Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

How many of you have ever been to an Escape Room before?

To those of you who have no idea what that is, an Escape Room is a place where you go and you try to solve a mystery of sorts and escape from the situation that you are thrust into.

I’ve gone with family and friends to about a half dozen escape rooms and the situation that you find yourself in varies from room to room.

In some situations you are in a relatively straightforward room where you try to find clues around you to eventually punch a code in and escape.

I’ve also been in a situation where I was locked in handcuffs and blindfolded with 6 childhood friends and we were forced to figure out how to get free and escape the situation room in under an hour.

Escape Rooms are kind of like Crime Dramas that we see on TV at times that make our minds think outside the box as we try to problem solve.

In an Escape Room you’re trying to solve a puzzle of sorts by uncovering clues and following directions.

Maybe this sounds simple, but whenever you add distractions, other voices, obstacles, and a 1 hour time limit the situation can get awfully stressful to the point that many groups fail to escape the room.

The problem in the escape room is that you can get focused on internal things instead of working as a team to solve the problem and escape.

This is a fundamental problem that we have as humans - we focus on things that aren’t necessarily the most important thing or the most pressing problem.

We can get a little bit confused or we listen to the voice of popular opinion instead of the voice of reason and wisdom.

We think that we have more time than we really have.

Next thing you know you’re left arguing with your friends/family and you don’t escape the room.

What is the true problem that we have to deal with each and every day?

Our sinfulness.

Whenever you wake up each morning you are going to war whether you realize it or not as Paul talks about in Ephesians 6 as he encourages his listeners to put on the armor of God.

Whenever you look in the mirror each morning you are faced with a choice - will you live for yourself or will you die to self and live for Christ?

Whenever we’re by ourselves or having our quiet time maybe this is an easy decision - but what about whenever our stress levels begin to rise?

What about when our situations change?

What about when things don’t go our way?

Why are we tempted to turn inward in those moments?

Because as humans we are wired to either do what we’ve been told by others in similar situations or we do what makes the most sense in our eyes.

What gets us in trouble is our old way of thinking and the condition of our heart.

The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

Jesus, in this next scene of Christian discipleship illustrates to His followers what it looks like to follow Him.

It doesn’t mean to obey the voices that you’ve heard in the past, it means to live as a son/daughter of the cross and do so with your new heart.

See, God not only changes your actions but He changes your thoughts and even your heart.

Has Jesus addressed your greatest problem today?

Let’s continue in the Sermon on the Mount to see how exactly Jesus does this in our lives:

In Matthew 5:21-48 we see 6 illustrations of what Jesus commands of His followers.

Jesus is establishing His new covenant and shows how God’s law not only changes our actions but our thoughts and our heart.

The first illustration is that of anger.

Anger (21-26)

Jesus structures this part of His sermon with a back and forth dialogue.

He sets the Old Testament law on one side and He explains its heart/intention on the other side.

Examine verses 21-22, “You have heard… But I tell you...” What is Jesus doing?

Jesus is acting as the rightful interpreter of the law - something that He is more than qualified to do! Again, just as Moses gave the law to the Israelites in the Old Testament on Mt.

Sinai, Jesus is giving the heart of God’s law to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount - He is telling His followers that God demands internal obedience.

Murder is a heavy topic for Jesus to open up with!

He begins to go through the 10 commandments and explains that murder is more than simply what we think of as murder.

Think of what He is saying here: How many of you have ever murdered someone?

No one.

How many of you have ever been angry with someone?

Every hand goes up, right?

We’ve all been angry before and Jesus is saying that anger is a serious problem because it makes us subject to judgment.

Consider what James shares about anger

Where does anger come from?

While it might lead to an external action like yelling or punching in some instances, it comes from the heart.

External actions like murder and anger begin where?

In the heart.

Jesus’ message to people who are angry is to stop what you’re doing and seek reconciliation.

If you’re in the middle of a worship service, Jesus says to stop what you’re doing and be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come back to worship!

Yet, we live in a world where grudges not only live but they survive for decades and decades.

We often allow anger and bitterness to swell up in our hearts for years and years and we allow the magma of anger to build like lava does in a volcano and eventually it all comes out in a massive eruption.

In a world of anger, what should we do?

Seek reconciliation with others.

We heed the advice of Paul in Ephesians as he shares to not allow the sun to go down on your anger.

In God’s world, unrepentant anger doesn’t go away unpunished.

We see that those who are angry are subject to judgment… Whose judgment?

God’s!

Whoever says you fool will be subject to hellfire.

How many of you have ever called someone a fool or said something that you shouldn’t have said concerning someone’s faith in God?

Many of us have been there!

Jesus’ warning for those is that if you’re angry enough to say something along those lines then you’re guilty enough to go into the fire of hell.

Anger isn’t something to mess around with - Ask yourself, “Am I slow to anger or quick to anger?”

This doesn’t mean that there are things that shouldn’t make us mad, Jesus got angry at certain things!

But 2 things to remember: 1) We’re not Jesus and, 2) We often get angry at the wrong things.

Jesus got angry at religious leaders who are exploiting others and that is justifiable anger!

But we often get angry at personal inconveniences more so than injustice towards others.

Jesus’ opening point is simply this: Anger is serious.

Don’t let it fester.

Deal with it and seek reconciliation immediately because the heart is at stake.

Lust (27-30)

In this second illustration, Jesus once again looks at one of the 10 commandments and digs into its meaning… Adultery is more than simply the physical act - it too is about the heart.

We read in Scripture that marriage is a serious commitment because it is not just between 2 parties, it’s between a husband/wife and God.

Marriage, as we’ll see in verses 31-32, is a lifelong commitment with no room for another passenger.

Yet, in our society, lust is seen as something that isn’t a big deal at all.

Paul Shelton served as the Illinois state wildlife director from 1993-2018 and shared that more than 17,000 deer die every year after being struck by a car on state highways.

A reporter asked him why the number is that high to which he replied, “Peak season for deer casualties is the fall and in the fall bucks are concentrating almost exclusively on reproducing… As a result, they’re a lot less aware than they normally would be.”

Bucks are concentrating on does and it gets them in trouble because their focus isn’t on the danger about to crash into them!

Bucks aren’t the only ones destroyed by lust.

Adultery in the Old Testament was considered one of the worst things because it not only broke the relationship, but it also broke the relationship one had with God.

Look at what David said after his affair with Bathsheba

Adultery is serious stuff and it is sin in the eyes of God - but it’s not isolated to physical action.

Jesus highlights that the meaning of this command is to maintain a pure marriage and relationship and this is where the mind comes into play.

Where does lust originate?

Just with murder, it’s not with the action, it’s with the heart.

How, then, should Christians vow to deal with this temptation?

Like Job did

This is where Jesus arrives in verses 29-30.

He shares that lust is serious!

If your eye causes you to sin - gouge it out.

If your hand causes you to sin - cut it off.

Why deal with sin in this capacity?

Because it’s better to have one eye and one hand and be devoted to your spouse than to have two of both and be half and half.

Jesus is saying that if you’re struggling with lust, it’s better to cut your eye ball out than it is to keep it in and continue using it to lust.

DA Carson shares this, “Cutting off or gouging out the offending part is a way of saying that Jesus’ disciples must deal radically with sin.”

Am I willing to do what it takes to deal with my sin or will you allow your fleshly desires to continue to get you in trouble with others and with your God?

The options are simply this according to Jesus: Do nothing to fight against sin and go to hell, or fight with God’s power and be delivered.