Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Analytical
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Background
The END (NEW CREATION) BREAKS INTO THE NOW!!
Like the woman at the well, and the blind man who receives his sight, Jesus does something that draws the attention of the community in order for GOD to be glorified.
There’s that BELIEVE word again...
After Lazarus comes out of the tomb he is turned over to the community
There’s a theme here, again.
The people who see us before Jesus intersects our lives, should also be the people who witness the transformation Jesus brings.
They see the before and after.
Jesus does something in us and send us back to the community/village/neighborhood we belong to so that THEY can see Jesus working in us and so that THEY TOO MAY COME TO BELIEVE!
Although faith is personal, it is NEVER PRIVATE!
Laz is dieing
Jesus waits around a few days and Lazarus dies
When Jesus finally comes Laz has been dead for 4 days!
The sisters meet Jesus and say, “If you had been here, our brother would not have died.”
How many times have you felt that God didn’t work as fast as you wanted?
How many times have you felt God could have handled a situation differently?
It’s ok to be honest here!
Here’s where our Story picks up
HE STINKS!
That’s the reply of Martha.
He’s been dead, and hanging around the tombs too much.
He’s been dead for 4 days.
He stinks!
She has a very pragmatic, practical reason, for Jesus NOT to roll the stone away.
Her brother stinks!
But, even in the midst of HOPELESSNESS Christ can bring HOPE!
There was a thought that people who have died might not actually be dead.
Some people believed that there was hope for someone to wake up, or be resurrected, for up to 3 days after they died.
When Jesus shows up on day 4, he comes into a situation where ALL HOPE IS GONE!
But, he brings HOPE with him.
He commands the stone to be rolled away and calls to the dead man, “COME OUT!” And, the dead man leaves the tomb behind him.
But, he also has graveclothes wrapped around him
What are graveclothes?
They are reminders of death.
They are things covered with the decaying flesh of the dead.
They are strips of linen that must be taken off or else the person who has been resurrected will be choked back to death.
So, graveclothes must be removed in order that the person who has been brought out of the tomb can really live again!
We have been hanging in the tombs too much!
We stink!
Tombs are places of death.
PERIOD.
Many of us are like LAZ, we are comfortable in dark, destructive, deathly places.
Another word we can use tonight for the image of the tomb is SIN.
Too many of us are too comfortable with SIN.
We go to it for help, assurance, comfort etc…
We’ve been hanging out with death for too long.
And, we end up wearing the graveclothes of sin.
Let me explain.
We carry scars of past hurts, emotional pain, depression, self hatred, upsetness over issues in our family or school or church.
We’ve been bullied, picked on, kicked out of the house and counted out of life.
These are things beyond our control.
But, they become graveclothes leading us toward a path of destruction.
The anger begins to wrap tighter around us and we begin to find comfort and help in the tombs; in places of darkness, despair, hopelessness, and death.
To deal with what has happened to us we go to a tomb.
We go to the tomb of cutting
We go to the tomb of self hatred
We go to the tomb of the “easy feel good”
The tomb of sex
Drugs, alcohol, pornography
We want to be “accepted” so we give in to what the BOY asks or we allow our friends to coerce us to do things we never thought we would.
The next thing we know, we look around and we are stuck in a dark, depressing, hopeless situation.
We are stuck in a tomb and we STINK!
We might claim to follow Christ.
We might claim to be alive, but the stench of sin, the stink of death is all over us.
Oh, we try to cover it up with our Christian Dior.
You know, listening to Christian praise and worship in our cars or bedrooms.
But, we still sneak back to the tombs late at night or right after school, etc…
Jesus, today, is standing in front of the tomb calling us to STEP OUT!
He’s calling us to step out of death and step into life!
And, you may be thinking, “Hey, preacher man, I’ve been going to this tomb for too long.
I have been doing this for years.
I’m addicted.
It’s who I am etc… There’s no way I can change.
There’s no way I can come out of this tomb…”
Listen, if Jesus can stand there amidst a crowd of people who are weeping and mourning the loss of their friend.
If he can do that when ALL HOPE IS LOST for the friend.
And, if on that day he can call THAT man away from death and the tomb he was in.
THEN SURELY HE CAN CALL YOU OUT OF YOUR TOMB.
He can call you out of…
Depression, self hate, cutting, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, pornography addiction, drugs, meth, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, the desire to please the masses of people and not God, Darkness, despair, hopelessness
But, here’s the cool thing… After Jesus calls Laz out he asks the community to take off the death clothes.
Graveclothes.
What are they?
The things that tie us back to hopelessness.
They are the temptations, the habits we want to return to, the scars of what was done to us in the past.
Jesus expects, and commands, the community to help a brother, or sister, out.
He expects your church and youth group to come to YOU who have been brought from death to life.
He expects us to help you meander your new life while removing the temptations, habits, and hurts of your past.
THIS IS WHAT ACCOUNTABILITY IS.
Someone comes alongside you to cheer you on and to help you when you would like to return to darkness!
Today, many of us need to come out!
We need to step out of hopelessness and receive hope.
We need to step away from despair and darkness and allow Christ to lead us to light.
We need to come away from Death and live a real, transformed life.
Jesus is calling us TODAY to “COME OUT”.
If that’s you, COME OUT and COME TO THE FRONT!
Come OUT OF
Darkness, Despair, Hopelessness, hate for what was done to you in the past
Come Out Of
Self harm, cutting, pill popping and overdosing
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