Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

I want to begin tonight by asking you a simple question.

It’s only simple insofar as the question is simple.

The answer may not be so.

Why are you here?

This is not some existential question such as, why do you exist?

Or, whats the meaning of life.

If you are old enough you know good and well that Bill and Ted gave us that answer, every rose has its thorn, every night has its dawn and every cowboy sings a sad sad song.

But, all joking aside…why do you exist a Christians and why are you here tonight?

The truth is many if not most Christians in the west have come to believe somewhere down the road that church and Christianity is primarily about what’s in it for them.

We make decisions about what church we attend, where we serve and even who we serve based on the criteria that we also receive some sort of benefit from it.

The truth is we will never be a beacon of light in the world, we will not be the salt of the world and the church will never be a city on a hill for all to see if our service to each other is determined by whats in it for us.

We read scripture like this and we think, yes I will do the works of Christ!

Then we think…what did Christ do?

At this moment we begin to check the boxes… Jesus prayed…yep I got that… Jesus went to church…yep every week…Jesus helped the poor…I can do that…but then when the rubber meets the road we have to reconcile our lives with verses like this....

Did you see that?

Jesus laid down his life for us! and what is the expectation of us because of this?

That we lay our lives down for one another.

So, before we begin I ask you… why are you here tonight?

Jesus’ Heart

Needless to say I had what seemed like a permanate dirt stain on my feet.

It was gross and my mom made sure to remind me all the time the I was going to get a ring worm.

Jokes on her, I have never had a ring worm in my life.

My mom was tough as rocks and sought out to teach me hard life lessons.

Which means, she didn’t wash my nasty feet when I came inside to get ready for dinner.

She would have a yellow bar of dial soap and a wash rag waiting on me.

I strangely reme

Mark wasn’t always homeless.

In fact he was a very successful carpenter at one point in his life.

This was a skill that I saw many times from him.

Part of my internship at this church was to work along side guys like Mark.

So, Mark would tag along as I ran errands for the church.

One time in the heat of Alabama summer Mark help me set up a carnival that we were putting on for the community.

This was a time where Marks carpentry skills came in handy.

However, this was also the first time I noticed that Mark had a serious lung deisease

Pay attention to the first sentence in chapter 13

When I was in 7th grade the school board made the decision to allow families from a town 10 minutes up the interest to enroll their children at our school.

This may not seem like a big deal to you but there is detail I am leaving out.

Before my 7th grade year my high school was almost entirely white students and white teachers.

This decision meant that the percentage of African American students attending my school would surpass the percentage of White students.

This also meant

Before we can begin to imitate the actions of Christ we must first know the heart of Christ.

He came to this meal knowing that he would soon die.

In just a few hours he would be nailed to a cross and bear the sins of all those who would believe in him.

Specifically, he would die for those he would dine with in this moment.

Before the sun set he would breath his last breath and it’s here in the upper room that Jesus shows us his heart, he shows us what we must do if we want to be his followers.

We are familiar with scripture such as that says we must deny our selves if we want to follow Christ, we know that there is no greater love than one that lays down their life for their friends.

But, here in we see with clarity what Jesus really means.

Here in Jesus is showing us his heart.

Christ’s heart is one of love.

In preparing this message I was introduced to a story about Czar Nicholas I of Russia.

One of Nicholas’ friends had a son that Nicholas took particular interest in.

He gave him a position in his army and gave him responsibility of Russian territory, money and finances.

Over time this young man became greedy and took money to gamble and lost a great deal of it.

One day there was going to be an audit of the books and the boy began to subtract the money he had taken from the money he had.

On a sheet of paper he wrote, “A great debt, who can pay?”

The boy took of a revolver and intended to take his own life at midnight.

He then dozed off to sleep with the intention to execute his plan.

That night Nicholas was visiting this particular outpost and knocked on the door.

When no one answered he entered to find the boy asleep and the note, “A great debt, who can pay.”

At first Nicholas though to arrest the boy.

However, he took the pen and wrote a reply on the sheet of paper and walked out.

When the boy woke up he realized it was after twelve.

He looked down to grab his gun and saw the note.

“A great debt, who can pay.”

“Nicholas.”

The boy was guilty.

The Czar knew he was guilty.

And because of the grace an mercy of the King this mans life was spared.

It not typical to give the gospel presentation at the beginning of the sermon but we have got to see the passage through the lens of what Jesus is teaching us here.

If we are to imitate Christ we must emulate his heart and teaching us to love was Jesus primary lesson here.

Jesus was saying, “If you want to be my servants, if you want to grow in real discipleship you must be open to loving others as I have loved you.”

Are you willing to do that?

Are you willing to grow in love?

Forgive people of the debts?

Give your life up for others?

This is only a

Jesus’ Example

Imagine this scene with me.

Jesus is alone with his disciples in the upper room.

It’s the passover so they are all in the proper posture around the table, feet stretched out behind them, left arm to support them and right arm to reach for the dishes and food on the table.

This was a practice that they participated in their whole lives.

Every year they would do this.

But, tonight would be a passover meal that they would never forget.

Tonight the true passover meal was with them, the fulfillment of the ritual was there.

As they are having this meal Jesus stands up from his place at the table, takes off his garment, takes a towel and wraps it around his waist.

I can imagine the disciples looking at each other with the Rock stank eye that I can’t ever do.

Like, “what in the world is Jesus doing.”

What is he doing?

In a few simple gestures Jesus had just demonstrated to them his whole life from birth until this moment.

He rose from the supper as in the incarnation he rose from his perfect fellowship with the Godhead, he laid down his garments as he did temporarily his glorious existence in heaven, He takes a towel as he took on the form of a servant, He wraps the towel around his waist, because he came to serve and not be served…This was literally right before their eyes!

After he wrapped the towel around his waist he poured water into a basin as he would pour out his blood to wash away sin, and then he washes his disciples feet just as he would cleanse them from their sin.

In this quick portrayal of the life of Christ we do not see a king ordering his subjects, we do not see a man sitting at the head of the table waiting for his food to be delivered.

We see a servant!

Jesus’ entire life was characterized by serving others.

He himself said it, “The son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Can

you imagine how the disciples must have felt in this moment?!

Can you imagine how the disciples must have felt in this moment.

I mean this room is filled with men who not to long ago were arguing about which one is better than the other.

To see Jesus do something like this must have been beyond their imagination!