Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning Northvale family, I hope that all of you had a wonderful 4th of July: enjoyed some family time, maybe some vacation time, maybe some fireworks and food time.

Nothing says the 4th of July quite like eating a hot dog.

On the fourth, of course, the big ESPN event is not a basketball game, or a football game, or a soccer game: it’s a hot dog eating contest.

This year’s victor was 11 time victor Joey Chestnut who ate 71 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Every fourth Americans eat over 150 million hot dogs: that is 14,000 miles of hot dogs.

We could stretch that line of hot dogs from here to Australia one and half times.

We like our hot dogs.

What’s my point focusing on hot dogs?

Well, as I’ve quoted before JD Greear said once: that for many Americans we have a faith that is processed like our hot dogs.

Because we all know hot dogs are a bit mysterious, a bit mystery meat.

We love hot dogs: but when you look at the packaging: one ingredient you’ll find is “mechanically separated turkey”.

The USDA defines mechanically separated turkey as a “paste or batter like poultry product manufactured by forcing turkey bones with attached edible tissue through a sieve under high pressure: it’s a process called advanced meat recovery.

Nothing will keep your stomach growling in church like advanced meat recovery.

Other ingredients include corn syrup, beef, salt, sodium phosphate, sodium erythrobate, sodium nitrate, and maltodextrin.

Makes my mouth water just thinking of maltodextrin.

Greear’s point is that for many believers: their faith is like a hot dog: a little bit of true meat, a little bit of sodium nitrate, a little bit of maltodextrin.

it’s a concoction of a little bit passed down, mixed in with a little of culture, a little of comfort, and a little maltodextrin.

They’ve got a little of the firsthand Christian meat, but also a whole lot of the sodium nitrates: mixing together for a spiritually toxic diet.

Good morning Northvale family, I hope that all of you had a wonderful 4th of July: enjoyed some family time, maybe some vacation time, maybe some fireworks and food time.

Nothing says the 4th of July quite like eating a hot dog.

On the fourth, of course, the big ESPN event is not a basketball game, or a football game, or a soccer game: it’s a hot dog eating contest.

This year’s victor was 11 time victor Joey Chestnut who ate 71 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Every fourth Americans eat over 150 million hot dogs: that is 14,000 miles of hot dogs.

We could stretch that line of hot dogs from here to Australia one and half times.

We like our hot dogs.

What’s my point focusing on hot dogs?

Well, as I’ve quoted before JD Greear said once: that for many Americans we have a faith that is processed like our hot dogs.

Because we all know hot dogs are a bit mysterious, a bit mystery meat.

We love hot dogs: but when you look at the packaging: one ingredient you’ll find is “mechanically separated turkey”.

The USDA defines mechanically separated turkey as a “paste or batter like poultry product manufactured by forcing turkey bones with attached edible tissue through a sieve under high pressure: it’s a process called advanced meat recovery.

Nothing will keep your stomach growling in church like advanced meat recovery.

Other ingredients include corn syrup, beef, salt, sodium phosphate, sodium erythrobate, sodium nitrate, and maltodextrin.

Makes my mouth water just thinking of maltodextrin.

Greear’s point is that for many believers: their faith is like a hot dog: a little bit of true meat, a little bit of sodium nitrate, a little bit of maltodextrin.

it’s a concoction of a little bit passed down, mixed in with a little of culture, a little of comfort, and a little maltodextrin.

They’ve got a little of the firsthand Christian meat, but also a whole lot of the sodium nitrates: mixing together for a spiritually toxic diet.

As we go back to Genesis today we see throughout chapter 30: this example of hot dog faith: for Leah, Laban, Jacob and Rachel: they have a little bit of God, with some sodium nitrates and maltodextrins thrown in.

And just like an all hot dog diet would be pretty toxic and lead to a pretty dysfunctional digestion: a hot dog faith is toxic and dysfunctional.

This is a very dysfunctional family, dysfunctional marriage, dysfunctional relationships all stemming from a dysfunctional faith and relationship with God.

Dysfunctional: meaning: we have a function we are supposed to be doing, but we’re not quite doing it: and so what happens: life is messy, we get hurt, we hurt others, we disciple others in our dysfunction even.

ILL: Shannon has a cycle of buying treadmills: we buy one, it sits in our house for a while and then we eventually get rid of it because it takes up too much space and we don’t use it.

Our boys liked playing with the treadmill: turning it up real fast and putting a stuffed animal on it and watch it go flying.

And then Jake tried to hop on it one time when it was probably a speed of 7 or so: that’s a running speed and ended up getting covered with treadmill burns.

