Sermon Tone Analysis

In May, George Barna’s research group released the results of a survey of practicing Christian homes in association with Lutheran Hour Ministries.

For the mothers in today’s congregation, the results will not be all that surprising.

It turns out that mothers do most of the work around the house.

Like I said — no surprise, right?

Well, when I say that mothers do most of the work around the house, I’m not even talking about cooking and cleaning and all the chores that I have to admit that I pretty much never do.

What Barna sought to understand was how mothers are engaged in the work of engaging with their children.

“From eating meals together and watching TV or movies, to talking about God and having confrontations, mothers are the primary activity partner for their teens.”

(https://www.barna.com/research/moms-christians-households/)

Fathers lead the way in only one of 10 categories — playing sports together — and even then, they’re beaten out by friends and siblings.

When it comes to supportive activities, Dad comes in first when it comes to teens looking for money and looking for logistical help like getting something fixed.

Neither of these is probably surprising, either.

In the realm of spiritual things, kids are more likely to go to Mom than Dad for spiritual conversations and to pray together.

Dad also comes in second to Mom when it comes to answering questions of faith and questions about the Bible.

But there was one area in which Dads were ahead of everybody else — discussions about politics.

I submit to you this morning that we see here the very essence of the problem with the church today.

Fathers, in particular, and men in general have abdicated their responsibility as spiritual leaders.

Thank God for those women who have stepped into their roles.

But thanking God MUST NOT be our final word on the matter or we will continue in our guilt in this matter.

Only when men begin to follow Christ more closely than they follow the political news of the day will we begin to see new generations that recognize the answer to our problems lies not in one political party or another but in one Savior, Jesus Christ.

Only when Christian fathers begin to recognize that it is more important to help their children work out their salvation with fear and trembling than to work overtime hours will we produce a new generation of spiritual giants.

Only when men begin to pursue Jesus Christ with the same zeal they pursue that next raise or promotion will the church begin to see the true power of the Holy Spirit manifested in the world around it.

Only when men begin to act like real men will we begin to experience true victory over the spiritual forces of darkness in this world.

But what does it mean to act like real men?

While you are turning to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 16, let’s talk about what the world says that means.

Advertising and television tend to tell us that men act to satisfy their carnal nature, and to a sad degree that is probably true of all of us here today, men and women alike.

Men tend to be portrayed as bumbling idiots around the house, as sex-obsessed fools in the marketplace, as power-hungry bullies in the business arena and as thoughtless bums in their marriage relationships.

And maybe all of us men have been some of those things at some time or another in our lives.

But that is not the biblical model of manhood.

Let’s pick up at Verse 13 in this letter from Paul to the church in Corinth to get a picture of what biblical manhood looks like.

Now, remember that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to a group of people that had manifested severe immaturity in dealing with one another..

He was writing to a church that was having severe problems with its interpersonal relationships.

In fact, he devoted an entire chapter to describing what love should look like within the church.

Clearly there was a disconnect between whom these people had been called to be in Christ and whom they actually were.

But if it’s alarming that Paul had to explain the basic concept of love, then it should be even more alarming that he had to explain the basic concept of manhood.

The simple fact, though, is that men have been getting manhood wrong all the way back to Adam.

It took Jesus Christ, the full incarnation of God in the flesh of a man, to show us how masculinity was actually supposed to look.

Now, we could study the life of Christ for the rest of our lives to draw out the picture of perfect masculinity, so I’ve chosen today to concentrate on these two verses as Paul’s thumbnail sketch of the matter.

So let’s pick apart what he says here.

First, I’ll note the structure of these two verses.

The clause “act like men” is flanked by two clauses on each side.

It’s the central point of these five clauses — Be on the alert; stand firm in the faith; act like men; be strong; and let all you do be done in love.

Now, your translation may have “be courageous” or “show courage” in place of “act like men,” and that’s a fine interpretation — though not a translation — of the Greek word, andrizomai, which is used here.

The root of the word is aner, which is the Greek word used for men.

So the foundational idea and the better translation — if not interpretation — of andrizomai is “to show one’s self a man” or to “act like men.”

