Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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The prophet Elijah was something of a firebrand.
Ministering in a time when the king of Israel, as well as most of the people, had stopped worshiping the God of Israel, Elijah called them to return to right worship.
The king and queen use every threat in their arsenal to keep the people worshiping Ba’al and Ashera, up to and including threatening Elijah with death, yet he persists.
And he doesn’t do this simply through preaching and cajoling and begging the people to come back.
No, he goes on the offensive.
[Tell story of Elijah vs. 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, ending with all 850 dead at Elijah’s hand]
After this, he has to run for his life, but God meets him in the mountains and shows that God is far more powerful than the king and queen of Israel.
And while the king and queen are out to get Elijah for his message of reform, God is on his side.
The very powerful did not like Elijah’s message of Reform, but the Most Powerful loved it.
Ulrich Zwingli also lived in a time when those in power had turned away from worshiping God in favor of a different deity.
Not Ba’al or Asherah this time, but money.
Corrupt political and religious leaders set out to take every last penny they could get their hands on, and they too did it by threats.
But their threats didn’t stop at death.
No, they went beyond the grave, promising people that if they did not pay, they would suffer eternally in Hell, as would their children, who would not be baptized.
Zwingli challenged these leaders on all counts.
He questioned whether the forgiveness they were trying to sell could even have the effect they promised.
He questioned whether the Church had the ability to send unbaptized children to burn in eternal Hellfire.
More than that, he questioned whether eternal Hellfire was even a thing that existed at all.
And like Elijah, Zwingli was willing to take up arms for his cause.
When the leaders of neighboring states tried to silence him, he continued to speak.
When they declared war, he met them in battle and was ultimately martyred for his faith.
But like Elijah, his teaching lived on past him.
Those who had followed him during his life continued to spread it after he died, and it took root, sparking a revival of faith and devotion whose legacy lasts to this very day.
The very powerful did not like Zwingli’s reform, but the most powerful loved it.
On this day, when we celebrate the lives of the saints and martyrs of the church, we are reminded of all the voices of reformation which dared address the very powerful.
The voices of those over the years who have spoken against injustice in all its forms.
Against abuse of power.
Against the iniquity of wealth inequality.
Against slavery.
Against racism.
Against Sexism.
Against Homophobia.
We remember the early leaders of each of these reform movements, many of whom paid with their very lives.
And we remember that we are called to carry on their legacy.
That we, too, must be voices of reform.
The very powerful will not like what we have to say.
But the Most Powerful one will love it.
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