Rev. Zach

Exodus 24:12-18 Psalm 2 Matthew 17:1-9 What we have received in the scriptures today is nothing short of the power of God written largely for all to see! In each case, the people were moved by amazement, and the expectation was set for a future ordered by grace and mercy. That’s some good news, and we sure do need it! Today is the day we celebrate – and wrestle with – the transfiguration of Jesus, and it’s kind of like the exclamation point at the end of the Season of Epiphany. I realize that not everyone is into celebrating the seasons of the church year (apart from Christmas and Easter), but here’s why Epiphany matters to the church and to the world. We make such a fuss about the birth of Christ, and once the presents are opened and the decorations put away (or repurposed for Mardi Gras) we tend to forget why that birth mattered so much. Epiphany is the season that reminds us why the birth of Jesus matters. It is nothing less than the God of all space and time, of all tha...

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Matthew 5:21-37 This week, just like every week, I have prayed and studied and reflected and discussed the scriptures with colleagues, yet this week, unlike most other weeks, I have found it terribly difficult to figure out what I might say about these particular passages of scripture. It’s not that they are so very difficult (although they actually are). It’s that I’m still reeling from the feedback that I received from last week’s sermon. Last week I received more feedback than I think I ever have in 18 years of ordained ministry. It ranged from, “I’ve been waiting for a message like that!” to “I don’t agree with your politics, but I can still love you!” which was followed by a massive hug. Later in the week, I heard more disagreement, but it wasn’t necessarily over politics. Truth be told, I didn’t actually think the things I said were political, so much as they were Biblical and theological reflections on the issues of the day. T...

Isaiah 58:1-9a     1 Corinthians 2:1-12     Matthew 5:13-20 Our reading from Matthew’s gospel follows the beatitudes – Jesus’s recounting of those who are blessed though they seem everything but – and as it continues Jesus goes straight from preachin’ down into meddlin’, as my grandmother used to say. Remember He was on a low rolling hill opposite the construction of Tiberias, so named for the Roman Emperor and built from unfair taxation, conscripted labor, and standing as a challenge to Jerusalem as a center of power for the people of Judea. You should also consider that just before preaching from the hills, Jesus had been preaching in various synagogues and healing the sick. That means the sermon on the mount was preceded by demonstrations of God’s grace and mercy and the constant call for repentance so that the people might enter the kingdom of God. Now he is describing what the social and political realities look like when we live in the Kingdom of God. ...

Micah 6:1-8 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 Before reading Matthew 5:1-12, I encourage you to consider substituting “honored” or “envied” instead of “blessed,” as some scholars have suggested. This truly changes the weight of the passage from “those who have it rough now will get a prize in the end” to “those who suffer offer us a deeper understanding of God’s active presence.” At the risk of sounding dismissive to suffering, I must confess that it’s hard for me to read this passage without the influence and theological questioning of the recently deceased, Terry Jones, a founding member of the Monty Python comedy troupe and the director of the film, The Life of Brian. For those who are unaware, The Life of Brian was a satirical and sacrilegious parody of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. There is a scene in the film in which Jesus is delivering his “sermon on the mount” which includes the Beatitudes of Jesus. The camera pans wide from the masses, and the further out it g...

Isaiah 9:1-4 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23 Well, friends, what we have before us in the gospel text is a clear and present example of a no-brainer. You know what I mean? A no-brainer is one of those things you don’t even have to think about. You just do it! The only problem is that this only looks like a no-brainer for those who know the rest of the story. How in the world was following Jesus a no-brainer for these guys? I think it’s doubly hard for us to understand because we look at this story from an entirely different lense of decision making. We tend to make decisions based on what we can understand logically, or what we consider to be practical, or (unfortunately, we do this last one the most) how we feel about something. If you don’t believe me, just think about the way toothpaste is sold. We’re told that 9 out of 10 Dentists agree, or that this one fights cavities and bad breath, or this one leaves your mouth feeling clean and kissable all day long. That’s r...

Isaiah 49:1-7 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42 While I’ve appreciated the comments over my quarterly hair cut, there is a more subtle change that I made to my appearance this past Fall that many of you have not noticed. It was my glasses. I really did not expect anyone to notice because they are almost the exact same style as my old ones. They are, I confess, trifocals. My old ones were, too, but they were just a hair off and I always felt like I had to move my head in a certain way to see things. Maybe that’s just how it is with trifocals. Maybe I’m just now getting used to it. They are, of course, progressive lenses so that no one knows they are trifocals unless I tell them, because I am just that vain. That term – progressive lenses – has me thinking, though. It makes me wonder about the idea of progressive looking and progressive seeing. Does it matter if we are seen as “progressive”? For that matter, are we even able to see the world through the right part of the r...

Before I get too far into things I want to say thank you to the congregation and to those who stepped into leadership roles while my family and I went to spend time with our extended family in Georgia and Tennessee. It was good to getaway. It is also good to be home, take down the lights and just get back to living the best life we can. 2020 has been a bit of shock, though. I came home to an oil leak in my car and a fridge with a backed-up overflow valve, then we had a storm that took out part of a fence I share with a neighbor. Those are all manageable things though. The real shocking stuff is in the news. We have an impeached president assassinating a foreign general, a police chief that’s been asked to resign and the list goes on. I tell you, coming off of the holidays into this mess can feel, well, Mo can you help me illustrate how it feels? [Mo stands up and throws water in my face and then offers me a towel] Thank you, Mo! I know that I can always count on you. It’s ...