Sermon Tone Analysis

Receiving praise

I’m not always good at receiving praise.

What to do and say at a piano recital

Even if you know what to do and say, it sometimes feels awkward.

How did Jesus manage all the praise.

Jesus didn’t focus on the praise.

He focused on His own humble obedience.

Humble Obedience

Humble Obedience.

So much of our faith comes down to that.

Part 1: Two donkeys making stew

God

Comment

 6–7* Matthew summarizes Mark 11:4–6* in biblical language: the disciples “did as Jesus had commanded them.”

For Matthew, only the disciples’ obedience is important—not, as for Mark, that they found everything as Jesus had predicted.

The disciples bring the two donkeys, lay their garments on them, and Jesus sits “on them.”

It is difficult to decide whether with “on them” (ἐπάνω αὐτῶν) the clothes or the animals are meant.

Linguistically, the “clothes” is the more probable antecedent, but because of the context the readers will first think of the animals.

In either case it is difficult to imagine Jesus’ ride.41

With an author like Matthew who is frequently careless in concrete details, we should not even try to imagine it.

Luz, U. (2005).

Matthew 21–28: a commentary.

(H.

Koester, Ed.) (p.

8).

Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

Matthew 21:

Matthew treats this prophecy like making stew.

It doesn’t matter what order you get everything into the pot, only that it all gets in there and the heat is turned on.

Part of humble obedience is not worrying about every single detail.

We are not in control of the big picture.

We each have our own part to play.

A different kind of CEO (Chief ENCOURAGMENT OFFICER)

Jeff Henderson is the Lead Pastor of Gwinnett Church, one of the multi-site locations of North Point Ministries.

Prior to Gwinnett Church, Jeff also spent 21 years in marketing working with the Atlanta Braves, Callaway Gardens Resorts, Lake Lanier Islands Resorts, and most recently for Chick-fil-A, Inc., before embarking for his roles with North Point Ministries.

Jeff’s idea of being a pastor is to preach and write thank you notes.

Chief Encouragement Officer.

He knows he cannot do it all.

He is one of the top preachers in our country but he does not try to do everything himself.

If he is this kind of pastor, it makes me wonder what kind of a boss he was in his marketing jobs.

He also spent 21 years in marketing working with the Atlanta Braves, Callaway Gardens Resorts, Lake Lanier Islands Resorts, and most recently for Chick-fil-A, Inc., before embarking for his roles with North Point Ministries.

A person who does not know their role either will not show up at all… or they will show up and try to do everything.

A person who does not know their role does not ask for help.

Even Jesus asked for help.

Humble obedience begins with knowing our part to play and asking for help to get the job done.

It’s like making stew and the longer we cook together, the better our teamwork gets.

Part 2: Leaving home

Matthew

賀知章 He Zhizhang: 回鄉偶書 Coming Home - Fortuitous Lines

1 少小離家老大回 1 In youth, I left, now aged, I’ve come home,

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”

- translation by Huangfa Wong -last President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule.

“Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America -- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement.

At any rate, that is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train.

And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there.

It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.”

― Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

Homeless on purpose

The word “refugee” has taken on a political life of its own in the last few years and while it is true that Jesus, as a young boy was a refugee living in Egypt because the rulers of Israel wanted to kill Him, the bigger sacrifice he made was in leaving heaven to come to earth in the first place.

He was not a refugee from heaven.

I’m sure heaven could not wait for him to come home.

If anything, Jesus left heaven like the prodigal son, taking God’s inheritance of eternal life with Him, and later, after the world treated him so bad, returning home to a great celebration.

The difference between the prodigal son story and the mission of Jesus is that God the Father was in on the plan the whole time.

Jesus was sent to rescue us, the other prodigals who had forgotten the way back home ourselves.

So Jesus chose not to be a refugee, but to be homeless - a wanderer with no place to lay his head, when He had the greatest home in the universe just waiting for Him in heaven.

So when Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and to become a homeless wanderer with the other disciples, Jesus was not asking him to do anything Jesus had not done Himself.

What we can see in He Zhizhang and Thomas Wolfe both… and what we learn from humble obedience, following Jesus is simply that this world is not, and can never truly be our home.

Philippians 2:1-

1 少小離家老大回 1 In youth, I left, now aged, I’ve come home,

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”

- translation by Huangfa Wong -last President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule.

“Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America -- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement.

At any rate, that is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train.

And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there.

It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.”

― Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

The late Dwight David Eisenhower had the distinction of being the only American President to have been baptized and received into church membership upon confession of faith while in office.

The memorial service in the Washington Cathedral witnessed strongly to his faith—there can be no mistaking of it.

The simple service, the hymns sung by choir and congregation, the Scriptures read, the prayers given, the Apostles Creed—all bore witness to Ike’s faith in his Lord.

The leaders of one hundred nations were present and they heard the witness.

More than that, national television brought the witness before the American people.

We were not only reminded of Eisenhower’s faith, but of his humility.

There might have been much pomp and ceremony.

Eisenhower was the Commander of the Allied forces for the invasion of Europe.

He was one of the world’s most decorated military men.

Many honors had been heaped upon him in life.

In death, the services were simple.

It had been planned that way.

He was buried in a casket just like those used for common soldiers.

This speaks of the humility of the man.

With all the honors bestowed upon him, and having been the 34th President of the United States, and having enjoyed a personal popularity seldom matched in America, he chose the common lot.

Tan, P. L. (1996).

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 1615–1616).

Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.