Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Good morning.
Thank you so much choir.
That was wonderful.
Before I start this morning, I wanted to just remind you of a couple of things.
First, don’t forget that our Christmas Eve service will be Friday night at 6:00.
We would love to have you join us.
Also, don’t forget that for the next two Sundays, our Sunday morning schedule will look quite different with only one service at 10:00.
Turning Point
A couple weeks ago, I talked about how Tolkien wrote the backstory of the Hobbit and built that universe.
I’ve been reading through the Hobbit with Abi, and she said that I clearly have been reading it too much because I talked about it in my sermon.
One of the moments that has caused quite a bit of discussion with her was this scene when Bilbo was escaping from the goblin caves after his confrontation with Gollum.
“Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself.
He was desperate.
He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left.
He must fight.
He must stab the foul thing, kill it.
It meant to kill him.
No, not a fair fight.
He was invisible now.
Gollum had no sword.
Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried yet.
And he as miserable, alone, lost.
A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart.
He trembled, And then quite suddenly in a another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.”
Abi wants to know of course why Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum.
She’s in good company.
When Gandalf tells the tale of Gollum to Bilbo’s nephew, Frodo, Frodo says, “What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!”
Gandalf responds, “Pity?
It was Pity that stayed his hand.
Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need.”
He goes on to say, “Many that live deserve death.
And some that die deserve life.
Can you give it to them?
Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not the least.”
For those that have read the Lord of the Rings, or watched the movies, you know that without the pity of Bilbo, Middle Earth would have fallen to darkness.
And that’s all I’m going to say, because Abi would be devastated if I spoiled the ending, and also because I’ve given enough hints that now she’s got to know what happens.
As Tolkien reflected on this moment of Bilbo’s pity, he called this moment a eucatastrophe.
In a story or fairy tale, the catastrophe is when something unforseen turning point unravels the tale and the lives of the characters.
In this way, Tolkien saw the Eucatastrophe as a turning point, a good catastrophe, a joyous turn.
He says of this eucatastrophe that “it can give to a child or man that hears it, when the ‘turn’ comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart.”
As a Christian, Tolkien saw the ultimate example of Eucatastrophe in Christ.
In the essay explaining this idea he talks about the Gospels containing the greatest of all stories, artistic, beautiful and moving, “and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable Eucatastrophe.
This story has entered History and the primary world.
The Birth of Christ is the Eucatastrophe of Man’s history.
The Resurrection is the Eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation.
This story begins and ends in joy.”
A History of God’s Presence
So, for the last two weeks, we’ve been reviewing what you might call a history of God’s presence with His children.
Two Sundays ago, we talked about how God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden He had created to fellowship with them in.
This perfect relationship was marred by Adam and Eve’s sin, and they were exiled from the garden.
Last week, we talked about the echoes of the garden in the tabernacle and later the temple.
Rather than leave humanity to sin and death, God had come to them, calling out a people through whom He planned to bless the world.
In these two structures, God was present with His people.
But, there were problems with the temple, and even really with the tabernacle.
Both of them were elaborate ways that Israel could draw near to God, but yet, His holiness meant that they still were not completely able to behold His glory, only a glimpse of it.
In Exodus 33, when Moses had gone back up the mountain after the golden calf incident, he asked God to see His glory.
God answered,
God is so holy that for even one like Moses to behold His true glory would be fatal.
Even for the high priest to enter the holy of holies and interact with God in the tabernacle and the temple required a very specific purification process that would need to be repeated over and over again.
Hebrews reminds us that the high priest had to make offerings for his own sins before he could make offerings for the sins of the people.
And even this was a barrier.
God dwelt among his people in the tabernacle and then the temple, but the people didn’t have direct access to Him.
They only had access to God through intermediaries.
And so, just like God promised His presence to Abraham, God, speaking through His prophets promised that there was a better way coming.
To Jeremiah, God promised a new covenant that would fundamentally change the nature of His relationship with His children.
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (CSB)
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration.
“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration.
“I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
“For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
A New Covenant
How different this new covenant that God is promising is!
There will be no mediator needed between God and His people.
He promises that the reason this new covenant will be possible is because He will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
The fundamental issue separating God from His children will be dealt with.
And God keeps promising that He will come to dwell his His people.
In Zechariah, he declares,
Then, in Zechariah, God promises that He will be sending his servant, the Branch, and that he will take away the iniquity of the land in a single day.
And even more, the Davidic king will come to establish His Kingdom!
Isaiah talks about this coming King, this Messiah, saying,
Isaiah 9:2–7 (CSB)
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.
For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.
And he will be born of a virgin.
Immanuel.
God with us.
God will draw near and dwell with His people.
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