A preacher always carries three sermons: the one he was going to give, the one he gave, and the one he should have given. To read the sermon I was going to give, see below. But that was not the sermon I gave. To it, click on the “listen” link.
We live in a society where it is very easy for us believe in the myth of the self-made individual, to get a backwards view of things. Indeed it is tempting to look at our lives, our gifts, our possessions and think that it all is a result of our own efforts, to think that we are “self-made”.
But today’s scriptures tell a different story.
Jesus cleaned the temple in order to make more room for God. Lent is the time we are also called to do a little spring cleaning of a spiritual sort.
(Note: for reasons explained in the audio, there is no manuscript for today’s sermon.)
After Peter’s brilliant witness, he thought he knew who Jesus was. But when Jesus begins to tell his disciples what it really means to be the Messiah, that he would suffer, be rejected, die and rise again, Peter can’t believe his ears. He pulls Jesus aside, and begins pleading with him. “SHHHH! Are you crazy? That’s not how this story is supposed to end.”
