The woman who had just rear ended Jim Somerville, Pastor of Richmond’s First Baptist Church and Co-Founder of A Sermon for Every Sunday, came running at him, shaking her fists. “It was your fault!…This whole thing was your fault!” The other driver in the three-car incident was also convinced that it was his fault. It wasn’t, but Somerville got the ticket. He says, “When we make mistakes, do some damage, rear-end innocent tourists, we begin to employ this enormous capacity to absolve ourselves of any responsibility…By shifting the blame or manipulating the evidence, we make things right—we justify ourselves.” In today’s sermon, “The Accidental Sinner,” from 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a and Psalm 51:1-12, King David handled his sin differently. Instead of trying to justify his sin, David turned to God and said, “I’m sorry…It was my fault…”
Manuscript available: click HERE.
Note: this sermon was originally released as B36: the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B (2021)