Covenant Church

In this Ash Wednesday service, Zack begins by explaining that Christians have had two emphases on this day -- repentance and mortality (our being dust). But, he argues, these are two sides of the same coin: without God's Spirit enabling us to turn (repent), we remain mired in earthly desires, behaviors, and frameworks. Yet repentance is not simply turning *from* sin; more importantly, it is tu...

The story of Jesus' transfiguration on the mount before Peter, James, and John prompts three reflections. Zack first reflects on holiness -- that quality that makes God God, that cannot be attained but only caught contagiously from Him, that takes the form of shining face. Second, Zack examines fear. While fear can function to motivate people in Scripture, here, as often elsewhere, it more pro...

How do we understand this strange story of Jesus only partially -- and then, ultimately -- healing a blind man? After making the case that the text invites us to interpret symbolically, Zack discusses our (and the original apostles') partial sight -- Jesus is Messiah, but we don't really know what that means. He then expounds Messiahship in terms of humility, in terms of servant-of-all. Do...

In this sermon, Zack offers another, more tentative, reason why Mark might include the story of the Feeding of the 4,000 shortly after telling the story of the Feeding of the 5,000. In the story of the 5,000, Jesus feeds primarily Jews; in the story of the 4,000, Jesus feeds primarily Gentiles. After making a literary case -- and teaching about how to interpret the details/form of a text from Scri...

Why does Mark tell us about the feeding of the 4,000 shortly after telling us about the feeding of the 5,000? Zack offers some suggestions. We learn about the role of understanding (catching up with faith); about hardened hearts (endemic to humans, even saints); about memory (a critical spiritual reality to re-examine).

What is Epiphany? One way of understanding it is that it is God's bringing all of creation -- including "the nations" (represented by the Magi) -- into His Kingdom. At a moment when, if we are honest, we worry that that is not happening, Zack reminds us that God works through mustard seeds. These faithful people's actions grow, usually unknown to us, into the great tree of God&#3...

Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55, known as the Magnificat, is a powerful declaration of God's favor toward the humble and lowly. Zack reflects on the revolutionary nature of this song—and its exemplifying one of the major notes found throughout almost every page of Scripture. But this note—God's deep love for the marginalized—is not (just) a claim about God or an ethical imperative for us. Instead, it...

Continuing with this Advent's focus on Jesus' second coming and our future hope, Zack explores the idea of a "Sabbath Rest" found in Heb 4:1-11. Admitting that he doesn't really look forward to "rest," he makes the point that that is because he is comfortable in this life: to those who are suffering, rest is one of the most important promises. Going beyond this, however, he identifies a type of re...

What difference does thinking about the end of history make for our faith? Probably little--but it should make quite a bit of difference. After arguing that only the comfortable don't long for God's future--that the oppressed do--Zack spends the bulk of this sermon mining Scripture to help expand our imagination of what God's good future entails. Not just restoring what we lost in the Fall, God wi...

In the spirit of a traditional "fourfold" reading of Scripture, Zack offers both a literal and a spiritual reading of the story of the man who is deaf and has difficulty speaking. At the literal level, this is not one of the set of "miracles" to which we might grow (too) accustomed, but is, instead, an unique healing of an unique individual. At the spiritual level, it is always a miracle when God...

In part 2 of 2 reflecting on the story of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30, Zack turns from (audacious) human faith to (audacious) divine love. In light of repeated woes to the rich and blessings for the poor, does God love the rich? What about those who gain their riches from oppression? Zack examines the biblical and historical background of Tyre, the biographies of John Newton and Saint...

Why does Jesus seemingly reject (at first) this Gentile woman's request for healing simply because she is a Gentile? Why does Jesus call her a "dog"? After wrestling with these problems, Zack spends the bulk of the sermon discussing this Syrophoenician woman's audacious faith. Like Abraham and King Hezekiah before her, this woman argues with God. Believing that God is greater than even He lets on...

In Mark 7:1-23, we find Jesus arguing with opponents over how to interpret Scripture. Zack finds three phenomena here and argues that all of them are important for us.

Jesus' walking on the water reveals that He is God. Zack reflects on why this fact -- and the sort of God that He is -- makes all the difference for us.

The most dangerous thing a pastor does; spiders held over a fire; a child's drawing of the Hong Kong skyline: Zack marvels at what God's calling us to participate in His ways tells us about God's love for us.

White plastic fans; overwhelming trees; every meal a miracle: Zack reads the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6 as an instance of the crowd not knowing that a miracle is occurring -- much like us in every meal we enjoy. For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons

Katharine Drexel, Isabelle of France, tetrarch Herod: Zack considers why this story of John the Baptist being beheaded is included in the gospel and concludes that we learn something important about when to listen and when not to listen.

Walking around Canadian towns and asking strangers to stay with them; donkey carts tipping over; singing U2 songs in public with college students: In this third of three sermons on Mark 6:6b-13, Zack talks about why we evangelize and, based on Mark 6:6-13, what faithful evangelism might look like. For a handout, please visit covmin.org/sermons

The heart of early Christian faith; entertaining angels unaware; a man sewn up with a shoelace: In this second of three sermons on the sending of the Twelve in Mark 6:6b-13, Zack discusses the centrality of hospitality to our faith and why, exactly, hospitality is so important.

Riding along for errands; church diapers; quitting a lucrative job: In this second on three sermons on Mark 6:6-13, Zack plumbs Scripture and experience to explain why Christian teamwork is so important. For a handout, please visit covmin.org/sermons.

Was Jesus a carpenter? MLK, Jr’s predecessor selling fish; olfactory nerves stop smelling roses: Zack talks about our problem with Jesus being undignified and familiar. For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons

Blinded by sparrow droppings and mustard plasters; praying for a dead father; Perpetua and her brother: Zack talks about God’s delight in our praying for the impossible. For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons

My older son’s epilepsy; Jim O’Connell and Healthcare for the Homeless; the myth of Sisyphus: Zack reflects on the fact that no one is beyond the reach of Jesus’ saving touch (even if they are beyond the reach of ours). For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons

Charles Finney, John Wesley; Pandita Ramubai. Zack argues that the key for moving from the question of “What is this?” to the better question of “Who is this?” is encountering Jesus. For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons

Talking to fifth graders; a chaplain’s reflections: In the second of three sermons on the Stilling of the Storm (Mark 4:35-41), Zack argues that Jesus wants us to have a faith that is calm in the storm and trusts his outcomes and his timing—because God’s love is greater than death. For a handout, visit covmin.org/sermons