Sermon Tone Analysis

The Breakdown

 

It’s really not that hard to reach out to help another.

The gospel is something that is best demonstrated.

“Preach the gospel at all times – if necessary – use words.”

-  St.

Augustine

 

A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out.

A SUBJECTIVE person came along and said:  - "I FEEL for you, down there."

An OBJECTIVE person came along and said:  - "It's logical that someone would fall, down there."

A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST came along:  - "You only THINK that you are in a pit."

A PHARISEE said: - "Only BAD people fall into a pit."

A MATHEMATICIAN calculated HOW he fell into the pit.

A NEWS REPORTER wanted the exclusive story on his pit.

A FUNDAMENTALIST said: - "You DESERVE your pit."

CONFUCIUS said; - “If you would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit."

BUDDHA said: - "Your pit is only a state of mind."

A REALIST said: - "That's a PIT."

A SCIENTIST calculated the pressure necessary (lbs.~/sq.in.) to get him out of the pit.

A GEOLOGIST told him to appreciate the rock strata in the pit.

AN EVOLUTIONIST said: - "You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle."

In other words, he is going to DIE in the pit, so that he cannot produce any "pit-falling offspring."

The COUNTY INSPECTOR asked if he had a permit to dig a pit.

A PROFESSOR gave him a lecture on: - "The Elementary Principles of the Pit."

An EVASIVE person came along and avoided the subject of his pit altogether

 

A SELF-PITYING person said: - "You haven't seen anything until you've seen MY PIT!!"

 

A CHARISMATIC said: - "Just CONFESS that you're not in a pit."

An OPTIMIST said: - "Things COULD be worse."

A PESSIMIST said: - "Things WILL get worse!!"

 

JESUS, seeing the man, took him by the hand and LIFTED HIM OUT of the pit.

See:  Psa 40:1-2

 

*Intro:*  Story of trip home from Mooer’s Camp

 

Assorted Thoughts:

 

/When I was broken down I felt the following emotions:/

 

q       Helplessness

q       Don’t know who to call for help

q       Fear of being taken advantage of

q       Vulnerability

q       Anyone looked good – (Neighbor Link)

 

I’m the wrecker guy and I love my job.

/What was I looking for from the call for help?/

 

q       I wanted assurance that everything was headed in a restorative direction.

q       I wanted to be known by someone who could give me direction.

Someone who was familiar with the area and knew where to go to get help.

q       I wanted to get off the side of the road.

Movement.

/Why did this guy start out in the first place??/

There may have been a thousand good reasons as to why this man should not have found himself in this position.

The “why’s” of a person’s plight are irrelevant.

I should have heeded the warnings.

– computer lights.

/How do people break down?/

 

q       They make unwise decisions and then come to the end of their rope.

q       They reach the end of their own resources.

q       They fail to nurture themselves properly.

Misbelief in being indispensable.

q       Trying to meet God-sized needs (transformation) in human strength.

/Why don’t we stop?/

Danger~/unknown – Always risky when we propose to love others in the name of Christ.

"We become vulnerable when we love people and go out of our way to help them."

That's what the wealthy industrialist Charles Schwab declared after going to court and winning a nuisance suit at age 70.

Given permission by the judge to speak to the audience, he made the following statement:  "I'd like to say here in a court of law, and speaking as an old man, that nine-tenths of my troubles are traceable to my being kind to others.

Look, you young people, if you want to steer away from trouble, be hard-boiled.

Be quick with a good loud no to anyone and everyone.

If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life's pathway.

Except you'll have no friends, you'll be lonely, and you won't have any fun!"  Schwab had made his point -- love may bring heartache, but it's worth it!

No one ever said it better than C. S. Lewis: To love at all is to be vulnerable.

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change.

It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable....  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love... is Hell.

q       Fear of personal inadequacy – I can’t do anything for this person.

There are tragedies that face people and rather than risk saying something that sounds stupid we remain silent.

We’ll talk later on  in the sermon about the ministry of “presence”.

q       Continued responsibility -  Don’t want to get into anything that we can’t get out of.

Part of the problem with the notion of winning others to Christ.

If you’re going to have a spiritual baby then you need to provide for the care of the same.

Jesus said – “Go and make disciples – not baby Christians.

The commitment to evangelize is a commitment to disciple or it is nothing.

There are people who develop patterns of non-productive and even self-destructive ways in life.

They gravitate toward a mess of some sort.

Patterns are difficult to break and they require the aid of a friend who will be lovingly tough and faithful to tell the truth to the individual.

Unsanctified mercy.

There are times when God can only teach people through adversity.

We can rescue people from God’s plan assuming their pain for no apparent reason  Patterns of Behavior

 

q       Personal cost -

 

q       Too hurried~/busy -

 

 

LK 10:27 He answered: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all

your strength and with all your mind' ; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.'

" 28 "You have answered

correctly," Jesus replied.

"Do this and you will live."

29 But *he wanted to justify himself*, so he asked

Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30 In reply Jesus said:

 

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.

They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

32 So too, a Levite, when he  came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, *he took pity on him*.