Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION AND SET-UP:

THE MYTH OF PROGRESS

this means:

this is the position that we can save ourselves by ‘getting better’.

fixing the ills of society, helping the pool, recycling....all kinds of things that are good things, but often they become the goal.

good feelings and confidence are associated with “i am better than i used to be” or “i did my part for such and such.

being “a good person” is a phrase that is overused, but stands in for the idea that “at least I am not making things any worse and perhaps in my small corner of the world they are better because I was there”

When we were younger we called this “making a difference”.

Its not that these are bad ideas, or that they make no sense and no difference, its just that they are not CHRISTIAN ideals.

They are PLATONIC, or PRAGMATIC.

They rely on outcomes that are INCREMENTAL.

GODS PLAN IS TO REDEEM.

TO TAKE THE BROIEN AND RE-MAKE IT, NOT TO IMPROVE UPON IT.

THE CATCH IS, WE HAVE TO WAIT, TO ENDURE, TO LONG FOR AND HOPE FOR REDEMPTION WITH CHOOSING THE SUBSTITUTE OF FALSE HOPE, HUMANISM OR FAITHLESSNESS AS IT TAKES TOO LONG TO SEE THE REDEMPTION THAT HAS BEEN PROMISED.

gnosticism; THIS IS THE ACADEMIC TERM.

IT MEANS TO RELY ON KNOWING, UNDERSTANDING AND TAKING REASONABLE ACTIONS.

IT IS A PHILOSOPHY BASED ON THE POWER OF HUMANS TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

(AGAIN, SEE ABOVE FOR THE LIMITATIONS OF THIS IDEA)

more understanding, more knowing means i can overcome regressive ideas and make a better world.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS KIND OF THINKING ON OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES:

improvement is favored over redemption.

failing is “bad”, because it does not understand ‘redemption’ as a process that needs failure to occur so that there is something to redeem.

HOPELESSNESS AS WE BEGING TO SEE THAT PROGRESS DOES NOT DEAL WITH THE PAST FAILINGS, IT DOES NOT SUCCESS IN LASTING CHANGE.

“That is why the relentlessly modernist and progressivist projects that the politicians feel obliged to offer us (‘vote for us and things will get better!’) have to be dressed up with the relentlessly postmodernist techniques of spin and hype: in the absence of real hope, all that is left is feelings.”

-NT WRIGHT-

Surprised by Hope (2.

Option 1: Evolutionary Optimism)

The myth of progress fails because it doesn’t in fact work; because it would never solve evil retrospectively; and, thirdly, because it underestimates the nature and power of evil itself, and thus fails to see the vital importance of the cross, God’s No to evil which then opens the door to his Yes to creation.

Only in the Christian story itself—certainly not in the secular stories of modernity—do we find any sense that the problems of the world are solved, not by a straightforward upward movement into the light, but by the creator God going down into the dark, to rescue humankind and the world from its plight

The myth of progress fails

It fails because its change is incremental and impermanent (Temporary)

It changes what it can see, it may even impact circumstances, but it does not change our nature.

it does not take away desire, appetite, sin and consequences and it does not deal a death blow to self.

it underestimates the nature and power of evil itself, and thus fails to see the vital importance of the cross, God’s No to evil which then opens the door to his Yes to creation.

“Only in the Christian story do we find any sense that the problems of the world are solved, not by a straightforward upward movement into the light, but by the creator God going down into the dark, to rescue humankind and the world from its plight1”

1 Wright, T. (2007).

Surprised by Hope (p.

99).

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

My past evils must be redeemed so that my mistakes matter.

If they are not I am trapped by guilt adn recrimination.

My future sins, must be accounted for.

The evil I will continue to do....must be atoned for or I am forever in fear of the consequences of bad actions I am certain I will ultimately take.

I am paralyzed by my future failures if there is no redemption.

WHAT IS GODS PLAN?

Jesus does not give us progress, but he erases destruction by taking it upon himself.

It’s is a new beginning, not a new approach.

Romans 5:12–21 (NIV84)

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world.

But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass.

For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase.

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

what this passage means:

it only took one sin to destroy billions of humans and the creation itself.

It took ONLY one special death to make all of those billions of sins REDEMPTIVE

when sin increases, grace increases.

We can never out-sin Gods Grace.

(Conditional)

ONE MAN OVERCOMES THE EVIL OF BILLIONS, IF IT IS A PERFECT MAN!

The other metaphor here is “first Fruits”

THE POWER OF FIRST FRUITS

its not one for one.

son sin killed us all.

one action had the power to destroy all mankind, but it doesn't take many acts of righteousness to reverse it, but only one.

It can be repaired with a single act, even though sin is an innumerable decision by all men.

The death of jesus is powerful enough to repair ALL sin.

like a virus, life infects the dead, just like sin infected the living...death spreads, but so is life.

The living jesus, the ascension....

the bodily return opens the door for our bodies to return to the spiritual plane...

What did it mean that Jesus ROSE from the Dead?

Not just for him, but for all of us.

Death is defeated if he comes back.

1 COR 15:20-28

1 Corinthians 15:20–28 (NIV84)

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

For he “has put everything under his feet.”

Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Heaven is like a dimension, more than a distant place, it is a dimensional place.

It is “close” but unseen.

it is “right next to be” but on another plane.

It is invisible, but present.

It is a present reality, it is “now” but my physical body prevents me from experiencing it.

I need a new body to ‘see it’ Jesus shows us that the experience is for our bodies...it is “real” and has attributes of the world we know, the bodies we know.

but devoid of the limitations of sight and experience.

GROANINGS

we are ‘groaning’ in waiting for what is to come.

the creation also groans for what is to come.