Last Sunday's gospel reading was the one, where Jesus tells His disciples He must go to Jerusalem and die, and Peter says no, and Jesus says, "Get behind me Satan.". I listened to both a Catholic sermon, and an Episcopal sermon on this reading, and thought both missed the main point. I won't go into those sermons, but I will give you my thoughts on this reading. . . .Peter is a follower of Jesus Christ, because as Jesus is the son of God, Peter believes he is backing a winner. His vision of the future, is fairy tale stuff, happy ever after stuff . . .Jesus gets mad, because Jesus knows that is not reality. Jesus doesn't promise happy endings, He promises us, life and peace, but no happy endings. Just as in our day and age now, people by the millions believe in happy endings , . . .love, and equality for everyone, . . .Sorry but that is not reality, it will never be reality, hate will always exist, inequality will always exist. The reality isn't in the happy ending, it is in the journey, and the suffering, and sacrifice . .That is where God's work gets done, and God's love exists . . .When we give ourselves over to God, and do the crappy hard stuff. When we have the breath and strength, and the peace of mind, to go about our jobs, and let go of the happy endings, where everything is rainbows and hugs and kisses and warm fuzzies . . .When our focus isn't longer on those times, we are finally doing God's work . . . .
Lesson Six
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