Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Don’t Drop the ‘Not’
Who likes to look back at the mistakes they’ve made?
Who likes to look back at the mistakes they’ve made?
It’s no fun.
It brings back the embarrassment, guilt, pain and whatever else was the fallout of the mistake.
At the time it was hard to deal with and it can get harder.
At the time it was hard to deal with and it can get harder.
I haven’t been shy about sharing with you mistakes I’ve made.
They are good teaching moments.
I’m trying to do you a favor.
I’ve learned it’s much better to learn from others mistakes.
So, if you can possibly avoid some of the things I’ve done your life will go better.
One of the things about wrong turns, poor decisions, mistakes; is if you don’t fully understand what all went wrong then you’re not likely to be able to fully correct it.
I’ve got to know what I did wrong and why I did it that way.
And, that’s a hard place to go.
How many times have I sat down w/ a man who’s having an affair and he’s not sorry for the right thing.
He’s sorry everyone is mad at him, his kids won’t talk to him, he doesn’t feel comfortable at church, his friends won’t reach out to him, and his life generally stinks right then.
But, he rationalizes his decisions, hides some of the facts, and wants people to feel sorry for him.
His wife wasn’t all that into him before the affair, so what was he supposed to do?
In one breath he will shallowly admit his affair was wrong but in the next defend his actions as what any other rational person would do given the same set of circumstances.
In reality, the decision to be unfaithful was well down the line of a series of bad decisions that began years earlier to turn his back on God.
He wasn’t close to God, God had stopped blessing him, so he was left to find his own way in his own mind.
This is fresh.
I’m still going thru this w/ a friend.
He can’t get back 5 or 6 years ago when his first set of decisions turned him away from God.
The course was set.
Time goes by.
Little steps become giant leaps away from God, away from his wife, away from his Christian friends and little connection to what once was his highest priority.
Physically he was still there.
But, spiritually, emotionally, mentally he was checking out.
If my friend doesn’t deal w/ it all the way back to where it began then he is destined to do it again.
That’s where we all go wrong.
In that first moment when we make a wrong turn and move away from God we’ve decided to be our own god in that moment.
Cognitively, I know I am not God.
But, practically and intellectually I act like I am.
Maybe in just a small way: I’m not going to pray today or read my bible.
I don’t need the direction.
I know where I’m going, I think.
Or, maybe in a big way.
I’m going to look to someone else to give me what only my wife should but hasn’t in a while.
When we turn our backs on God He is very patient w/ us.
Still, there are consequences.
Over time, the consequences get worse.
I know I am NOT the I AM.
But, it’s when I drop the NOT I get in trouble.
And, I act like I am.
We all do it.
We all sin.
Believers and non-believers alike.
God, in His love, wisdom, grace, and mercy has provided a way for us to deal with it.
The sooner the better.
If we don’t deal w/ it we are destined to repeat it.
To deal w/ it, we have to face it.
But, once we dealt w/ it we can move on.
It’s done.
Jesus died to deal w/ it for us.
Let Him.
Learn from it.
Leave it.
And, move on in a different direction.
That’s a do-over.
This is where we are in Nehemiah, ch. 9.
There was a big celebration.
It went on for days.
The wall was finished.
They were reacquainting themselves w/ God.
Every drink was so satisfying that it touched them deeply.
But, the more they read the law, or had it read to them, eventually they got to the parts about wrong turns and what they had to do to deal w/ it.
As they understood it and were able to apply it they realized they needed to deal w/ where they and their ancestors went wrong and why they were struggling the way they were.
The first time Israel arrived here they were wealthy and had their own king.
Now, they’re poor and they have to serve and pay taxes to the king in Persia.
Not great.
But, if they had any hope of full restoration they had to deal w/ the original problem where the nation first turned its back on God.
Confession
This is 2 days after the Feast of Tabernacles, or temporary shelters.
Talked about that last week celebrating how God protected Israel and provided for them as they wandered in the wilderness.
It was a fun celebration.
Now, the mood is about to change dramatically.
Time to get serious and get down to business w/ God and deal w/ why they were exiled and why they are still struggling as they are.
They separated those born Jewish from the foreigners.
The foreigners were believers.
But, they didn’t have the same position as those born Jewish.
When the temple was built the outermost courtyard was a close as any non-Jew could get to the building.
They fasted.
Willingly gave up food and drink that they wanted.
The pain was real.
They wore sackcloth.
Like a burlap sack.
Uncomfortable, itchy, plain.
The clothing of poverty, of need, of lack.
They put ashes and dirt on their heads.
They were unclean.
The poorest can’t bathe.
All this represented spiritual poverty.
They grieved and mourned their loss of a close relationship with God.
Sin, wrong turns, do that.
Create a distance between us and God.
They are admitting it was their own fault.
This is what Jesus meant in the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 5:
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