Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

51 “Have you understood all these things?”

They said to him, “Yes.”

52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Good morning, so we’ve been going through the parables since pretty much the beginning.

I know for some this may seem taxing but I have enjoyed having to go slowly through the Gospel’s (mostly Matthew) and having to take a step back and analyze each parable.

I’ve always loved parables and love the fact that the author of the universe found it fitting to reveal so much wisdom in this form.

Just to recap a bit: we’ve been talking a lot about the Kingdom of God and this is also fitting because as a church plant/or just a church in general, we get to usher people into the Kingdom.

I had a conversation with one of the football players on Tuesday, I gave him a ride to practice (I saw him walking down Hamilton).

He hops into my car, I have Ollie in the back, and he sees my Bible on my front seat… I want to pause the story here: this wasn’t my passive attempt to start a conversation about the Gospel.

I should also fill you all into a little secret, I’ve told you guys about fighting between this place of doing for the Lord and being with him.

I decided to not rely on my cell phone so much for my ‘daily reading plans’ but to start using my Bible again (which Sarah can tell you I have many of).

So this week I decided to keep a Bible in my car so that when I got to school early I could spend a few minutes in silence reading and praying.

This is the backdrop.

Moses hops into my car and picks up the Bible and says, “Oh this looks like my Bible.

The outside is all cracked.”

He thumbed through the pages and probably saw a bunch of pen marks and annotations and then he said, “It’s very old but the inside is still clean.”

He went on to tell me that his uncle is a pastor and that his family was kind of religious but he doesn’t consider himself religious.

He stated that he still partially believes…and his last comment took me aback.

He said: I don’t believe that church attendance is mandatory and that he didn’t believe the church played a major part in the Bible.

I literally had from La Cucina Italiana to North High School (which is a minute car ride) to explain the importance of the church and how the church is Jesus’ bride and we are his hands and feet in this broken world… and my friends I didn’t quite get there.

I said: well Moses if by ‘Church’ you mean the buildings that you think you were forced to go to, or if this is part of what you would call ‘religious’ then yes the ‘Church’ can be seen as unnecessary.

I told him the greek word for church is koinania which means ‘fellowship.’

I told him the building isn’t the church and that it’s the people and the community of believers.

[And scene].

Practice was already underway and I dropped him off at the school and I turned around and headed to the practice field with Ollie.

We continue our day and practice finished, I ran home and Sarah and I changed and went to the Coulombe’s for dinner.

The next day I saw this group go and pack them up and love on them (and the next day).

It’s funny because that was the church in action.

The Lord found it fitting to have this couple spend the first year of our plant with us.

We were given an opportunity to love on them, challenge them, and hopefully, point them closer to Jesus.

I also see this you all going into parks and going into buildings and serving food to 40 football players and fellowshipping with them.

We continue our day and practice finished, I ran home and Sarah and I changed and went to the Coulombe’s for dinner.

The next day I saw this group go and pack them up and love on them (and the next day).

It’s funny because that was the church in action.

The Lord found it fitting to have this couple spend the first year of our plant with us.

We were given an opportunity to love on them, challenge them, and hopefully, point them closer to Jesus.

I also see this group going into parks and going into buildings and serving food to 40 football players and fellowshipping with them.

So…once again, why am I rambling about this?

This is the church of God on mission and moving throughout the city.

We are doing all we can to help move people one step closer to the Kingdom of heaven.

Verse again:

Matthew 13:51

This is a tricky verse to understand at face value and we have to take a step back to understand the placement of this verse.

has predominantly been about the Kingdom of God.

We’ve just finished a little journey about the kingdom of heaven being like a treasure.

We see that this kingdom is worth all that we have and all that we are.

This section from v.36-52 is Jesus and his disciples.

He explains the parables of the weeds to them and then goes on this multi-parable gauntlet.

He asks them if they understood all these things and the disciples answered like we would, in front of Jesus, Yes.

(Except my answer would’ve been a nuanced “yes!?” with a slight question at the end).

Every scribe that been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house....

In other words: The idea of "a master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" communicates the idea of someone well-supplied with whatever their treasure is.

