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 is one of many ways to articulate the Gospel itself. We have been Freed-From the world's givens of accumulation, self-securing, and resulting inequalities and Freed-For sharing God's own heart of putting others ahead of oneself.

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 rest for which he does very much hope -- the sort of restfulness of mind that contrasts sharply with our all-too-often restlessness. God promises to heal our decadent, slothful, "fracked" minds and give us pure, quiet, awestruck worship.

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 will give us even more than we lost. Indeed, at least some human works will themselves endure as the Heavenly Father "frames the pictures" of the children in whom He delights. And whom He dearly loves: the sermon ends by observing that Jesus was always the lamb who was slain (even before he was slain!).

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 allows us to "hear" -- and Jesus does this with his very own touch.

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 Patrick, and Scripture more broadly to answer with a resounding and scandalous Yes.

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 or will do even what He claims He will not is laudable "audacious faith" for which we should strive. The sermons ends with two applications.

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