Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
The scene is a rural country house situated at the end of a long dusty road.
The mother is in the kitchen fixing supper.
She happens to look up from what she is doing.Her gaze is fixed out the kitchen window.
She is surprised to see an olive-colored sedan making its way along the winding road to the house.
All she could do was stare.
It was though she was frozen in time.
The closer the vehicle gets, the more panic grips her heart.
It is an official government vehicle, a U.S. Army vehicle to be exact.
In horror she clutches her apron to her face.
Then came the dreaded knock at the door.
Reluctantly and hesitantly, she opens the door as four army officers present themselves to her.
She knows why they are there.
What she did not know was the extent of the news.
One of them begins to speak kindly but firmly.
He begins, “We regret to inform form you, Mrs. Ryan...” As she hears of the death of three of her four sons, she drops to her knees with an anguish that refuses to be extinguished.
Why so much evil?
Why so much suffering and pain?
Why did Mrs.
Ryan have to suffer so?
Why do you and I have to experience such pain?
When we suffer there is no answer that is satisfactory.
Yet, ever since Genesis chapter three, our world has been racked with these things.
Something happened in the Garden of Eden that forever changed our world.
Theologically it is known as the doctrine of the Fall of Man.
Speaking of theology, C.S. Lewis authored a book addressing The Problem of Pain.
Theologically it was a wondrous book.
You ought to read it.
Lewis talks about the fall of man and how that produced the pain that is a part of our lives.
He wrote that book in 1941 when Europe and the rest of the world was in the throes of WWII.
Fast forward in time twenty-one years to 1962.
C.S. Lewis authors another book.
This one is nothing like the theological powerhouse I just mentioned.
This book, A Grief Observed, is anything but theological in nature.
At the age of forty-five, Lewis’ wife died from bone cancer.
Lewis went from having it all figured out to groping in the deep darkness of pain.
He went from having all the answers to having nothing but questions.
Listen to this portion of what C.S. Lewis wrote in A Grief Observed.
He writes, “Meanwhile, where is God?
But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find?
A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.
After that, silence.”
Do not be too hard on C.S. Lewis.
He is hurting.
All the theological arguments are gone.
There is nothing but questions and loneliness.
In times like these, trite and rehearsed answers from an article you read online are empty, hurtful, and useless.
Keeping this in mind as we work through the text, we will consider three answers to the question, “Can God trust you with the blessing of suffering?”
Do We Possess the Integrity Needed for This Blessing (1:1-5)?
It is a seldom act in Scripture when God places His trust in an individual.
He trusted Paul to carry the gospel to the Gentiles.
However God has not placed His trust in many people.
Why?
It is because most people are not trustworthy.
Here is a question to ponder.
Can God trust you and can God trust me?
Do we possess the needed integrity needed for God to use the blessing of suffering in our lives?
God calls us to be people of great character and integrity.
God was able to trust Job.
He was a man who was blameless and upright.
This means he was complete and mature in his character.
This means he was straight in his conduct.
He was as pure as the driven snow.
There were no skeletons in his closet.
He was twelve inches to the foot, three feet to the yard, and twenty-six ounces to the pound.
He was a man of integrity.
It was because of his godly integrity that Job feared God.
No, Job was not scared of God.
Job had a reverential respect and awe of who God is, what God says, and what God does.
Oswald Chambers stated concerning the fear of God, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
It was because of Job’s integrity that he also shunned evil.
The word shun means “to turn off” or “to turn away from.”
Job was faithful to God.
Job walked before God in full integrity.
Sin was a complete turnoff to him.
Job refused to play games upon the precarious precipice of sin.
Job stayed away from sin as far as he could.
He was a man identified by what he was willing to run from.
Job was also a man blessed by God.
God protected Job and provided for him (2-3).
With great blessing comes greater responsibility.
To whom much has been given, much is required.
Job maintained his integrity in his prosperity.
Job refused to make materialism his guide or His God.
His trust was in the God who blessed him not in the blessings he had been entrusted.
Job was also a man focused firmly on his faith in God.
As such, Job properly fulfilled his role as pastor to his family.
Notice the spiritual leadership of Job (4-5).
Job called his family together and led them in worship.
Genuine worship is not merely what happens on Sunday in this sanctuary.
The Bible’s perspective of life is that it is a stewardship from God and that our very lives are to be worship.
Families should worship together.
It is essential in passing on the faith once delivered to the saints to the next generation.
May all who come behind us find us faithful.
2. Job taught and trained his children.
All of us need to be like Job in this regard.
It is our responsibility to teach our children to discern truth from error.
I is our responsibility, therefore, to teach our children the Bible.
It is our responsibility to train our children to make wise and God-honoring decisions.
It is our responsibility to teach our children to dress modestly.
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