This makes sense, especially in the context of this letter to a church full of Christians acting like immature people.

Instead of acting like children, these people — and I will argue later that Paul is actually talking to both men and women here — are being told to act like men and women, to be mature.

Don’t be boys and girls, but grow up and be men and women.

This is important, because I believe that the two clauses on either side of "act like men” are Paul’s explanations about how that looks.

First, we have “be on the alert.”

Be ready.

Jesus uses this same phrase in His warning in the book of Matthew that the coming of the Son of Man will be unexpected by the world.

He calls believers to be ready.

), in His parable of the virgins and in His warning to keep alert and avoid spiritual dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life so that we will be ready for His second coming ()

Matt 24:38, in His parable of the virgins and in His warning to keep alert and avoid spiritual dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life so that we will be ready for His second coming ()

, in His parable of the virgins and in His warning to keep alert and avoid spiritual dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life so that we will be ready for His second coming ()

Matt 24

Real men will be on the alert for the Lord’s return.

That means, first of all that they have an expectation of it borne of their firm belief in His work on the cross, in His resurrection and ascension into Heaven and His promise to return for those who believe in Him.

And second, it means that they make themselves busy doing the things they would want Him to find them doing when He returns.

Have you ever been

The simple fact is that if you wouldn’t want Jesus to find you doing whatever it is you’re doing, then you shouldn’t be doing it.

Whether He comes back in the middle of it or not, He certainly knows what you are up to.

Next, we come to “stand firm in the faith

Next, we come to “stand firm in the faith.”

Perhaps you are like me and when you see this phrase, “stand firm,” your mental picture is of a debate or even a sporting contest in which one opponent refuses to yield ground to another.

And certainly there is a sense here that we should not yield ground when it comes to the message of the gospel.

However, standing firm in Scripture seems always to be about walking in the Spirit, rather than the flesh, and not about any kind of courageous or contemptuous or condescending defense of the faith.

Paul uses this phrase six other times in his letters, and each of the references deals with clinging faithfully to the truth of the gospel and living lives that display Christ to the world.

I’ll give you just a couple of examples.

To the church in Philippi, he wrote:

To the church in Philippi, he wrote

To the church in Philippi, he wrote

He called this church to stand together in one Spirit so that they could walk together with the Holy Spirit, doing the work of Jesus Christ on earth so they would demonstrate Him even to those who would persecute them for their faith.

And then to the church in Thessalonica, he wrote that their standing firm in their faith should be a contrast to the weakness of those who are easily deluded by the lies of the ruler of this world, those who submit to those lies, in fact, out of a desire to pursue wickedness.

Real men stand firm in their faith in Jesus Christ and in the gospel’s message of his death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

That doesn’t mean they’re combative about it, that they seek to belittle or tear down those who do not share this faith.

What it means is that they are not deluded by the lies of this world.

It means that they do the things that their faith declares.

It means that their spiritual walk matches their spiritual talk.

“To stand firm in the faith is not merely to hold strongly to doctrinal convictions but also, and perhaps especially, to persist in acting in a way that is consistent with faith in Christ.”

(Ciampa, Roy E., and Brian S. Rosner.

The First Letter to the Corinthians.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.)

Ciampa, Roy E., and Brian S. Rosner.

The First Letter to the Corinthians.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010.

Real men walk their spiritual talk.

They walk in the Spirit, acting in a way that demonstrates Christ.

To stand firm in the faith is not merely to hold strongly to doctrinal convictions44 but also, and perhaps especially, to persist in acting in a way that is consistent with faith in Christ.

Next, we see that Paul tells us real men are strong.

1 Cor 16:

If that's a physical thing, then I’m in big trouble.

I will shamefully admit to you that there have been nearly as many times Annette has had to get the lid off the jar for me as times I have done so for her.

What Paul is calling for here is a spiritual strength.

But the simple fact is that even in that arena, I’d be in trouble if Paul were talking about my own strength.

And you’d all be in trouble, too.

Instead, the strength here is the strength of the Lord, and we can see Paul expand on the idea in his references in other letters.

Paul talks about being strong two different times in his letter to the church in Ephesus.