10       John 12:20-33 OK. We’re five Sundays into Lent and one away from Palm Sunday. It’s time for a pop quiz. Are you ready? In our gospel reading, the Greeks have come asking to see Jesus. What if someone asked you that question today? What would you say? Where have you seen Jesus in the past week? I would say metaphorically, but our theology includes those who follow Jesus in the body of Christ – which is the physical manifestation of Jesus in the world today. So, where and when – outside of these four walls – have you seen Jesus in the world this week? (Answers are given: in the kindness of strangers, the PDA work team, the beauty of creation) These are great answers! As for me, just asking myself this question one morning opened me up to all kinds of possibilities. In fact, that same morning I was walking to my car from the gym and I sneezed. Just as I was thinking ho...

  Numbers 21:4-9      Ephesians 2:1-10      John 3:14-21 John 3:16 – we see it at every major sporting event, and many other public events. Some even say that this is the summary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and all you really need to know for salvation. [A member of the choir stands up, blows a whistle, and throws a yellow flag at me. Then he marches to the lectern and says, "Flag on the play. Cherry picking. Ignoring context. Relativizing the gospel for personal gain. Penalty – 7 verses. Second down."] Um, thanks, Chuck. That’s kind of what I was thinking, too. In fact, you just illustrated something that we should all be feeling when we hear exclusive claims to grace and mercy – claims that describe who God will and will not love. Now, stay with me on this, because the flip side of that coin is that we don’t know if or how God will be gracious or merciful at all. And we know that’s not right, because all of us have seen G...

Exodus 20:1-17      1 Corinthians 1:18-25      John 2:13-22 So, how ya’ doing? By that I mean with the opportunity of following your “Epiphany Star”. For those that may have missed it, we handed out stars at Epiphany with words to help us frame our response to the gospel this year. Mine was “service,” and some days I am better at it than others. I keep my star on my dresser so that I’ll see it every day. I bring that up as a reminder of where we’ve been, even as we move toward the cross and the hope that it brings. So far, as we’ve moved from Epiphany into Lent – from enlightenment into a period of reflection and discernment. So far on our journey we have recognized the baptismal covenant that claims us all, and we have heard the call to repentance, and discipleship, and covenant community. And as a covenant community, we’ve struggled to discern what might separate us from God, and what needs to be crucified along with Christ so that...

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Romans 4:13-25 Mark 8:31-38 It has been said that Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” Today is just such a day. It is a day that I stand feeling woefully unworthy of the gospel message. It is a day that I feel torn between a culture that returns violence for violence in an ever escalating and self-perpetuating cycle of death and a message of hope through love and forgiveness that brings life in abundance. So often we seem to be held captive between the choice of honoring life or defending the innocent, as though we cannot do both at the same time. Perhaps that is the cross that stands before us today. Perhaps that tenuous balance between fear and hope is the nexus of faith and action that is staring right at us. Yet this cross – the intersection of human pathos and divine logos ­– is not silent. It shouts at us in the anger of a father whose daughter...

Genesis 9:8-17      1 Peter 3:18-22      Mark 1:9-15 If you had a time machine, where would you go? Who would you hope to meet? What event would you want to see for yourself? My answer changes depending on when and where I am asked – which is probably true for most of us – but I think today I might like to hear Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech first hand. I might like to see what it was like to have so many people in our nation mobilized under the idea that our human dignity is at stake. I say that because I think that we often forget that the only reason we have a “Black History” month is because we have had years and years of white history. Sure, people of color have been included in our history, but their significance and role has never been acknowledged to its full extent. Likewise, we also forget that the Civil Rights movement was not just for people of color to have rights, but for all of us to recognize our basic humanity in...