Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Tone of specific sentences
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*Trading Places*
*Luke 16:19-31*
v *Opening Illustration*
Ø Reversal of Fortunes
§ We love stories like this
· Where people’s situation is radically changed and we get to see their reactions, how they live, what they do
· Where people are put in different circumstances
¨ Big, 30 going on 13 (Different age)
¨ My Fair Lady (Pygmalion) (Different social setting)
¨ Back to the Future (Different time)
¨ Trading Places (Different economic circumstances)
Ø Dan Ackroyd, Eddy Murphy
v Trading spouses
Ø Show where people from different backgrounds trade spouses
§ Current show…
· The Plonskers are a very serious, very successful family of four from San Francisco, California.
Mom *Patricia*, the self-declared ‘hammer’ of the family, rules the brood and always means business.
She and her husband Jeffrey head a financial consulting company located in a ritzy high-rise with extravagant views.
Patricia begins her day at 4:00 am in order to keep up with the high-pressure financial world and hasn’t had a day off in 15 years!
Patricia’s husband Jeffrey is a businessman who has a hard time leaving his work at the office.
It is not unusual for Jeffrey to get up in the middle of the night to ‘get ahead’ on the next business day.
· The Welsh’s are a fun-loving British family from the quaint town of Pleasant Hill, California.
When Mom *Sheila* is not giving career advice to local high school students, she enjoys the crazy adventures Barry plans for her family.
The Welsh’s wild activities include white water rafting, bungee jumping, belly dancing, rugby matches, raves and any other outrageous hobbies Barry can think up.
Zany Barry is always the life of the party and a constant source of side-splitting humor despite his quite serious day job as a rocket scientist.
He keeps the family in stitches with the kind of unpredictable antics you would expect from someone half his age.
v These two families are going to trade mothers
Ø Imagine the extremely different experience these two mothers are going to go through
Ø Imagine the surprises that they are going to encounter
v Today in our text we have two people who are Trading Places
Ø The rich man and Lazarus
§ And Jesus contrasts their experiences in life and in death
· The Here and the HereAfter
* *
*READ v.19-31*
* *
v Jesus sets up the story by juxtaposing these two lives and lifestyles
Ø The very rich and very poor
§ First we have the Rich Man
· Clothed in Purple
¨ Very expensive dye made from snails
· Fine Linen
¨ Undergarments
· Lived in luxury
¨ House, servants, etc
· Feasting
¨ Day and night
¨ Huge and extravagant
§ Lazarus
· Beggar
· Lame
¨ Laid at Gate
· Ulcerated
¨ Unclean
¨ Touched by unclean dogs
· Hungry
¨ “Longing to eat the scraps”
Ø People ate with hands and used bread to wipe them during meal
Ø Throw bread scraps away like napkins
v Alas, they both die
Ø Notice that the rich man is noted as having been buried
§ While nothing is said about Lazarus
Ø Probably the rich man had a proper funeral
§ Professional wailers
§ Procession
§ An above ground tomb
Ø While Lazarus, being destitute, probably was thrown into a mass grave
§ No fanfare, not even noticed
v The next scene we see is startling
Ø Truly spaces have indeed been traded
§ The rich man is no longer in the lap of luxury…
· He is in Hades or Hell
¨ He is in utter agony
Ø So much fire, torment and thirst that a moist finger is longed for!
§ Lazarus, having had a torturous life on earth, is now by Abraham’s side
· In heaven
¨ We are not told what his experience is like, but from the rest of Scripture we know that heaven is…
Ø A place of perfection
§ In relationship with God
§ In its creation
§ In our bodies
§ In our righteousness
Ø A high, holy and everlasting place
Ø A place of reward
Ø A place of happiness and joy
Ø A place devoid of suffering and tears
Ø A place where there are springs of living water (Rev 7:17)
§ That which the rich man wants but just a taste \\ \\
v Thus the parable is divided into two parts
Ø The Here and the Hereafter
§ And it is interesting what we can learn from both experiences…
*In Life - The Here*
*Appearances can be Deceiving*
v Every parable is based on an unexpected twist
Ø Here we see a reversal of fortunes, a trading of spaces
§ John Donne ~~ “Death is the great leveler”
· Lazarus now in the luxury of heaven and Rich man in the torment of Hades
¨ That would be a twist because many in the time of Jesus would look at the two and conclude that, in life, Lazarus must have sinned greatly
Ø And that the rich man was living a Godly, righteous life because of his situation
v Because…
Ø The Lord punishes those who sin…
§ And blesses those who are faithful
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