We had to tell him: that’s not what the treadmill is for, the treadmill is not a toy......it’s a coat hanger.

But, now it’s gone again.

The treadmill has a function if you try to use the treadmill for a different function: it’s not good.

It’s a bad toy, it’s good for hanging laundry.

It’s dysfunctional as a toy, it’s functional as a closet.

We are dysfunctional perhaps: because we are striving for a function we were not created for.

Some of you have a dysfunctional work environment, some of you a dysfunctional energy level, some of you dysfunctional relationships, dysfunctional families: why because: you’re trying to get your relationship to function differently than what it was designed to function.

Example and one I see too often: parents who try to be best friends with their kids.

That’s not how your relationship was designed.

Another example: husbands who sit on the sidelines of leading their homes: dysfunctional.

Another example: friends who are only friends for what they can get out of each other: dysfunctional.

We, because of the fall, because of sin, because of rebellion all struggle with dysfunction, and struggle to find our function, to find our purpose, to find our identity, to find true blessing.

What a great example we have here in chapter 30 of Genesis with what is probably one of the weirdest chapters in all of the Bible.

At this point Jacob betrayed his brother and father: got the spiritual blessing of his father, fell in love with the attractiveness of Rachel, but Rachel’s father is Jacob’s match as far as deceiving goes: he pulls the ol switcheroo on Jacob’s night so that Jacob actually marries and sleeps with Leah instead of Rachel: he had already served 7 years for the first wife, he serves another 7 for the second wife, at any point we think Jerry Springer is going to pop out and give his final thoughts, but the story just gets weirder, this family even more dysfunctional.

Read with me chapter 30: beginning in verse 1:

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister.

She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

You can tell Rachel’s struggle for identity for purpose is completely wrapped up in child bearing so much so: she says if I can’t have children: what good is life: I should just die! 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.”

Therefore she called his name  Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.”

So she called his name Naphtali.

Rachel gives up on God, what does she do: more marriages: I’m going to give my maidservant to Jacob: whatever children she has: will be mine.

And realize this was acceptable practice in the culture, the law of Hammurabi in fact commissioned it, plus grandpa Abe and grandma Sarah did it: so no big deal for Jacob.

And so Rachel orchestrates this plan, Jacob goes along with it, yet you continue to see her struggle even in the naming of her children: Dan means judgement: she sees herself as judged by God, Naphtali: struggle: she has struggled and she sees herself as struggling with God.

2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.”

Therefore she called his name  Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.”

So she called his name Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.”

So she called his name Asher.

Now, in chapter 29: we saw Leah’s struggle to feel love and to be blessed, we noticed her progression of having one son: thinking now my husband will love me, next son: now my husband will love me: then, finally with Judah: she says: I will praise God.

In chapter 29 it seems like Leah has discovered the love of the gospel, but chapter 30: she’s right back where she was: she’s back down on Rachel’s level and the two are creating the first baby boom, competing against each other to have kids.

Before we judge Rachel and Leah: maybe we should look at ourselves: sure you’re not trying to be one up on those around you on how many carseats you have to pack into the minivan, but that’s just because for our culture: the number of kids we have is not the current idol of choice.

Probably, for many of us: our story looks almost exactly like Rachel and Leah: we just need to substitute what it is we are envying, what it is we are so desperately trying to get and doing no matter what it takes to get it.

For some of us it’s not the quantity of kids we have, it’s the quality of our kids lives: we’ll fight for, we’ll do anything to get, anything to protect: commit any necessary sin as we see it to get, for others it might be money or possessions, for others reputation: we’ll tear down others to lift ourselves up, for others it’s sex, for others it’s possessions, for others it’s entertainment or pleasure, for others it’s physical beauty and having the right body.

We’re really not that much different from Rachel and Leah: there’s just seems weirder to us because it’s the quantity of kids is not our current idol of choice.

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah.

Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband?

Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”

So he lay with her that night.

17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.”

So she called his name Issachar.

I told you this is a weird chapter.

You can tell Rachel is currently dictating the family situation: she is in charge of where Jacob sleeps: not Jacob.

Jacob, here, is not just a slave to Laban, he’s a slave to his wives in many ways.

When you are after an idol: that’s what people and God become to you: a slave, an object, a stepping stone for you to get what it is you really want, and what really matters to your life.

When you get the gospel though: you begin to understand: the whole purpose of life: can be summed up: love God and love people.

But, in this hotdog faith, in this idolatry: people and God just become a step we step on: to get what we really want.

That is what Jacob is: for Laban, what he is for Rachel and what he is for Leah.