Sermon Tone Analysis
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Good Morning, we are in our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, entitled the upside Down Kingdom.
When I first started out in ministry we had a simple sound system, a small amplifier and one microphone.
Over years sound systems have become more and more elaborate..
Today mixing boards have the complexity of a flight deck of a Boeing 747.
Mixing sound is both a science and an art...
It is about getting the volumes and levels in a sweet spot for the audience.. .
Sound Engineering is all about getting the right Mix and levels and this done by adjusting the channels and remixing (shaping) “highs”, “mids”, “lows” frequencies.
Then you can add things like reverb to match the dynamics of the building to create a harmonic sound that warms the space.
The basic principle is that there are inputs and outputs -- and when sound comes into the soundboard it is balanced (remixed/shaped) and then amplified into the room.
In the sermon on the Mount Jesus deals with inputs and outputs.
The inputs are are the attributes or characteristics of the Kingdom of God… and the Outputs are the outworking of His grace in out lives...
This is the remixed/ or the shaping that is then amplified into the world.
The sermon on the Mount is considered the greatest sermon ever preached and every part of the sermon is connected...
Jesus starts with the 8 beatitudes and taught and it is about having the right attitude towards God and others... Then he talks about being Salt and light in the world...
Jesus says emphatically, "You are salt of the earth and your light of the world"… You are a City on a Hill that cannot be hidden..
Next, Jesus deals with our obedience in relationship to the law...Jesus says that he didn't come to abolish the law -- but to fulfill it… The Kingdom is a kingdom of Righteousness.. right standing… right relationships..
Jesus said ---that when it come to to righteousness... Our righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees..
There was temptation in Jesus day to follow the examples of the Pharisees who obeyed the letter of the Law to a fault and not one inch more...
Jesus deals with the interpretation of the law by contrasting or (remixing) the legalism of the law verses the intention of the law..
Jesus gives several examples… and one them is found..
Jesus says., “You have heard it said”.... “but I say to you that”… that phrase comes up nine times… and it is a correction of interpretation.
The law command us to love you neighbor and hate our enemies..
Jesus remixes the interpretation and say...
What is intended by the law is that we are not only to love our neighbors but also our enemies … and go a step further and pray for those who persecute you...
Ultimately the intention of the Law is godliness or Christlikeness.
This what Jesus talking about in Matt 5:48 when he talks about perfection...
When read this verse it easy to get stuck… on… be perfect as God is perfect!
What we need to ask is what is Jesus intention?
The well known violinist.
Benno Rubinoff was once asked how long he spent practicing..
He said that he often rehearsed between concerts… but normally.. practiced about eight hours a day… He was then asked why he practiced so much...
He responded with..
“Well, I strive for perfection.
I doubt if my audience would know the difference if I lightened up on rehearsals, but I would.
Music is my life.
Music is in my heart.
I must always give my best.”
In our text..
Jesus is not condoning Christian perfectionism… He is not saying that being a Christian means that your have your stuff together…
THE TRUTH IS THAT THIS SIDE OF heaven we will never reach perfection...
Paul tells us in Romans that there.. is...
Romans 3:10–11 (ESV
10 .....“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
What Jesus is saying is that we are to practice or to strive towards Christlikeness.
The word practice implies that we are going to mess up along the way....
We have to give ourselves margin of error…
What we need to know is this Greek word for perfect.. is the word teleios -- it speaks of an end goal or an end purpose… It is the final condition of something..
It is what
Paul said…Philippians 3:13 that he had not attained… but one thing he does is He forgets what is behind and presses forward to what is ahead..Towards the goal.... Which is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Perfection speaks of the process of Being perfected… it is a gospel of perseverance… meaning we are to aways be moving closer to the goal..… The closer we are to Christ the more we will reflect the love of God to others..
t/s Jesus in the sermon on the Mount... is helping us get the mix right... so that our lives will amplify his glory and love in the world..
There are three specific areas that need to be mixed..
He shows us first..
1.
How to Balance the levels of Works of Righteousness
Many colleges and universities offer their alumni the opportunity to audit classes..
Auditing a class means that they can sit in and listen to lectures and benefit from courses without paying full or any tuition.
The catch that there is no credits or grades given for completing the course work.
If you want get bet credit for courses you must be enrolled as a student and pay tuition... Most of us do prefer to work for credit....
We operate in a world of works and rewards… Jesus points out the problem with always wanting credit.
First thing to observe here… Is that doing good works is implicit it’s implied… Practicing good deeds is part of the expectation of being a disciple of Jesus… and it is Kingdom value..
What Jesus is dealing with is the mix...… How Good works are to be practiced...
Jesus starts with a negative imperative..
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them”
Jesus warns us of practicing our righteousness for the wrong motives..
The word “righteousness” - means good works..
These are acts of mercy.. which include.. things like...
Giving money to the less fortunate,
volunteering our time
serving in a ministry..
Using our spiritual gifts
Giving offerings..
Jesus is not knocking good works… When you think about those in his audience — they were used to doing works out of legalism… one of the basic requirements was to take care of the poor...
Jesus dealing with the problem of the mix…that distorts the message....and that is when we do good works with the wrong motive...
Jesus warns us to be careful of doing works of righteousness … wrong reason and that is to be seen by others....
The message bible says "don't make a performance out of it" The picture is that of the theater with Actors on a stage with Scripts, with props and backdrops…He is saying don’t make it a production out of your good works..
Now..
It seems as though Jesus is contradicting what he said in Chapter 5..
When he said you are the of the earth and the light of the world..
We are like a city on a hill that can’t be hidden… In chapter 5 he tells us to not hide our lights under a basket … put rather put our light on a lamp stand to light up the whole house…
What’s going on??
Jesus deals with the imbalances of good works...
He remixing and reshaping..
We should be involved in good works.. Paul tells us in..
The issue is not the good works… but our motives and where we are looking for approval..
If we are looking for approval from others.. we will always be disappointed..
Jesus taught us to do our works for an audience of One… Jesus says a number times that it the father in heaven who will reward us..
Jarad Wilson author and professor of theology said that...
“The approval of God in Christ is worth more than a trillion pats on the back and worth all the stabs in it too.”
Jared C. Wilson
The point is that..
.. God's evaluation should be more important than what others might think...
The purpose of Good Works is that we reflect God… and when People see our good works they will glorify our father who is in heaven...
Jesus warns us that we do good works for the accolades of the crowd we already have our reward.... and we will forfeit any heavenly rewards..
t/s Jesus in the sermon on the Mount... is helping us get the mix right... so that our lives will amplify his glory and love in the world.. .
He shows us first.
1.
How to Balance the levels Works of Righteousness?
2. How to Balance the levels of Giving and Generosity?
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