I hope that the revelation of Barney, the cute purple dinosaur, as the anti-Christ was not too disturbing for young children. Of course, many adults have long suspected the Great Purple One was exerting an unusual influence on their young. On a more serious note, this sermon gave me no small amount of struggle. Normally in dealing with difficult texts in the Bible there is enough that can be known to give one a good grasp on what is being taught. However in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 there is little to grab on too. More than once I wondered why in the world I was feeling the need to preach on this obscure text. In my limited experience I don't recall ever hearing a sermon on anti-Christ or any serious attempt in a sermon to explain the "man of lawlessness" in 2 Thessalonians.
What drove me in deciding to tackle this theme, was the End Times drama that is so popular today in books and movies. The anti-Christ figures are so frightening that I thought I should at least do something to help keep people from being alarmed at such presentations. Hopefully, that task was successful.
By the way, I did double check my math to make sure my calculations were correct: Barney is the anti-Christ! Math has proven it to be so.
