Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Has anyone here, ever studies a foreign language?

Learning different languages is really cool.

I’ve studied, English, German, Hebrew, and Greek, and I’ve always been fascinated by the way that different languages work.

However, here’s the thing with languages, If you are going to learn a language you need to be commited to learning that language.

I studied German for 6 years between middle school and High School, and had some great teachers.

But I wasn’t as commited as I should have been and I didn’t keep up with it, now I barely remember it.

Hebrew was fun and I was pretty commited but I don’t practice it anymore so I barely remember it.

And Greek I was committed and I do my best to keep in practice, and I can read and translate on a kindergarten level at least.

Maybe You’ve been there maybe not, but there is something that you learned in school that it seems that it all has just slipped away because you never did anything with it.

like advanced math, I don’t use advanced math on a day to day basis.

But my typing class and computer technology class, I could easily tell you how to do things with those classes because those are skills that I use every single day.

and this came to mind as I read our passage for this week.

Isn’t it great when you’ve read a passage over and over again and every time you read it, you realize something new?

Now I’ve read Mark 4:21-25 plenty of times and this past week when I read it really hit me.

Go ahead and open up to Mark 4:21-25

Now I want to break up this passage a bit and start by talking about just the first half.

Mark 4:21-23

Mark 4:21–23 (ESV)

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

What is the purpose of a lamp?

obviously to light up a room, now when we read this passage Jesus is speaking in parables meaning that the lamp represents something greater.

And to better understand this passage we must better understand the analogy.

Psalm 119:105 tells us...

So the lamp represents the word of god and the light.

So what we see in verse 21 is saying that the word of God is not meant to be concealed but to be revealed.

and not only revealed but to shine and bring light to the darkness.

and Jesus goes on to explain this farther in verse 22 and 23.

He explains that the word of God, which could imply Jesus himself or his teachings, is going to be revealed to those who hear.

v.23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

Verse 23 on its own may be a little confusing.

Jesus isn’t talking about people physically hearing him.

In fact Jesus talks about hearing quite a few times in chapter 4, and it’s always used in the same way, let’s take a look at that before we continue…

Mark 4:1-9 talks about the seed that falls on the path, stones, thorns, and soil.

and in response to the seed that takes root in the soil he says, Mark 4:9 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:11-20 (read) This passage explains that those who hear the word, which is represented by the seed, respond in different way but the only one who yields grain is he who accepts the word and lets it take root in their life.

That passage isn’t on your study guide, so write down, Mark 4:11-20 and I want you to go back and read that after the sermon, I promise it will hold all new meaning to you.

Moving on…

Mark 4:33 “33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.”

They listened to Jesus and as they were able to understand it they allowed it to take root.

So what is the common theme here?

Jesus presents the word and the people he speaks to either allows the word to enter into their heart and take root, or they reject it.

and that’s the fascinating thing about Jesus speaking in parables he does it so that those who are willing to accept his words will understand but those who reject his words will be left clueless.

Isn’t that amazing.

So let’s review what we’ve talked about so far.

What is the lamp?

The word of God and the light.

What is hidden and secret?

The word of God, that being Jesus’ teachings and his gospel.

What does it mean to hear? to understand and accept it into your heart, to allow it to take root.

Let’s take one more moment to talk about what it means to hear, does anyone in here garden?

I wouldn’t say Im a gardener but I had a project in middle school once where we planted grass in a clear cup and watches it grow.

But what was cool about that project was how the roots sank deep into the cup and grabbed hold of the soil.

This is what Jesus is saying about the word of God, that we need to allow it to take root in our heart, so that it can’t easily be pulled.

That the word will bear much fruit just like an apple tree with good roots produces lots of apples.

Let’s read Ephesians 5:8-13

Walk as children of light and the fruit of light will be found in all that is good, right, and true.

when you allow good roots you will produce good fruit.

However, as we continue in Mark 4:24 Jesus begins to warn us.

What does Jesus mean when he says pay attention to what you hear?

May I suggest that Jesus is warning of us not to allow unfruitful things to take root in our hearts.

If you are farming or gardening what is one of the worst things to happen to your field or garden?

Weeds sprout.

and what happens when weeds sprout?

They don’t produce fruit and they suck all the nutrients away from the other plants.

and have you ever pulled weeds?

it’s like they are impossible to get rid of completely.

and they come back aggressively.

Jesus is saying don’t let these unfruitful things into your heart, don’t let them take root.

they will suck all of your energy away from the fruitful seed in your heart.

A big problem of this is that sometimes when we hear the word of God we don’t want to allow it to take root in our heart.

So I have a little exercise for us, and you are going to see how accepting you are of God’s word.

#1 Matthew 5:21-22

#2 Matthew 5:43-44

#3 Matthew 6:19-21

#4 Matthew 6:25

These are things just from the sermon on the mount.

I’m sure you struggle with at least one of these things, that you haven’t truly allowed it to take root.

As we allow the word of God to take root in us, like Mark 4:24 says, with the measure we use, or the devotion we put towards God’s word we will then bear that much fruit.

and just like the seed that landed on good soil it will produce a hundredfold.

Now Mark 4:25 basically just continues this idea from the other perspective.

Now you remember when I was talking about languages?

this is the connection.

Just like learning a language, if we devote ourselves to the language and put it into practice we will become fluent in the language, but if we reject the language we will certainly forget it, in other words it will be taken away.

I like to compare this passage with Matthew 5:14

The Lamp is the Word of God, yes.

However the lamp also represents the light.

You, We, are the light of the world.

As we read in Ephesians 5:8

You are light in the world, so walk as children of light!

Do you know what this means?

Let me try to put this all together for you.

We are to receive the word of God, and when we receive it even when it is one of those commands we may not want to accept.

when we receive the word and accept it and let it take root, or in other words when we “hear” the word, we allow it to change our lives.

we allow the word of God to bear fruit through us.

We become the children of light.

we become the light on the hill top, we become the light which causes the darkness to hide that sheds light to the world.

Is that what you desire?