Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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The Blessing That Counts – One Is Enough
Luke 6:17-26
Question: Does it matter if we count our blessings?
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the
kingdom of God,” the Scripture says.
Anybody want to be poor?
Does anyone who is poor think it is a
blessing?
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
Oh, oh, compared to the rest
of the world, guess who are the rich?
We are.
So what are we to think?
Are we in trouble?
Is it time to bring
out the sack cloth and ashes?
Is poverty a blessing and abundance a curse?
We’ll get back to that in a moment.
Have you ever walked into a convenience store and found an unexpectedly long line at the counter?
Chances are good that those people aren’t lined up because there’s been a sudden run on milk, bread or
overcooked hot dogs.
They’re interested in buying something far less tangible; namely, a sequence of numbers
embedded in a distant and very secure computer.
When they finally reach the head of the line, they’ll hand over
a dollar or two or possibly a good deal more, for what, a slip of paper with some numbers on it.
They’re buying
lottery tickets, of course.
If ever you find yourself in such a situation, take a glance at the lottery marquee displaying the size of
that week’s jackpot.
With lines like that, chances are it’s valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Only
jaw-dropping numbers like that bring out the long lines.
Your chances of winning, though, are one in three
hundred million, give or take, and you probably will have to share your winnings with others.
Then there is the
reality check; as in Uncle Sam wants his take, plus the state, leaving the winner with less than half the money.
But who said lottery tickets are about reality?
Dollar for dollar, they’re one of the worst investments
you could possibly make.
Lotteries - are not about reality, but hope or fantasy - the pipe dream of instant,
undeserved wealth.
Haven’t you felt it?
Whether or not you’ve ever lined up to purchase a ticket yourself,
haven’t you ever daydreamed about what it would be like to win a million dollars, let alone hundreds of
millions?
How different life would be!
Oh, the things you’d buy, the places you’d go! Frankly, most people
who do live miserable lives thereafter, but that’s another story…
Is wealth a blessing, however much you might have?
Most of us would say, Yeah! (with attitude)
wealth is a blessing, certainly more so than poverty.
But Jesus doesn’t see it that way.
“Blessed are you who
are poor,” He teaches the crowd, “for yours is the kingdom of God.” Oh, there’s the pot of gold, the kingdom
2
of God.
Then, a little later, He has these choice words for the wealthy: “But woe to you who are rich, for you
have received your consolation.”
This is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes.
It’s strikingly different from
Matthew’s better-known version.
To begin with, it takes place in a different location.
In Matthew, it’s the
Sermon on the Mount; in Luke, it’s the Sermon on the Plain.
But the biggest difference for Luke, compared to
Matthew, is that Luke includes statements of woe.
Not only is Jesus blessing certain people; in Luke’s version, He also curses others.
Jesus blesses the
poor, the hungry and those who weep.
He preaches woe to the rich, the satisfied and even those who laugh.
It’s
no wonder most folks prefer Matthew’s version!
Luke’s raises troubling questions: Is it wrong to be rich?
Is it
a sin to be successful?
And what’s Jesus got against laughter, anyway?
(He’s probably meaning woe to those
who laugh at others, mock them and despise them, especially the poor.)
Jesus is doing more, though, than
simply telling the poor crowd what they want to hear, putting down the rich and well-to-do.
He’s imparting a
great spiritual truth, and it has to do with the nature of blessings.
Can blessings be counted?
In times of trouble, a well-meaning friend may say, “Just count your
blessings.
Look on the bright side.
Concentrate on the good things in life.
Look away from the bad!”
The
world is always eager to count blessings.
How blessed are they, with the fine house, the classy car, high-tech
gadgets to play with, and just, what a beautiful family they are.
They are blessed.
Even those who have little in
the way of material goods are quick to count, in some very conspicuous ways, what blessings they do have.
How else to explain the exorbitant prices charged for certain designer basketball shoes?
One person’s pair of
Air Jordan’s is another person’s Mercedes-Benz.
A pair of threaded, faded, beat-up jeans costs more than the
real McCoy by a hundred dollars, but which is more preferred by those who seemingly can’t afford them; and
who in their right mind would buy a pair of jeans ready for the clothes recycle bin anyway?
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