Sermon Tone Analysis

My four year old daughter, Hannah, asks 288 questions per day… on an average day.

Some days she asks way more.

Four year old girls ask more questions per day than any other human being in any stage of life.

My three year old, son, Levi asks on average about 150.

On average, then, our children ask my wife and me, namely my wife, more than 400 questions per day!

400!

Here’s a transcript of a conversation that happened between my daughter and me this past week.

Here’s the scenario: she told me she needed to go to potty, so I took her into a men’s restroom:

Daddy, why we are we going into a boy’s bathroom?

Am I allowed into the boy’s bathroom?

What if we see a boy?

Are daddy’s allowed in the girl’s bathroom?

What is that toilet on the wall?

Are there any boys in the boy’s bathroom?

Do they have girl potties in here?

Why does it smell so good in here?

Can I eat the air?

Can you eat air, daddy?

Why does the toilet paper come out like that?

Why are there no stools in the bathroom?

Is there hand sanitizer?

How does air dry my hands, daddy?

And then as we are walking out, she exclaims: I want to eat their air!

3 minutes.

400!

Her mind is on fire!

My son’s mind is on fire!

She wants to know!

And when I am in my right mind as a father and not overwhelmed by their persistent question asking, I want to blow on that fire and fan the flame of their curiosity into a raging inferno of knowledge.

Yet, at some point in our lives, the questions begin to slow down, don’t they?

Our curiosity begins to wane, and our thirst for knowledge drifts.

I think this period happens at different stages in our lives, though probably sometime in our teenage years.

The questions slow way down, and our curiosity fades.

At different times in my life, I have even found myself settling into beliefs without even questioning why I believe them.

Ever experience that?

Perhaps some of you have been following Jesus for so long that you have lost your sense of awe and wonder about Jesus, “who isable, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

(Eph 3:20).

Friend, is your mind on fire?

Is your heart on fire?

Are you asking God 288 questions a day?

Are you asking God any questions a day?

Are you seeking to know anything about this God who created you and called you good!?

The difference between your growth and stagnation… between your satisfaction and despair… between your belief and your doubt… and, truly, between your life and death… is knowing who this God is in Jesus Christ and what this God has done for you.

To know this places every other part of life into perspective: knowing who this God is in Jesus Christ and what this God has done for you.

John opened his final concluding remarks of his letter saying, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13)

Question: Who is John writing this letter to?

Answer: believers.

This isn’t an evangelistic letter.

John is writing to strengthen and encourage the faith of those who already belong to the church.

John’s Gospel, on the other hand, was written for an entirely different purpose.

Toward the end of his Gospel, John wrote: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

(John 20:31)

John’s Gospel is evangelistic.

John’s letter was written to strengthen believers.

Question: what is the purpose of his writing to believers?

Answer: So that they may know that they have eternal life, verse 13.

This brief, but declarative statement from John’s concluding remarks, is absolutely essential to understanding the big ‘why’ behind his entire letter, and the big why is this - don’t miss this: you can have a proper confidence in the eternal life that you received in Jesus Christ.

That’s the big why behind this entire letter!

Why did John go through such great lengths to present multiple in-depth arguments to a group of believers about what seems so readily apparent, right?

Well… no, it’s not.

It’s not apparent.

Yes, while it is true that placing our trust in Jesus provides us with eternal life, what is all true is that we forget and still choose to go our own way, don’t we?

Of course, we do.

And how do I know?

Because even as a Pastor, I forget how sweet my life is with Jesus.

From time to time, I forget about this God who has redeemed me from my sin and is restoring my brokenness by the power of his Holy Spirit living in me.

I forget that.

John’s church in Ephesus forgot that.

All of us in this room from time to time have forgotten this.

Have you ever wondered how you could possibly forget such good news?

It would be as though you had won the mega millions jackpot and then a few days later you forget that you’re now a newly minted billionaire.

How could we forget something like that?

How do we forget so easily?

I think because our hearts are prone to wander.

I think because sin distorts, disintegrates, and disguises all of the good in our lives.

I think because we would much rather worship ourselves or something we can see and touch right now today than an invisible God.

I think because following Jesus is just plain hard sometimes, especially in our city.

At times, our emotions get the worst of us; our families friends, and colleagues get the worst of us; our desire to feel something, even if it’s not real, gets the worst of us.

Our hearts want to align with something.

In fact, our hearts need to align and connect with something other than ourselves.

That desire is good.

We need to connect with something bigger than ourselves… That’s why we keep rooting for the Dolphins!

Our mind, heart, soul, and spirit need to align with something.

Isolation is impossible for us, human beings.

In fact, that yearning for connection is responsible for our very survival.\

How powerful!

And yet, the question we must answer every time our heart makes a connection - and the question to which John is calling the church to answer both then and now whenever our heart make a connection - is:

Will this satisfy?

Will the Dolphins satisfy me?

Will my relationship satisfy me?

Will my spouse satisfy me?

Will my job satisfy me?

Will my salary satisfy me?

Will my family satisfy me?

Will my dreams satisfy me?

Will my body satisfy me?

Will sex satisfy me?

Will pot, alcohol, and drugs satisfy me?

Each one of those things may bring a kind of happiness or temporal easement for a time - and some are certainly healthier than others.

I certainly hope that you find satisfaction in your marriage, work, and family, and so does this witness of the authors who wrote the Bible, but if you are seeking to find satisfaction inherently within each one of those areas of your life - or others - then as John stated in the very beginning of his letter:

‘We are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.’ 1 John 1:8

Don’t fool yourself, John says, and I agree.