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
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.67LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.75LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.72LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.73LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.68LIKELY
Extraversion
0.21UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.98LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.56LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
But is death really certain?
The US government doesn’t think so:
A resident of Greenville County, South Carolina received a letter from Health and Human Services: "Your food stamps will be stopped, effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away.
May God bless you.
You may reapply if your circumstances change."
How do we respond to death.
We invest time and money into trying to put it off.
Often when a loved one dies we act as if that’s the end, as if we’ll never see them again.
Even Mary and Martha were grieved when their brother Lazarus passed away.
It’s interesting that Jesus’ first miracle was performed at a wedding, while this last one is performed at a grave.
We don’t really know anything about Lazarus, what kind of person he was, what he did for a living, who he thought Jesus was..
All we are told is that Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and that when Lazarus became sick his sisters sent for Jesus.
They probably were hoping Jesus would come and heal him.
Instead, Jesus waits until Lazarus has died.
When He gets there both sisters say that if He had been there Lazarus would not have died.
Let’s look at the events around this final sign:
Jesus deeply moved
Sympathy for Mary and Martha
Saddened by the grief of the friends
Angry at the pain caused by death
Angry at the lack of faith – He had raised others from death
Lazarus buried for four days
No question that he is dead
Jesus says to remove the stone
Martha objects – body decaying
Believed in a future resurrection but not here and now
Makes no sense – maybe assumed Jesus wanted to go in, see His friend one last time
Obeys anyway
Jesus thanks God
For the benefit of the people – so they would know that God sent Him
Prayer heard even before the miracle takes place
Jesus calls Lazarus out
With a loud voice – so the crowd would know it was by God’s power
Like the first miracle, reveals God’s glory
What difference did this make for Lazarus?
Did he look at life differently?
Were his priorities changed?
What difference does it make for us?
Lazarus’ raising was back to this life, he eventually died again.
A foretaste of Jesus’ resurrection and our own, this time to eternal life
Jesus sometimes waits before acting in our situations
Jesus calls us to come out – out of our darkness, out of our spiritual death
We must take off the grave-clothes of our old way of life
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9