Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

In August 2009, Amanda and I came to California for the first time.

I had an interview with my first church out of seminary in Livermore, CA.

We came in for 72 hours to meet with the search team and the church staff.

While we were here, they suggested we take a few hours and go to San Francisco.

Go to the Warf and see the sights.

It was august and everyone suggested that we bring jackets.

It’s August, we didn’t think we needed Jackets.

That was absolutely the coldest I’ve ever been in my life.

Now I have to set the scene here because otherwise it may not make sense.

This was the days before smart phones and google maps and Waze.

We printed our directors off the computer like savages.

We wanted to do 2 things.

We wanted to eat clam chowder out of a sourdough bread bowl and we wanted to see the Golden Gate bridge.

So after hitting the Warf, we walked along the Embarcadero.

And then we saw it.

It was a magnificent bridge.

With high towers.

I could see what the big deal about it was.

We took so many pictures standing in front of that bridge.

Me by myself.

Amanda by herself.

Then we had a stranger take a picture of us both.

Our evening trip into SF had been a success.

I remember as we were driving back to Livermore, I think it was Amanda who looked at me and said, I thought the Golden Gate bridge was red.

Always quick to give a bad explanation I said, “Maybe it’s the way the sun hits it.”

Needless to say, what we thought was a successful trip was really us and 1,000 pictures in front of the Oakland San Francisco Bay bridge.

The old one.

We were so certain that we were in the right place but turns out we were wrong.

Now in the grand scheme of life, this wasn’t a life altering miscalculation.

We eventually moved out to California and have been to the Golden Gate bridge many times.

But what about those miscalculations in life that are the matter of life and death and heaven and hell.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles toMatthew 7:21-23.

Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount as instructions for living in the kingdom of God.

Jesus changed what it meant to be a true believer and opened it up to more than just the Jewish people.

He changed how his people understood the law and especially about what it means to have a relationship with God.

For the Jewish people back then, and Christians today, perhaps the Sermon on the Mount can be summed up like this...

Introduce:

Authentic Principle: Make sure you’re really saved.

Read:

Authentic Principle: Make sure you’re really saved.

Transition: I probably don’t need to tell you that this is not a question that you want to answer on your death bed.

And it’s certainly not one you want figure out when you stand before Jesus.

What will we say?

Well, the first thing we need to understand is...

1.

Our words don’t tell our whole story (Matthew 7:21)

Explanation: Jesus says these incredibly haunting words, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What Jesus is trying to say here is that words are cheap.

Now the background of this passage (the whole sermon on the mount) is in the context of cultural Judaism.

For most of those listening to Jesus they were probably Jewish.

If you were born Jewish, you were considered religiously Jewish.

If your dad and mom were Jewish, you were Jewish and you may have had the false idea that this was enough.

But through the OT, it was always revealed that cultural identity did not equate to salvation or even protection from your enemies.

But over time, the Jewish people began to think of themselves as right with God and take a relationship with Him for granted, without actually knowing God.

They thought that so long as they didn’t worship idols.

Kept the sabbath.

Went to the temple for the festivals and attended synagogues.

Maybe they prayed throughout the day.

Jesus, I think was changing the idea of religion to show that it had a lot to do with your relationship with God.

Some have gone so far as to say that religion is bad and we should just have a relationship with Jesus.

I understand where they are coming from here, and I think it’s in response to some of what Jesus is talking about.

However, religion isn’t bad.

Earlier Jesus even said that:

Religion is meaningless and useless apart from the relationship which is exactly the condemnation that Jesus levied against the Pharisees.

They were great at giving lip-service to God, but deep down they didn’t actually know Him.

If words don’t make you a Christian, what does?

Jesus continues: “but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Again, this is somewhat difficult because this makes it seem like Jesus is saying you are saved by works.

And this is used by many to argue just that.

But is that what He’s saying?

What is the will of the Father?

It would be incorrect or incomplete to assume that Jesus is saying that the Father’s will is for you to keep the OT law.

Though, to say we are just free from all of the law’s obligations would be misleading as well.

There is an action that is required, but the question is what is that action?

There is really only place where Jesus defines the “will of His Father” and it comes not in Matthew, but in John 6:40 “40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

Because of this, the Will of the Father is that you have a relationship with Jesus.

So much of Matthew’s Gospel is about what it takes to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

And even as Jesus speaks of the Law, he will further define what the law was meant to do.

And how do you enter into the Kingdom of God? Through a relationship with Jesus.

Entrance into the kingdom of God is then dependent upon loving God and loving other people.

It’s about authentic relationships.

You can’t enter by magic words.

You can’t memorize the words to say.

It’s not about the words, but about the heart behind them.

Illustration: There have been times in my life where I have told people what they wanted to hear.

I’ve sat in job interviews and told people that my biggest weakness is being a perfectionist, when the truth is my biggest weakness is procrastination.

When I’ve been asked my honest opinion about something, I have sometimes been too nice and other times been too brutal.

I haven’t been completely honest with people to keep from hurting them.

And I’ve withheld the truth to keep from hurting myself.

And I’ve had all of these things happen to me as well.

Words are cheap.

Words won’t get you into heaven.

The real question is what do you really believe?

Application: Do you love Jesus?

It’s one thing to say you do, but does your heart match those words.

One of the ways I like to test this is asking myself, if I could have eternity in heaven without Jesus would I be ok with that?

So often when it comes to asking what people think about heaven, they can’t wait to see lost loved ones.

They are hoping that all dogs really do go to heaven so they will get to see their childhood pet.

But what about Jesus?

Is he someone you’ll eventually get to in heaven?