​    A Jewish father wanted his son to get the best education possible, but Jacob had just flunked out of the eighth grade. Desperate, his father approached the Rector of the Episcopal Church, who agreed to give Jacob a chance in their parochial school.

     At the end of the first six weeks, Jacob brought home his report card with an A in every subject. “What happened, son?” the father asked in delighted amazement.

     “Well, papa, “Jacob explained, “they begin every day with a service in the chapel, and right over the choir is a statue of a poor Jewish boy nailed to a cross, and there’s a smaller statue of the same thing in every classroom. These people mean business!
 
      Sometimes our religious art isn’t interpreted correctly…
 
     The disciple Peter doesn’t quite understand the meaning of the cross either, but thank God for Peter!  He is such a source of hope for you and me, and not in the way that we might expect.  Peter—the leader of the disciples, the rock upon which Jesus would build his Church, the chief of the apostles, the one to whom the keys to the kingdom of heaven were given, St. Peter—this Peter is such a source of hope for you and me.  I am so thankful that Peter didn’t get everything right the first time, or the second time, or the third time!  He didn’t make just little mistakes; he made gigantic mistakes!
 
     In one breath, Jesus would praise Peter for his great faith, and in the next he would chastise him for his lack of faith.  Jesus wasn’t being inconsistent; Peter was inconsistent.  Even we, who struggle with our inconsistencies and doubts, can look at Peter and marvel: “How can you be so thick-headed, so weak at times?  When will you get the point, get with the program?”  But that’s the aspect of Peter’s personality that should give us all hope.  For Jesus was patient with Peter; he stuck with him until he did get it right.  He sticks with us until we get it right.  He chooses imperfect people to carry out his work.  And so there’s hope for you and me.
 
     They’re near the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  He’s taught them much of what he wants to teach them.  They’ve witnessed incredible miracles.  So one day Jesus asks the disciples who people say that he is.  After hearing their responses, he asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter responds, “You are the Christ.”  St. Matthew tells us that Jesus praises Peter, calls him blessed, because God has revealed this to him, and then tells him that he is a rock and that he will build his Church on that rock.
 
     Then, in the portion of the Gospel according to St. Mark that we heard today, Jesus goes on to prepare the disciples for the purpose of the coming of the Messiah.  He tells them that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the leaders of Judaism and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  Peter doesn’t get the point.  St. Mark tells us that he rebuked Jesus.  And then Jesus says to Peter, the rock on which he would build his Church, “Get behind me, Satan!  For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
 
     Jesus goes on to say, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  Peter was able to say the words of faith, to call Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.  What he wasn’t able to do was accept the consequences of that statement of faith.  Jesus wants us to praise him not only with our lips, but in our lives.
 
     The words of our Lord are no more palatable in our day than in Peter’s day.  We live in an extremely hedonistic society.  The culture tells us to indulge ourselves, not deny ourselves.  I call this Burger King theology: “Have it your way.”  If something gives you pleasure, have it your way, do it.  If it isn’t pleasurable, then don’t do it, or stop doing it.  If you really want something, why wait?  Have it your way; charge it.  If life is not making you happy, if you’re too sick to enjoy yourself, then end it.  If it feels good, do it, and do it only if it feels good.  In a nutshell, that is the philosophy of our culture, from the greatest of us, to the least of us
 
     It isn’t coincidental that our culture is also plagued by alcohol and drug addiction, violent crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, and a host of other afflictions.  Living life with the self as the center ultimately is not only self-destructive, but also is destructive to those around us.  Hedonism, living life according to the pleasure principle, is attractive on the surface, but it’s false because its end is destruction—destruction of marriage and family, of morality, of self-respect, of life itself.  It simply is false.
 
     Our Lord’s response to Peter shows us another way.  “If any would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  In saying we should deny ourselves, Jesus isn’t talking about giving up something that we like once in awhile.  He is talking about conversion—taking ourselves out of the center of the picture and putting God in the center.  That takes effort, because it doesn’t come naturally.  Hedonism is what comes naturally, but remember, hedonism is a false path.  Putting God in the center means taking the time to pray about decisions we have to make and asking the question, “What would God have me to do?”
 
     To take up our cross is to share in Christ’s work of saving the world.  It follows naturally from self-denial, as we seek to make Christ known through our willingness to forgive, through standing up for what is right when such a stand is unpopular, through suffering patiently when under attack.  In denying ourselves and taking up our cross, we will be following Christ, for we will be living not according to our plan, but according to God’s plan.
 
 
 

​     There are certain religious songs that I learned as a child.  I can’t remember exactly when I learned them I learned them, or even in what context.  Perhaps Sunday School was the place, or Vacation Bible School.  I don’t believe I ever saw them written down.  You just picked them up from listening to others around you singing them.
 
     “Kum bay yah, my Lord” is one of them.  “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,” is another.  Yet another is, “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.”
 
     You and I made that decision when we were baptized, or it was made for us by our parents and godparents.  If they made the decision for us, they promised that they would rear us in such a way that we would indeed make that decision for ourselves when we got old enough to know.  And when the decision was made that we would follow Jesus, either by us or by our parents and godparents, we were baptized.
 
     “Fredrick, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” were the words said as I was baptized.  In that act, I was given the gift of the forgiveness of sins, made a participant in the death and resurrection of Christ, given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and made a full member of the Church, the Body of Christ.
 
