Sermon Tone Analysis

Hurricane Ian

More than 2.5 million people in Florida were under evacuation orders before the storm hit.Hurricane Ian knocked out power to more than 1.5 million residents across Florida, according to PowerOutage.us.New tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for North and South Carolina.Hurricane Ian made landfall as a Category 3 storm Tuesday in Cuba, knocking out the electricity grid and leaving the entire island without power.Ian strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm, bringing severe flooding to Cuba and the Florida Keys.Only four Category 5 storms have made landfall in the U.S. with maximum sustained winds greater than 155 mph.Heavy, potentially flooding rain is expected to affect central Florida, southern Georgia, North Carolina, and the South Carolina coast, well beyond the hurricane’s path.Hurricane Ian follows Hurricane Fiona, a Category 1 storm that made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday, September 18, 2022.

Jesus wanted to be funny in this passage.

He wanted his heares to recognize the dry humor in several little scenes that are actually deadly serious.

His humor was meant to help us remember the lessons.

They were important.

A warning. the lower lights.

A lighthouse.

It was to warn about rival teachings about the kingdom of God, about “solutions” others would give that would leave the issues at hand largely unsolved.

They still apply about our lives today.

Look at Luke6.39

Jesus is warning that there are teachings and teachers that look like they are offering guidance… but they will put you in the ditch.

They will lead you to destruction.

The same goes for Luke 6:40: “A disciple is not above his teacher.

When he is fully trained, he will be like his teacher.

“ Jesus’ point is that if you study with the pharisees, at the graduation ceremony you will be declared to be a pharisee.

Be careful, wary, of who you read and who you listen to.

This story is intentionally meant to sound rediculous.

It’s Jesus’ way of presenting a cartoon verbally.

The question is, “Do you really see clearly enough to lead, let alone criticize, someone else?

Often, what people criticie in others is what they are aware of ( or afraid of) in themselves.

They project their own issues upon others.

Someone knows they have a problem themselves, so they avoid the problem by telling someone else there’s a tiny ptoblem with them… the very noticable plank hanging from the eyeball, however, tells the whole story

The competing teachers of Jesus’ day had so many rules and regulations, they were trying to fine tune obedience to the law down to the last possible detail while missing the law’s major point.

They wanted Israel to be holier and holier than anyone else as a way of making them separate form all other nations.

But the point of the law and prophets was not to separate, but to make Israel the light to the nations.

They were hunting for specks in each other’s eyes with magnifying glasses, but couldn’t see that there was a plank- a single massive disobedience in their own.

We in the church are no less relevant to this teaching to day.

We major on the minors and ignore the most significant.

The small details of our wants and demands take precedence over the main point of the gospel of Jesus Christ and of radical Christian witness in the world.

We want what we want and the gospel of Christ goes unnoticed, unlearned, and unproclaimed.

We are in our house and want things our way and never realize that the world is God’s house and He’s called us to transform it into his way, but we’re so stuck on our house and our way we become one eyed pharisees beating each other up with the log that protrudes from our eyeballs- and we rather enjoy it that way.

The point of God’s call is to produce truly human beings.

That’s the point of this riddle about trees and their fruit.

Moral reformation which leaves the heart untouched is about as useful as tying a bunch of grapes on a briar bush.

I took Beau on a walk and he got into the briars.

He has a briar stuck on his mouth.

Jesus wants us to hear of a way of life that will need a change of heart, a change deep down in the very soul and being of the hearer.

there are alternatives to Jesus’ invitation, but they don’t touch the real problem.

and finally we get to the story we read earlier

This sermon, of Jesus, finds its ending in this final story.

His point is that listening to real wisdom and not putting it into practice is like building without foundations.

Sooner or later, the floods will arrive, and then it will become apparent what type of building you are living in.

This message applies to all people in every situation.

There’s a word here for everyone.

This sermon.

In context, this sermon was the Sermon on the Mount.

It was Jesus’ best.

As he began his ministry, it was his foundational principles for what the Kingdom of God would look like.

What Christians look like.

This is what it looks like when the kingdom exists.

And he puts his best illustration right here at the end.

the memorable place, the last thing that would be heard to be remembered.

And it starts with a Question.

“Why do you call me “Lord” and do not do what I tell you?

Why are you disobedient, if I am your lord?

In other words, why do you expect blessing when you don’t have obedience?

Jesus wants us to hear his words, but he also wants us to live them.

So he gives us this story.

2 men building 2 houses.

Both on the same path.

One is quickly built.

In the wrong location under the wrong conditions.

A storm inevitably comes.

When the storm broke against that house, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

Destruction was immediate.

Destruction was complete.

There was no foundation.

Many of us know from experience what this is about.

We’ve lived with no foundation.

We know more about sports, politics, the news, or entertainment than we know about Jesus.

We know more about the local politics than we know about the Kingdom.

We’d give $450 for a ticket to see our favorite entertainer but only a pittance to serve the kingdom of Christ.

And it shows.

We hear his words, but we don’t put them into practice.

But the other man in this story.

He has put Jesus’ words into practice.

He’s living them daily.

You know, we only believe in Jesus to the extent that we do what he says and follow what he teaches.

And when we put Jesus’ words into practice, we are like the man who builds his house on a firm foundation.

We believe and we do.

This path takes a great deal more time.

Effort.

And strength.

It’s not flashy.

It’s not easy.

It takes a long time.

It can be exhausting and boring, but it builds a strong foundation.

When the flood came, the rising water smashed against that house, but the water couldn’t shake the house because it was well built.

Not only did the house hold on.

The storm waters couldn’t shake the house.

The house won the battle.

What you and I need to see is not that the storm was what proved the house strong.

No, the house was strong all along with or without the storm.

The house revealed the strength built into the house because of this builders’ preparation and diligence.

Those Who Prepare WELL For The WHEN Will WIN

When you prepare well, you prevail in a way that reveals your faith, your home, your spirit are not all stronger because of the storm- you will prevail in a way that reveals who you already are.

It will reveal someone who is not just masquerading at being a Christian, but rather has a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

There’s also a detail that we need to focus on in verse 48:

Jesus doesn’t say “If” a storm comes.