Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

The one subject that is appropriate for every Christian holiday, and for the season of lent, and for the recognition of Washington and Lincoln, and for the Valentine season is the subject of love.

It is not only the greatest of the Christian virtues, but is the most universally relevant subject there is.

Love not only makes the world go round, it makes the trip more exciting.

All of us need to give and receive love.

Nevertheless, there are those who feel you can be too loving, and they urge moderation even in mercy.

Lincoln was accused of being to soft during the Civil War.

He was so merciful that he went out of his way to pardon people that he knew were guilty.

One young soldier had gone to sleep at his post, and he was court marshaled and condemned to be shot.

Lincoln intervened and gave this defense: "I could not think of going into eternity with the blood of that poor young man on my skirts.

It is not wondered at that a boy raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, should, when required to watch, fall asleep.

And I cannot consent to shoot him for such an act."

There was no question about his guilt, but he was granted the blessing of hearing the words of love-you are forgiven.

On another occasion 24 deserters were to be shot.

Warrants for their execution were sent to Lincoln to be signed.

A General urged Lincoln to sign them to make these men an example to the rest.

In spite of the forceful argument Lincoln replied, "There are already too many weeping widows in the United States.

For God's sake don't ask me to add to the number, for I won't do it."

With complete knowledge of their guilt he pardoned them, and he spoke the words of love-you are forgiven.

Amazing grace indeed, but no where near as amazing as the words of love we hear from the central cross on Golgatha.

Here we see the King of the Jews-the Lord Jesus, being unjustly crucified with criminals.

It was the greatest sin against God ever committed on this planet.

No words can describe the depth to which man had fallen in killing the only perfect man whoever lived.

But there are no words of cursing coming from that cross.

There are no words of revenge, but unbelievably we hear words of love, and words of pardon, for Jesus said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Murder mysteries are famous for surprising endings, but you never see a more surprising ending than this.

Here are the guilty standing before God as their judge, and who is their defense attorney?

It is none other than the very victim of their dastardly crime.

And what does he plead?

He does not plead not guilty, for they are guilty as sin.

But he pleads the mercy of the court in saying, "Father forgive them."

These are the greatest words of love ever spoken on this earth.

For if Jesus had not forgiven those who crucified Him, there would be no plan of salvation, for the sins of all mankind took Jesus to the cross, and without His words of pardon no one could be saved.

These words of love represent God's pardon for a world of rebels who have defied His will.

There is no doubt about their guilt, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Nevertheless, with full knowledge of their guilt Jesus pardoned the guilty and made it possible for every sinner to become a child of God.

Jesus died for all sin, and that included the sin of causing Him to die.

The result is that no one ever has to pay the penalty for the greatest sin ever.

And if that sin is forgiven, then Jesus stands ready at all times to forgive any sin and to speak these words of love to any who come to Him-"Father forgive them."

In 1973 a bank robber got caught in the act in Stockholm, Sweden.

He took three women and a man as hostages for 131 hours.

There was no way he could escape, and so in frustration he terrorized his hostages.

He shot off his assault weapon to scare them.

He threatened their lives and just made them miserable.

When it was all over one of the women became his fiancée.

Woe! you say.

What is that again?

That's right, it is no mistake, and one of the women fell in love with this jerk.

To add to the surprise, the other hostages refused to testify against him.

The crazy thing about it is that this is not an isolated incident.

It is just one example of a pattern which has come to be called by the FBI the Stockholm Syndrome.

It is that mysterious magic that makes a dangerous enemy a person you like and want to help.

Thousand of hostages have been studied, and after their crisis they feel a closeness to their captor, and they do not want to see them punished.

They take his side and try to protect him.

Studies show that a sort of intimacy develops when people share a crisis together, and they feel they know each other.

The victim grows to know the problems and weaknesses of their captor, and they feel they have a sense of intimacy with them.

As crazy as it sounds, it is real, and it fits what we see at the cross.

These men have taken Jesus by force and have illegally railroaded him into capital punishment.

He is their captive, and they are violently taking his life, and yet Jesus is sympathetic and is pleading for them not to be judged as they deserve, but to be forgiven.

It is not the Stockholm Syndrome but the Calvary Syndrome, or the Savior Syndrome.

It is the desire to love and save even those who do not deserve it, but who deserve only anger and judgment.

Our heritage as Christians revolves around this spirit of grace and these words of love from the cross.

But, our heritage as Americans does also, for it was this very spirit of Christ that made the greatest presidents in the history of our nation the instruments of God that they were.

Lincoln's birthday was Feb. 12 and Washington's birthday is on Feb. 22.

It is providential that February, the month of focus on love, is the month in which we celebrate the birthdays of these two great men.

They were great because they heard the words of love from Christ, they received these words of love as their own heritage, and then passed on these words of love by their talk and their walk.

It was their love of people, truth, and liberty that made them great.

Abraham Lincoln was a great man because he knew how to love.

He loved the truth and he loved what was right, but he loved people even when they fought the truth and did not know what was right.

Lincoln knew how to love his enemies as few leaders ever have.

When General Lee was about to surrender and end the Civil War, the Northern officials were making preparation for a triumphal entry into Richmond.

Lincoln put his foot down and said, "There shall be no triumphal entry into Richmond."

Lincoln went alone into Richmond and walked through the Southern capital with his head bowed.

When he reached the home of Jefferson Davis, the president of the South, he sat with Davis and wept.

It was one of the greatest victories of the Civil War, and many felt that Lincoln's sympathetic heart saved the Union and enabled the South to be bound together with the North.

Lincoln was one of the few great leaders in history who had the honestly to admit that both sides in a war were sinners, and both sides had godly people of faith.

He said, "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other."

Lincoln loved people even when he hated their convictions.

Lincoln was able to do what we all know is the biblical ideal, but have a hard time doing it.

He hated slavery, but loved the slave owner, and recognized that they could be good and godly men who were blinded by their heritage and environment.

Most leaders of a nation at war try to portray the enemy as the essence of evil.

Lincoln portrayed the enemy as just pathetically mistaken.

But he did not pretend the North was a holy haven of saints.

He admitted that God had not fully answered their prayers either, and that they too were suffering part of the judgment of God on a nation that supported depriving others of their liberty.

In his famous second inaugural address he said, "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.

Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two-hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3000 years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together."

Lincoln never had a "holier than thou" spirit, but one of humility, and that is why he could love his enemies and recognize they were not to be treated with contempt, but with mercy.

In that same great message he expressed his spirit toward the South: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in...." And what was that work?

To heal and lift the nation so that it would be united in the common cause of fulfilling the purpose of God.

This is why you will find the name Lincoln on almost every list of the greatest men whoever lived.

He wrote no great books, and produced no great art or music, and he led no armies himself.

He was quite homely, and had a long list of failures in his life.

How does a man with so many failures and handicaps become great?

He had a difficult childhood.

He had less than one year of formal schooling.

He failed in business in 1831.

He was defeated for the legislature in 1832.

Again he failed in business in 1833.

His fiancée died in 1835.

He was defeated for the Speaker in 1838.