     After a person is baptized, the priest takes the oil of chrism, that has a sweet aroma of balsam in it, and with his thumb makes the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead.  As the sign of the cross is made, these words are said, “( N ), you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  Though the oil gets washed off eventually, the cross remains.  You belong to Christ, you’re a marked person, and the sign is the cross. 
 
     From then on, whether you’re in church, or at the office, or at school, or at home, or on vacation, you’re still marked, because you belong to Christ.  You can’t see that cross with your eyes, but it’s there, more permanent than a tattoo, and God sees it.  From your baptism on, whether you’re giving out lunches to the needy, or serving on Sacred Spaces, or ushering, or engaging in a bit of gossip, or cheating on your income tax, you’re still marked.  Whether you’re a faithful Christian or an unfaithful Christian, you’re still marked.  For the purpose of your life has been forever altered.  You belong to Christ, and now you are called not to live for yourself, but “for him who died for you and rose again.”
 
     Ash Wednesday, and really the whole season of Lent, is a time to acknowledge that we fall far short of the mark, not only as individuals, but also as a people.  We’re called to live sacrificially loving lives, but too much of the time we live to please ourselves.  We’re called to live in such a way that Jesus Christ is evident in our words and deeds, but all too often his image in us is obscured or even invisible.
 
     And so we come here today to seek forgiveness for past unfaithfulness, to acknowledge that we have not lived wholly as “marked” people, and to seek God’s grace in living more nearly according to the cross that marks us.  In the same place where we were sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever, there will be placed a cross of ashes, clearly visible to all, reminding us and all who see us, of who we are and Whose we are.
 
     Today, by our presence here, by our decision to have a cross of ashes on our foreheads, and by coming forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ at the altar, we are saying, “I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.”
 
     

​     We’re worshipping here on Super Bowl Sunday. We normally think about worship as being a part of our routine.  It's something we do as part of our spiritual lives or something we do as a family together.
 
     But I'd like for you to look at it from a broader point of view.  We use a form of worship that Anglicans all over the world use, which means there’s probably no time in a 24 hour period, on a Sunday, when Mass is not being celebrated in an Anglican church.  Furthermore, the Mass is the principal form of worship not only for Anglicans, but also for Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and other branches of Christendom.  But wait, there's more!  Not only is that the case today, but also it has been the case for 2000 years—from the very beginning of the Church. 
 
     Our Lord Jesus set it up that way.  He made it possible for us to be in communion with him for all time, for whenever we celebrate the Mass, not only is Jesus present, but also through the Sacrament he enters our lives anew.
 
     I’d like to leave you with that thought for a moment, and ask you to imagine everyone who is in heaven—angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim, apostles, martyrs, all the saints, and all departed who have entered into heaven are there.  Everyone there is worshiping the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 
     When we participate in the Mass, we’re experiencing something of heaven.  After we come to the end of the Mass on Sunday, our experience of that aspect of Heaven has come to an end for the time being until, once again, we gather together for Mass.
 
     God created us, alone of all his creation as far as we know, to have the ability to have one foot on earth and the other in heaven.  God has given us the ability to see beyond ourselves and to contemplate the eternal; and even to be in contact with our Creator.  We have far more ability to do that than we use, because of our self-centeredness.  The more self-centered we are, the harder it is not only to see those around us, but also to be in communion with God, for to be in communion with God the self can't be in the center; only God can be in the center.
 
     Jesus came to this earth in order to reunite us with God.  We access that relationship through our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer, meditation, and especially through the Mass. And when we celebrate Mass we’re celebrating not just with those in our parish, but also with those in every place who are doing the same thing.  We’re doing it with all who are in heaven, the whole heavenly host.  We draw attention to this reality at every Mass as the Celebrant says, " Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify the glorious Name; evermore praising thee and saying , ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts: Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O lord most high.'"  We can say that we are praising God with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven because that’s what angels and archangels and all the company of heaven do.  They worship the Creator of heaven and earth.
 
     Whenever we experience the presence of God, you might say we have one foot on earth and one foot in heaven.  When speaking of the Mass, we might call it a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.  Others have called it a "thin place," where the barrier between earth and heaven becomes very thin.
 
     The disciples had been with Jesus for three years, seeing him in all kinds of situations, experiencing his miracles, hearing his teachings.  They knew he was unique, and they probably had the idea that he was the Messiah.  The Hebrews, however, did not believe that the Messiah would be divine; they believed he would be a ruler in the line of King David and with the charisms of a divinely-chosen and directed ruler.
 
     When Peter, James, and John went with Jesus up on a mountain to pray, they experienced a very thin place indeed.  They saw Jesus along with the two greatest figures of the Jewish faith, Moses and Elijah.  Jesus was transfigured; his clothes dazzling white and his appearance radiant. In other words, they saw Jesus revealed as God.
 
     What do we do when we're given such a gift, whether we're speaking of being with Jesus in the Mass, or some other "thin" place?
                                                                                                                                       
     When Jesus and the three disciples left the mountain, St. Mark doesn’t tell us this, but St. Luke tells us they were immediately confronted with a child who was possessed, and Jesus healed the child. 
 
    Why are we given glimpses of heaven?  Two reasons: to lift us beyond ourselves to the presence of God and to give us strength to serve God, just as Jesus was led to serve.