Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

There have been some great disputes in the history of the church.

The Reformation, Calvinism v. Armenianism, removing the organ, adding the drums just to name a few.

There is one which has come to overshadow the rest.

That being the great kiss debate of the 2000s.

In 2002 John Mark McMillan wrote the song How He Loves in response to the loss of his closest friend in a car accident.

In 2007 the song would be covered by artist David Crowder.

Crowder would change one line which has divided churches ever since.

In the original, there is a line, “When heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss”.

Crowder found that many churches who encountered the song didn’t care for the word “sloppy” being in a worship song, he changed the lyric for his rendition to, “like an unforeseen kiss” to make it more palatable to the broader church market.

The debate was born.

Though I have my thoughts on the issue, the thing that strikes me is how deeply this lyric affects people, enough that they will gladly go to battle for the version that has impacted them the most.

It makes sense when you consider it.

Think about the standard movie cliche where the nice but socially awkward kid gets a kiss on the cheek from the older girl on whom his affections lay.

What does he do almost immediately?

His hand will go to the location of the kiss as if to hold it in place.

There is an impact to that kind of intimate touch.

In the book of Luke we see heaven touching earth time and time again.

And each time there is an impact, a footprint, evidence left behind of the touch.

Throughout the scripture we see the evidence of this touch, but no where this side of eternity does that evidence stand out so starkly than in the Nativity and the Resurrection.

In Luke and Acts we will see these Imprints of heaven on earth.

And like the cliched movie character where we see these kisses in our world we want to put our hands on them and take them in.

Footprints

We can learn about something by looking at the imprints it leaves behind.

Let’s get to the text

Imprint not Innovation

Many have undertaken: Not a criticism of those other writings, rather Luke wanted to fill out the details.

Compile a narrative: Luke wrote the story in manner that was both chronologically and thematically sensible

The things that have been accomplished: Something has happened that has made a tremendous change.

Historical Imprint

Luke 1:2

The elements of the story are faithful recordings of the events as they have been taught already.

Luke takes additional steps and digs to the eyewitnesses to get their accounts.

Luke contains details no one else has.

An Orderly Imprint

Luke chooses to create this account for the “Most excellent Theophilus”, there are a few possibilities as to the why:

Theophilus is a believer who was likely a man of title or status.

Theo was a term used to describe a group of believers.

Theo was the Apostle Paul’s representative in Rome.

The Imprint of Certainty

The bottom line, whichever of the above (or something entirely different) is true, the goal of both the book of Luke and Acts is to give Theo certainty about things which he has been taught.

In this series we will investigate the imprints of heaven on earth.

We will search the footprints and examine each broken blade of grass to get a glimpse of what we mean when we say, “Our father…on earth as it is in heaven”

It’s beautiful that we begin at this season.

Apart from creation itself, there are a few “imprints” which are far more significant than the others.

The incarnation, when God became “Emmanuel” and the death and resurrection where Emmanuel took on the sin of the world and conquered sin and the grave.

This morning we remember that sacrifice by coming around his table.

Allow me to read from Luke’s account of that night:

Communion

Luke 22: