Sermon Tone Analysis

Illustration: “The Wrong Train”

Some years ago, The Archbishop of Canterbury was rushing to catch a train in London.

In his haste, he accidentally jumped on the wrong passenger car and found himself on a car full of inmates from a mental hospital.

They were all dressed in mental hospital clothing.

Just as the train pulled out of the station, an orderly came in and began to count the inmates, “1-2-3-4…”… when suddenly he saw this distinguished looking gentleman there wearing a business suit and a clerical collar.

The orderly asked him: “Who are you?”

The answer came back: “I am the Archbishop of Canterbury!”

And the orderly said: “Ah… 5-6-7-8.”

The point of that story is this: It is so important to know who we are and who other people are.

If we know what makes us tick… and what makes other people tick… we get along better.

There is more compassion, more empathy and more kindness.

More acceptance that it’s ok to be different.

Background Info: Personality Tests

That’s why in recent years we have heard so much about personality tests.

Businesses, counselors, and other groups are using them effectively.

You may have heard of the Birkman Personality Profile.

It’s fairly popular because the test is fairly short and provides decent results.

I think it might be helpful to use it this morning as a way to study our passage of scripture: So, let’s try it out.

First, let’s outline the four basic personalities suggested by Dr. Birkman.

See if you can find yourself or someone you know somewhere between the lines.

1.

First, there is the action-oriented doer.

This person is bubbling with energy and is often strong-willed.

The doer means creating results and everybody else better get out of the way.

2. Second, there is the detailed planner.

This person “plans the work” and then works the plan.

The detailed planner’s personality is precisely what the name implies – one who thinks things through in great detail, one who plans ahead, one who wants things done neatly, orderly and systematically.

The detailed planner does really well… as long as no one messes up the plan.

3. The third personality style according to Dr. Birkman is the enthusiastic communicator.

This person often has no plan.

But, they are a “people person” who operates on personality.

They possess the strong ability to wow people and win them over and sell them on his or her ideas and dreams.

4. A fourth personality style suggested by the Birkman profile is the artistic poetic philosopher.

This person is more “soulful,” more tuned in to beauty, reverence and awe.

The artistic poetic philosopher is creative; one who enjoys quiet and pensive moments of solitude, one who can tune in to the wonders of the universe, one who can experience a sunset or a Brahms melody and feel in that experience the presence of God.

The point of Roger Birkman’s computer personality profile is this: We are different and when we recognize, understand, respect and celebrate our differences we get along better.

It’s a great idea and also one that happens to be rooted deeply in the Bible.

It is one of the key themes of Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth.

Some are prophets and some are teachers.

Some are action-oriented, while others are pensive and thoughtful.

Some are poetic and some give commands.

Some are loud and some are quiet.

We are different people with different personalities, different styles, different temperaments.

And, that’s okay!

He says, “Imagine that you have nine cats in a house and that your task is to get the cats out of the house.

How would you do it?”

Now these go overboard a bit, perhaps, but they give you an idea:

How would the action-oriented doer handle this?

Well, obviously the action-oriented doer would take charge and say “scat!” and the cats had better get out if they know what’s good for them!

The detailed planner on the other hand, would number the cats, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9… in calligraphy!… with neat tags attached to the right side of each cat’s collar.

Then the detailed planner would make nine neat holes in the wall and number them 1 through 9 in calligraphy.

Cat One must go out Hole One, Cat Two must go out Hole Two, Cat Three must go out Hole Three and if Cat Four runs out Hole Seven, then the detailed planner’s whole world is thrown out of whack!

The enthusiastic communicator would say, “No problem, piece of cake, I can handle this.”

Then he or she would open all the doors and windows, get some warm milk and cat food, go outside and say “Here Kitty!

Kitty!…” and convince the cats that they are a lot better off outside anyway!

Meanwhile, the artistic poetic philosopher would say: “What in the world am I doing worrying about cats??”

The point of Roger Birkman’s computer personality profile is this: We are different and when we recognize, understand, respect and celebrate our differences we get along better.

It’s a great idea and also one that happens to be rooted deeply in the Bible.

It is one of the key themes of Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth.

Some are prophets and some are teachers.

Some are action-oriented, while others are pensive and thoughtful.

Some are poetic and some give commands.

Some are loud and some are quiet.

We are different people with different personalities, different styles, different temperaments.

And, that’s okay!

Engaging the Text

Now, with this as a backdrop for our thinking, let’s take a look at this story from .

Let’s see if we can figure out Mary an Martha’s personality styles within the story.

To do that, let’s imagine the story together a bit, shall we?

All morning long there had been excitement within the home in Bethany.

A guest was coming for dinner… and you know what leads up to a guest coming for dinner.

Likely since daybreak, Martha had been sweeping, scrubbing, dusting, checking recipes, going in and out of the kitchen as she frantically prepared food and her home for a special guest.

Every hour… every minute was precious.

Time was slipping by.

There was too much to do with less and less time to do it in.

Then, the guest arrives.

It’s Jesus.

And then, look at what happens:

Mary comes in and she takes over as hostess.

She welcomes Jesus and the disciples, and she brings them into the living room while Martha continues to work feverishly.

And in the background of the scene… there is a sense of urgency.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem… on his way to the cross.

He begins to talk to his friends… there is so much to teach them and so little time.

The disciples listen to him… more or less anyway.

They probably inserted their own ideas and plans of what Jesus could or should do next.

Discouraging him of his strange talk about the Son of God having to die.

Looking throughout the room, we see it’s not just the disciples listening in… Mary also listens—quite intently from what we can tell.

Mary has positioned herself at the feet of Jesus and she is drinking in His every word.

How good to have Him here, she thinks.

How good to hear Him again!

How good it is just to be in His presence!

Meanwhile, Martha is out in the kitchen, slaving away… preparing the meal, polishing the silverware, cutting up the fruits and vegetables, checking the last minute details, doing the one hundred and one things which in her super-efficient mind needed to be done.

But here is what I suspect the problem is: While Martha is working feverishly, she has an anger building within her.

She gets more and more aggravated, more and more frustrated… She feels more and more put upon, more and more stressed out.

“Where is Mary?

Why isn’t she in here helping me?

Who does she think she is… sitting in there with our guests… and leaving all the dirty work to me? Surely, Jesus can see the injustice of this situation,” You can just about hear Martha’s reasoning… and perhaps… perhaps we might even agree with her.

Finally, unable to contain herself any long, her resentment erupts… and she bursts out of the kitchen… into the living room and she makes a scene!

She cries: “Look at this Lord.

I’m having to do all the work here.

Don’t you care that my sister Mary has left me to serve alone?