Sermon Tone Analysis

On a gray Friday in January 2007, during the peak of the early morning commuter rush, an unassuming young man entered the L'Enfant Plaza train station in Washington D.C.

As the crowds rushed by, the man found a place to stand out of the way of the foot traffic.

He opened the violin case he carried.

He threw into the case a few coins and dollar bills to "prime the pump."

And then he proceeded to begin playing.

But this was no ordinary street musician.

The anonymous violinist in the train station was Joshua Bell, renowned virtuoso, star of the symphony circuit.

Only three days earlier audiences had shelled out between 100.00 to 200.00 bucks for a ticket to watch him play at Boston's Symphony Hall.

Now, as he stood just a few feet from clueless commuters hurrying to work, Bell played his heart out on his multi-million dollar 1713 Stradivarius violin.

Bell began with "Chaconne," from Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor.

Bell calls this a "spiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect."

By the way, "Chaconne" is also considered one of the most difficult violin solos ever written.

Can you guess what happened?

Did busy commuters suddenly stop in their tracks, mesmerized by this master violinist, and drift towards the magical music?

Not so much.

For the first three minutes of Bell's "concert" no one passing by acknowledged anything.

Not the music.

Not the musician.

Nothing.

Nada.

Everyone hurried by, head down, fixated on their next destination.

(VIDEO)

At four minutes one woman hurriedly tossed a dollar into Bell's open violin case.

Finally, after six minutes, one commuter stopped, leaned against a wall, and listened to the gift that was being poured out into that train station air.

Bell played for 43 minutes.

He made a grand total of $52.17 off of 27 donations.

(One $20 bill was from someone who recognized him).

Two people stopped to listen.

The other 1,070 people who passed in front of him simply skittered by, oblivious, obsessed by their own agendas.

An author named John Lake succinctly summed up what this missed moment revealed about all those busy commuters, and what it reveals about us: [SLIDE]

"If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that, then what else are we missing!"

Listen to that thought again: "If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that, then what else are we missing!"

What else indeed.

I wonder if you resonate with that question.

What are we missing?

What opportunities to experience something amazing…even miraculous…are in our midst, but we just…miss them?

And let’s look at that question specifically as a church…as Gilfillan Memorial Church.

What opportunities does God have for us as a congregation, and what is required of us to make sure we don’t walk right past without seeing them?

Those kinds of questions sit at the heart of a journey we’re going to be taking together starting today.

(INTRO CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY: SLIDES sermon series, survey, conversations, prayer)

But as we get ready to dive in to the vitality journey, I’m going to ask you to do a little mental time travel.

I want you to jump ahead in your minds a few months or maybe even a year or even more, and think about a church like ours that has been intentionally focusing and thinking and talking and praying about becoming a healthier, more missionally-minded congregation.

And here’s a question for you:

What do you hope would be the fruit of that journey?

What do you hope would come out of it?

Think of one or two things, and then hold on to those in your mind and let’s revisit that question in the sermon.

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I love this passage we just heard from Ephesians.

Here’s the Apostle Paul...on his knees basically as he's writing this letter.

He's writing...but he's praying as he's writing.

Not just praying to God, pleading with God on behalf of these people so precious to him.

If you’re familiar with Ephesians, you know this is a church that Paul is intimately connected with…he spent over 2 years there preaching and teaching…and now he writes to them from prison with words of great affection and concern for their spiritual well-being.

He says he “never stops” giving thanks for them, and that he is always remembering them in prayer.

And I know I’m not the only pastor who resonates with those words.

It’s easy for all of us, when we think about our church and our church family, to immediately jump into the “busy mode” and start thinking about all the stuff that needs to happen, all the stuff that needs to get done.

What a good reminder from Paul that our first response when it comes to God’s people is simply gratitude for having them in our life, and committing ourselves to praying for them.

And listen to what Paul is praying for them: [SLIDE]

Verse 17:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

What a great thing to ask for.

Of all the things Paul could be praying for the Ephesians...he focuses on what is supremely important to him: to know God better.

It's a theme you find often in Paul’s letters.

Like in Philippians 3…

….where Paul says he considers everything in his life: every accomplishment, every accolade, every diploma and certificate...everything.

He says he considers it rubbish (!) for the sake of what?

The "surpassing greatness" of knowing Christ.

That was Paul's greatest priority, and so he prays that for the Ephesians:

He prays for the Spirit to draw them closer to Jesus so they might know him better.

Earlier I asked you to think about what kinds of things we might hope for as the fruit of going on an intentional journey of church vitality.

What would be the desired outcome?

If you asked a hundred church-going folks around the world that question, I know there are some answers you’d hear a lot:

“I hope our church grows.

Doubles in size.

Triples in size.”

“I hope we develop a thriving ministry to young people and children.”

“I hope our impact in our community deepens.”

All of those are good answers.

And all of those are things we like to see in our churches.

But are they central thing?

What lies at the heart of church vitality?

I think Paul would say it’s this “surpassing greatness” of knowing Jesus.

That’s why he makes it the heart of his prayer.

Specifically he prays that the Ephsians might receive the Spirit of "wisdom and revelation."

And that's important.

Because knowledge of God is impossible without revelation.

Let me say that again...knowledge of God is impossible without revelation.

Sure you can learn about God all you want.

But there's a big difference between knowing about God...and knowing God.

Let's be honest...there are a lot of folks sitting in a lot of seats and pews around the world this morning who know a lot about God and Jesus and the Scriptures.

They could win Bible trivia games right and left with what they know.

But their lives are missing authentic fellowship with Him, the kind that Paul holds as paramount, as the highest priority.

And that kind of fellowship, that knowledge of God, is not something that comes as a result of our effort.

It is revealed by God to us as we open ourselves to Him.

It’s a work of the Holy Spirit.

And there’s an important truth there many Christians fail to grasp.

The things we do in pursuit of growing as Christians: things like Bible study, small groups, classes and seminars and conferences...even worship services, and yes...even sermons.

...apart from God's Spirit they're just empty exercises.

They have no power in themselves to draw us closer to God.

Knowledge of God is impossible without the revealing work of the Spirit.

That's why Paul prays constantly for the Ephesians...that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation…so that they would know him better.

And Paul uses a wonderful phrase to describe that work.