Rev. Zach

Luke 9:51-62 We shared part of this reading last Wednesday in our Ash Wednesday service, so I want to give a little recap from that service for the first section (verses 51-56). To begin with, it’s important to remember that this followed the Transfiguration of Jesus when he took Peter, James, and John up Mt Tabor to pray and encountered Moses and Elijah and Jesus’ clothes went sort of ‘supernova.’ After that the disciples were struggling to heal a boy, but Jesus did it with barely a thought – except to call them all faithless and perverse (literally turned away from God). What we know from all of that is that Jesus is the embodiment of the law and the prophets, and he knew at this point that he was headed toward Jerusalem and the cross in order to accomplish what God had in mind on a cosmic level instead of what the people all around him wanted on an individual level. On the way to do that, he still had some teaching and healing to do, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that t...

Luke 9:28-45 We’re going to start with a little game today. I’m going to give you categories of people, and I want you to think about them. I want you to think about how they look. Think about, without judgment, what ethnicity or gender you assign to them. Think about how you feel, or would feel, if you were having a conversation with this person. You may think of someone you know that could be described by one of these words, and that’s fine. Don’t go too deep. Just react. If it interests you, you can think more about them later and give this person a story (I like to do that with strangers when I’m waiting on a flight). OK, here we go: Doctor, Nurse, Person in the Service Industry (Restaurant/Retail, etc), Person Experiencing Homelessness, Immigrant, Politician, Sanitation Worker I have to admit I was a little tempted to do the Sesame Street song, “These Are The People In Your Neighborhood,” but I didn’t give Jake time to warm up on that one. The thing is, these are the people in ou...

Luke 7:1-14 Today we have received two stories of miraculous healing, and this time it wasn’t just a “withered hand.” Both of the people Jesus healed were near death or at least perceived as already dead. For those of us raised with these stories of faith, sometimes these stories become all too easy to read and to hear without question, but I have to say that they are hard for me to hear today. I don’t know about you, but I find the healing stories of the Bible some of the most difficult to reconcile with our ever-expanding understanding of the complexity of the created order, and that is particularly true when it comes to death. Before going any further, I’d like to say to those who may have lost a loved one due to COVID–19 that this passage is not intended to trivialize your loss. Death is, unfortunately, a part of life, and when the scale of loss is as high as it is today we need to be clear in stating that every loss is still significant – not just to you and to me, but also to Go...

Psalm 146   Luke 4:14-30 Well, friends, once again we find ourselves at the close of a week of unprecedented events and at the beginning of another. Sometimes, among the headlines and memes and conspiracy theories, I like to try to take a step back and think about the way people are responding in our various pools of friends and online acquaintances. Most of us are, of course, somewhat selective of who we communicate with through social media, but there are also those (like me) who just say what they want to anyone and everyone who will listen. Regardless of your level of discretion, you’ve probably noticed that there are some who only use social media for levity, rightly believing that no political, theological or ontological argument has ever been won online.  Then there are those that try to get everyone to their side. Sometimes that’s through a factual argument, and sometimes it’s through sarcasm and ridicule of “the other side.” Sometimes it is through sharing something ...

The image is from the painting, Baptism of the Lord by Daniel Bonnell. The song is "Glory to God" featuring Jake Spinella and the FPC Chancel Choir. Todays Readings:  Genesis 1:1-5 ; Mark 1:4-11  Wednesday was an interesting day in the life of our nation, in fact, it was an interesting day for the world – given the impact our nation has on others. It was a historic day full of riots and wrangling, run-offs, and run-ins. I’m sure that days like that make good headlines – and I know that I’ve been taught to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other – but I’m tired of making history. I imagine that you are, too. I imagine that I am not alone in longing for a time when things return to normal, or at least a time when everyone isn’t angry about one thing or another. The trouble is that there are still things to be angry about, and we just can’t seem to get past the fact that there are more ways to solve our problems than to expect that might makes right. In ...

Matthew 2:1-12 Hey Jake, what’s that song we like to sing around this time of year about the wise men? [Jake plays “We Three Kings”] No, no, no! I mean the one about the fourth wise man! [Jake plays “Rudolph”.] THAT’S IT! [The next portion is sung.] You know Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper); kings of Arabia (or Ethiopia, we aren’t sure which), Persia, and India….but do you recall, the least famous wise man of all? [Rudolf the red nosed reindeer]           Artaban, one of the Medes from Persia, [had a very shiny nose,]                          had 3 treasures for the Christ Child, [and if you ever saw it]                            but because he missed the meeting, [you would even say it glows.]            he spent one for his travel woes. [All of the other reindee...

Isaiah 9:2,      Luke 2:1-14 Oh, how we love to hear that story! Whether it’s someone we love and trust like Dorinda or someone with the childlike confidence of Linus or the reassuring authority of our moms and little ones in our annual Christmas pageant – we love to hear the story of the nativity of Jesus! For those who are young, it is only second nature to hear a story so beloved and say, “Again! Read it again, Dad!” For those of us who have grown up or grown old or at least think that we may have somehow accidentally done either of those without meaning to, this story – the story of the birth of Jesus – brings us back to our natural state of wonder like no other story ever will. Some will hear it and think, like the Grinch, “Maybe there is something more to the meaning of Christmas that I have not heard before.” Some of us may think we already know the meaning of Christmas pretty well, but we still need the feeling of reassurance that the story brings. Maybe we just n...