Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Intro

Intro

Example of a teacher grading on a cruve

Background

Here we are in the book Romans.

The book of Romans is really a letter written by the Apostle Paul to believers in Rome.

This letter is filled with major doctrinal and theological statements that matter to all believers.

Paul had three reasons for writing this letter first he wanted to let them know that he planned to visit them in Rome.

Secondly Paul wrote to give them a complete understanding of the gospel (Good news of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection).

Paul’s third reason was to deal with the tension between Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians.

This letter over the years has changed lives and Christianity as we know it.

The North African Church father St. Augustine of Hippo in 386 picked up the scroll of Romans by accident and started reading and after reading it became a believers.

1,000 years later in November 1515 the German monk Martin Luther was teaching on Romans when it dawned on him that God’s righteousness is not something we work for but its a gift that God gave us.

So he started teaching that we were justified by faith alone.

This understand helped Luter start a reformation and gave rise to the Protestant church.

May 24, 1738 John Wesley the founder of the Methodist church was in an eventing service in London and heard some of Luther’s commentary being read and on that day his life was change and he started trusting in Jesus.

This letter over the years has changed lives and Christianity as we know it… and it’s still changing lives today.

Paul wrote this letter some eight years after Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome.

There had been trouble with riots, and they blamed the Jews.

So a lot of Jews were kicked out of the city.

Well after eight years had passed they were allowed to come back.

Now Jews and Jewish Christians are returning to Rome—

Well, when they went back to their churches they found these non-Jewish Gentiles having church.

And for the Jewish Christians these gentiles were not doing church the right way.

The Jews had all of these rules and regulations and the gentiles were not following them.

You can imagine the Jews coming into church and saying to the gentiles what in the world are y’all doing.

You can’t wear that to church.

What are you doing… you can’t sit there?

Lord did y’all move the chair from up front and why don’t the choir members have on robes.

The Jews come in and try to bring their rules and regulations with them and that caused problems.

So Paul writes this letter and he’s really talking to the Jews who think they’ve got it together and they are judging the Gentiles because the Gentiles are not following all the rules and regulations that the Jews are trying to impose on them.

The Jews perceive themselves as perfect and having it together and the gentiles as messed up and unworthy.

And in this little letter Paul shows us something about grading on a curve.

In the original language it is one long sentence, despite the fact that, probably for ease of reading, the NIV has rendered it as five distinct sentences.

I.

The Test

Paul opens up this letter in Chap. 1 by saying:

In chap. 1 he’s letting them know, listen God has a class called righteousness it’s a required class for graduation.

And some people just kept avoiding the class.

God didn’t force them to take the class or even show up because before graduation they would have to take the righteousness test.

It’s a test and all of humanity is required to take the test.

It’s a pass fail test, and you need 100% to pass, 99 and 1/2 won’t do.

Everybody is required to take this test.

The test is on our ability to follow and keep God’s law.

Paul says, “wait, I know some of y’all are going to complain saying you weren’t in the class or you didn’t get a text book this is the law given in the OT.”

So some people try to get a waiver for the class... but he says, there are no waivers, everybody is required to take the test.

Chap 1 is for the people who did not attend class and tried to get a wavier from taking the text… no waivers.

Chap 2. he talks to people who got the text book and who went to class.

He says you think you’re special because you got the text book and you went to class.

You are laughing and judging others because you think you have an advantage over them.

Paul basically says, “keep that same energy”.

He says I can understand the gentiles concern because they weren’t in class.

But Jews don’t get beside yourself thinking that you are better than the Gentiles.

Because while you have the text book… you didn’t read it.

While you sat in class you didn’t listen.

Chap. 2 vs. 3 he basically says “look at you the pot calling the kettle black.”

You judging the Gentiles for there mess us but you doing the same thing.

This is important because the same way Jews judged the Gentiles Church folk judge people.

Church folk are some of the most judgmental people you can ever meet.

Paul says God is testing all of humanity on our ability to keep God’s law and it’s a pass fall exam.

There are 613 questions because there are 613 commandments.

There are 613 commandments (Mitzvot) in the Old Testament.

God’s judgement (test) of humanity was on our ability to keep every single commandment.

The Jews in the Church at Rome were judging non-jewish believers for not keeping all of the law when those same Jews were messing up too.

We must be carful not to judge people who don’t follow the commandments exactly like we do.

-To read the Bible in the morning and at Night

Not to hold a grudge

Not to curse

Not to lie

In chaps.

1-2 Paul reminds us all that God has administering a test to see if we are able to keep his commandments and God’s standard is perfection and one mess up means failure.

The Jews in Rome were feeling themselves because they had the textbook and... they were in class but Paul reminds them they hadn’t read the book nor were they listening in class.

The first part of chap. 3 Paul says God administered and graded the test.

Vs. 10 tells us “none is righteous no not one.”

That leads to point number two of this little sermon.

II.

The Failure

vs.23 Paul says to them and to us “All” have sinned.

Everybody failed the exam.

Nobody met perfection.

Have you ever failed a test?

Have you ever taken a test that you thought you were gonna pass and you still fail?

That’s an uncomfortable feeling.

I’ll never forget taking Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Howard we had a quiz and y’all I studied I was ready… we took that test and knew all the answers… you know when you got all the answers you get comfortable so I sat back in my seat I look at others with a lil smirk on my face like… this is too easy.

You know you’e confident when when you finish the test but you wait for someone else to turn theres in first....

In our day and time this word is not socially nor politically correct.

No some schools don’t give “F” they give “E’s” because the “F” is just to negative.

You’ve got some people who’ve been brought up to think that everything they do is right and perfect.

Some got into the best schools and they are walking around thinking they scored high only to find out that they parents paid somebody to cheat for them.

Paul says everybody failed, everybody got an “F” not only that non of us came close.

Rom.

3:23

Not only have all sinned, but all ‘fall short of the glory of God’ as well.

This falls short is sort of like saying we started class with 100 then before the final exam we had messed up so bad we were failing before the exam was given.

Paul reminds that arrogant Jews in Rome who thought they were perfect and that everyone should be like them, he reminds that that they failed just like everybody else.

Paul basically says it in the words of that modern poet Kendrick Lamar… “Sit down be humble”.

Paul says you’ve messed up just like everybody else has messed up so you don’t have any room to judge people for their mess ups.

We need church folk today to humble themselves because you’ve failed just like everybody else.

Just because you can quote a few scriptures or know some old school hymns doesn’t mean you’ve got it all together.

Paul says don’t look down on other people because of their sins when you’ve got your own sins.

Jesus put it like that… “Stop trying to get the splinter our of your neighbors eye and try to get that log out of your eye.”