The master of the house has old and new treasure.

In the context of this parable, because this master of a household is being compared to a scribe who is trained in the word of God, the "treasure" would be knowledge and understanding of God's kingdom.

So, as masters of the house those who have an understanding of God’s kingdom (which comes through knowledge of his Word) we are those that can bring out the new and old treasure.

Still confused?

Jesus is telling his disciples that those who study and know the word of God are rich with knowledge and understanding of God's kingdom.

I would take this a step further and state that a deeper understanding of God’s kingdom is as we delve into his Word we are capable of understanding the complexities of Scripture and the deeper of meanings of what Christ has done for us.

The further we walk with Christ the more we understand (yet we realize how much we lack in knowledge).... the more we understand the deeper our gratitude for Jesus…the deeper our gratitude the deeper our roots go and the harder it is for this world to blow us to and from.

The further we walk with Christ the more we understand (yet we realize how much we lack in knowledge).

new things and old things The disciples were beginning to understand the new things Jesus was teaching in conjunction with the traditions from the Scriptures they already knew.

There is this movie called Inside The Life Of Llewyn Davis and it follows this struggling folk musician named Llewyn Davis

1961

New York City

Folk singer Llewyn Davis

In 1961 New York City, folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is at a crossroads.

Guitar in hand, he struggles against seemingly insurmountable obstacles to make a name for himself in the music world, but so far, success remains elusive.

Relying on the kindness of both friends and strangers, Llewyn embarks on an odyssey that takes him from the streets of Greenwich Village to a Chicago club, where awaits a music mogul who could give him the big break that he desperately needs.

He goes from NYC /Greenwich Village and Chicago trying to make it…

Anyways at the end of all of his travels he performs after Bob Dylan (he doesn’t know it at the time).

Bob Dylan goes on to be famous while Llewyn continues this cycle of barely scrapping by and following his ‘dreams’ which includes coach surfing and a lot of near misses at stardom.

Why am I telling you about Llewyn?

Well there is this one powerful quote from this movie and it goes as follows:

“If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song”

The scribe is constantly balancing this idea of the Kingdom being ancient but new at the same time.

His Word being ancient and new.

Just like the inception of the Kingdom being present and futuristic.

5.

The True Scribe.—The

expression manifestly applies to Christian teachers, or else to genuine disciples who follow the example of the Lord.

The true scribe must bring forth out of his treasure not only things old and dead, but also things new and living—the one along with the other; the new in the garb and in the light of the old, and the old in its fulfillment and development as the new.

5.

The True Scribe.—The

expression manifestly applies to Christian teachers, or else to genuine disciples who follow the example of the Lord.

The true scribe must bring forth out of his treasure not only things old and dead, but also things new and living—the one along with the other; the new in the garb and in the light of the old, and the old in its fulfillment and development as the new.

Jesus was ushering in the new but was fulfilling the old.

We must not forget this as we delve into Scripture and walk with others throughout the wonderful pages of Scripture.

13:53–58 Following His teaching in parables, Jesus travels to His hometown.

Because of their familiarity with Jesus, the people of Nazareth reject Him as a prophet.

13:53–58 Following His teaching in parables, Jesus travels to His hometown.

Because of their familiarity with Jesus, the people of Nazareth reject Him as a prophet.

This idea of defects and dangers pops into mind when we are delving into Scripture and walking with others:

Present the old without the new

Present the new without the old

Fail to present the relationship between the old and the new

(1) When we present the old without the new we miss out on the fulfillment of Jesus Christ and the freedom that is brought forth through Jesus.

Jesus came to fulfill the old covenant and states that not an iota will pass until it is accomplished.

The law was meant to be a spotlight on our inability to follow the Lord the way we were intended to.

Jesus lives the life we couldn’t and lives his life within this system.

(2) Present the new without the old…

I’ve heard many Christians express the following sentiment: “If Jesus is in the NT and we are under the new covenant why bother studying the OT?”

The OT as a whole doesn’t merely point forward to Jesus but it reveals him as the Messiah to come () … we’ve lost a bit of this as 21st century Christians.