Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Analytical
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Anger
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17 Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a large area of level ground.
A great company of his disciples and a huge crowd of people from all around Judea and Jerusalem and the area around Tyre and Sidon joined him there.
18 They came to hear him and to be healed from their diseases, and those bothered by unclean spirits were healed.
19 The whole crowd wanted to touch him, because power was going out from him and he was healing everyone.
Happy people and doomed people
20 Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples and said:
“Happy are you who are poor,
because God’s kingdom is yours.
21 Happy are you who hunger now,
because you will be satisfied.
Happy are you who weep now,
because you will laugh.
22 Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and condemn your name as evil because of the Human One.
23 Rejoice when that happens!
Leap for joy because you have a great reward in heaven.
Their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.
24 But how terrible for you who are rich,
because you have already received your comfort.
25 How terrible for you who have plenty now,
because you will be hungry.
How terrible for you who laugh now,
because you will mourn and weep.
26 How terrible for you when all speak well of you.
Their ancestors did the same things
to the false prophets.
Introduction: The Long Hill
A while ago I was on a bike trip, and I remember one particular part with equal parts fear and joy!
This particular trip had one section that was a 24 mile uphill climb.
It was only ever 2% grade or so, so it wasn’t a particularly hard climb.
But it just wouldn’t let up!
And while I was riding, I had this little mantra that I kept repeating to myself.
Nothing lasts forever.
I’ve been on enough of these rides that I know that what is uphill will eventually turn downhill.
The struggle will end.
The wind will come at our backs.
We’ll get to some smoother sailing.
Nothing lasts forever.
And I also know that when you’re enjoying the downhill parts, you need to really enjoy them, because nothing lasts forever.
The tail wind will eventually come around and smack you in the face.
The sunny skies will eventually cloud up and dump rain.
The hill you just came down will eventually need to be climbed.
Nothing lasts forever.
Bible Breakdown
The Sermon on the Level
This is Lukes’s understanding of a teaching from Jesus, the more famous version of which is in Matthew and called the Sermon on the Mount.
In this case though, Jesus comes down from that mountain and speaks to us on the “level ground.”
One of the pastors I was reading this week took that to an interesting place: Jesus is about to speak to us “on the level.”
Jesus is going to be a straight shooter here.
Jesus isn’t going to beat around the bush.
And…we have to be honest, that is usually code for something that’s going to be hard to hear.
Usually if someone says “I have to level with you...” you know that you’re in for something uncomfortable, right?
Audience is important
Jesus starts this passage healing the crowd.
People with diseases and unclean spirits and all manner of afflictions come and get healed.
There are apparently a whole bunch of people standing around.
But the text tells us that this teaching has a very specific audience:
“Jesus raised his eyes to his disciples.”
This is not for the rest of the world, the common folk, the outsiders.
This teaching is all about those of us who would commit ourselves to being disciples of Jesus.
This is not for everyone.
But it is a challenge for those twelve disciples, and any of us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus.
This may not be how the world works, but it is how our world is supposed to work in here.
Blessing Defined
The word in each of these first few lines is translated Happy here in the Common English Bible.
The NRSV translates it as “blessed.”
But neither translation gets the whole heart of this word.
One language expert said that it would be better translated as “Respected” or even “on the right path.”
And this is important because there is a common misunderstanding that blessed means “getting what you want” or “financial benefit.”
Like when Televangelists say “If you would just bless us with a $100 donation.”
If this was how we viewed this, Jesus teaching wouldn’t make sense right off the bat.
“Blessed are you who are poor, because you’re going to get a whole bunch of cash!”
So perhaps it requires us to open our minds up to what blessing is.
If blessing is being on the right track, then we’re blessed when we speak up for those who experience injustice.
If blessing is being on the right track, then we’re blessed way more when we give than when we receive.
If blessing is being on the right track, we could be extremely blessed even with a completely empty bank account.
On the Right Track:
Poor
I have mentioned this before, but this particular teaching from Jesus is something I have seen with my own eyes.
I have traveled the world over in some pretty impoverished places.
I have been to places where folks live on less than a dollar a day.
I have seen some of the most abject poverty in the world up close and personal.
And in all of those places, I have seen the most incredible faith.
The people that will put my trust in Jesus to shame are the people who don’t have anything else to lean on.
The people that worship the hardest and the loudest and the most passionately are the folks that we might look at and wonder what they could possibly have to thank God for.
The people that this world has counted out as lost and forgotten are surely at the front of the line of the Kingdom of God.
A big piece to the blessing of this teaching is trust.
When you’re poor, the only thing you have left to trust is God himself.
When you’re poor, you’re on the right track, because the Kingdom of God is yours.
Hungry
Sadly, a whole bunch of our world falls in to this category too.
And what I think is the most difficult about this reality is how ironic the statistics sound:
As many as 811 million people worldwide go to bed hungry each night, even though there is more than enough food produced on this planet to feed everyone.
The professions that are most associated with food insecurity are farmers, herders, and fishermen, who produce about 70 percent of the global food supply.
An estimated 14 million children under the age of five worldwide suffer from sever acute malnutrition, and only 25 percent of those have access to lifesaving treatment.
(From Action Against Hunger)
Once again, when you are this hungry, you have a special relationship with the God of abundance.
Instead of wanting something that tastes good, you’re leaning on God to provide something to keep you moving.
Instead of getting angry at the slow pace of the drive thru lane, you are overjoyed every single time you sit down for a meal.
Instead of watching cooking shows, you have the deepest possible table fellowship every single time you sit down to enjoy a meal.
Mourning/Weeping
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